In Less Is Lost--the follow-up novel to the Pulitzer Prize-winning Less, written by Andrew Sean Greer (The Impossible Lives of Greta Wells)--Arthur Less is on the road again. This time he travels the U.S. instead of overseas. Narrator Freddy Pelu, Less's lover, returns. Freddy, who is approaching 40, and 50ish "Minor American Novelist" Less live together in a San Francisco bungalow they call the Shack, previously owned by Less's former lover, poet Robert Brownburn. After Robert dies, Less learns he owes a decade's back rent to the estate. While Freddy narrates from his sabbatical in Maine, the novel follows Less on his money-making travels through the South, Southwest and Mid-Atlantic as he drives a famous science fiction writer and his pug to Santa Fe in an RV that "vibrates dramatically"; accompanies a theater troupe on performances of one of his stories; and fails to do his part while serving on a committee for a literary award.

Some readers might feel this novel is merely part two of Less, but a much more apt comparison is to Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita in that both are portraits of America from characters who consider themselves outsiders. The novel has one exquisite line after another; for example, Freddy describes himself as a man whose "curls have patinaed like scallops on old silver."

"America, how's your marriage?" Freddy asks at one point. Less Is Lost is more than just a gorgeously written sequel. It's also a perceptive observer's entertaining assessment of whether a breakup of the American nuptials is imminent. --Michael Magras, freelance book reviewer

Six of the eight stories in Ling Ma's debut short story collection, Bliss Montage, have already appeared in the usual prestigious publications (the New Yorker, Granta, the Atlantic). "They can just read them for free somewhere else?" a skeptical mother remarks to her about-to-be-published daughter over lunch in "Peking Duck," arguably the collection's standout story. But the bliss for fortunate audiences is to discover these gems gathered in a brilliant montage that begins with a story about Adam and concludes with one about Eve.

Ma (Severance) opens with an interlinked pair of tales: "Los Angeles," in which a woman lives with her husband, children and 100 ex-boyfriends, including violent Adam, who resurfaces as a serial partner abuser in "Oranges." A childhood friendship on the verge of severing in adulthood turns literally toxic with a drug called "G." A troubled married couple travels to the husband's birth country seeking renewal in "Returning." In "Office Hours," a professor and his student share the same office--many years apart--which houses a mysterious portal. U.S. government employee Eve faces an unusual geriatric pregnancy and chooses single parenthood in "Tomorrow."

Ma channels her own peripatetic experiences: her birth in China, her Utah upbringing and her current Chicago home--each geography included, possibly transformed, in her fiction. Effortlessly moving between the quotidian and surreal, Ma explores identity molded through immigration, parental expectations, cultural colonialism and conflicted relationships for searing, poignant and occasionally (surprisingly) droll gratification. --Terry Hong, Smithsonian BookDragon

Sebastian, Clara and Matilda are triplets in their mid-20s and already familiar with how life can batter, a truth compounded by the revelation of a family secret that upends everything they thought was true. Amanda Svensson's brilliant A System So Magnificent It Is Blinding, translated from the Swedish by Nichola Smalley, is a sprawling family epic exploring complex questions about the power of one's mind and the impact of one's choices.

After recounting the details of the triplets' dramatic birth (one infant--no one recalls who--whisked away in crisis), the novel opens in London where Sebastian is working at the Institute of Cognitive Science. There he meets Laura, who becomes his patient when her world, rendered entirely in two dimensions, goes flat. Part two turns to Clara, fleeing Sweden for Easter Island, an end-of-the-world destination suitable for a possible breakdown in the face of "the brutal, imposing beauty and revulsion of apocalypse, the only sort of beauty that had anything to do with truth." Part three should be granted to Matilda, but even though her story (which includes her synesthesia) is told, the novel denies readers such a neat pattern. Instead, the triplets' stories intermingle across continents and through tremendous upheavals, binding them more tightly even as their lives diverge.

This sharp and expansive novel takes up love, loss, truth and beauty and will challenge readers to decide if they agree when Matilda asserts: "We're all living in different worlds. It's up to each of us to decide what form that world takes." --Sara Beth West, freelance reviewer and librarian

David Rhodes returns to the setting of Driftless and Jewelweed, as well as many of his fans' favorite characters, in Painting Beyond Walls, his probing and moving sixth novel. Through his 30-year-old hero, August Helm, Rhodes explores tension between economic classes, the tradeoffs of progress, love and sex.  

It's 2027, and the Driftless area, dominated by hills and valleys more suited to family farms than industrial ones, has remained largely untouched by the larger technology-driven society. August left home for college, then spent eight years in Chicago as a lab scientist. He "depended on others to furnish him with a sense of self," so when beautiful, wealthy Amanda Clark ends their relationship and he gets laid off from his job, August returns to Words, Wisc. There the recently established enclosed community for rich people seeking refuge from nearby cities has caused friction with the townspeople. August falls in love with a stunning, smart, divorced resident of "The Gate," April Lux, for whom his mother serves as gardener.

As August undergoes a series of awakenings, Rhodes deposits nuggets of wisdom about privilege ("Every life comes with strings and how well you manage them is the only thing that matters," his mother tells August), different models of love, and the complexity of humans such as childhood friends Ivan and Hanh. Ivan tells August, "Money must be made, power used, and sex gotten," with a nightmare work experience on a pipeline to prove it. August must decide if he is ruled by these factors or if he can master his instincts and find a life of the intellect in the town he loves. --Jennifer M. Brown, senior editor, Shelf Awareness

Rebuilding in the aftermath of crises comes with no tidy answers in The Complicities by Stacey D'Erasmo (Wonderland; The Art of Intimacy). Suzanne finds herself starting over in a small beach town in Massachusetts after her husband is sentenced to prison for financial fraud and she files for divorce. She isn't taking her ex-husband's calls, and their adult son isn't taking hers. But she's beginning to find a new place, taking back her maiden name and working as a massage therapist. A whale beaches nearby, and Suzanne is overcome with a need to join the rescue effort. But her ex is released early, and the question of restitution for his crimes looms over all of them, including his new wife and his estranged mother, who also narrate portions of the novel.

The Complicities is a thought-provoking examination of the stories people tell themselves and the ways that their actions intertwine, whether deliberately or inadvertently, with the lives of others. Richly crafted passages about the whale and Suzanne's fascination with it highlight in moving ways both the interconnectedness of the world and the way that Suzanne and others can become so focused on the forest that they miss the trees in the form of the individual people around them. "The whale spouted. At least once, its tail moved, and I felt it everywhere, electric, almost painfully resonant. Time, measured by the spouting breaths of the whale, slowed."

In this carefully constructed meditation, readers will enjoy witnessing how characters slowly fit together the pieces of themselves that they had hidden. --Kristen Allen-Vogel, information services librarian at Dayton Metro Library

In 1910, on a ship to New York, 10-year-old Sara Glikman makes her first love match: she introduces her sister to the man she'll eventually marry. Sara's singular talent for matchmaking will lead her to a long career bringing soul mates together. Decades later, Sara's granddaughter, Abby, is a successful divorce lawyer in Manhattan. But after Sara's death, as Abby looks through her grandmother's old notebooks, she begins to suspect, inconveniently, that she may have inherited Sara's gift. Lynda Cohen Loigman (The Wartime Sisters; The Two-Family House) combines family secrets with a rich portrait of Jewish New York culture--and a touch of magic--in her warmhearted third novel, The Matchmaker's Gift.

Moving back and forth in time, Loigman chronicles Sara's career: making her first matches in secret as a teenager, then helping to support her family after her father's death. Sara faces stiff opposition from the local matchmakers--all older and male--and ends up representing herself at a local beis din, or rabbinical court. As Abby digs into her grandmother's story, she also navigates two tricky divorce cases at work, both of which could be affected by the strange new intuitions Abby experiences. Loigman also weaves in Abby's painful memories of her parents' divorce as well as Sara's own trials and triumphs in love. (Even for matchmakers, the course of true love rarely runs smooth.) 

Insightful, charming and packed with historical New York details, The Matchmaker's Gift is a tribute to the bonds of family and taking a chance on true love. --Katie Noah Gibson, blogger at Cakes, Tea and Dreams

Bobby Finger's unforgettable debut novel, The Old Place, hits the rare and satisfying double note of harrowing and delightful. Roughly 90 minutes outside of San Antonio, Tex., a recently retired schoolteacher navigates various relationships and juggles old secrets in the kind of small community where everyone thinks they know everything about everybody else. Mary Alice Roth is a compelling, although decidedly prickly, protagonist; secondary characters only sweeten this heart-wrenching, warm-and-fuzzy small-town drama.

In the opening pages, Mary Alice is furious at being forced out of her job, and at the young woman--new to town and newly wed into an old family--hired to replace her. She tentatively renews her friendship with neighbor Ellie, hinting at one of the novel's first slow reveals: the two women (one widowed, one divorced) had sons the same age who were also best friends, until a double tragedy. As readers puzzle over the deaths of Mary Alice's husband and son, her (also long-estranged) sister, Katherine, shows up unannounced and unwelcome, all the way from Atlanta. Mary Alice continues her practice of bullying and haranguing the local ladies in preparation for the annual church picnic. Katherine prods her to take responsibility for an old wrong, and together they reopen old wounds. Ellie privately nurses a new romance, only adding to the ever-twisting mysteries and secrets.

At its heart, The Old Place is about the way people relate to one another: family, neighbors, new and old friends. The messiness, pain and grace of these relationships are candidly portrayed in a story that will inspire laughter and tears, making this debut a memorable achievement indeed. --Julia Kastner, librarian and blogger at pagesofjulia

For decades now, the Walt Disney film version of Felix Salten's Bambi has broken young viewers' hearts as they are forced to confront life's harsh realities through the death of young Bambi's mother. Though this moment is tragic, it is not the emotional crux of the story in Austrian author Salten's original 1922 text. Instead, the lens widens, deepening readers' understanding of the forest as an interconnected web of life. This fresh translation from the German by Damion Searls highlights the relationship between human behaviors and the destruction of the wilderness. Salten makes the loss of Bambi's mother feel natural, whereas the removal of the old oak is depicted as raw, rough and unnecessary: "All of us who lived there had to feel, and watched how He bit through the old oak with a gigantic twinkling tooth. The tree screamed from its wound, it was so loud, and it kept screaming, and the tooth was screaming too.... It was horrible to hear. Then the poor beautiful tree toppled over." This, too, will break hearts.

Salten's classic is suitable for young readers but would also be appreciated by adults, especially those who are drawn to stories that put human notions and ideals in their place--that is, on the edges instead of at the center of everything. As Bambi grows from doting fawn to independent deer, readers will recognize an unexpected coming-of-age story that will feel right at home in contemporary literature. Searls's translation is beautiful, lingering on vivid descriptions in stunning sentences. --Sara Beth West, freelance reviewer and librarian

Exasperating family dramas take center stage in The Frederick Sisters Are Living the Dream, the dynamic, episodic debut novel from Jeannie Zusy. Three middle-aged sisters are bonded by family history. The oldest, Betsy (aka "Bets"), is a free spirit; single and independent, she runs a successful surfing school in California. Ginny, the middle sister, lives in Maryland. A 56-year-old, sugar-craving diabetic and retired high school janitor, Ginny reads and writes at a third-grade level, but her intellectual disability doesn't hinder her from conniving to get what she wants. And Maggie, the youngest, is a dutiful mother of two grown sons. Living an hour north of New York City, she works as a successful storyboard artist for TV commercials and is separated from her husband.

The women's parents are deceased but left ample finances to provide for Ginny's care and well-being. When she is hospitalized after overindulging in Jell-O, Maggie comes to her rescue. Maggie's good intentions are met with opposition when she relocates Ginny, under duress, to a nursing home in Westchester County, N.Y., where Ginny refuses to live with "old people." Betsy wants absolutely no part of--or say in--Ginny's caretaking. Maggie is caught in the middle, forced to juggle familial demands as she struggles to manage her own midlife crisis along with Ginny's and Betsy's. All three women are at personal crossroads.

Zusy's funny, bittersweet story is rife with emotionally dramatic scenes where Maggie's witty, first-person narrative adds levity to serious, tender themes about family, sisterhood, commitment, caregiving and love. -- Kathleen Gerard, blogger at Reading Between the Lines

Long-time friends often know everything about each other--ideally offering love, despite past histories. But sometimes those secrets can grow into a seething hatred, as Ann Cleeves (The Heron's Cry; The Long Call) so persuasively depicts in The Rising Tide, her superb 10th novel in the Vera Stanhope series.

The novel's title refers to the Holy Island of Lindisfarne, cut off from the mainland on England's northeast coast for hours daily. For five-year intervals during a span of half a century, a group of friends has gathered at a convent turned guesthouse, the place they met as teenagers during a school retreat. Divorces and other life changes have dwindled the group to five. After a delicious meal and much drinking on the first night of the latest reunion, Rick Kelsall, who lost his BBC hosting job over sexual misconduct allegations, is found hanging from a rafter. Vera and her Northumbria Police team soon learn Rick was murdered, even though the death at first appears to be a suicide. Although it seems unlikely any of the sexagenarians could hoist Rick up to the rafters, Vera and her team uncover myriad secrets, exacerbated by a book Rick was writing about his friends, the complications behind his firing and another death that occurred at the first reunion.

The engrossing plot delves into the friends' reminiscences, which seem innocuous but possess an underlying menace. Vera--blunt, intelligent, frumpy and obsessive yet deeply affectionate toward her team--continues to prove her investigative mettle. A visit with Vera--whether in the series or via the television adaptation, now in its 11th season--is always welcome. --Oline H. Cogdill, freelance reviewer 

The fate of Illinois police chief Lucia Gomez's career relies upon the quirky instincts of private investigator Pinky Granum in Suspect, the 12th book in the Kindle County series from Scott Turow (Identical; The Burden of Proof; Presumed Innocent). The narrator of this slow-burning legal thriller, Clarice "Pinky" Granum, has an insatiable curiosity and it hasn't gotten her killed--yet. That might change when she starts tailing her mysterious neighbor. He has no car and no visible job, and there's never any sound coming from his place. The only thing she knows is that he's dangerous. But Pinky's boss, attorney Rik Dudek, isn't paying her to unravel that mystery.

Rik employs Pinky to learn why three policemen have accused Chief Gomez of forcing them to have sex with her for promotions. Lucia doesn't deny the dalliances occurred but insists there were never strings attached. It is clear that someone has convinced the three cops to go along with a plan to not only run Gomez out of office but also destroy her career. Before Pinky can determine the identity of the mastermind, one of the policemen turns up dead. And somehow Pinky's neighbor might be involved in the whole mess.

Turow's Pinky stands out as a study in creating an interesting character without diverting attention from a taut legal thriller. She's a whip-smart, tattooed bisexual who sports a nail through her nose and a magenta mohawk. Understanding that Pinky's visage is merely armor masking a complicated person with a brilliant mind is Turow's superb method for leading readers toward acceptance and away from judgment. --Paul Dinh-McCrillis, freelance reviewer

Four septuagenarian sleuths, an ex-KGB agent and a Swedish assassin combine for a rollicking good time in The Bullet that Missed by Richard Osman (The Man Who Died Twice; The Thursday Murder Club). The residents of Coopers Chase, a luxurious English retirement village, now have several solved crimes under their belts. But Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim and Ron have not yet sated their curiosity, so at a Thursday Murder Club meeting they decide that they're going to investigate a cold case: the death of journalist Bethany Waites.

Bethany's car went off a sea cliff a decade ago, and she hasn't been seen since. Although there was blood and clothing in the car, her body was never found. Because Bethany was investigating a huge tax fraud ring just before her disappearance, the four sleuths are suspicious. Meanwhile, Elizabeth, a retired MI6 agent, has been receiving mysterious text messages that lead her to reach out to Viktor, an old KGB acquaintance. Inevitably, hijinks ensue. Game show hosts, crime bosses, television news presenters and antique dealers are soon all drawn into the Thursday Murder Club's sphere of influence.

Laugh-out-loud funny, while also showcasing a depth and tenderness about aging, The Bullet that Missed is the delightful third entry in the Thursday Murder Club series. Osman presents a wonderful array of characters who engage in an entertaining and twisty mystery. The Bullet that Missed, heartwarming and hilarious, is perfect for readers who miss Mrs. Pollifax or Miss Marple. --Jessica Howard, freelance book reviewer

The twisted Daphne by Josh Malerman (Pearl; A House at the Bottom of a Lake; Bird Box) opens with a tied basketball game with one second left on the clock. Kit, a member of the girls' high school basketball team, steps to the foul line. Before releasing the ball, she silently asks the rim, "Will Daphne kill me?" The ball goes through the net and Kit knows she is about to die.

The night before the big basketball game against summer league rivals, Kit Lamb and her teammates have a sleepover. One of them recounts the story of seven-foot-tall murdered teen Daphne Vann. Legend says that merely thinking about Daphne brings her angry ghost back to life. Naturally, Daphne is suddenly all the team can think about. Kit and her mates treat basketball like a Magic 8 Ball, asking a question before taking a shot. If the ball goes in, the answer is yes; if it misses, it's a no. The rim has never lied to Kit. When she makes the game-winning free throw, Kit knows it's just a matter of time before Daphne will kill her. But first up are some of Kit's Daphne-obsessed teammates. Carla McGowan, the newly transferred detective, is smart--but it's impossible to track a vicious ghost when tight-lipped local residents hold the secret to stopping the murders.

Daphne continues Malerman's streak of masterfully written horror stories set in small-town America. His ability to turn a strange premise (underwater haunted houses, pigs capable of mind control, murderous ghosts drawn forth by thoughts) into believable reality is simply magnificent. --Paul Dinh-McCrillis, freelance reviewer

Accolades for Birdverse, the diverse, inclusive fantasy series from R.B. Lemberg (The Four Profound Weaves), include Hugo and Nebula nominations for short fiction. In The Unbalancing, the urgent, bittersweet first novel of the series, a charismatic starkeeper and a shy poet confront the past in hopes of saving their home and their people.

Erígra Lilún has no desire to serve as starkeeper to the unquiet Star of the Tides, one of 12 magical stars the goddess Bird bestowed upon humanity. The star has slept tethered for a thousand years to the archipelago where they live, but now its nightmares shake Lilún's island with earthquakes. The ghost of the original starkeeper haunts Lilún and pressures them to bond with the star, but they refuse because the sleeping star cannot give its consent. Ambitious, impatient Ranra Kekeri has no such qualms and accepts both the glory and responsibility of the position. Lilún is smitten, calling her "someone I would write about through words of summer storm and thundercloud," though they find Ranra's high energy and decisiveness disorienting. Starkeeper and poet take the lead in calming the star, but every move seems to bring their home closer to disaster.

This prequel to Lemberg's poem "Ranra's Unbalancing" intimately sketches its protagonists and the culture they inhabit, which accepts gender as a spectrum. Nonbinary Lilún's journey to finding their place on that spectrum feels deep and authentic. Lemberg gorgeously captures the fragility of life, the courage of despair and the uncertainty of nascent love on the cusp of destruction. --Jaclyn Fulwood, blogger at Infinite Reads

Jasmine Guillory, author of the Wedding Date series, exchanges busy San Francisco for California's lush Wine Country in Drunk on Love, her newest romance. Margot Noble inherited half of her uncle's winery. This would be great, if people weren't constantly surprised that a Black woman owns a winery and if the other half of the establishment wasn't owned by her recalcitrant brother, Elliot. Tired of arguing with Elliot and irritated that he hired some guy named William without even consulting her, Margot heads to a local bar to burn off some steam. She is delighted to discover a handsome Black man there (a rarity in Wine Country) and, although she's not usually a one-night-stand person, Luke is irresistible. Margot ends up going home with him and having an incredible night.

The next morning, when he arrives at the winery to complete his paperwork, Margot is horrified to discover that Luke is actually Luke Williams, the "William something" her brother hired. Luke is also alarmed that the sexy woman he spent an amazing night with is his new boss. Can they work together without giving in to the strong attraction between them?

As always, Guillory (Party of Two; Royal Holiday; The Wedding Party) brings readers a female lead who is smart and savvy--and knows what she wants out of life. But Margot has a lot to juggle between the winery, her complicated relationship with her brother and Luke's hotness. Fans of Guillory's other books or Abby Jimenez's Part of Your World are sure to love Drunk on Love. --Jessica Howard, freelance book reviewer

Lucy on the Wild Side by Kerry Rea (The Wedding Ringer) is a charming Ohio-set romance, perfect for fans of Kerry Winfrey or Christina Lauren. When Lucy Rourke was a girl, her mom abandoned her for a Hollywood career. Lucy coped with her mother's absence by bonding with Zuri, a gorilla at the Columbus Zoo, and obsessing about Dr. Charlotte Kimber, famous for working with wild Rwandan gorillas.

Fast forward 20 years, and Lucy is a junior keeper working with primates at the Columbus Zoo. Astonishingly, Dr. Kimber's son--Kai Bridges, a famous Crocodile Hunter-esque television host--chooses the zoo to film the next season of his show. Lucy is thrilled to meet the son of her idol--until he turns out to be rude and dictatorial. And, what's worse, as shooting for the new season begins, Kai insists that Lucy must be on camera. Lucy really prefers to stay in the background with her beloved gorillas, but she also wants to be promoted to senior keeper. Can she, all at once, navigate her appalling stage fright; Kai, the handsome jerk; and her mother's reappearance in her life?

Lucy on the Wild Side, sweet and sexy, showcases a woman afraid to ask for more from life. But slowly Lucy comes to realize she deserves love and that Kai just might be the person to offer it. Full of hilariously disgusting animal facts, Lucy's delightful clumsiness and a full cast of amusing zookeepers, Lucy on the Wild Side is sure to appeal to romance fans and animal lovers alike. --Jessica Howard, freelance book reviewer

Lynda Barry is a teacher, an Eisner Award-winning comics artist, and a MacArthur "genius grant" recipient. Considered one of the form's most influential creators, Barry helped move the comic arts into the mainstream. It's So Magic collects Ernie Pook's Comeek episodes from the early 1990s featuring teenager Maybonne Mullen and her younger siblings, Marlys and Freddie.

When the book opens, Maybonne and Marlys are living with their grandmother, and Freddie is living elsewhere. In introducing their mom, Maybonne explains, "We don't live with her for she is too high strung." Few mentions are made of their mother, with only occasional references to a possible breakdown. Later, Freddie rejoins his siblings, and at the end, they all go home, a reunion that perfectly captures Maybonne's mixed emotions: simultaneously angry at their mother and overjoyed to see her.

Maybonne and Marlys are perfect foils to one another, equal parts angst and antics. Teenaged Maybonne believes the world is magic even when she is low, experiencing what the ever-exuberant Marlys calls "riding on a bummer." As Maybonne wrestles with issues of faith and war and injustice and discrimination, Marlys manages to pepper her often hilarious segments with unexpected insights. It's So Magic offers true laugh-out-loud moments as well as thoughtful commentary that will feel as fresh today as it did in the 1990s. If it feels like Marlys steals every scene, that's because she does, but it is through Maybonne that readers will find themselves thinking deeply about the human experience, and that is Barry's great gift: to make readers laugh and to make readers think, all at the same time. --Sara Beth West, freelance reviewer and librarian

Belgian poet Charlotte Van den Broeck (Chameleon) has written a lively, deeply engrossing exploration into the nature of architectural creation. She "developed a personal interest in architectural failures--especially in failures that cost the architects their lives," when, in the early 2000s, her Flemish hometown swimming pool was beleaguered by a multitude of problems. Mechanical flaws and technical glitches peaked when the pool started to sink into marshy ground, raising the possibility of swimmer electrocution. The growing list of dangers eventually led to rumors that the disgraced pool architect, left publicly unnamed, had taken his own life.

This led Van den Broeck to consider: "What makes a mistake larger than life, so all-encompassing that your life itself becomes a failure? Where is the line between creator and creation?" Van den Broeck examines this and 12 other doomed architectural structures--churches, theaters, libraries, post offices, galleries, gardens and golf courses in Europe and the U.S.--researching their creators, some plagued by hubris and haste. This includes the Church of Saint Omer in Verchin, France, designed in the 1600s by architect Jean Porc. It took nearly 70 years to build the gothic structure, whose tower became crooked and twisted due to a lack of proper support and the use of unseasoned elm wood that warped. Legend has it that, in defeat, Porc jumped to his death from the "exceptional" spire.

The sad tragedy of suicide resides at the heart of each historically framed, vividly written chapter. The narrative, translated from the Dutch by David McKay, is buoyed by Van den Broeck's meditative insights into all aspects of the creative life. -- Kathleen Gerard, blogger at Reading Between the Lines

In 1978, a couple of New Yorkers--artist Andy Warhol (1928-1987) and writer Truman Capote (1924-1984)--got it into their heads to write a Broadway play together. It was Warhol who suggested that they record their conversations on tape; their chatter would be the source material for a great theatrical work. They never wrote the play, and the tapes were forgotten until theater director Rob Roth got it into his head to finish the job. The result is WarholCapote: A Non-Fiction Invention, a funny, dishy, illuminating and affectingly melancholy play that presents a series of dialogues between the titular titans, augmented by well-chosen asides pulled from interviews and other sources.

Across five conversations taking place in New York--at Warhol's studio, Capote's apartment, and a trio of hot spots--the friends cover some of their major life events and hang-ups. Warhol tells Capote about his discomfort with sex and about being almost fatally shot by Valerie Solanas in 1968. Capote vents about his alcoholism, appearance and unhappy childhood. Both men expound on topics such as their creativity, their homosexuality and Jackie Kennedy. Capote comes across as the more philosophical: he argues that a play "has to do basically with truth treated in a fictional form. To see a certain reality about what people are thinking. To see what is going on in their heads and everything." Warhol comes across as the more, well, Warholian: he says of their theoretical play, "I think it should be a situation comedy." Given WarholCapote's zingy odd-couple chemistry, that wouldn't have been a bad idea. --Nell Beram, author and freelance writer

This book will change the way you write. Whether it's e-mails, memos, fiction, tweets or newsletters, Smart Brevity: The Power of Saying More with Less gives readers simple directives from the personal experiences of Jim Vandehei, Mike Allen and Roy Schwartz, co-authors and co-founders of Axios. 

Here are a few "Tips & Tricks": subject lines should be no longer than 60 characters; one-syllable words are better than two-syllable words, two-syllable words are better than three-syllable; "active verbs always." Strong data supports the authors' advice. Once their articles moved to the Web and analytics entered their lives, they discovered: "On average, the typical person spends just 26 seconds on a story or update"; "about 80 percent of people... consumed, at most, 490 words." Readers were not staying for their complete stories. Each chapter of their book starts with a "Smart Brevity Count," based on the number of words and estimated time to read them. The authors do not stop at how to improve one's journalism, however. They discuss the art of the newsletter (including internal company newsletters), how to run Smart Brevity meetings, give speeches, communicate on social media--even how to run a company.

The common threads: What's the one big takeaway you want folks to know? Tell them why it matters. Then, before you go, remind them of the one big thing you want them to remember. Chock full of humor, insider lessons learned and lots of bullet points, Smart Brevity may well result in a paradigm shift in the workplace. --Jennifer M. Brown, senior editor, Shelf Awareness

Boutique fitness studios, clean eating, meditation retreats: they all sound helpful at best, harmless at worst. But what about other offerings from the $4.4 trillion wellness economy, such as intuitive fasting, on-demand manifestation workshops  and crystal-assisted exorcisms? Journalist Rina Raphael is skeptical: "Pseudoscience and quacks have always been a mainstay of American culture," she writes in her tour de force, The Gospel of Wellness: Gyms, Gurus, Goop, and the False Promise of Self-Care. "But we've entered a new era of uncritically accepting them and their charcoal-infused nonsense."

Why is this so? Raphael outlines the appeal of wellness to a population disillusioned with traditional medicine and conventional religion, and she spotlights the ways that the wellness industry takes advantage of women's unique vulnerabilities. Women are pressured to be the fairer (and buffer) sex, and they often work the fabled--and exhausting--second shift at home after a day at the office. "In a sick way," Raphael writes, "we're sedating women with consumerist self-care--or worse, silencing them instead of encouraging them to vocalize their grievances."

Although she doesn't give Gwyneth Paltrow of Goop a pass, Raphael admits that she comes to her first book as a consumer of wellness products. She also acknowledges that the industry has done some good by prompting people to consider their health as they shop. But Raphael's evenhandedness doesn't negate the overall radicalism of her thesis. The Gospel of Wellness is the exposé the First World didn't know it needed a lot more than it needs jade vaginal eggs. --Nell Beram, author and freelance writer

Courtney Summers (The Project) is known for pushing boundaries and exposing the cruel realities young women face. I'm the Girl, her eighth YA novel, is no exception. This part murder mystery, part thriller, part queer romance is a brutal, raw account of truths behind power and privilege.

Sixteen-year-old Georgia "George" Avis finds the body of 13-year-old Ashley James, who was raped and murdered. When Ashley's 17-year-old sister, Nora, shows up at George's house wanting to be told everything, George is pulled into an amateur investigation. Meanwhile, George begins a summer job at Aspera, a grand private resort whose members use it as a retreat to "escape themselves and the world's prying eyes." She aspires to be an "Aspera girl"--a select group of beautiful young women who attend to the "nation's most elite"--but reluctantly settles for being "a glorified fetch." As George sinks deeper into this privileged, wealthy world and develops feelings for Nora, they get closer to finding Ashley's killer, and she will discover that the life of beauty and power she's always longed for is far more dangerous than she thought.

At the center of this thriller is a murder mystery that Summers unravels piece by piece, parallel to the events taking place around George. She makes the case that the paths of these two very similar young women could've easily been swapped, adding to the novel's visceral dread and unease. A bright spot: the slow-burn romance between George and Nora. Their imperfect relationship evolves naturally and brings some levity to an otherwise dark and heart-wrenching novel. Devastating yet honest. --Lana Barnes, freelance reviewer and proofreader

Freedom forges a path to love in National Book Award-winner Ibram X. Kendi's lyrical picture book adaptation of Magnolia Flower, a short story by Zora Neale Hurston first published in 1925.

The Brook is desperate for a story and the Mighty River, knowing "brooks must be humored," tells one. "Long ago," the Mighty River begins, strong Bentley fled enslavement. "Soon a whole village of runaways" grew around him and he married "Swift Deer,/ a Cherokee woman who had fled/ her own trail of tears." They named their daughter Magnolia Flower "for she came at the time of the flowers opening." The girl grows as the Civil War rages, falls in love and eventually defies her father, fleeing down the Mighty River with her beloved. Nearly 50 years later, the lovers return to the River to find the spot where the River meets the Brook.

Hurston's extensive catalogue of work is focused heavily on the beauty and struggles of the Black lived experience. Kendi (Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You) uses poetic and accessible prose to restate Hurston's historical truths. Kendi's adaptation retains a strong presence of the natural world, another prominent element in Hurston's writing. His textual personification of the surrounding environment is delicately and subtly conveyed through Loveis Wise's illustrations. Wise (The People Remember) does not use human attributes for the natural world, instead placing the river, the trees, at the center of sprawling scenes. Their gentle digital illustrations have a vivaciousness that reinforces the depth of Hurston's characters as well as the vastness of the world encompassing them. --Rachel Werner, author and teaching artist at Hugo House, Lighthouse Writers Workshop and The Loft Literary Center

In this deeply whimsical and dazzlingly illustrated picture book, two sisters with opposite interests love each other despite their different personalities.

White-blonde Beatrice enjoys "scurry[ing] into dark corners" like the spiders in the attic, while her straw-blonde sister, Roo, "likes sunshine and birthday parties and smashing crashing blasting noises." For Beatrice, Roo's love of "wearing pink and red and purple" is confounding, and Roo doesn't understand the "black clothes with little bats on them" that her sister wears. The sisters fall asleep glaring at each other across their shared bed. Yet both also dream of togetherness--Beatrice of "two sisters watching fireflies," Roo of "two sisters squeezing lemons for lemonade." When Roo pleads with Beatrice not to leave her alone in the "dark dark dark," the two join hands and each learns how the other sees the world.

April Genevieve Tucholke (The Boneless Mercies) crafts a charming story infused with an air of mysticism--of "milky moonbeams" and potions and songs. The art of Khoa Le (Sugar in Milk) elegantly contrasts and connects the sisters at once. Deeper palettes represent Beatrice's beloved black barn cats and "sleek black ravens"; brighter tones and white backgrounds highlight Roo's "fairy-tale button path" and yellow marbles. Color also ties the girls together. The red of their matching pillowcases appears in Beatrice's "shimmering crimson beetles," garden shovel and picnic basket as well as in Roo's checkered dress, "sun-warm strawberries" and "rosy-cheeked apples." Beatrice Likes the Dark is a "wild, windy," "fierce" and "silvery" piece of art. --Samantha Zaboski, freelance editor and reviewer

David Bowles continues his eloquent, autobiographical narration of the "border kid" experience in They Call Her Fregona, a captivating novel-in-verse companion to his 2019 Pura Belpré Honor book, They Call Me Güero.

Joanna Padilla, the titular fregona, is a "tough girl," first introduced in Güero. After Joanna saved Güero from bully Snake Barrera, she let Güero be her boyfriend because it "took guts to ask a girl for help." The pair are now a solid couple, sharing kisses and integrating into each other's families and friend groups: Güero's los Bobbys and Joanna's las Morras ("the Girls"). When Joanna's father is grabbed by ICE in front of the school on the first day of eighth grade, she needs not only Güero's support, but assistance from their entire border community. In between organizing, planning and protesting, Güero's life must go on--he has band practice with los Bobbys, fights against "old school literary nonsense," friends' crushes to navigate and "Decolonized Thanksgiving" to celebrate.

Bowles once more showcases a linguistic feast, storytelling via various poetic forms (sonnet, heroic quatrain, haiku, sestet) and intertwining languages (including Korean). At narrative's end, Bowles appends a helpful 15-page glossary for enhanced understanding. He also adds a delightful note in which he shares that his readers were already requesting "a part two" even before the impressive success of Güero. "But it needs to be about Joanna," they insisted, because "she's the best character in the book." --Terry Hong, Smithsonian BookDragon

Bone Weaver by Aden Polydoros (The City Beautiful) is a transportive YA fantasy about the monstrous nature of oppression.

In the Kosa Empire, people believe that the Three Sisters bestow nobles--never commoners--with magic. Peasants who have magic, then, are suspected as kolduny, witches tainted with the Unclean Force, and are considered criminals. Koschei, a koldun and "madman," leads an anarchic group that wants power transferred to commoners. He is also trying to craft an elixir of immortality, so when his followers find a rare child upyr (resurrected dead), they take her to Koschei. Determined to find her kidnapped adoptive sister, 17-year-old Toma leaves home to find Koschei. She is joined in this undertaking by two young men who are innately at odds: Mikhail, the dethroned tsar who must kill Koschei to get his magic back, and Vanya, a commoner condemned to execution as a koldun because he used magic to save his town from murderous tsarists.

Polydoros's worldbuilding is astoundingly multilayered. The group ventures across ravaged landscapes hosting beautifully sinister creatures of Slavic folklore like rusalki (river spirits) with "gill-split torsos," "fermented fish odor" and eel-slick skin. The trio's slow development into something nearing a queer polyamorous relationship as they shed different shackles of oppression is a marvelous transformation that readers should find breath-taking. There's also an oddity emporium shakedown, a fight on a moving train, a castle infiltration and brief alliances with monsters. Vanya's magic is gorgeous ("buds bursting into white bloom"; inanimate objects crackling with growth), his banter with Mikhail irresistible, his tenderness with Toma warming. Bone Weaver is a heartrending fantasy fraught with class conflict that celebrates reclaiming identity. --Samantha Zaboski, freelance editor and reviewer