fiction

17 new books our critics can’t wait to read this summer

We asked some of our trusted critics which upcoming books they are most looking forward to. Here are the fiction and nonfiction titles they picked.

‘Heart Lamp’ wins International Booker, with stories of India’s Muslim women and girls

The major writing prize awards the best fiction translated into English. Judges called Banu Mushtaq's short story collection "something genuinely new for English readers."

5 new books this week spotlight Joe Biden, the WNBA, rivers, migrants and autofiction

New books out this week look at everything from pressing political concerns — Original Sin — to perspective-altering riddles about life itself, like in Is A River Alive? and The Book of Records.

‘The Emperor of Gladness’ is a beautiful novel about hard work and found family

Ocean Vuong's sweeping new novel centers on a depressed 19-year-old college dropout who becomes the caregiver to a widow with dementia.

Newly published stories show a different side of Ian Fleming and Graham Greene

The latest issue of "The Strand Magazine" contains rare stories by the iconic midcentury writers Ian Fleming and Graham Greene.

A filmmaker in Nazi Germany strikes a deal with the devil in ‘The Director’

When do compromises turn into full-blown capitulation? Daniel Kehlmann's new novel draws on the true story of German film director G.W. Pabst.

5 new books to check out this week — including Isabel Allende’s latest

My Name Is Emilia Del Valle is the newest novel from the prodigious Chilean expat, now in her 80s. Plus, a personal history of the orange, a Josephine Baker history and having kids in the digital age.

Supermarket displays of oranges will never look the same after reading ‘Foreign Fruit’

In her new hybrid memoir, Katie Goh unravels the multitudes citrus fruit contains, in lockstep with mythologies of colonialism, inheritance and identity.

Canadian writer Canisia Lubrin wins $150K Carol Shields literary prize

The judges of the annual prize for female and nonbinary writers praised Lubrin's debut short story collection, Code Noir, for breaking "new ground in short fiction."

There’s some Revolutionary reading coming your way this week

The second volume in Pulitzer-winning historian Rick Atkinson's planned trilogy on the American Revolution publishes Tuesday. Plus a graphic memoir, short fiction, and "the secret life" of a cemetery.

This terrifying horror novel proves: Nothing is old if you make it new

Nat Cassidy's wildly entertaining novel is a superb example of how to work with clichés. When the Wolf Comes Home might sound like a werewolf novel — but it's an entirely different animal.

AI eavesdrops on your sleep in this nightmarish ‘Dream Hotel’

Laila Lalami's dystopian novel centers on a woman who's been incarcerated because an algorithm flagged her as a crime risk. The Dream Hotel paints a grim picture about the ways our data can betray us.

This new story collection is marvelous — if a bit meandering

Lydia Millet's characters in Atavists interact and have little dramas of their own — the author's talent is on full display here. Not every story is strong, but they work well together.

Looking for a new book this week? Here are 5 wide-ranging options

A true smorgasbord is on offer for readers this week. Care for an inspirational memoir? Reminders of the precarious position of civilization? Early summer read? They're all here.

These 2 funny books give readers a reason to smile in tough times

Dorothy Parker's posthumously published collection is Poems; Camilla Barnes' debut novel is The Usual Desire to Kill. Both affirm: sharp humor can be grounded in pain.

5 buzzy books out this week that look inward

A number of books out this week — a tale of tribal politics, a close-focus mystery, measured criticism and a unique relationship — are tied up in answering the question: How do we define ourselves?

10 books we’re looking forward to this spring

A famed graphic novelist returns! A Southern-gothic crime-thriller inspired by The Godfather! An extremely in depth biography of Mark Twain! And more!

6 tales of mystery and mishap — all hitting book stores on April Fools’ Day

New on the shelves this week: An obit writer writes — and drunkenly publishes — his own obituary. A Hungarian teen stumbles into adulthood. And geriatric sleuth Vera Wong returns.

New books this week: Yoko, Elphaba, Amanda Knox and lost connections

This week's new releases include a memoir from Amanda Knox reflecting on her murder case and exoneration, a biography of Yoko Ono, new fiction from Column McCann, and the latest Wicked book Elphie.

Karen Russell’s ‘The Antidote’ is an American epic — and well worth the wait

Russell has published excellent short story collections since her 2011 debut novel Swamplandia!, but this is her first novel in nearly 15 years. It follows a "Prairie Witch" in Dust Bowl-era Nebraska.

New ‘Hunger Games’ prequel reminds that sometimes past truths aren’t visible

Sunrise on the Reaping recounts the 50th annual Hunger Games, telling the story of Haymitch Abernathy. It's themes and events conjure images of today's U.S. political climate.

‘The Buffalo Hunter Hunter’ is Stephen Graham Jones’ horror masterpiece

The prose is gorgeous and the plot is complex. The author of The Only Good Indians returns again with a spellbinding yarn about one of the bloodiest, most significant parts of the nation's history.

New books this week: A foodie memoir, a missing child, witches illustrated, and more

Care and Feeding chronicles life in the culinary world. All the Other Mothers Hate Me follows a mom turned amateur detective. Plus, Karen Russell's first full-length novel since Swamplandia!