Twelve-year-old Sarah Jacob is a minor celebrity in 19th-century Wales because of her condition. She has not eaten food for two years, and her dedication to fasting and God have caused the devout and curious to flock to her bedside. American journalist Christine is intrigued by Sarah's story and decides to leave her own home, full of grief since her husband's death in the Civil War, to travel to Wales and write about Sarah. As Christine connects with Sarah and her family, Varley O'Connor spins the fascinating yet sad tale of Sarah's starvation and death, and the later trial of her parents.

O'Connor (The Master's Muse) reveals this dark story through the eyes of Christine and those closest to Sarah, and she unflinchingly details Sarah's deteriorating condition, past sexual abuse and decline into death. Christine's research for her article combines the story of the Jacob family with historical documents published during the period. Her experiences in Wales are just as fascinating as Sarah's, and her struggles as an older woman journalist in the 19th century are compelling in their own right. Sarah is caught in the middle of politics, scientific debate and religion, but benefits from none of them. It's a dark story that's hard to believe, but utterly compelling to read. --Amy Dittmeier, adult services librarian, Brookfield Public Library, Ill.

Following her powerful memoir, With or Without You, Domenica Ruta's debut novel, Last Day, combines her beautiful use of language with a thoughtful and compelling story.

Last Day, an ancient commemoration, is celebrated worldwide every May 28. It's based in prophecies about an apocryphal end of the world, though it is now mostly observed with barbecues, bonfires and overindulgence.

Various characters prepare for their Last Day celebrations, including Sarah, a teen struggling to figure out who she is and how she fits into the world. She's infatuated with an older man, Kurt, who owns a tattoo shop called Redemption that offers free tattoos on Last Day. Across town, Karen is an unstable but enthusiastic woman who lives in a group home and works at the YMCA. One of her passions is studying the occult, and her friend Rosette is a member of a religious group called Last Kingdom on Earth, which broke off from the Jehovah's Witnesses. Bear looks down on the earth from above, as an American astronaut on the International Space Station with his Russian colleague Svec and Yui, a wealthy Japanese space tourist.

Ruta paints a vivid picture of each person's experiences, as the narrative shifts from one to another, weaving together an intricate picture of the individuals and the society. Engrossing and thought-provoking, this unusual novel leaves the reader musing on the fate of humanity and our planet, as the characters all prepare for the annual end of the world. --Suzan L. Jackson, freelance writer and author of Book By Book blog

Tears of the Trufflepig takes place in the near future, with a speculative outlook that is uncomfortably close to contemporary reality. Fernando A. Flores's debut novel is set along the Texas-Mexico border, scarred by two long walls. Esteban Bellacosa, an equipment broker, finds himself in several baffling situations over the course of a few days, even by standards of "strange" life along the border. A large piece of equipment disappears into thin air; his brother is targeted by a syndicate needing an endless supply of shrunken heads for collectors; criminal enterprises are fighting violent turf wars; and a gonzo journalist named Paco Herbert wants Bellacosa to be his wingman as he investigates the black market.

In this future, cartels operating along the border handle grotesque contraband of every stripe. In addition to (newly) shrunken heads, extinct animals are re-created in a process known as "filtering." They're worn as clothing and served at private, debauched dinner parties. The frenzied desire for filtered animals is leading to more insidious filtering attempts: mythical animals and, possibly, humans. The co-dependency of wealth and greed results in power struggles that benefit no one. "Once any kind of power is discovered, the thing that follows is the usurping of it," Bellacosa says. Closing off borders is ineffective, this story makes clear, because the reality is that "everything's woven closer" than believed. Tears of the Trufflepig is an absurdist tale pointing out the "pipeline of consequences" of unchecked greed and corrupt power. --Cindy Pauldine, bookseller, the river's end bookstore, Oswego, N.Y.

In the second installment of author Dana Dratch's Red Herring Mystery series, freelance reporter Alex Vlodnachek has her hands full trying to score enough assignments to pay her bills. So does her brother, Nick, currently living with her while struggling to get his catering/baking business launched. When someone breaks into Alex's house and leaves a jaw-dropping surprise, the two are forced to call in their unflappable Russian grandmother, Baba, to help. As the elderly woman deals with the unexpected present, Alex adds several more mysteries to her list of things to solve.

She's happily interested in furthering her (hopefully romantic) relationship with Ian, the handsome British B&B owner across the street. But she's far less delighted by the very dead, and very cold, corpse she discovers in his basement freezer--a corpse that almost immediately vanishes. Meanwhile, Ian needs Alex's help discovering where his father, the B&B's erstwhile butler, has disappeared to. While searching for clues, Alex begins to suspect the father may be involved in art theft. Or perhaps art forgery. Apparently, the possibilities are endless. Did Ian's father flee to escape the law? And does the frozen body have anything to do with him going missing? More importantly, can Alex solve all the burning questions before she herself disappears?

Former newspaper reporter Dana Dratch delivers a delightful cozy that pairs well with the first installment or can be read on its own. Witty dialogue with laugh-out-loud moments, well-drawn characters and multiple mysteries weave their way through this satisfying story. --Lois Faye Dyer, freelance reviewer

Part autobiography, part food odyssey and part cookbook, The Peached Tortilla: Modern Asian Comfort Food from Tokyo to Texas explores Eric Silverstein's journey through Asia as a child, skips over his years as a lawyer and dives deeply into the passion for food that led him to create a multi-pronged food and hospitality business.

Born to Chinese and Jewish American parents, raised in Japan and Atlanta and settled in Austin, Tex., Silverstein crafts recipes that are heavily influenced by the many contrasting flavors of his favorite childhood foods. Including home-cooked meals, street food, noodle bowls and cocktails, The Peached Tortilla offers an idiosyncratic blend of soul food, incorporating Asian seasonings, Tex-Mex staples and Southern-fried comforts.

A section table of contents, cooking notes on unfamiliar utensils and techniques and suggested Asian pantry staples lead into 100 recipes with accompanying full-color photographs and author's note vignettes. Some, like Laksa (from Malaysia), require four or more different stages in making the one dish, and may be outside of the average home cook's abilities, pantry items and kitchen gadgetry. Others, like the pickles and sauces (wasabi mayo, sesame pickles and tomato jam), may become new family staples for the adventurous palate. A glossary of Asian foods and noodles, including pictures of brands for easy recognition in the grocery story, rounds out this introduction to one man's vision of Asian-Southern cooking with a Southwestern twist. --BrocheAroe Fabian, owner, River Dog Book Co., Beaver Dam, Wis.

The Book of Pride is the outgrowth of Mason Funk's project OUTWORDS, an online archive of interviews with LGBTQ pioneers and elders who forged and witnessed LGBTQ history. It features people like Kay Lahusen, the first openly gay photojournalist in the United States. And Kylar Broadus, a black trans man and lawyer whose advocacy has resulted in fundamental legislative protections for trans people. And John James, publisher of AIDS Treatment News, which became a lifeline for people with AIDS and helped spur drug companies to take HIV seriously.

Funk's goal is to preserve queer history, to empower and inspire young queer people and--especially--to recognize the individuals and the work featured in this book. "We must build this archive as a permanent place of honor for the people who found the courage, strength and conviction to picture something better for themselves and who set out on the long, tumultuous, chaotic, unmapped journey to transform their vision into reality," he writes in the introduction.

Grouped in sections with titles like "Community," "Liberation," "Spirit" and "Survival," Funk's interviews represent a colorful, inspiring, pluralistic cross-section of backgrounds, goals, professions and sensibilities. There are club owners and community organizers; veterans and clergy; drag performers, authors, educators and lawyers. They contributed to the vibrancy of LGBTQ communities in cities, and lit beacons for those in rural areas. Some of them have worked to bring LGBTQ people into the mainstream, while others have resisted convention and affirmed their right to live in bold new ways. Together, they have--as the title of the book proclaims--changed the world. --Hannah Calkins, writer and editor

In Stay Sexy & Don't Get Murdered, Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark, hosts of the true-crime comedy podcast My Favorite Murder, share hard-earned lessons from their lives and offer quippy lists and cautionary tales for a mentally healthy and physically safe life. Framed as part humor, part self-help and part memoir, the book takes readers inside some of the podcast's most famous pieces of advice ("F*ck Politeness," "You're in a Cult, Call Your Dad," etc.). To illustrate these words of wisdom, Kilgariff and Hardstark reflect on their own pasts and the true-crime tales that have stuck with them. Kilgariff digs into her struggles with alcoholism and grapples with her grief over losing her mother to Alzheimer's, while Hardstark reveals her own history with addiction and self-doubt. 

Kilgariff and Hardstark, somewhat incredibly, manage to maintain the witty banter from their podcast personas and translate their particular, quirky brand of humor to the written page. From "Karen's Introduction" to "Georgia's Conclusion," their voices ring true and convey empathy, vulnerability and comfort. They also succeed in striking an excellent balance between the often dark self-revelations being described and their overall light, irreverent tone. The book, perhaps even more than the podcast itself, forges the connection My Favorite Murder has made between true crime and feminism. Kilgariff and Hardstark unwaveringly assert themselves as voices for female empowerment by encouraging candid dialogues about mental health and personal growth. By the end, readers understand the real rule Kilgariff and Hardstark live by, that of learning to be vulnerable with each other in order to be stronger together. --Alice Martin, freelance writer and editor

The Queen offers a compelling new look at Linda Taylor, the woman dubbed the "welfare queen" in the mid-1970s, after public awareness of her welfare fraud turned her into a political prop. Slate editor Josh Levin makes a convincing argument that Taylor's case was drastically oversimplified and used to paint ordinary welfare recipients in a negative light, eventually justifying cuts to welfare and other government assistance programs. The Queen portrays Taylor as an utterly singular individual whose crimes might have included murder. The "welfare queen" stereotype doesn't begin to explain her complicated, disturbing life.

In roughly the first half of the book, Levin approaches the welfare fraud case that helped turn Taylor into a national symbol. He shows how politicians, especially Ronald Reagan, used her to paint a misleading portrait of the undeserving poor and to engage in dog-whistle racism. As one state senator said: " 'Welfare cheaters' has become the new code word for the poor, for minorities in general and those temporarily down on their luck." In the second half, Levin digs into Taylor's background and tracks her life after the case. He finds a bewildering woman who lied incessantly, used dozens of fake names, manipulated and took advantage of vulnerable people, kidnapped children and was potentially party to multiple murders. Levin finds that her crimes went far beyond welfare fraud, but the justice system was more interested in her politically useful misdeeds. The Queen dispels the "welfare queen" myth by showing how anomalous Taylor was, representative of no one other than herself. --Hank Stephenson, bookseller, Flyleaf Books, Chapel Hill, N.C.

An avid collector, Persian merchant Mah Jahan's most precious possessions are her birds. Despite her devotion, "she kept them in cages or chains so that they couldn't fly away and leave her." Most beloved is "a beautiful bright parrot," favored because "the parrot had learned to talk." Preparing for her upcoming trading trip to India--the parrot's home--Mah Jahan asks the bird if she would like a gift. "Please say hello to my parrot friends in India," the bird responds. "Tell them that I miss them, and that makes me sad. Ask them if they have any advice for me."

After finishing her work, Mah Jahan visits the Indian jungle to share her parrot's message. The jungle parrots are initially silent, until one suddenly drops out of the sky. "Oh, how terrible, that parrot has just died!," Mah Jahan thinks before rushing away. Back at home, describing her experience to her parrot causes an eerily similar reaction... but the parrot's seemingly fatal response will be her salvation.

Award-winning Iranian artist Marjan Vafaeian daringly updates the revered 13th-century poet Rumi's familiar tale. Originally published in 2013 in Iran, then smoothly translated by Azita Rassi, Vafaeian's version assigns she/her pronouns to the merchant, inserting a subtle message about female agency, nonexistent 800 years ago. Beyond the often-adapted story (Rashin's Two Parrots is a recent example), Vafaeian's intriguing illustrations are especially noteworthy, described in an afterword as "a sophisticated mix of beautiful birds and fabrics with interestingly strange, almost sinister, human characters." The natural world is cause for colorful, gorgeous celebration, Vafaeian suggests, but human intrusion turns the narrative into a cautionary tale for uncertain times. --Terry Hong, Smithsonian BookDragon

William C. Morris Award winner Isabel Quintero (Gabi, a Girl in Pieces) makes her picture book debut with this loving tribute to her father and the city where she grew up. In My Papi Has a Motorcycle, the Mexican American author uses her signature lyrical and spare style to capture the joyous and thrilling moments shared between young Daisy and her papi as they ride his motorcycle through their Corona, Calif., neighborhood.

"When he lifts me onto the smooth black seat his hands don't feel rough, they don't feel tired--they feel like all the love he has trouble saying." Daisy treasures this daily ritual and the time spent with her soft-spoken father as they pass beloved landmarks like the neighborhood panadería and her grandmother's church. Quintero infuses this slice-of-life tale with small moments of tension, such as signs of gentrification--"as we near the shop, we see that it's empty and out of business. I can tell Papi is disappointed"--and dog chases. The narrative is also peppered with bits of history and mentions of the work that immigrants did (and do) to shape U.S. culture and history. Zeke Peña's fluid watercolor and digital art evokes the circuitous journey and the warmth that envelops the father-daughter pair. Featuring close-up facial expressions, graceful body movements and quote bubbles in English and Spanish hanging above characters' heads throughout, Peña's experience as a comics artist shines through. Every corner of each page is filled with rosy and vibrant renderings, never overwhelming, but always intentional and emotive. --Shelley Diaz, supervising librarian, BookOps: New York Public Library & Brooklyn Public Library