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14 new books you can’t wait to get your hands on.

Katie Yee

March 16, 2021, 4:50am

Well, we have been in this mess for over a year now. For those of you who are being very good at social distancing but who miss the physical touch of a friend, might I recommend (gently) stroking the covers of these new books?! Perhaps it will achieve a similar effect.

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Jo Ann Beard, Festival Days,

Jo Ann Beard, Festival Days
(Little, Brown)

“Few writers are so wise and self-effacing and emotionally honest all in one breath … Over the course of nine beguiling pieces — which seamlessly meld observation and imagination — she effects an intimacy that makes us want to sit on the rug and listen.”
–The Washington Post

Claire Thomas_The Performance

Claire Thomas, The Performance
(Riverhead)

“This richly rendered and perceptive meditation on motherhood, memory, and the challenges of living through frightful times will hold readers spellbound.”
–Publishers Weekly

Nona Fernández, tr. Natasha Wimmer, The Twilight Zone

Nona Fernández, tr. Natasha Wimmer, The Twilight Zone
(Graywolf Press)

“This disturbing story of a repentant man makes for a gripping psychological game of cat and mouse.”
–Publishers Weekly

Plunder_Menachem Kaiser

Menachem Kaiser, Plunder
(Houghton Mifflin)

“Menachem Kaiser’s Plunder: A Memoir of Family Property and Nazi Treasure tells a twisting and reverberant and consistently enthralling story.”
–The New York Times

Gianrico Carofiglio_Three O'Clock in the Morning

Gianrico Carofiglio, Three O’Clock in the Morning
(Harpervia)

“A compelling, compact story … Gianrico Carofiglio’s Three O’Clock in the Morning is profound in its simple delivery.”
–New York Journal of Books

taking a long look

Vivian Gornick, Taking a Long Look
(Verso)

“[Taking a Long Look] is illuminating and a welcome addition to the astute critic’s oeuvre.”
–Publishers Weekly

sex with strangers_michael lowenthal

Michael Lowenthal, Sex with Strangers
(University of Wisconsin Press)

“The stories are studded with memorable flashes of brilliant writing and stunning details.”
–The New York Times Book Review

Jamal Greene_How Rights Went Wrong

Jamal Greene, How Rights Went Wrong
(Houghton Mifflin)

“Greene delves deeply into the legal, cultural, and political matters behind rights conflicts, and laces his account with feisty legal opinions and colorful character sketches. This incisive account persuades.”
–Publishers Weekly

Shooting Midnight Cowboy_Glenn Frankel

Glenn Frankel, Shooting Midnight Cowboy
(FSG)

“Frankel provides us with the context we need to fully appreciate the film as a vivid snapshot of a specific time and place in American history.”
–Booklist

Win_Harlan Coben

Harlan Coben, Win
(Grand Central)

“Coben, as is his wont, raises moral dilemmas readers will enjoy chewing on and pulse-pounding action scenes will keep the pages at least semi-frantically turning.”
–BookPage

Kim Addonizio_Now We're Getting Somewhere

Kim Addonizio, Now We’re Getting Somewhere
(W. W. Norton)

“The cunning and taut lines in the irreverently funny latest from Addonizio (Mortal Trash) reveal a poet teetering on the edge of existential ennui.”
–Publishers Weekly

Roya Hakakian_A Beginner's Guide to America

Roya Hakakian, A Beginner’s Guide to America
(Knopf)

“She offers counsel to readers, not commandments, and although her book could be seen as a love letter to America, it is one that’s been written by an exacting lover who isn’t blind to this country’s flaws.”
–The Wall Street Journal

Robert Alter, Nabokov and the Real World

Robert Alter, Nabokov and the Real World
(Princeton University Press)

“This essay collection assesses the stakes and real-world relevance of Nabokov’s writing, from his lectures and short stories to his major novels. It’s a great read if you’re a Nabokov fan, or if you’ve ever wondered, ‘Why did this guy write Lolita?”
–Lit Hub

Amy Solomon_Notes from the Bathroom Line

Amy Solomon, Notes from the Bathroom Line
(Harper Design)

“Themes run the gamut of standard stand-up fodder: dating undatable men, insecurities, becoming one’s mother, awkward social encounters, and obsessing over things then obsessing over being obsessed.”
–Publishers Weekly

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