British novelist and playwright Alice Jolly's first collection, From Far Around They Saw Us Burn, gathers 15 achingly poignant, slyly surprising stories. Most memorable are those spotlighting silenced women striving to reclaim any semblance of agency.

In "Burn Before Reading," Maddie, "the mad one," proves to be her family's most aware, recognizing that her sister's outwardly perfect life is fast approaching breakdown amid a trifecta of abusive men--father, husband, son. In "Big Hugs and Kisses," a worn toy bears witness to a woman who, after decades of motherhood and wifehood, can claim, "I am still here." "Smooth and Sleek" exposes horrific disparity via she said/he said narratives: "listen please listen I need someone to listen to hear this is my life," the woman begs, revealing her wartime capture and sexual abuse, her desperation too much even for punctuation; meanwhile, "I have a right to tell my story, too," a man demands, complaining about the noise of "you people" as he drones about his entitled car obsession. Jolly's titular, 2021 O. Henry Prize-winning final story is also her finest, inspired by Ireland's historic 1943 Cavan orphanage fire that killed 35 girls--the dead will speak here--as the nuns who all survived, seemingly maliciously insisted "those girls must not be seen in their nightdresses by the men of the town."

Jolly writes with a scathing bluntness unmasking humanity's inter- and intrapersonal frailties and failures. Small details succinctly, remarkably hold multilayered meanings: the exact words to stop a pedophile's exhibitionism ("We All Know Mr Jones"), a purple hairclip left behind after a lifesaving lesson ("For You, Hannah"). Jolly utterly, hauntingly impresses readers throughout. --Terry Hong

Discover: British novelist Alice Jolly's first short story collection is a remarkably memorable collage of silenced voices reclaiming agency.

Show Don't Tell, Curtis Sittenfeld's warm and insightful ninth book (and second story collection after You Think It, I'll Say It), features characters negotiating principles and privilege in midlife as they look back on their youth.

Split equally between first- and third-person perspectives, the 12 contemporary stories spotlight everyday marital and parenting challenges. Women weigh the possibility of platonic friendships with men ("A for Alone" and the Covid pandemic-set "The Hug") or seek to behave gracefully toward an ex's family ("The Patron Saints of Middle Age"). Several stories, such as "White Women LOL," question the sense of entitlement that leads to casual racism.

Sittenfield (American Wife; Eligible) uses dual timelines in her stories, offering her characters opportunities for hindsight. College and boarding school experiences, in particular, are pivotal. "Lost but Not Forgotten" treats fans of Sittenfeld's debut novel, Prep, to a mini sequel: Lee Fiora, at Ault School in Massachusetts for her class's 30th reunion, remembers a brush with a pop idol and wonders if there's romance to be found after divorce.

In one standout, "The Marriage Clock," film producer Heather tries to convince Brock Lewis, author of a bestselling self-help guide, to okay a same-sex couple appearing in his book's movie adaptation. Given his conservative Christian values, Brock surprises Heather by being down-to-earth--and flirtatious.

Such moral compromises and the disjuncture between appearances and reality are recurring elements. Often, retrospection prompts the protagonists to ponder "the absurd plot twists of time." Nostalgic yet candid, these witty stories exploring how small decisions determine the future are perfect for fans of Rebecca Makkai, Kiley Reid, and Emma Straub. --Rebecca Foster, freelance reviewer, proofreader, and blogger at Bookish Beck

Discover: Curtis Sittenfeld's second short story collection blends nostalgia and hard-won wisdom through its funny, affectionate tales of middle-aged characters negotiating family and fame.

We All Live Here by Jojo Moyes (Still Me; Me Before You) is deeply moving and comical, following writer Lila Kennedy as her life seems to fall apart. "Some days, Lila feels as if she's battling everything: the furious, slippery contents of her brain, her wavering, unreliable hormones, her weight, her ex-husband, her house's attempts to fall down around her ears, the world in general." And it seems as if the list of obstacles only grows. After her husband leaves her for a younger woman and her mother's sudden death, Lila's stepfather moves in to lend a hand. But soon it becomes evident he has no intention of moving out. More turmoil stems from navigating co-parenting, her daughters' angst, and her inability to focus on her new manuscript. Finally, Lila's estranged biological father shows up unannounced, raising tensions to an all-time high.

We All Live Here explores the struggles and successes of Lila and her oldest daughter, Celie. Moyes expertly crafts female characters with emotional depth and raw vulnerability. Chapters from the points of view of both mother and daughter composea stunning portrait of family bonds and how together they can overcome dysfunction.

Lila's hardships with her blended family, romantic ventures, and exhausting career impeccably represent mothers who work to keep everything together, despite all the things threatening to tear it all apart. We All Live Here is a novel of an untraditional but undoubtedly loving family with shared grief, shared grievances, and mostly, shared love. --Clara Newton, freelance reviewer

Discover: Jojo Moyes crafts a poignant story of forgiveness and love through the chaos of a blended, unconventional family.

As her previous 15 novels attest, Elinor Lipman (Rachel to the Rescue; On Turpentine Lane) reliably plots a smart, madcap foray into love and misadventure. Every Tom, Dick & Harry is a welcome visit to a world of likable characters playing the hands they're dealt, and nefarious ones earning their just rewards.

Emma Lewis is the daughter of the recently retired owners of Finders, Keepers, but she had no plans to return to Harrow, Mass. and take over their estate sale business. Nonetheless, while seeking a job to utilize her liberal arts degrees, she accepts her parents' offer to live rent free as landlord of the family home, and becomes the reluctant CEO of the renamed "Estate of Mind," with their promised assistance. More surprisingly, she enjoys the company of the boarder her parents provide: her retired algebra teacher, Frank, recently widowed after his wife was (many feel fittingly) struck by lightning.

A promising romance with Luke, a former high school classmate and current local police chief, reassures Emma that Harrow isn't so bad. A classic Lipman plot twist heightens the fun when Estate of Mind has the chance to land a lucrative sale at a fashionable property, the Quail's Nest Bed & Breakfast--known locally as the house where "b" also stood for "brothel." Urging Emma to take on the sale, her stepmother pragmatically notes "your father and I are not the morality police," setting up a multitude of titillating episodes.

Lipman convincingly weaves together small-town coincidences, revelations of "B&B" customers, a discovery of a rare sculpture hiding in plain sight, and multiple nuptials to propel this witty and fast-paced feel-good novel to a satisfying conclusion. --Cheryl McKeon, Book House of Stuyvesant Plaza, Albany, N.Y.

Discover: Conducting an estate sale at the not-so-secret brothel masquerading as a bed and breakfast leads to madcap adventures for a small-town business owner in a witty novel of clever repartee and love.

Topics such as the veracity of memory and whether forgiveness is an obligation take center stage when a woman retreats from society to join a reclusive religious community in the Booker Prize-shortlisted Stone Yard Devotional by Australian author Charlotte Wood. The pensive novel opens with its unnamed narrator arriving at a small, rural convent outside of her hometown in southern Australia as a temporary reprieve from her marriage and job. By part two, she's been living in the cloistered community of sisters (without taking her own vows) for several years. The intentional monotony of life at the convent is interrupted by three upsettingly strange occurrences: a plague of mice, the discovery of the remains of a long-departed resident of the convent, and the arrival of someone from the narrator's past.

Wood (The Natural Way of Things; The Weekend) intersperses the primary plot with interstitial asides of memory and grief that will ring true for readers who have experienced their own sorrow as, in her newly quieted life, the narrator realizes that whatever a person's devastation, "there is no before or after. Even when the commotion of crisis has settled, it's still there." By giving readers a protagonist uncertain of what she's seeking, Wood's intensely insular novel ultimately poses the question of whether one has to be seeking something at all, showing that it's possible to find fulfillment in the bare bones of existence and how the repetition of simple tasks and appreciation of nature's harsh beauty are enough to constitute a life well lived. --Kristen Coates, editor and freelance reviewer

Discover: Acclaimed Australian author Charlotte Wood explores memory, grief, and forgiveness in a pensive novel about a woman who leaves her ordinary life behind to join a rural convent.

Alice Franklin's luminous debut novel, Life Hacks for a Little Alien, opens with a prologue, wherein the narrator addresses an unknown three-year-old who has just spoken her first words: "I'm dying a spider." The narrator, a linguist, explains the numerous ways this sentence is incorrect before turning to more comforting words--"Climb up here, Little Alien. Sit next to me. I will tell you about life on this planet. I will tell you how it goes."

The rest of the novel moves through the girl's life up to age 15. The tone maintains the direct second-person address, balancing detached observations with insights that feel more intimate, even internal. The unnamed protagonist (sometimes called "angel" or "sweet pea" by her parents but only "you'" by the narrator) moves through life uneasily, with delayed speech, difficulty performing social niceties, and trouble with eye contact. No diagnosis is ever sought or given, but after she is introduced to the untranslatable Voynich Manuscript that some suggest may have been written by aliens, things make more sense: "Maybe you are not alone in the universe after all. Maybe you are just alone on Planet Earth."

Despite these feelings of isolation, Life Hacks for a Little Alien is full of warmth, a tender and often hilarious examination of what it feels like to grow up neurodivergent. Besides giving her hope that she's not the only one of her kind, her early hyper-fixation on the Manuscript launches her lifelong fascination with language, which shines in the endlessly clever wordplay throughout. Beautifully drawn, Little Alien will resonate with readers, especially those who recognize themselves in her efforts to find her way in an unaccommodating world. --Sara Beth West, freelance reviewer and librarian

Discover: With unexpected humor and a clever structure, Life Hacks for a Little Alien walks readers through the challenges of growing up neurodivergent through the lens of one girl and a mysterious manuscript.

Cynthia Weiner's first novel, A Gorgeous Excitement, is a thrilling coming-of-age narrative set in 1980s Manhattan, featuring twists of humor, vulnerability and, of course, excitement. Eighteen-year-old Nina's main goal for the summer is to lose her virginity. Often frequenting Flanagan's, an Upper East Side bar, Nina sets her sights on the handsome and charismatic Gardner Reed. Her monumental plans are dimmed by her mother, who suffers from depression, with moods that shift, soar, and dip with each new medication, leaving Nina uneasy in her own home. Her unstable relationship with her mother, callous teenage gossip, and the otherness Nina feels stemming from her Jewish heritage push her to do whatever it takes to finally fit in.  

Stephanie, a new friend with a carefree spirit and a taste for cocaine, helps Nina put her plans into motion. Through Nina's pursuit of Gardner and her new self, A Gorgeous Excitement navigates female friendship, unconventional mother-daughter dynamics, and the dangers of New York after dark. Weiner's sharp and witty depiction, inspired by the "Preppy Murder" of 1986, is beautiful, suspenseful, and haunting, carefree in style but weighty in subject matter.

Nina's embrace of "Freud's description of a cocaine high: 'a gorgeous excitement' " casts a provocative mood on her exploration of herself and the city. Following the events of one pivotal summer, readers are absorbed into a vivid and mesmeric cautionary tale that captures the essence of 1980s New York. A Gorgeous Excitement is a fantastic portrayal of the trials and tribulations that plague the young female mind. --Clara Newton, freelance reviewer

Discover: Inspired by the 1986 New York "Preppy Murder," Cynthia Weiner's debut novel offers a coming-of-age narrative brimming with beautiful prose and suspense.

Diana McCaulay's sixth novel, A House for Miss Pauline, features an indomitable 99-year-old woman in rural Jamaica, trying to reconcile rights and wrongs near the end of a long life. Miss Pauline exhibits a brave honesty that endears her to readers as she wrestles with not only her own actions but centuries of wrongdoings on an island steeped in sugar and slavery. Kingston native McCaulay (Gone to Drift) evokes a rich setting through the food, climate, and other details, such as her characters' Jamaican patwa, which brings them to vibrant life.

Miss Pauline is less than a month away from her 100th birthday when the stones of her home begin to shiver, shake, whisper, and howl to her. The village is built largely of stone salvaged from a plantation big house Miss Pauline once discovered and designated for reuse in building her own home and many other structures. In this literal and symbolic rebuilding, she led her community in reclaiming what had been stolen: land, human lives, freedom. She is certain now that the stones are prompting her to reckon with her own life's work: community building, but also the unresolved disappearance of a white man who came to Mason Hall decades ago to challenge Miss Pauline for the ownership of her land. 

A House for Miss Pauline is a deeply captivating story of one complicated, admirable life and the nuanced history of Jamaica. Thoughtful, defiant, and just, the frightened but fierce Miss Pauline is uncowed in the face of youth and change; she's a hero for readers of all backgrounds. --Julia Kastner, blogger at pagesofjulia

Discover: Near her 100th birthday, a rural Jamaican woman faces the good works and wrongdoings of her own life and her island's history in this richly written novel of vivid characters and big themes.

The Café with No Name by Austrian writer Robert Seethaler (The Field; The Tobacconist) opens in 1966 Vienna. Robert Simon is 31 years old and about to embark upon the quiet dream of his lifetime: "to one day stand behind the bar of his own establishment"--the café on the edge of the bustling market, where Simon serves blue-collar workers like himself. He offers beer, wine, coffee, and raspberry soda; bread with drippings and gherkins; and a place of respite. He is soon joined by a single employee, a loner like himself. Mila, too, finds a home in the café with no name.

Seethaler's tender novel follows Simon and his café for the 10 years that they operate, until a change in the building's ownership pushes the small business out again. These years see Simon's Vienna neighborhood rebuild from postwar austerity, its population and workforce swell and change, and cultural patterns begin to shift. The café is a microcosm of these evolutions.

The Café with No Name focuses on mundane details of life. An aging prizefighter, two older ladies who drink and chat in the afternoons, the cheese shop proprietor and her painter boyfriend, and Simon's friend the butcher are among the regulars; they and others experience death and dismemberment, quiet violences, loss, and alcoholism, but also uplifting moments of humanity, friendship, and love. While Seethaler's characters face significant difficulties, the story never feels grim, but rather steadfast and even hopeful. Katy Derbyshire translates Seethaler's prose from the German with calm delivery, charming descriptions, and understated humor. This lovely novel sweetly and simply emphasizes built family, resilience, and rebirth. --Julia Kastner, blogger at pagesofjulia

Discover: A humble café in post-World War II Vienna serves as backdrop for all the large and small dramas of everyday life in this subtly scintillating novel.

As warm and comforting as the meals it describes, The Curious Kitten at the Chibineko Kitchen is a novel about grief and loss, but also about the beauty and resilience of life. Translated from the Japanese by Cat Anderson, this is the first of eight books in the Meals to Remember at the Chibineko Kitchen series by award-winning author Yuta Takahashi.

The novel's four chapters feature interconnected stories of people with unresolved loss, starting with 19-year-old Kotoko Niki, who has been unable to process her immense feelings of guilt over the death of her brother, Yuito. The director of Yuito's theater company encourages the grieving Kotoko to have a kagezen, or remembrance meal, at the Chibineko (meaning "little-cat") Kitchen in a remote seaside town. "When you eat a remembrance meal at the Chibineko Kitchen, you can hear your loved one's voice again. Their memory comes back to you." And so, in surroundings as mysterious as the restaurant's young chef, Kai, and resident kitten, Chibi, Kotoko experiences hope and transformation.

Takahashi is skilled at creating cozy, tranquil scenes, with light-dappled, evocative descriptions: "the brilliant blue of the sea and sky stretched out to infinity." The charming characters have moving narratives. The food, which is sensorially described, has a starring role as well, with regional and cultural exposition and recipes at the end of each chapter: "The nikogori couldn't withstand the heat for long and it slowly melted, releasing the aroma of the simmered fish."

Just like the meals carefully set out in this book, the stories in The Curious Kitten at the Chibineko Kitchen evoke bittersweet, fond, and favorite memories. -- Grace Rajendran, freelance reviewer

Discover: This cozy, soul-nourishing novel about life and loss pairs unresolved loss with delicious meals of remembrance.

After forays in Thailand (Fieldwork) and Haiti (Peacekeeping), National Book Award finalist Mischa Berlinski sets Mona Acts Out in New York City, over what should have been an extended family holiday--and its interrupted aftermath. While hosting Thanksgiving dinner, Mona Zahid makes an excuse about needing parsley and walks out of her Upper West Side apartment, taking only her beagle.

Mona is a leading stage actress in middle age and an integral member of Disorder'd Rabble, a "guerilla Shakespeare company" founded 50 years ago by legendary director Milton Katz. Milton's recently been exiled in a highly publicized #MeToo ousting. Left at home with Mona's in-laws is her niece, Rachel, who was the damning New York Times article's "Anonymous Source Number Three." Mona's runaway foray takes her (uninvited) to another Milton-victim's lively Friendsgiving. The next morning, refusing to return to her family, she ventures instead to Milton's Brooklyn townhouse. The timing may be inconvenient, but after avoiding Milton for a year, Mona can't be silent any longer.

Berlinski wields details that brilliantly highlight the grey areas between polarizing absolutes. He slyly uses humor as both weapon (beagle Barney is a savvy barometer of human behaviors) and softener (a Tamil taco stand owner watching--and judging--Mona's public doggie duty). His impressive familiarity with all things Bard notably enhances his narrative--tragic heroes, flawed humanity, "all the world's a stage." His author's note offers intriguing provenance--that although a NYT article about Israel Horowitz served as inspiration, Milton is otherwise not based on that director. Rife with resonance, Berlinski presents a can't-turn-away performance. --Terry Hong

Discover: Mischa Berlinski deftly sets the stage for life-changing holiday confrontations in Mona Acts Out, a memorable domestic dramedy set in New York City.

Tell some audiences that a novel is a domestic drama, and they're likely to head for the hills. But fans of old-fashioned, multilayered storytelling at its finest will savor Dream State, Eric Puchner's generation-spanning work about family, friendship, and the fate of the planet. In 2004, med-school dropout Cece shows up at her soon-to-be in-laws' lakeside home in Montana to finish planning her wedding to Charlie Margolis, the cardiac anesthesiologist with whom she lives in Los Angeles. While there, she meets Garrett Meek, Charlie's best friend from college, "a dour-looking guy dressed like a mechanic." Garrett has reasons to be dour. For starters, he's worried about climate change. He also hasn't gotten over the skiing accident death of another college friend, a death for which Garrett feels responsible. This "morose baggage handler" is Charlie's choice to officiate their wedding.

The stampede of bad omens continues when wedding guests come down with norovirus. But Puchner and destiny have much more pain in store. That Cece dumps Charlie right after the wedding and marries nuptials-averse Garrett, who becomes a wildlife biologist specializing in the tracking of wolverines, is only the beginning. Over the next 50 years, children are born, resentments resurface, drug addictions overwhelm, and Earth's temperature rises. Dream State dips into the future but isn't particularly futuristic except for its warnings about climate change. Puchner (Music Through the Floor; Model Home) devotes most of this novel to the travails of his characters, whose lives, like all lives, are a mix of rainbows and sucker punches. Both phenomena are rendered in exquisite detail in this marvelous work. --Michael Magras, freelance book reviewer

Discover: Eric Puchner's marvelous, multilayered novel about family, friendship, and the consequences of climate change starts with a 2004 Montana wedding plagued by stomach flus and second thoughts.

Marie Benedict continues to display her skill at bringing historic figures fully to life in her 10th novel, The Queens of Crime, about five legendary British mystery writers of the 1930s who join forces to solve a real murder. Benedict (Her Hidden Genius; The Only Woman in the Room) infuses the story with vivid period details and lively conversations, showcasing the friendships that sustained these famous women.

The book's narrator, Dorothy Sayers, founds the Detection Club for mystery authors in 1931, but faces skepticism from male writers who object to "an 'abundance of women' " in the ranks. Representatives of this "abundance"--Margery Allingham, Agatha Christie, Ngaio Marsh, and Baroness Emma Orczy--and Dorothy form a "club within a club," the "Queens of Crime," and commit to gaining respect for their talents.

Chauvinism soon arises again, when the murder of a young English nurse is inexplicably declared closed, and the Queens' mission "morph[s] into an urgent quest to do right." The riveting account of their sleuthing to solve a case that officials report "as if the victim herself were to blame" is at the heart of Benedict's novel, but the backstories of the crime writers are equally intriguing, including Agatha's widely reported marital woes (the plot of Benedict's The Mystery of Mrs. Christie), and Dorothy's deeply guarded secret that leads to threats and blackmail. With wit and determination, the Queens defeat injustice, deepen their friendships and, as Dorothy announces in a celebration hosted by the Detection Club "gents," they "ensured fair play after all." --Cheryl McKeon, Book House of Stuyvesant Plaza, Albany, N.Y.

Discover: A riveting mystery set in 1930s England brings together five leading women mystery writers from the Golden Age of Detective Fiction.

In Helen Fields's The Profiler, some of the cops with the Met police routinely rate crime scenes with a "gore score" in order to "warn officers what they were walking into," as one detective inspector puts it. The Profiler itself deserves a sky-high gore score, but not even its cascades of blood can erode this riveting thriller's hold on the intrepid-enough reader.

Midnight Jones is a data analyst at the UK office of global biotech company Necto, where employees use psychological profiling software to assess unidentified applicants' files for Necto clients. One day Midnight is unsettled by an applicant whose "brain activity showed arousal without empathy" when presented with deeply disturbing videos: slaughtered animals, a woman's death, and more. Midnight relays her concern to Necto's director of operations, who is dismissive: "You cannot report someone's psychology to the police." But shouldn't Midnight do so when a London woman is murdered using a methodology similar to one demonstrated in the videos? Might the videos have inspired the applicant to kill?

The Profiler is equal parts action and psychological thriller, its clutch of chapters from the killer's perspective manna for fans of inside-the-mind-of-a-sicko fiction. When Fields isn't laying bare the killer's haywire psychology, she's nimbly injecting her plot with reliable noir touches like split loyalties, betrayals, and unlikely heroes. The tough-as-nails but fitfully tearful Midnight is a smart and sympathetic protagonist whose hard choices are as unenviable as her one-of-a-kind first name, which does her no favors when the applicant comes prowling. --Nell Beram, author and freelance writer

Discover: In this bloody but riveting London-set thriller, a biotech company data analyst who uses psychological profiling software to assess applicants believes that one of them is a killer.

The titular curmudgeonly scholar finds life as a faerie queen both demanding and perilous in Emily Wilde's Compendium of Lost Tales, the high-stakes, smartly constructed conclusion of the Emily Wilde fantasy trilogy by Heather Fawcett (Emily Wilde's Map of the Otherland; Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries).

Dryadologist Emily Wilde and her faithful dog, Shadow, join her former academic colleague and current fiancé, Wendell Bambleby, in the research opportunity of a lifetime--reclaiming his faerie kingdom, Where the Trees Have Eyes. Living among its court will give Emily an unprecedented look at the workings of the perilous and mostly unstudied land. She sets about coaching her husband-to-be in winning over or at least intimidating his subjects but worries she will never make a convincing queen. Her concerns may be moot, as Wendell's stepmother, the deposed former queen, has laid a ruinous curse upon the land that will destroy it completely unless Wendell pays the ultimate price. Emily will need all her wiles, knowledge, and allies to safeguard Wendell and the realm, because failure could mean losing her throne, her love, and her life.

Emily remains as endearingly brusque and curious as ever in an emotional finale that reunites favorite characters and explores the tension of a relationship between a mortal and a creature of untold power. Fawcett delves deeply into the skewed logic of folklore that underpins this clever trilogy, hanging Emily's success fully on her scholarly strengths. As Wendell says to her, "Hand you the right storybook, and you are capable of anything." New creatures, daring battles, and a dynamic otherworldly landscape should satisfy fans of Emily's Faerie exploits. --Jaclyn Fulwood, blogger at Infinite Reads

Discover: The smart, romantic Emily Wilde trilogy closes with a high-stakes finale set in a perilous faerieland.

Change of Heart puts an imaginative twist on the elements of a classic small-town romance to create a whimsical and heartfelt rom-com filled with quirky characters and charming scenery. Falon Ballard (All I Want Is You; Right on Cue) is no stranger to romance; her heroine, Campbell Andrews, is. Making partner at her law firm at 34 left her no time for dating. She is unimpressed by love stories and those who chase them instead of professional success. Campbell agrees to a first date with Ben Loving, a handsome pediatric surgeon, to appease her grandmother, but the morning after is nothing like she thought.

She doesn't wake up in her own bed, or even in Manhattan. Along with confusion, she is greeted by a new house, a new neighborhood, and a new neighbor, Ben. Equally as shocking, the waitress from their date the night before, Mimi, is now their town mayor and she holds the answers to returning home. Cam is given three tasks to complete in this "Pleasantville with no internet access," appropriately named Heart Springs: find a career she is passionate about, become a valued member of the community, and experience true love. As Cam and Ben navigate life in this place where their wardrobes and lattes perfectly match the seasons, Cam's aversion to love gradually begins to fade.

Ballard's lighthearted, humor-filled tale holds valuable lessons. Cam's journey of self-discovery demonstrates that a career and love can co-exist, and that true love comes in more than one form. Ballard masterfully crafts an inviting small town, a swoon-worthy love interest, and witty banter that could slowly fill even the dimmest of hearts with hope. --Clara Newton, freelance reviewer

Discover: In this whimsical rom-com, a career-focused woman wakes up in a magical town where a swoon-worthy love interest and near-impossible tasks to return home may just change her mind about romance.

Kristina Forest offers the warm and lovely third entry in the Greene Sisters series. The Love Lyric stars Iris, oldest sister to Violet and Lily, who each found love in the first two books (The Partner Plot; The Neighbor Favor). Iris found love once before, too--but then her husband, Terry, was killed in a car accident when their daughter was only a baby.

It's been five years since Terry's death, but slightly uptight Iris is too busy now to look for love again. She's a corporate executive at a makeup company, and she really only cares about her job and her kindergartner daughter, Calla. So when Iris's company hires R&B sensation Angel as their representative for a skincare line, and her pregnant coworker suddenly goes on leave, Iris finds herself subbing in on a nationwide skincare tour with Angel. He's famous, sexy, and has the smoothest voice. Soon Iris starts to wonder if maybe she couldtry dating again.

The Love Lyric can be read as a standalone, but Forest's sensitive handling of its sweet themes of new beginnings and love in unexpected places are sure to send readers hustling to read the first two books in the series. How Angel overcame a tough upbringing before reaching stardom and Iris's fierce protectiveness of Calla will resonate with readers as Angel and Iris fall for each other. Forest has created wonderfully believable characters, and cleverly puts them in some very funny circumstances on their whirlwind tour. The Love Lyric is a pitch-perfect celebrity romance. --Jessica Howard, freelance book reviewer

Discover: In this sweet and sexy celebrity romance, a young, widowed Black mother crosses paths with a famous R&B singer.

Markus Zusak (The Book Thief) fans will feel as though they're in his living room as he reflects on the trio of canines--Reuben, Archer, Frosty--that round out his family in Three Wild Dogs (and the Truth). Life in Sydney's eastern suburbs unfolds mostly as the dogs see it: rubbish on the ground, nine lines of cars, and "almost, always, Cavoodles." But the author never anthropomorphizes the animals.

Frosty, the dog that begins the memoir, "was like walking a rolling thunderstorm" when they first rescued him. Only Zusak doesn't call it a rescue; he calls the pound "the group home." His irreverent tone will catch readers off guard as they grow fond of these three rescues. He also delivers offhand insights on writing: "There are so many books inside us, it seems, but they mostly remain unready."

When Zusak began to write about the dogs, he was afraid of failing them: "So much of my writing life has consisted of primarily that emotion. Abject fear." Some of the things the dogs do are flinch-worthy: "There have been murders, for example, and cover-ups. (I promise, I can explain.)" No humans, but it's harrowing. Yet readers grow to love the pups as much as Zusak, his wife, Mika, and their two children, Kitty and Noah, do. Their first dog, Reuben, slows his walk to keep stride with Kitty. And Noah would "protect [Frosty] with his life." Zusak places readers right in the struggles and victories of the dogs and their humans. As anyone who loves dogs knows, there's heartbreak but also so much love. --Jennifer M. Brown

Discover: In this moving memoir, told through the lives of the dogs that became part of his family, Markus Zusak shows a vulnerability as a devoted father, husband, and dog lover.

Explorer and author Erling Kagge (Philosophy for Polar Explorers) provides an exhilarating adventure through the history of North Pole speculation and exploration that continues into the current era. Translated from the Norwegian by Kari Dickson, After the North Pole covers subjects such as cartography, the habits of polar bears, and the salinity of sea ice, making for unexpectedly exciting reading.

Many people have been captivated by the idea of exploring the North Pole--some for religious reasons, as they thought it might be the site of the garden of Eden, and some for the less spiritual pursuits of conquest and extraction, hoping to find sea routes to India, China, and the "Spice Islands," as Indonesia was known then. For many, their quest or obsession proved fatal, and Kagge recounts with riveting detail the overconfidence, catastrophes, and occasional miraculous survival of expeditions through the centuries. ("The Dutchmen relished the fresh liver, but did not know that polar bear liver contains enough vitamin A to kill humans.")

Kagge weaves his own 58-day journey on skis from Canada to the North Pole with the collected history of those who have come before him. He delves into his own motivations as well as the less glamorous aspects of the trek, like when he and his companion ran out of food and had to attract the attention of a U.S. Navy spy plane, which "dropped a container of food and another with reading material, which was limited to Penthouse and National Enquirer."

After the North Pole is a thrilling, insightful, and magical journey with something to interest readers of all stripes. --Elizabeth DeNoma, executive editor, DeNoma Literary Services, Seattle, Wash.

Discover: This intriguing adventure through time, history, and ice investigates the myth and reality of the North Pole.

A journalist and storyteller internationally renowned for the stunning eloquence of his prose, Omar El Akkad brilliantly chronicles the painful fracturing of his relationship with Western liberalism in One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This. For readers devastated at how powerful Western nations have endorsed and financed the "world's first livestreamed genocide" in Gaza, the author's refusal to ignore the deep cracks in the "freedom" narrative of his chosen home, the United States, will resonate profoundly.

El Akkad's roots are global. He was born in Egypt, schooled in Qatar and Canada, and is raising his family in the Pacific Northwest. In the spirit of his first nonfiction title, El Akkad points to well-meaning Westerners who praise native communities around the world for standing up to their occupiers. Resistance is venerated "in hindsight," while during occupation, resistance is considered "terroristic." One day, he predicts, it will be safe enough for polite society to be shocked at the obliteration of Gaza, but only when it is too late and there are no consequences for speaking out.

Reflecting on a life of departures and arrivals, El Akkad (American War; What Strange Paradise) is engaged in quiet resistance to a Democratic Party whose progressivism and value for human rights "so often ends at the lawn sign." His moral courage in voicing his objections will inspire hope for similarly tormented readers in the face of their helplessness. Amid reminders of how much worse the political alternative will be, "there exists a point beyond which relative harm can no longer offset absolute evil," El Akkad insists. For him and many others, "genocide is that point." --Shahina Piyarali

Discover: An internationally renowned storyteller brilliantly chronicles the painful fracture of his relationship with Western liberalism in light of the "world's first livestreamed genocide."

Hotel Magnifique author Emily J. Taylor's sophomore YA offering, The Otherwhere Post, is a thrilling dark fantasy anchored by the magic of the written word.

Seven years ago, the world of Inverly was destroyed and the Written Doors that connected the worlds of Barrow and Leyland were "burned to cinders, obliterating [their] magic." In mere moments, everyone inside of Inverly was gone forever and travel between Barrow and Leyland "was cut off instantly, stranding everyone wherever they happened to be." Eighteen-year-old Maeve Abenthy has been trapped in "godforsaken Leyland all by herself" since that day. The young woman has not used her real name in years; her father was the cause of the cataclysm, and to carry the same name as the monster who destroyed the interconnected worlds is a curse and a danger: "if anyone discovered who she was... the families of her father's victims [would come] for retribution." Now, the only people who can cross the borders of the worlds are the couriers of the Otherwhere Post, who use scriptomancy, "the art of enchanting any piece of existing handwriting," to carry letters between Leyland and Barrow. When a letter arrives for Maeve claiming her father was innocent, the fragile existence she has built for herself is ripped apart.

Taylor has constructed a stunning exploration of the power of language to both free and bind, layered with complex characters, hints of romance, and a family mystery to unravel. The Otherwhere Post is sure to captivate, ensorcelling readers as if the author might be a practitioner of scriptomancy herself. --Michelle Anya Anjirbag, freelance reviewer

Discover: Emily J. Taylor's second novel is a thrilling fantasy with a dash of mystery and romance, populated with fascinating, complicated characters.

A supernatural villain bleeds the working class dry in webcomic artist Taylor Robin's early-20th-century-inspired YA horror novel, Hunger's Bite.

The luxury ocean liner SS Lark has a new owner, and captain's ward Neeta Pandey is not ready to trust him--Mr. Honeycutt demands the staff work longer, more strenuous shifts with no additional compensation or leave. Neeta, however, has little power on the ship, so she asks best friend and captain's son Emery to advocte on behalf of the overworked crew. But Emery has begun to grow distant and jealous as Neeta develops a friendship with a strange new boy on board--a boy with sharp eyes, a curious hunger, and two inhuman fangs. Can Neeta and her new friend stop Mr. Honeycutt from running the ship ragged and save Emery from making a bargain with Mr. Honeycutt's ravenous hunger?

Robin makes his YA debut with Hunger's Bite, an atmospheric graphic novel that seems to pull inspiration from class-based oceanic disasters like the Titanic sinking and Oceangate's Titan implosion. Robin's illustrations are striking: he uses palette to excellently convey tone, depicting Honeycutt's more coercive moments in sickly, disturbing greens, and his memorable character designs are particularly gruesome during horrific transformations. Mr. Honeycutt makes an excellent villain as he tries to manipulate the personal hungers of each character, but he is unprepared to face empathetic heroes and working-class solidarity.

For fans of books like Anya's Ghost and podcasts like The Magnus Archives, Hunger's Bite will more than satisfy--it will leave them craving more. --Nicole Brinkley, bookseller and writer

Discover: This striking, atmospheric 1920s-inspired graphic novel will thrill fans of historical horror.

A 10-year-old struggles to stop his brother from going "feral" in this sensitive, humorous portrayal of a family in crisis.

Things are falling apart at Angus's house. He's organizationally challenged, his parents are having money troubles, and his older brother, Liam, is sneaking out to drink and run wild around Los Angeles. "He used to be funny and normal, but now he snaps and goes bonkers and makes everybody sad or mad," Angus says. "It's scary." But Liam's behavior also inspires Angus's fifth grade "legacy" project: he writes and directs a play called Werewolf Hamlet, in which Hamlet turns into a werewolf when he becomes enraged. Angus hopes his brother will make the connection between Hamlet's unchecked behavior and his own.

Using that same wishfully creative mind to cope with stress, Angus holds imagined conversations with old-time Hollywood stars like Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton, during which everything in his life goes perfectly. But life is not ideal, and even the Shakespearean insults Angus flings at his brother aren't enough to control or cure him, as he learns when his parents start attending meetings for families dealing with substance-abuse issues.

Kerry Madden-Lunsford (Ernestine's Milky Way) empathically approaches a family dealing with multiple crises through a lens that may help readers feel less alone in their own struggles. Although some of the characters lack depth, Werewolf Hamlet is thoughtful and clever, well worth a place on the shelf. Bonus: Angus makes Shakespeare sound thrilling and hilarious. --Emilie Coulter, freelance writer and editor

Discover: Werewolf Hamlet is a lively, compassionate, and funny portrayal of a family in crisis and the lengths one 10-year-old will go to "fix and help and maybe even save" his teen brother.

Trouble Dog deftly tells the story of Tucker, a sweet pup with boundless energy, who, after a few failed attempts, is adopted by a woman who recognizes his potential.

Tucker loves to play. But all his romping, CRASHING energy means he's returned to the shelter so frequently, the attendant begins to warn visitors, "Not this dog. He's trouble." Months go by, until Laura finds him and wonders if "maybe he's the right kind of trouble." Laura begins to harness Tucker's exuberance with special training. She introduces "a strange, new smell" and when Tucker recognizes that smell, they play. She tries hard to trick him but "Tucker's nose never fail[s]." She introduces other smells until they are working with a conservationist in Hawaii to find invasive rosy wolfsnails. The pair continues to seek out invasive and endangered plants and animals, helping scientists to study them. Tucker becomes a romping, leaping, crashing hero, who also finds love in his "forever home."

Journalist and debut picture book author Carol Foote's text is as buoyant as her protagonist, with plenty of heart for good measure. Her story champions second--and third, even fourth--chances, along with the idea that some deeply hidden talents may need extra care and attention to flourish. Larry Day (Found) uses a loose line in his watercolor illustrations that allows his fully saturated colors to bleed and blend, creating a natural feel of movement to mimic Tucker's playful nature. Backmatter explains that Trouble Dog is based on "the true story" of Pepin and Wicket and includes plenty of fascinating facts about conservation dogs. --Lynn Becker, reviewer, blogger, and children's book author

Discover: Trouble Dog deftly describes a shelter dog's journey to wildlife-saving conservation dog.

This YA fantasy novel revitalizes a classic fairy tale using sophisticated characterization and macabre worldbuilding.

In Andrea Hannah's (Where Darkness Blooms) darkly atmospheric retelling of "Snow White," the princess is awakened not by a kiss, but by the shattering of her glass coffin. Twenty years have passed since Snow bit a poisoned apple, and the kingdom of Roanfrost has been consumed by a Blight, "the soil becoming so toxic that nothing would grow" while "animals mutated beyond recognition." To heal her kingdom, Snow must assume the role of Seasonkeeper and claim the "powerful growth magic" that runs in her family. Standing in her way are "poachers and beasts" and an evil queen who fascinates Snow despite her better judgment.

The Wildest Things is a bewitching and unsettling novel that starts with "Snow White" then adds themes of environmentalism (the Blight, like global warming, causes the Roanfrost to grow "hotter and hotter") and a sapphic enemies-to-lovers romance in which the wicked queen, rather than being a one-dimensional antagonist, is a compelling foil and love interest. Hannah's prose delightfully renders gruesome imagery, such as when a rabbit's "fleshy pink lips curled into [an] almost human grin... exposing two rows of jagged yellow teeth" or when vultures attack in a "bloody symphony." Readers who enjoy their fantasy on the darker side will likely be captivated by this eerie and epic fairy tale. --Alanna Felton, freelance reviewer

Discover: In this dark and enchanting retelling of "Snow White," the princess journeys through a monster-infested forest to save her kingdom while falling for the wicked queen.