15 new books to love this week.
You know what a really good activity for February 15th is? Going to the closest CVS, getting your hands on all the discount Valentine’s Day chocolate there is, and then hopping over to your favorite bookstore to pick up a new book (or two or three).
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Marlon James, Moon Witch, Spider King
(Riverhead)
“[An] impressive amalgamation of folklore, magic, and mythology that weaves together several narratives, but the element that makes it memorable is James’s prose.”
–The Boston Globe
Sheila Heti, Pure Colour
(FSG)
“Part of Heti’s charm is her knack for coming from as far out of left field as possible, and here she has amped up her unpredictability … This is a gloriously implausible book.”
–The Atlantic
Sasha Fletcher, Be Here To Love Me at the End of the World
(Melville House)
“[A] surreal, heightened version of reality … Strange and glib, this is a Lynchian love story that captures the relentless ridiculousness of the contemporary moment.”
–Booklist
Perumal Murugan, tr. Aniruddhan Vasudevan, Pyre
(Grove Press)
“This is Murugan’s rich Kongu land, which he has mined so deeply and well. It’s a barren, sun-scorched and unforgiving land but it comes blazingly alive in the writer’s eloquent voice.”
–The Hindu
Dennis Duncan, Index: A History of the
(W. W. Norton)
“Always erudite, frequently funny, and often surprising—a treat for lovers of the book qua book.”
–Kirkus
Emme Lund, The Boy with a Bird in His Chest
(Atria)
“Lund’s accomplished debut imagines an LGBTQ allegory with a blend of magical fantasy and stark reality.”
–Publishers Weekly
David Robson, The Expectation Effect
(Henry Holt)
“Cutting-edge research and effective storytelling create an insightful book on an ever changing field.”
–Kirkus
Karen Cheung, The Impossible City: A Hong Kong Memoir
(Random House)
” This is an outstanding contribution for any library about one personal experience of political upheaval in Hong Kong.”
–Library Journal
Alejandro Zambra, tr. Megan McDowell, Chilean Poet
(Viking)
“A playful, discursive novel about families, relationships, poetry, and how easily all three can come together or fall apart.”
–Kirkus
Hans Von Trotha, tr. Elisabeth Lauffer, Pollak’s Arm
(New Vessel Press)
“He achieves much in this slim book, capturing a life enriched by its commitment to art and antiquities and a man who makes an unusual decision when faced with a crucial choice. A work that weaves art and history into a fascinating tale.”
–Kirkus
Laura Thompson, Heiresses
(St. Martin’s Press)
“Thompson, a gifted storyteller, obviously delighted in the writing of this book … She is also deft: historical facts and dates and laws are woven into a kaleidoscope-bright tableaux of human highs and lows.”
–The Times Literary Supplement
Paul Tran, All the Flowers Kneeling
(Penguin Books)
“These searingly honest, beautifully told depictions of survival and self-love will move and challenge readers.”
–Publishers Weekly
JJ Bola, The Selfless Act of Breathing
(Atria)
“The novel’s conceptual concern with the limited routes available for black people to find meaningful release from systemic racism is, without question, important and emotive.”
–The Guardian
James Curtis, Buster Keaton: A Filmmaker’s Life
(Knopf)
“Meticulous research informs a brisk biography of an entertainment icon.”
–Kirkus
Danielle J. Lindemann, True Story: What Reality TV Says about Us
(FSG)
“For reality TV fans looking for high-minded, scholarly reasons to defend what many consider ‘guilty pleasure’ viewing, here is a book filled with them.”
–Kirkus
