Among the best books reviewed this week: Invisible Things by Mat Johnson, a "chilling, bitingly funny sci-fi allegory"; Rogues: True Stories of Grifters, Killers, Rebels and Crooks, which collects 12 pieces by Patrick Radden Keefe about a "fascinating assortment of characters"; and This Place Is Still Beautiful, XiXi Tian's "radiant YA debut."
The Writer's Life features Linda Villarosa, author of Under the Skin: The Hidden Toll of Racism on American Lives and on the Health of Our Nation grew out of her article for the New York Times magazine, in conversation with her mother, Clara Villarosa, founder of the storied Hue-Man Experience bookstores in Denver and Harlem.
--Jennifer M. Brown, senior editor, Shelf Awareness