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    15 new books to look forward to this week.

    Katie Yee

    August 16, 2022, 9:00am

    These days, we’re hanging by a thin thread, and that thread is Tuesdays: the day new books grace us with their presence.

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    Jane Campbell, Cat Brushing

    Jane Campbell, Cat Brushing
    (Grove Press)

    “The 13 exquisitely drawn short stories in the collection are woven with wit and bold enlightenment. Each meticulously crafted gem focuses on the lives of aging women who grapple with their shrinking places in the world.”
    –Shelf Awareness

    Daisy Lafarge, Paul

    Daisy LaFarge, Paul
    (Riverhead)

    “This quietly transporting novel of opposing forces—masculine and feminine, disgust and attraction, youth and ruin—is nuanced and unsettling.”
    –Booklist

    Julian Barnes, Elizabeth Finch

    Julian Barnes, Elizabeth Finch
    (Knopf)

    “A novel of ideas … with barely a sentence in it that doesn’t have some nutritional value … I’ll remember Elizabeth Finch when most other characters I’ve met this year have faded.”
    –The Times

    Jesse Ball, Autoportrait

    Jesse Ball, Autoportrait
    (Catapult)

    “Ball provides an authentic look at what life is really like and offers the reader a way to encounter life outside the parameters that society, and narrative convention, would impose on it.”
    –The Star Tribune

    Nuar Alsadir, Animal Joy: A Book of Laughter and Resuscitation
    (Graywolf Press)

    “Alsadir’s quiet wit and depth of knowledge lead to unique insights and profound self-reflection. A sprawling, poetic meditation on humor in all its forms.”
    –Kirkus

    touch: a novel

    Olaf Olafsson, Touch
    (Ecco)

    “The gratifying ending is hopeful. [Touch] adds up to an affecting story about the sway one’s past can hold on the present.”
    –Publishers Weekly

    amy and lan

    Sadie Jones, Amy & Lan
    (Harper)

    “This is a novel of quiet beauty, vividly evoking the magnitude of childhood loss and the capacity for hope.”
    –The Guardian

    Natasha Sizlo, All Signs Point to Paris
    (Mariner)

    “Sizlo’s engaging account of her trip to Paris has all the pleasures of a spirited rom-com, enhanced by her real-life bravery in confronting the doubts and fears she had been hiding from herself.”
    –The Washington Post

    Anna Deforest, A History of Present Illness

    Anna DeForest, A History of Present Illness
    (Little, Brown and Company)

    “Brutal and brave, DeForest’s novel is one of the best in the ‘making of a doctor’ genre. And its plucky protagonist, casualty and hero, roars a universal truth, ‘We all hurt.’”
    –Booklist

    Édouard Louis, tr. Tash Aw, A Woman's Battles and Transformations: A Novel

    Édouard Louis, tr. Tash Aw, A Woman’s Battles and Transformations
    (FSG)

    “The richest moments of the book show us personal agency reacting with and against systemic forces … Lurking under the book’s fairy-tale surface is a nuanced account of desire and belonging.”
    –The Times Literary Supplement

    water over stones

    Bernardo Atxaga, tr. Margaret Jull Costa, Water Over Stones
    (Graywolf Press)

    “There is indeed a method to the madness and an unexpected payoff that meaningfully reframes the entire book. A quietly remarkable offering from the first name in Basque literature.”
    –Kirkus

    Hayley Campbell, All the Living and the Dead
    (St. Martin’s Press)

    “Campbell’s genuine curiosity, careful reporting, and insightful commentary make for an engrossing read. Without sensationalizing or squeamishness, Campbell offers interviews rich in candid insights.”
    –Booklist

    stories from the tenants

    Sidik Fofana, Stories from the Tenants Downstairs
    (Scribner)

    “This book shines a light on what millions of Americans are experiencing today: the exhausting, funny, desperate, and hopeful human experience.”
    –The Southern Bookseller Review

    Moiya McTier, The Milky Way: An Autobiography of Our Galaxy
    (Grand Central)

    “As with any translation from another tongue, readers may marvel at the role of the translator in creating a book that is both informative and truly inspirational.”
    –BookPage

    the devils atlas

    Edward Brooke-Hitching, The Devil’s Atlas
    (Chronicle Books)

    “In this world of mental exploration, Edward Brooke-Hitching is a delightful and indispensable guide.”
    –Literary Review

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