The Twins A Domestic Novel (TREDITION CLASSICS)

The places, the food, etc. If you enjoy being exposed to other cultures, this book is for you.

However, the absolute star of this novel was not the mystery, nor the authentic-ness of the setting and characters. The development of the characters themselves was what really made this novel for me. Every character, every conversation is humorous, sarcastic and witty The complex, plausible plot is peopled with authentic characters, most notably the wry, pot-smoking, disillusioned Rocco Readers will hope to see a lot more of Rocco. Rave Publishers Weekly This anthology Overall, these pieces respond to a widespread sense of displacement and division by expressing a yearning for centeredness, as well as a fear that the hearth, and the sense of belonging it symbolizes, are disappearing from contemporary life.

Thought-provoking, meditative, mournful, and comforting for readers who seek a connection to purpose and meaning, the anthology acts as a hearth of its own. Positive Kirkus The author ably gets to the heart of the game, and if little of what he writes will come as news to discerning fans, there are some fine set pieces featuring battle-weary players and devious front-office types.

A worthy offering for fans of the modern, increasingly embattled game. Mixed Beatdom A valuable resource for Beat enthusiasts We get inside his mind and gain a new perspective on some parts of the journey — presenting a pretty different take from what appears in the major Ginsberg biographies Alas, none of his journals from Czechoslovakia survive or have been found, at least , so that part of the book is padded out with letters already published elsewhere, and a half-hearted attempt which ends very suddenly to recall events that he had written some time later My only criticisms of this book are superficial ones.

It is Ugly with a capital U. The fonts used throughout the book are inexplicably horrendous, particularly for titles, footers, and the table of contents. Cutesy hearts are used to separate certain sections, and the crude retro designs near the beginning of the book are truly off-putting. The pattern more or less repeats itself in Czechoslovakia, the Soviet Union, and Poland, to the detriment of the text, parts of which were confiscated. Editor and Ginsberg biographer Schumacher accordingly supplements his faithful transcription with some additional materials, such as letters and retrospective accounts Mixed Publishers Weekly Although Emma covers an impressive range of topics, her treatment is heavy on anecdote and opinion, light on in-depth analysis or factual information.

Most of the book, however, feels underdeveloped, typical perhaps of a web-posted piece but not as well adapted to a larger print volume. That said, the timeliness of the book and its easy reading poise it to be a likely gift buy to mark feminist friendships.

The 2018 Branford Boase prize shortlist

Mixed Publishers Weekly Bitter betrayals, testosterone-fueled male rivalry, erotic temptations, and dizzying shifts in allegiance abound. The author supplies a lush atmosphere based on Middle Eastern traditions, but her characters flounder in facile and often contradictory motivations. Arian succeeds by rejecting men who expect her to give up her individuality and her sworn duty.

The challenging language makes it hard to get into this otherwise interesting tale. Positive Kirkus This is heavy stuff, but readers expecting a turgid, scholarly tome need not worry Throughout the narrative, Wootton demonstrates a consistent ability to make complex intellectual ideas approachable. Histories of ideas can be a snooze, but this is a surprisingly lucid examination of a dramatic revolution in human thought.

Berry nimbly covers New Orleans in all its aspects over years Every major city should have such a guide to its past. Positive Publishers Weekly Evocative It will be fascinating to anyone interested in the cultural influence of entertainment. This excellent analysis is cogent, accessible, and well-argued.

Positive Kirkus Want someone to blame for Iraq and Afghanistan? Williams renders in chilling detail, Mary was raped by and consequently forced to marry the Earl of Bothwell. Forced to abdicate, Mary fled to England hoping for assistance from Elizabeth, who instead detained her and subsequently ordered her execution.

Though parts of the story may be well-known to readers of royal history, Williams injects enough fresh viewpoints to make it a satisfying whole. Edited by Leslie S. Positive Kirkus A gargantuan, extensively annotated collection of five cornerstones of American crime fiction that every fan will want to own even if they never read or reread them If four of the five selections are memorable mainly as period pieces, Red Harvest still seethes with an unsettling power Though die-hard fans may find it disappointing to return to these hoary landmarks, Klinger has provided the perfect gift for newcomers lucky enough not to have read its contents already—and the perfect excuse to wonder if a s sequel may be lurking around the corner.

Positive Publishers Weekly These five novels, all wildly popular when first published, offer a window on the world of manners and attitudes in America in the s. Rainer Maria Rilke, Trans. He is courteous, sometimes urgently effusive, his writing occasionally borders on the starchy. He recognises that the process of mourning is individual. But he tends not to focus on the person that has died In a sense, the contents of this book should be relabelled letters of non-condolence.

Mixed Kirkus The letters included in this brief but dense collection are In each letter, Rilke addresses the death of the person in question, but he also uses it as a steppingstone to offer his own perspective on the ways in which humans are conditioned to die But for those just now discovering his work, the letters might serve as a disservice to the colossal beauty of his poetry Harper is faithful to the historical record of the Ripper murders, but his solution, which combines elements of several theories, disappoints.

Readers will hope Harper treads less familiar ground in any sequel. As in the adventures of Sherlock Holmes, a leading feature is the vivid, thorough questioning of a colorful cross-section of Londoners, here including brash Cockney boy John Richardson, inept but loquacious Dr. Llewellyn, and beat policeman Sgt. At length Doyle does indeed stir the interest of the serial killer who calls himself Jack the Ripper, and he and Margaret get close enough to him to rescue an intended victim Rave Publishers Weekly Roberts continues to mine both quotidian and existential moments in another deeply satisfying collection of simultaneously deadpan and poignant autobiographical comics, delineated in slightly awkward but appealing black-and-white drawings.

Roberts depicts moments of funny domestic life with her husband, Scott; their young daughter, Xia; their dog, Crooky; and her quirky but always supportive parents Her spare but evocative line drawings, with their generous use of white space, work in tandem with the direct and detached tone of her narratives, allowing readers to fill in the emotional spaces between visual pauses. Roberts is a unique and nuanced storyteller, and this proves her best, richest book yet.

Readers will come away with a cleareyed portrait of the author through the stories of her joys, sorrows, and intimate impressions. A powerful testimony to the determination and strength necessary to persevere despite assumptions, scrutiny, and societal stigmatization. Pan Publishers Weekly Jessie Sloane, the chief narrator of this lackluster psychological thriller from bestseller Kubica, spends her teen years caring for her mother, Eden, until Eden dies from cancer at their home in Chicago.

Numb with grief, insomniac Jessie tries to get on with her life by applying to a community college, but a college official informs her that her Social Security number belongs to a girl who died 17 years earlier Kubica fans will hope for a return to form next time. Rave Kirkus Quiet, gorgeously put-together The metaphorical layering with regard to extinctions—the ends of things—is beautifully accomplished The various sad backstory details about old deaths, betrayals, and other wounds are teased out slowly and patiently, but that momentum is no greater than the more uplifting one: A really fine, deeply intelligent book with so much to think about and so much unexpected hope.

A final twist at the end fails to elevate this hard-to-stomach love story. Harper Lee, Illustrated by Fred Fordham. Assuming and shedding identities like a snake would its skin, Gracie somehow contrives to stay a half-step ahead of disaster, albeit not always believably. But while she may escape unscathed, her actions often wreak devastating collateral damage.

Fascinated readers will keep turning the pages. An unusual female perspective defies expectations and, ultimately, entertains. While recognizing the efficacy of political assassination, Bergman is also sharply critical of its use, which is rife with those unintended consequences and often involves the killing of civilians—leading, in turn, to the deaths of civilian Israelis A significant contribution to our understanding of Middle Eastern politics and its far-reaching effects.

Pan Publishers Weekly Uneven Smart, convincing dialogue compensates only in part for a trite solution to the murder and a denouement that strains credibility. Rave Publishers Weekly This gorgeous, complex, and magical novel, grounded in Germanic, Russian, and Jewish folklore but richly overlaid with a cohesive, creative story of its own, rises well above a mere modern re- imagining of classic tales Her work inspires deep musings about love, wealth, and commitment, and embodies the best of the timeless fairy-tale aesthetic.

Readers will be impressed by the way Novik ties the myriad threads of her story together This is the kind of book that one might wish to inhabit forever. Positive Kirkus In spare prose of great clarity Novik weaves in and out of multiple first-person narratives in sometimes-illuminating, sometimes-disconcerting or confusing ways A medieval fable of obscure moral import blossoms into a thoughtful, emotionally complex, absorbing drama that stands confidently on its own merits. Rave Publishers Weekly Each story in this poignant debut plays on how music is interwoven with the deeply felt emotions of its young characters, each of whom are poised at tipping points in their lives This stunning debut pulls off the rare feat of drawing about music with authenticity and charm.

Positive Kirkus As Wilson acknowledges, Graves has been the subject of several well-regarded biographies. Despite these sources, however, this biography offers a familiar, if finely nuanced, portrait of Graves, his family, and his scandalous relationship with the mercurial Riding A delightful and sexy take on love between a suave African prince and a nerdy epidemiology student.

After a strong start, the ending falters, but the chemistry between the lovers makes up for that slight disappointment. These disparate stories are woven into a beautiful narrative The novel reads like a love song to a tortured, desperately messed-up city that is undergoing remarkable transformations.

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Rave Kirkus One must hope that this book is a harbinger of a coming flood of other fantasies that draw on traditions and cultures outside the confines of Northern Europe Those accustomed to the usual run of epic fantasy will find familiar elements A very strong start for a new voice. Rave Publishers Weekly [A] complex, affecting epic fantasy Thanks to the miracle of caffeine, the author delivers a stirring, nonpreachy sermon on gratitude.

Rave Publishers Weekly Mason, Mo. The language is smooth and the story moves along at a comfortable pace to a fitting, albeit easy, ending. This pleasant novel highlights the joys that can come from the little things in life. Positive Kirkus In this small town, truisms prevail over truth every time Psychological realism sacrificed on the altar of niceness.

Mixed Kirkus Hey, what if a book was like Fight Club but instead of fights, everyone takes a heroic dose of drugs and plays superhero? This ambitious, half-cracked debut about Generation Z students struggling with a bent concept of the future in the midst of a slow apocalypse is an ambitious but acidic take on superhero stories and the price of growing up A timely fable of generational angst armed with that old punk ethos: Laura is an enjoyably flawed protagonist Though relatively young, Clae fills the mysterious mentor role perfectly, his secrets hidden behind literal dark curtains.

City of Broken Magic shines most brightly in the interactions between the three Sweepers, and fantasy fans will hope for more exploits in Amicae. Rave Publishers Weekly Comes to life thanks to a no-frills, working-class point of view that immerses readers in the world of the Sweepers This debut builds a fascinating setting that readers will want to keep coming back to. Mixed Kirkus The magic system is fascinating, but the worldbuilding can be confusing: Overlong and rough around the edges but still promising. Positive Dailymail I found the bizarre, gory tales in The Penguin Book Of Japanese Short Stories infinitely more absorbing than those involving the humdrum arena of everyday life, an area much more acutely handled by Western writers The earliest story in the entire book was written in Even though Japanese literature stretches further back in time than our own — they were even writing science fiction as long ago as the 10th century — the editor offers no explanation for this strange cut-off point.

Positive Kirkus Recounted with deadpan British wit and irony Newcomers are advised, however, that the frequent references to previous events and episodes may prove confusing even as they enrich the context. The one aspect that lacks real depth is the magic, which is flatly Harry Potter—ish Lively and amusing and different. Mixed Publishers Weekly More funny than memorable, with the plot overshadowed by the laugh-out-loud prose At more than pages, it is around twice as long as the norm for graphic narratives, and Anderson does a solid job with the narrative arc, showing how the young ardent idealist, educated as a physician, became synonymous with heroic revolutionary commitment, which ultimately led to his falling out with Fidel Castro On the visual level, it succeeds brilliantly, with the sweeping scale of the illustrations taking the measure of the man and his legacy.

However, the necessary abridgement of text falls somewhere between simplifying his story enough to capture a younger readership and retaining enough of its context and complexity to satisfy those for whom this would not be an introduction A valiant effort and a visual triumph, though the necessary abridgment compromises the depth. An affecting and original thrill ride highlighting the bond between two friends put in a horrible situation by actual Chinese government policies. While some of her observations may be dated, most remain relevant as she astutely holds fast to the importance of giving children honest, hopeful, and entertaining stories in a changing world.

Rave Kirkus Curiously fascinating Her thoughts on traditional attitudes toward sex, emotional attachment, and misappropriation add clarity and perspective to a narrative that reads as more than a simple discourse on bridging robotic automation and artificial intelligence with adult novelty. Her visit to a sex doll factory provides a future-forward glance at the race to capitalize on this fascinating and lucrative niche market An immensely absorbing and provocative book.

He clearly illuminates both the promise and the peril of driverless vehicles An invigorating bit of future-trend prognosticating, generally positive, if warning direly of global gridlock if trends continue. Urban planners, architects, and transportation activists will definitely want to take note. Previous biographies came from past lovers and friends, and each seemed to have an agenda, often salacious. Griffin goes a long way toward rectifying this issue, casting a respectful light on some fresh as well as familiar details. Throughout, [Griffin] provides a balanced, multifaceted view of his subject Despite a colorful cast of characters that ranges from Hollywood royalty to Newport Beach party boys, Hudson himself remains a cipher.

Positive Publishers Weekly Kate Granger, the heroine of this well-crafted supernatural thriller from Webb Well-delineated characters and a suspenseful plot make this a winner. Simultaneously melancholy and sweet at its core. Positive Publishers Weekly Well-researched and fast-paced Groom effectively synergizes the interactions of personalities and policies to make a persuasive case This is an excellent history.

Not Groom at his best but certainly serviceable for readers without much background in the history of the era. Positive Publishers Weekly Readers unfamiliar with Israeli author and public intellectual Oz will find this collection of three essays, adapted from a series of lectures, a good introduction to his nuanced perspective Oz examines zealotry in general terms, noting that it predates Judaism, Christianity, and Islam and is not currently limited to radical Islam The author makes it clear that these female kings could be as tough, and sometimes as sanguinary, as their male counterparts; if forgotten, most were also skillful.

The most famous, Cleopatra, was an exception, for Cooney reckons her a failure, having tied her fortunes too closely to a man Cooney provides welcome insights into pharaonic politics while bringing numerous little-known Egyptian women to the fore. Attempting to draw parallels between the pharaohs and contemporary rock stars and politicians, Cooney occasionally asks too much of her narrative.

In an era of McCarthy-ite redbaiting and witch-hunting, how could scientists with leftist affiliations keep on working on classified projects related to that struggle against the Communist bloc? A strong contribution to the history of modern science. She writes informatively about the political events and issues that influenced American policymakers, among them the Soviet launch of Sputnik and the debate over atomic weapons proliferation. Wolfe also focuses on how, as the Cold War progressed, the CIA, in service to using the American scientific community as a weapon of propaganda, became increasingly involved in influencing or controlling the exchange of scientific information between scientists in the U.

While the suspense is thin, Sise offers an astute glimpse into tragic loss, the innermost lives of women, and the highs and lows and societal expectations of motherhood Though melodramatic, this compelling character study will resonate. Rave Kirkus A highly detailed account The interplay of personal stories with the broader strategic picture makes the book especially illuminating, and the author also provides a few pages of helpful diagrams and maps A fascinating must-read for World War II aficionados.

Positive Kirkus Follows an intriguing premise A novel and wide-ranging examination of the conclusion of the war once solemnly declared to be the one to end all wars. Rave Publishers Weekly The Weavers Detailed and smartly reported, this work marvelously captures the four voices in a complex era that influenced pop-folk bands that followed. Positive Kirkus Jarnow delivers a by-the-numbers biography of a band whose popular songs and covers earned them plenty of attention during the Red Scare and a place on the blacklist There are also interesting cameos sprinkled throughout this colorful tale A well-researched music biography best read with some traditional American folk songs playing in the background.

A whimsical story collection from a gifted writer with a keen eye and a playful sense of humor. Funny without collapsing into wackiness, these eccentric, beguiling stories are reminiscent of Haruki Murakami and Kafka. Positive Kirkus Tremblingly earnest The real power of the book, though, lies not in its philosophizing but in the unsteady tenderness between its characters A book that attempts to walk the thin line between the trite and the profound—and sometimes succeeds.

Positive Kirkus The borders between the animal, human, and spirit worlds are constantly breached in these creepy magical realist tales of grief and obsession Brief, macabre stories that twist our obsessions with animals and our own thoughts. Like Poe for the new millennium. Rave Kirkus In the first half of the book, Brothers focuses on Duke Ellington and his many collaborators, most notably the composer Billy Strayhorn The Beatles were another story Brothers frames his analysis in smooth, relatable prose that anyone familiar with the music of Ellington and the Beatles can understand.

Along the way, the author provides a sweeping history of 20th-century popular music, the rich backdrop against which the incredible music of Ellington and the Beatles was composed—music that is incredible primarily because of the cooperative spirit that brought it to life A fresh blend of scholarly musical analysis and provocative ideas about creativity and how composers create great art.

Rave Publishers Weekly Duke University musicologist Brothers explores the collaborative nature of two massively influential 20th-century songwriting pairs in this probing study of pop-music collaboration Listeners of Wait Wait. The book——part memoir, part advice column——is both entertaining and poignant. A four-person character study—here as always, Hadley is a master of interpersonal dynamics—the novel captures the complexity of loss. Their grief is not only for Zachary; it is for the lives they thought they knew.

Hadley is a writer of the first order, and this novel gives her the opportunity to explore, with profound incisiveness and depth, the inevitable changes inherent to long-lasting marriages. Positive Kirkus A mistress of the sweeping family saga, bestselling author Trigiani A heartfelt tale of love too stubborn to surrender to human frailties.

Romance novel

Positive Publishers Weekly Trigiani Packed with melodies, memories, humor, and love and loss, this effortlessly plotted novel is an emotional page-turner. Positive Kirkus Reina, as translated from the Spanish by Nelson The book is wonderfully paced and suitably tense without ever drifting into melodrama. It reads like a cozy, middle-grade fantasy novel, but for an adult audience. An enjoyable, finely written fantasy tale. Edited by June Eric-Udorie. Positive Kirkus In an eloquent and searing introduction, debut editor Eric-Udorie Murrow and perhaps not enough practical resistance, the author rightly points out how the media brought some of the trouble on themselves by allowing Trump all the oxygen in the room—which can be fixed.

In this brief yet vigorous broadside, Kalb concludes that the media must shoulder the burden of checking the authoritarian impulse at work today: Pan Kirkus This novella originally appeared in , as one of the contributions to Millennial Women Rave Kirkus This short novel, which could probably be read with equal pleasure by any intelligent person between the ages of 14 and 90, is a paradox of sorts: In a mode light-years away from the recent Malafrena or most of her previous fantasy or science fiction, Le Guin achieves miracles of tact and lucidity; the allegorical implications of the story are touched on with an understated sweetness that can only be described as masterly.

An impeccable parable--and some of the best work ever by a humane, high-minded, underappreciated novelist. Mick Cornett with Jayson White. It will appeal to planners and residents of such areas. Valuable lessons for students of urban design and planning as well as local governance. The action scenes will fill your nose with the acrid smell of gunpowder, and leave your tongue with the metallic taste of blood. Carrasco gives Alma all kinds of appetites—for sex, mischief, power, and more—then feeds them with one lusty chapter after another. Society may push Alma into a liminal space, but she is absolutely living it up.

Positive Crime Reads Richly detailed Rave Publishers Weekly Carrasco succeeds in coupling a feminist historical that maintains period plausibility with an exploratory queer narrative rarely seen in the crime genre. Breath-catching pacing, tantalizingly rough-and-tumble characters who are somehow both distasteful and deeply relatable, palpable erotic energy, and powerful storytelling make this a standout.

If Trump is no more real than the reality TV that created the monster, then Shields clearly believes that the era of polite discourse is over and that the brutal truth is the only truth there is. A compelling book offering something to offend nearly anyone. Mixed Publishers Weekly Shields brings a cynical outlook and collage style to psychoanalyzing President Donald Trump and American culture in this idiosyncratic cultural critique Mixed Kirkus Notably lacking is a clear, technical explanation of fracking—though maps of the shales are helpful—and McLean writes to an audience familiar with the jargon of industry and finance.

All but overlooking the environmental impact of the extraction method, the author tracks the billions of dollars made, invested, and lost in corporate fracking transactions, most of them an order of magnitude or so above the common experience. The business-minded should appreciate the focus and precision of this brisk overview, while readers in search of more informative conceptual arguments about the industry and its geopolitical implications should look elsewhere.

A good writer as well as a specialist in black holes, Impey works hard and mostly successfully to illuminate complex phenomena without resorting to the TV documentary magic show entertainment trumping explanation and includes plenty of personal anecdotes, imaginative analogies, and useful illustrations. Readers who remember freshman college physics or astronomy will have an easier time, but few will regret encountering such irresistible astrophysical wonders.

Positive Publishers Weekly Science writer and astrophysicist Impey With clarity and enthusiasm, Impey describes the work of scientists In subjects including the supermassive black holes at the center of every galaxy and primordial black holes, Impey gives readers a good sense of how these phenomena have gone from astronomical curiosity to intellectual touchstones that fascinate and challenge researchers. Eric Dezenhall and Gus Russo. This is an informative and exciting history for the general reader and for the espionage expert alike.

Positive Kirkus A rollicking tale of Cold War espionage An unusual, entertaining story of steadfast friendship amid governmental treachery. Positive Publishers Weekly Short but persuasive Mixed Kirkus Half history, half polemic As it is, his strongest cases for breaking up Google are tucked into dry concluding policy prescriptions Positive Publishers Weekly Davis, a professor of immunology at Manchester University, provides health-conscious readers with a broad overview of his specialty. His book concentrates on two main tasks: This is a world-ranging book of sharp juxtapositions and surprises As good a comparative survey of religion as there is and a pleasure to contemplate.

Austeur [the governesses employer] Positive Kirkus Each sentence evokes a dream logic both languid and circuitous as the governesses move through a fever of domesticity and sexual abandon. Serre works in fairy-tale archetypes, but she subverts them, too This is a fascinating fable about marriage, longing, and sexual awakening—about what can happen within the walls of a house when the barriers between nature and domesticity are stretched to their breaking points.

A sensualist, surrealist romp. Rave Publishers Weekly Poet Miguel De Cervantes and Ilan Stavans. Mixed Publishers Weekly Writer Stavans However, poor word balloon placement and other technical errors detract from the reading experience. Mixed Publishers Weekly Fletcher He starts intriguingly, by grounding the project in human vanity Rave Kirkus A veteran science journalist builds a fascinating narrative With stakes this high and writing this lucid, readers will be drawn into the narrative as easily as matter being drawn toward the event horizon itself.

The author also includes a helpful guide to acronyms and abbreviations and a cast of characters. This work may be of more interest to those concerned about the manosphere than those seeking feminist readings of classical texts. The novel centers on Evan Whitesky, a young father to two children living on a reservation in northern Canada who is attempting to relearn and maintain the traditional ways in a world where society has collapsed and electricity, cell phones, land lines, and satellites have all disappeared This slow-burning thriller is also a powerful story of survival and will leave readers breathless.

Rave Publishers Weekly An almost unheard-of diversity of tales absolutely sing in this superlative anthology of short speculative stories. Encompassing a wide range of styles and perspectives, the book swings gracefully from thoughtful superhero SF Most of these authors express that theme as the battle for bodily and spiritual autonomy Jones, in which rebellious cyborgs masquerading as a spacefaring restaurant must cannibalize themselves for entrees.

Sometimes one must transform to escape, but the essence remains The stories in this collection will leave the reader mournful, angry, and inspired. Decker restores depth and context to an author much maligned in his own time and much misinterpreted by later eras. Rave Publishers Weekly [A] brilliant sequel full of deeply developed characters Positive Publishers Weekly Lucid and informed Graeber gives readers a basis for both understanding the challenges involved and for cautious optimism that a cure can be found. Mixed Kirkus Though sometimes clumsily written, the book offers hope for more effective treatments in the near future A readable survey of the emerging field of immunotherapy in cancer treatment.

Arnold van de Laar, Trans. Rave Publishers Weekly Amsterdam surgeon Van de Laar devotes his first book to vivid descriptions of notable surgeries, from ancient times to the present. Trial, error, and gore fill these lively accounts of professionals and a few amateurs wielding the scalpel to remedy bodily affliction Fast-paced and lucid, this is medical history not for those with weak stomachs. A well-rendered, harrowing book about dire circumstances. Meijer is an expert at worldbuilding, and the narrative she spins is fractured across fairy tale, mythology, and the occult. Broken into lines, the story becomes even more propulsive and strange While Meijer is sometimes stronger at creating an overall effect than at landing individual lines, the result is still memorable, strange, and haunting Passages crackle with breathtakingly fresh images Positive Publishers Weekly Charming, confident The portrayal of groups of normal people falling into mob violence and hatred of the other groups is genuinely unnerving, and Tanzer resists simplistic moral takes.

Some elements of the plot are a touch predictable, but the overall effect is delightful. At the suggestion of a newspaper editor acquaintance, Dexter gets in touch with Bob Fleming Smooth prose compensates only in part for a familiar plot. The daughter of refugees fighting for a free South Africa, her earliest memories centered around other exiles tied to the African National Congress A candidly intimate tale of a journey toward self-identity. Only the heavy-handed conclusion mars this high-voltage psychological thriller. Readers will be riveted until then.

Now, with The Future is Female! Ain , both from And that is the case—to a point The selection of pulp stories is somewhat questionable. These issues aside, make no mistake: The quality of the stories here is unassailable The Future is Female!: Positive Publishers Weekly These 25 distinguished short SF stories from the s to the s evince the important early contributions made to the genre by women authors, who were intrigued by its openness to hitherto unexplored experiences An elegant work of suggestion and misdirection. For fans and newcomers alike, this is Modiano at his very best.

Positive Publishers Weekly Wells follows the classically tight adventure pacing of All Systems Red with a slightly disorienting shift to self-exploration Sounds like a rollicking time—which it is, but not in the way one might expect Positive Kirkus Murderbot is the narrator of the novella and its voice is tremendously engaging, dripping with sarcasm Cue hilarious moments when two robots try to learn ways for Murderbot to behave like a person would—snags and all Mixed Kirkus Retired U.

Tata brings back Jake Mahegan for another realistic, high-stakes military adventure While some of the details of this plot are a little vague, the general direction of the narrative is believable, and the main characters, while lacking development, get into copious amounts of action A very readable and contemporary military action story. Camilla clashes with her male boss, who sidelines her and dictates her approach to stories.

It makes for a dramatic opening, but Soria has to spend the rest of the book filling in the background This is a thrilling adventure story. It would be twice as thrilling if it were split in two. Rave Publishers Weekly Austrian author Beer makes her English-language debut with this outstanding series launch set in Vienna Rave Nudge Beer is clearly a talented crime novelist because this debut, the first in a new historical detective series, both thrills and charms. They are characters that readers will come to love as the series progresses.

There is a rich vein of Austrian crime fiction in translation but most of it is set in a contemporary environment. The Second Rider is excellently translation by Tim Mohr. Mixed Kirkus Ghodsee sums up her thesis in the introduction: Using her years living in Bulgaria as fodder for the narrative, along with decades of research, she makes the case that there are lessons capitalist countries can and should learn from socialism Ghodsee makes a convincing case, though she fails to investigate how socialism addresses LGBTQ and people of color.

While the title is the literary version of click-bait, the book is chock-full of hard-hitting real talk. Rave Publishers Weekly Eastern European studies professor Ghodsee expands her viral New York Times op-ed into a passionate but reasoned feminist socialist manifesto for the 21st century. Positive The Guardian Jonathan Coe, in his expansive and often very funny Middle England , is the first author to address our current crisis of national identity using the form that feels most suited to the task While we want everything we read at the moment to speak with the voice of our own particular echo chamber, Coe — a writer of uncommon decency — reminds us that the way out of this mess is through moderation, through compromise, through that age-old English ability to laugh at ourselves.

New, inventive, different — we should be reading more Japanese crime fiction. Newcomer is just as clever, with the structure itself leading to so many red herrings. Rave Quill and Quire Brimming with the fantastic and strange Leroux is a fearless writer who invokes fable with sure-footed confidence A number of the Victorias are defined as arrows pointing north. A testament to the power of fable and myth, Madame Victoria is a triumphant feat of storytelling.

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Parker fans will look forward to seeing what Lupica does with Sunny in her next outing. An enjoyable read for Clancy fans. Mixed Publishers Weekly So-so The main action builds to an extremely clever twist. Meanwhile, in random interludes, President Ryan deals with an attack on the American embassy in Cameroon and the attempted assassination of a political rival. Maybe, once Ryan has finished his term in office and can do more than sit resolute behind a desk, he will again excite readers.

Positive Publishers Weekly Expertly revealing Miller seamlessly weaves in the stories of other unmarried women connected to the case, illuminating how and why, by the s, attitudes about women and sexuality were changing enough to give Pollard a chance at victory. Good, timely history for the MeToo moment. Mixed The Economist In bygone eras, a powerless American woman wronged by a powerful man had little prospect of redress. A thin hope, established by a case in Massachusetts in , allowed a jilted woman to sue for breach of promise.

That precedent sets the stage for Bringing Down the Colonel , in which Patricia Miller chronicles an explosive but largely forgotten episode in the annals of sexual politics Ms Miller shows how the scandal laid open previously taboo topics—adultery, illicit pregnancies, abortion and sexual hypocrisy. Rave Publishers Weekly Harvey weaves a dazzling tapestry around loss and confession in lateth-century England in this breathtaking novel The lush period details and acute psychological insight will thrill fans of literary mysteries and historical fiction.

This is an utterly engrossing novel. Positive Kirkus Harvey has subtly crafted a complex narrative A dazzling, challenging read but one worth taking on. Positive Kirkus Fans will appreciate early sections recounting the search for obscure albums and the necessity of playing dilapidated venues The introduction, moreover, is discordantly jokey. Sincerity is what bolsters this book. Tweedy writes movingly about his parents, his wife and children, and his desire to find an artistic home for his band Thoughtful, earnest reflections on family, creative integrity, and a life in music.

Positive Publishers Weekly [A] sincere, affable memoir Tweedy tells a wonderfully unassuming story of a music-filled life. Sergey and Marina Dyachenko, Trans. Rave Kirkus Vacationing at the beach with her mom, year-old Sasha Samokhina reacts with terror when a mysterious man in dark sunglasses starts following her around and staring at her. There, Sasha and her fellow students must memorize long passages of gibberish, solve koanlike math problems, and listen to deadening recordings of silence, all without a single error or misstep, or the people they love will die Although it fits squarely in the popular school-for-magicians genre, this dark, ambitious, and intellectually strenuous novel will feel like a fresh revelation to fantasy readers glutted with Western wish-fulfillment narratives.

According to Shell, Americans as a people must change their way of determining what constitutes a good job and even upend the concept of work as they know it. Rave Kirkus Moving beyond the standard courtroom drama, Somerset Maugham Award winner Thompson painstakingly details the life and death of Edith Thompson, an Essex woman who gained notoriety in as she and her lover stood trial for the murder of her husband This meticulously researched account of a fatal love affair carefully questions the nature of guilt and capital punishment in polite society, offering up a more profound lesson than is likely to be found in a typical true crime novel.

Rave Kirkus As in his Stockholm Noir trilogy, Lapidus plots on an epic scale; if you think one plotline is beginning to flag, just wait for new details about his double-crossing gangsters, his two-faced socialites, and his hard-used heroine and her unlikely swain. Even better, he produces a climactic surprise that really does tie many of the strands of this untidy saga together. Part sequel, part rehash of unfinished business from Stockholm Delete.

Lapidus overdoes the melodrama at times as the various stories converge on the somewhat contrived ending, but his picture of Swedish social debilitation is powerful stuff. Mixed The Economist Sentine , an exhaustive account of the origins of the Statue of Liberty, takes the reader back to a time—almost impossible to imagine now—when the great green lady did not preside over New York Harbour It is an early indication that Sentinel could have done with some energetic editing, and not only because the book does not earn its page length.

A sharper focus would have better served her bid to uncover the motives of the men who made Liberty stand tall at the southern tip of Manhattan island. Her intriguing text moves organically Applied Ballardianism begins, and fitfully continues, as a book about writing a PhD thesis, from first enthusiasms to ultimate failures: This is a book of critical epistemology, of questioning what it is we know, what it is we can know, about and through literary texts.

The refracted fluorescence of our own critical passions and compulsions visits us outlandishly, like lights in the sky. Still, those with a taste for creepy suspense will be rewarded. He immediately finds that his new home is barely survivable: The street is overrun with vermin and garbage, stink pervades the air, his job is suddenly postponed, and his only suitcase is stolen as soon as he hits town. He receives no explanation, and nobody there or at home is looking out for his welfare.

Then things really start to go wrong Lively and intelligent reading. Iain Dey and Douglas Buck. Their detailed account depicts a man whose interest in how things work dated to childhood Since no autopsy was ever performed, such a hypothesis is unfounded by facts. Positive Publishers Weekly Farfetched Mixed Kirkus An action-packed treat for conspiracy theorists that more skeptical readers may find hard to swallow. Callaghan skillfully balances both the intricacies of the 17th-century Dutch art world and the religious persecution of the time, making this a dextrously woven and engrossing historical novel.

Positive Kirkus An irreverent, quasi-clinical narrative thick with witty anecdotes and hilarious asides Mixed Publishers Weekly Explores the history and treatment of hangovers with humor and an amiable style, hindered by disorganization and gratuitous length Winword writes with authoritative enthusiasm Focusing on the personalities behind these epochal bands, the author stays more on the surface than other recent assessments, but his knowing humor will appeal to younger fans and those who were there A savvy reminiscence of the era when punk finally paid its debt to society.

Positive Publishers Weekly Energetic Tales of the macabre existed long before the war, but the author argues that the war remains the true wellspring of the modern genre. His evidence makes a persuasive case, up to a point A mixed bag studded with insights and flaws. Poole, who tends to conflate his personal tastes with high art, fires pre-emptive strikes against critics dismissive of the horror genre, but he fails to accept the legitimate reasons why these judgments hold sway. Mixed Publishers Weekly In this thoroughly engrossing cultural study, Poole, a history professor at the College of Charleston, persuasively argues that the birth of horror as a genre is rooted in the unprecedented destruction and carnage of WWI In fact, the suspects nearly had to take a number at police headquarters.

She, in fact, is one of the many suspects because she is identified by a local resident as running from the scene of the crime Hacking his way through a tangle of conflicting stories is a tough job, but the introspective detective is up to the task. Only the most careful readers, undistracted by his satire, will figure out whodunit. The narrative flows along at a good clip, with eddies of philosophy and humor. The witty dialogue perfectly matches the multifaceted characters.

Those fond of CSI gadgetry will have to look elsewhere. While fascinated with the Bogles, Butterfield never loses sight of a significant question: Why is the intergenerational transmission of violence so powerful in countless specific families? The occasional shoehorning of academic theories into the Bogle narrative barely mars an outstanding book of sociology and criminology. Butterfield convincingly argues that mass incarceration becomes a vicious cycle in this insightful and moving group biography. Positive Kirkus There is much that is overlapping and repetitive There are so many bizarre turns to this ongoing saga that Abramson fears the truth will take many years to come to light.

A solid work of social history, full of insight into how empire shaped Anglo-Indian culture. Rave Harlequin Junkie A deeply moving, poignant novel of a couple falling in love at the wrong time in their lives, Every Breath was another reminder of just why Nicholas Sparks remains a popular voice in romance today Every Breath was touching and achingly romantic, heartbreaking and ultimately filled with joy. Rave Publishers Weekly Bestseller Sparks returns from a two-year hiatus with a heart-wrenching tale of fate and circumstance The rich setting helps bring life to their story, making this a worthwhile venture for romance readers despite the cookie-cutter protagonists.

Sparks fans will not be disappointed. A support group misfit, Eleanor begins to keep a private blog as a therapeutic gesture. Her observations about the intersections of cancer culture and the rom-com ideology of a certain kind of 21st-century feminism are so keen as to draw blood Narrated by a cybercentury Wife of Bath, this bawdy tale suspends both our disbelief and our scruples.

Told in a series of blog posts though at times the conceit is hard to believe , the narrative races and stumbles from one darkly hilarious pratfall to the next, and is recommended for readers who can laugh while cringing. Rave Publishers Weekly Richly imaginative and quietly devastating Walker jolts the narrative with surprising twists, ensuring it keeps its energy until the end.

This is a skillful, complex, and thoroughly satisfying novel about a community in peril. Positive Kirkus [A] science-fiction fairy tale What is the nature of an epidemic? What is the nature of consciousness? What mix of loyalty and love binds individuals together? These are a few of the questions Walker raises in her provocative, hypnotic tale.

Ghaffari delves into her characters with sensitivity for their positions and differences. An evocative and deeply felt narrative portrait. Positive Publishers Weekly Acerbic and surprisingly moving Magical realism works great for some authors, but Lipsyte ends up closer to the ending of the television show Lost than to any substantial prosecution of contemporary society. Ultimately, Burstein delivers page-turning suspense that gains resonance through its relevance to contemporary Israel. Positive Kirkus A skillful memoir and account of groundbreaking research The author also delivers a portrait of the ribosome that will satisfy even undemanding readers.

An entertaining account of a peripatetic career, academic infighting, and the colorful, charismatic, or eccentric mentors, colleagues, and competitors the author encountered as well as an often cynical view of the scientific establishment. Mixed Publishers Weekly Ramakrishnan He describes the process and challenges of mapping the ribosome He is at his best reflecting upon the nature of the scientific enterprise Rave Kirkus This massive selection of writings by the late Gass Literature is finally catching up with him, and this compendious, literary extravaganza should spark a Gass revival.

Smith continues to bring joy to his readers through his insights into the human heart. Positive Kirkus Readers familiar with this venerable series Positive Publishers Weekly Norman In this thorough book, Norman hits all the important notes, and Clapton emerges as a person more comfortable with his fretboard than with other people.

Positive Publishers Weekly Requiring of readers no prior knowledge of the period or the players, this fascinating history illuminates rifts that still plague the country today. Still, the approach has virtues in making for a neat, character-driven history of the sort that nonspecialist readers like to read, in the manner of Douglas Brinkley, Steven Ambrose, and other popularizers. A lesser work from Brands but a solid introduction to a post-revolutionary generation whose members, great and small, are little remembered today. Positive Kirkus Journalist and historian Pomerantz A moving, maddening look at a storied partnership that might have been a beautiful friendship as well.

Other stories by less well-known authors also shine A thoroughly enjoyable assemblage of old-time science fiction. Positive Publishers Weekly Editor Ashley Readers fond of classic science fiction imbued with romance, exotic settings, and whimsical scenarios will treasure these evocative stories.

Positive Kirkus In this entertaining and colorful new book, fiction writer and biographer Daugherty He also offers a generous glimpse into the political and personal life of Lyndon Johnson An engrossing, well-documented biography of a largely forgotten writer and his place within a quickly changing period of the 20th century.

Although generous to Bellow, Leader shows the highly flawed person existing alongside the great writer. The book depicts a man caught up in mid-century notions of masculinity, displaying a volatile temper, expecting women to wait on him, and flaunting his dominance Yet Leader has a talent for finding the redeeming details that humanize Bellow Leader succeeds because his book never bogs down: Bellow matched talent, after all, with an impressive work ethic.

Less cheering are his relationships with children, lovers, and spouses, all of which involved considerable drama and, even on his deathbed, shouting and recriminations. His cantankerousness punctuates almost every page Always hard at work and always in battle mode, Bellow emerges as a brilliant writer who never minded being disliked—and offered many reasons to do so. Though sometimes overly detailed, this is a top-notch exploration of one of the most important midcentury writers. Positive Kirkus Wert glances over some key moments: Diverse character studies that give a broad view of the sweeping economic revolutions of the era.

Positive Publishers Weekly Engrossing Readers will be deeply moved. Maybe not a book to take along on a flight, though. Positive The Smart Set In her groundbreaking s series, Dirty Plotte , Doucet delineated an aesthetic that was brazen, clever, funny, and broke taboos like they were cheap ceramic plates. Reading her comics, you could be excused for wishing you had an ounce of her fearlessness, at least when it came to putting ink on paper Her panels are always bustling with activity and clutter; every object on the street or in her apartment seems capable of coming to life and does in one particular comic That sense of playfulness extends to her general amusement with the human body, particularly genitalia Doucet frequently crosses gender barriers herself in her stories, imagining herself as a man But if her attitude towards male anatomy is amused, her attitude towards men in general is decidedly less positive.

Positive Publishers Weekly This momentous volume from Bassani All are suffused with grief, dread, and a desperate ambivalence. Bassani masterfully conveys a creeping moral rot Bassani uses his intimate knowledge of Ferrara to build a memorial composed of equal parts grief, affection, frustration, and muted but palpable fury. This is not to say that all Mr. The shock of the attacks was probably greater for writers who had been ensconced deep in what DeLillo in his new novel Falling Man calls the "narcissistic heart of the west".

In December , recalling the extraordinarily complacent mood of the decade after the end of the cold war, DeLillo described in these pages how "the surge of capital markets dominated discourse and shaped global consciousness" and how "the dramatic climb of the Dow and the speed of the internet summoned us all to live permanently in the future, in the utopian glow of cyber-capital. For "unexceptional common sense had demanded that New York slums would be gentrified and that free markets would establish themselves around the world.

Writing to a friend in August of the "appallingly huge and sudden state of general war" that "has all come as by the leap of some awful monster out of his lair", Henry James confessed to asking himself "if this then is what I have grown old for, if this is what all the ostensibly or comparatively serene, all the supposedly bettering past, of our century has meant and led up to". James's stint in London coincided with the most hectic expansion of global capitalism in history, with rival European businessmen and soldiers corralling the remotest nations into commercial, military and diplomatic networks.

In the years leading up to , "social and economic life", as John Maynard Keynes wrote, was internationalised to an unprecedented degree. This first attempt at modernising the globe lasted much longer than the post-cold war era, which ended on September 11 Novelists working within secure national contexts could still appeal to 19th-century notions about the absolute autonomy of art; but they could not remain unaware of the challenges posed to them by the dramatic transformations around them.

Human relations may not have shifted as radically on or about December as Virginia Woolf claimed; they were, however, increasingly subject to new, impersonal forces. Cherishing an apparently stable upper-class English life, James may have, as VS Naipaul recently alleged, "travelled always as a gentleman", observing the world from the top of a carriage. But he couldn't fail to see that much was simmering "irreconcilably, subversively, beneath the vast smug surface" of society.

In The Princess Casamassima , he ventured into London slums with an unusual cast of anarchist conspirators. His fellow Anglophile novelist Joseph Conrad correctly perceived deracinated revolutionaries as a threat to bourgeois order, and drenched them with irony and scorn in The Secret Agent and Under Western Eyes It proved much more difficult, however, to reckon, intellectually and artistically, with the first world war, which exposed the bankruptcy of mainstream rather than marginal ideologies in Europe.

Writers had to develop new resources - a capacity for abstract thought as well as formal daring - to try to describe how and why human relations had altered in the new conditions of modern life. Apart from a few expatriates such as Eliot and Gertrude Stein, American writers rarely contributed to this critical reassessment of European modernity - what brought forth the last great flowering of European literature. Success attended - or appeared to attend - their own modern ventures.

But it is what many Americans believed, which meant that ideas and ideologies of the kind that bloomed in straitened Europe in the s and 30s faded quickly in America, and American novelists remained largely indifferent to the machinery of social and political power. Indeed, America emerged more powerful after each one of the disasters and tragedies suffered by Europe in the first half of the 20th century - part of the country's unique good fortune that continues to make many American writers look to European events, particularly the Holocaust and the gulag, for suitably "serious" themes.

The cold war deepened the isolation of American writers. The decolonisation of Asia and Africa - the central political event of the 20th century - and the erratic progress of postcolonial nations registered faintly in the American literary imagination even as it engaged some of the finest fiction writers in both western Europe Greene, Burgess, Scott, Camus, Duras and its former colonies Achebe, Mahfouz, Naipaul.

Participating in a symposium organised by Partisan Review in , essayist Philip Rahv feared that the growth of American power and wealth would induce among writers the "illusion that our society is in its very nature immune to tragic social conflicts and collisions" and that "the more acute problems of the modern epoch are unreal so far as we are concerned. America's artificial situation in which, as Reinhold Niebuhr once described it, the "paradise of our domestic security is suspended in a hell of global insecurity" managed to survive even Vietnam.

Ultimately, however, the tragedy in Vietnam proved too remote to inspire a sustained literary examination of national values and ideals, of the kind that Musil, Mann and Broch had undertaken after witnessing moral and intellectual collapse in their own societies.

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The most perceptive novel about the American involvement in Vietnam, The Quiet American, was written in by an English writer: And the question "why are we in Vietnam? Some of the most interesting young American novelists were alert to the self-indulgent mood of the 90s. Novels such as Jonathan Franzen's The Corrections published, coincidentally, on September 11 and Richard Powers's Gain explored the perennial American theme of the gap between reality and the American dream against the context of aggressive new ideologies of profit and materialism.

Bret Easton Ellis and Bruce Wagner described the weirder and darker mutations in sensibility and manners in this period. But, on September 11 , these preoccupations were broken into by the previously invisible conflicts and traumas of an interdependent world. The cold war and then economic globalisation had knitted the world closer together.

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Yet the western vision of endless prosperity and well-being had proved a deception for the billions of people living outside the west. The attacks bring a similar gratification to the Princeton-educated Pakistani financial analyst in Mohsin Hamid's The Reluctant Fundamentalist, who, watching the twin towers collapse, finds himself smiling - "remarkably pleased".

In a world rendered deeply unequal, television and the internet stoked many people's aggrieved sense of being "crowded out", as DeLillo writes in Falling Man, "by other cultures, other futures, the all-enfolding will of capital markets and foreign policies". At the same time, however, he senses in a corner of his mind that his poverty is to some considerable degree the result of his own folly and inadequacy, or those of his father and grandfather. The internet and the faster movement of capital in a free global market may not have deepened general knowledge of other countries and cultures - the Wall Street speculators in McInerney's The Good Life are not exceptional in viewing "the world beyond Manhattan primarily in terms of investment and vacation opportunities".

But history seemed clearly to have ended after the collapse of communist regimes, leaving the rest of the world with the option of embracing or futilely resisting American-style democracy and capitalism. These notions were not confined to the large majority of Americans who do not hold passports. Recent fictions set in New York by Deborah Eisenberg and Claire Messud swarm with well-off and politically liberal Americans, who have been gliding "through their lives on the assumption that the sheer fact of their existence has in some way made the world a better place".

Sitting out on the terrace had been like looking down over the rim into a gigantic glass of champagne. The planes struck, tearing through the curtain of that blue September morning, exposing the dark world that lay right behind it, of populations ruthlessly exploited, inflamed with hatred, and tired of waiting for change to happen by. A connoisseur of political conspiracy and historical traumas, DeLillo himself seemed a pioneer among writers staking out territories of danger and rage.

However, Falling Man, whose elliptical, fragmented narrative follows closely the shattered lives of a couple in New York, shows DeLillo retreating, like McInerney and Kalfus, to the domestic life. He had hinted at this in when he spoke of how, for many people, "the event has changed the grain of the most routine moment": But he remains strangely incurious about their pasts and their societies, and he makes little attempt to analyse, in the light of the biggest ever terrorist atrocity, the origin and appeal of political violence.

This may disappoint those who see DeLillo as the prophet of contemporary disorder. But then the resonant views on terror, conspiracy, mass society and art he previously articulated through his characters are metaphysical, even religious, rather than political "In societies reduced to blur and glut, terror is the only meaningful act".

These ambitiously theoretical formulations, able, perhaps, to explain the lone assassin or other outcast figures of American history, were likely to prove inadequate before foreign terrorists dealing in mass murder. Not surprisingly, DeLillo ends up relying on received notions about Muslim "rage". Constipation as well as sexual frustration torments Amis's Mohammed Atta who, though preparing to bring down America, is detained by an arcane point about virgins in paradise: He had read in a news magazine that 'virgins', in the holy book, was a mistranslation from the Aramaic.

It should be 'raisins'.