19 new books to read in the safety of an air-conditioned room.
I’m looking at the weather for this upcoming week, and oh boy it’s going to be a scorcher! If you’re looking for me, you will find me in the cool embrace of the nearest air-conditioned library/bookstore, where these new books will be available.
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Joan Didion: The Last Interview
(Melville House)
“Little about her writing goes undiscussed. The Last Interview highlights the complex person behind both the image and the pen.”
–Alta
Lidia Yuknavitch, Thrust
(Riverhead)
“Lidia Yuknavitch’s extraordinary new novel is the weirdest, most mind-blowing book about America I’ve ever inhaled…Part history, part prophecy, all fever dream, Thrust offers a radical critique of the foundational ideals that conceal our persistent national crimes.”
–The Washington Post
Patrick Radden Keefe, Rogues
(Doubleday)
“Each of these stories could make a book in itself, not to mention an engrossing feature or documentary film … [Keefe] does pay his unique subjects the compliment of his world-class attention, in works of deadline prose that shock, inform and entertain.”
–The Wall Street Journal
Davey Davis, X
(Catapult)
“Davis (The Earthquake Room) delivers an astonishing speculative tale of sex, power, and gender … It’s just one of many ravishing explorations of the margins of a punishing world. This one hits hard.”
–Publishers Weekly
Tomi Obaro, Dele Weds Destiny
(Knopf)
“The intricacies of female friendships and the complex nature of mother/daughter relationships are at the heart of this absorbing novel from BuzzFeed culture editor Obaro, a sharp new voice on the literary scene.”
–Library Journal
Wesley Straton, The Bartender’s Cure
(Flatiron)
“This illuminating paean to mixology is best read at your favorite bar or with ingredients nearby.”
–Kirkus
Jess Walter, The Angel of Rome
(Harper)
“Reading Walter’s perceptive collection (after The Cold Millions) is like sitting next to the guy at a dinner party who has something hilarious to say about everyone and knows all their secrets.”
–Publishers Weekly
Mat Johnson, Invisible Things
(One World)
“His writing style is fairly cerebral, which mutes some of the emotional impact, and that’s the point: Johnson has an argument to make, and the story humanizes it enough for it to really hit home.”
–Booklist
Shashi Bhat, The Most Precious Substance on Earth
(Grand Central)
“Bhat (The Family Took Shape) balances humor and pathos in this savvy coming-of-age story set in Halifax, Nova Scotia.”
–Publishers Weekly
Julia Shaw, Bi
(Abrams Press)
“She is persuasive in her insistence that bisexuality is an important and overlooked dimension of the human story. An accessible, often insightful consideration of a misunderstood sexual identity.”
–Kirkus
Meron Hadero, A Down Home Meal for These Difficult Times
(Restless Books)
“Told with fierce honesty and compassion, Madero’s collection lives up to its title, providing a flavorful, nourishing feast.”
–Shelf Awareness
Maddie Mortimer, Maps of Our Spectacular Bodies
(Scribner)
“Using word placement, font, and shape to create images on the page, Mortimer deepens the reader’s engagement with the story and characters … Through breathtaking attention to detail, Mortimer crafts a stunning novel that touches on the expanses one life can contain.”
–Booklist
Miranda Seymour, I Used to Live Here Once
(W. W. Norton)
“I Used to Live Here Once—the biography takes its brilliantly apt title from one of Rhys’s ghost stories—is shot through with madness … Half its cast are half crazy, and most of the rest are as creepy as hell.”
–The Guardian
Nikki Erlick, The Measure
(William Morrow)
“Perfect for book clubs, Erlick’s The Measure is equal parts charming and thought-provoking.”
–Marie Claire
Andrew Liptak, Cosplay: A History
(Gallery/Saga Press)
“Seasoned writer, journalist, and historian Liptak dives deep into the research and history surrounding cosplay with this debut book. Delving into cosplay’s past and present, he also writes in detail about how this genre-bending art form will continue manifesting itself into the future.”
–Booklist
Steve Sem-Sandberg, tr. Saskia Vogel, W.
(Overlook Press)
“W., by Swedish novelist Steve Sem-Sandberg, is the latest work of tribute and elaboration. Though the bleak, despairing mood of this novel comes from Büchner, Mr. Sem-Sandberg takes his story from Woyzeck’s real life rather than the play’s many distortions.”
–The Wall Street Journal
James Gavin, George Michael: A Life
(Abrams Press)
“Gavin’s real stories of triumphs and tragedies poignantly explain one of pop’s most enigmatic stars.”
–Kirkus
Jay Wellons, All That Moves Us
(Random House)
“…engaging … The author provides vivid, often gruesomely detailed chronicles of his procedures.”
–Kirkus
Alfred Sadler and Blair Sadler, Pluck
(Silicon Valley Press)
“An inspiring story of crucial and familiar aspects of the health care system.”
–Kirkus
