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The Best Reviewed Fiction of 2022

Featuring jennifer egan, emily st. john mandel, ian mcewan, celeste ng, olga tokarczuk, and more.

We’ve come to the end of another bountiful literary year, and for all of us review rabbits here at Book Marks, that can mean only one thing: basic math, and lots of it.

Yes, using reviews drawn from more than 150 publications, over the next two weeks we’ll be calculating and revealing the most critically acclaimed books of 2022, in the categories of (deep breath): Fiction; Nonfiction; Memoir and Biography; Sci-Fi, Fantasy, and Horror; Short Story Collections; Essay Collections; Poetry; Mystery and Crime; Graphic Literature; and Literature in Translation.

Today’s installment: Fiction .

Brought to you by Book Marks , Lit Hub’s “Rotten Tomatoes for books.”

1. Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel (Knopf) 28 Rave • 9 Positive • 3 Mixed • 1 Pan Read an interview with Emily St. John Mandel here

“In  Sea of Tranquility,  Mandel offers one of her finest novels and one of her most satisfying forays into the arena of speculative fiction yet, but it is her ability to convincingly inhabit the ordinary, and her ability to project a sustaining acknowledgment of beauty, that sets the novel apart. As in Ishiguro, this is not born of some cheap, made-for-television, faux-emotional gimmick or mechanism, but of empathy and hard-won understanding, beautifully built into language … It is that aspect of  Sea of Tranquility, Mandel’s finely rendered, characteristically understated descriptions of the old-growth forests her characters walk through, the domed moon colonies some of them call home, the robot-tended fields they gaze over or the whooshing airship liftoff sound they hear even in their dreams, that will, for this reader at least, linger longest.”

–Laird Hunt ( The New York Times Book Review )

2. The Candy House by Jennifer Egan (Scribner)

27 Rave • 13 Positive • 11 Mixed • 4 Pan

“… a dizzying and dazzling work that should end up on many Best of the Year lists … The Candy House requires exquisite attentiveness and extensive effort from its readers. But the work and the investment pay off richly, as each strain and thread and character reverberates in a kind of amplifying echo-wave with all the others, and the overarching tapestry emerges as ever more intricate and brilliantly conceived. Enacting the book’s dominant metaphor, Egan is presenting a version of Collective Consciousness: the blending and extension of selfhood across shared experience and identity. One of the book’s most fascinating implications, less patent but pervasive, is how this alternative model of perception does and doesn’t undermine traditional notions of literary consciousness …

As we follow the pebbles and crumbs Egan so cannily lays out, readers may feel at times as disoriented or wonderstruck as children making their way through a dark forest, at others electrifyingly clear-sighted, ecstatically certain of the novel’s wisdom, capacious philosophical range, truth and beauty. Charged with ‘a potency of ideas simmering,’ The Candy House is a marvel of a novel that testifies to the surpassing power of fiction to ‘roam with absolute freedom through the human collective.’”

–Pricilla Gilman ( The Boston Globe )

3. Checkout 19 by Claire-Louise Bennett (Riverhead)

26 Rave • 10 Positive • 1 Mixed

“ Pond is so unusual, and so unsettlingly pleasurable, that I thought it would be greedy to hope Bennett’s new novel, Checkout 19 , would be better. Lucky me: it is … Bennett is too committed to the oddity and specificity of her again-nameless narrator’s ideas to ever fall into the worn grooves of other people’s. Indeed, the novel is explicitly committed to the privacy of thought … Not many people are able to live this way; not many women or working-class characters get written this way. For the rooted among us, reading Checkout 19 can be utterly jarring. It is a portrait, like Pond; it’s also a call to come at least a little undone. Yes, really. It really is.”

–Lily Meyer ( NPR )

4. The Books of Jacob by Olga Tokarczuk, trans. by Jennifer Croft (Riverhead)

26 Rave • 9 Positive • 4 Mixed • 1 Pan

“ The Books of Jacob is finally available here in a wondrous English translation by Jennifer Croft, and it’s just as awe-inspiring as the Nobel judges claimed when they praised Tokarczuk for showing ‘the supreme capacity of the novel to represent a case almost beyond human understanding.’ In terms of its scope and ambition, The Books of Jacob is beyond anything else I’ve ever read. Even its voluminous subtitle is a witty expression of Tokarczuk’s irrepressible, omnivorous reach … The challenges here—for author and reader—are considerable. After all, Tokarczuk isn’t revising our understanding of Mozart or presenting a fresh take on Catherine the Great. She’s excavating a shadowy figure who’s almost entirely unknown today …

As daunting as it sounds, The Books of Jacob is miraculously entertaining and consistently fascinating. Despite his best efforts, Frank never mastered alchemy, but Tokarczuk certainly has. Her light irony, delightfully conveyed by Croft’s translation, infuses many of the sections … The quality that makes The Books of Jacob so striking is its remarkable form. Tokarczuk has constructed her narrative as a collage of legends, letters, diary entries, rumors, hagiographies, political attacks and historical records … This is a story that grows simultaneously more detailed and more mysterious … Haunting and irresistible.”

–Ron Charles ( The Washington Post )

5. Young Mungo by Douglas Stuart (Grove)

27 Rave • 5 Positive • 3 Mixed • 1 Pan

“… moving … Stuart writes like an angel … masterful … if Stuart has not departed much from the scaffolding of his debut novel, he has managed to produce a story with a very different shape and pace … The raw poetry of Stuart’s prose is perfect to catch the open spirit of this handsome boy, with his strange facial tics … The way Stuart carves out this oasis amid a rising tide of homophobia infuses these scenes with almost unbearable poignancy … Stuart quickly proves himself an extraordinarily effective thriller writer. He’s capable of pulling the strings of suspense excruciatingly tight while still sensitively exploring the confused mind of this gentle adolescent trying to make sense of his sexuality …

The result is a novel that moves toward two crises simultaneously: whatever happened with James in Glasgow and whatever might happen to Mungo in the Scottish wilds. The one is a foregone calamity we can only intuit; the other an approaching horror we can only dread. But even as Stuart draws these timelines together like a pair of scissors, he creates a little space for Mungo’s future, a little mercy for this buoyant young man.”

6. Lessons by Ian McEwan (Knopf)

23 Rave • 10 Positive • 4 Mixed • 3 Pan

“Nobody is better at writing about entropy, indignity and ejaculation—among other topics—than Ian McEwan … One of McEwan’s talents is to mingle the lovely with the nasty … McEwan can make a reader feel as though she has bent forward to sniff a rose and received instead the odor of old sewage … McEwan’s use of global events in his fiction tends to be judicious and revealing … These all serve as reminders that history is occurring. And maybe some readers do, in fact, require that reminder. But Roland is so passive that one gets the sense he’d be exactly the same guy in any other century, only with a different haircut … One way to read Lessons is as a self-repudiation of the maneuver at which McEwan has become virtuosic. More authors should repudiate their virtuosity. The results are exciting.”

–Molly Young ( The New York Times )

7. Either/Or by Elif Batuman (Penguin Press)

18 Rave • 12 Positive • 3 Mixed Read an interview with Elif Batuman here

“The book gallops along at a brisk pace, rich with cultural touchstones of the time, and one finishes hungry for more. I reread The Idiot before reading Either/Or and after almost 800 cumulative pages, I still wasn’t sated. Batuman possesses a rare ability to successfully flood the reader with granular facts, emotional vulnerability, dry humor, and a philosophical undercurrent without losing the reader in a sea of noise … What makes a life or story exceptional enough to create art? What art is exceptional, entertaining, and engaging enough to sustain nearly a thousand pages? Selin’s existential crisis within the collegiate crucible haunts every thoughtful reader … The novel stands on its own as a rich exploration of life’s aesthetic and moral crossroads as a space to linger—not race through. Spare me sanctimonious fictional characters locked in the anguish of their regretful late twenties and early thirties: May our bold heroine Selin return to campus and stir up more drama before departing abroad again.”

–Lauren LeBlanc ( The Boston Globe )

8. Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng (Penguin)

21 Rave • 5 Positive • 4 Mixed

“Stunning … One of Ng’s most poignant tricks in this novel is to bury its central tragedy…in the middle of the action. This raises the narrative from the specific story of a confused boy and his defeated father to a reflection on the universal bond between parents and children … Our Missing Hearts will land differently for individual readers. One element we shouldn’t miss is Ng’s bold reversal of the biblical story of the Tower of Babel. It is the drive for conformity, the suppression of our glorious cacophony, that will doom us. And it is the expression of individual souls that will save us.”

–Bethanne Patrick ( The Lost Angeles Times )

9. Trust by Hernan Diaz (Riverhead)

22 Rave • 3 Positive • 3 Mixed • 1 Pan Read an interview with Hernan Diaz here

“[An] enthralling tour de force … Each story talks to the others, and the conversation is both combative and revelatory … As an American epic, Trust gives The Great Gatsby a run for its money … Diaz’s debut, In the Distance , was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and the PEN/Faulkner Award. Trust fulfills that book’s promise, and then some … Wordplay is Trust ’s currency … In Diaz’s accomplished hands we circle ever closer to the black hole at the core of Trust … Trust is a glorious novel about empires and erasures, husbands and wives, staggering fortunes and unspeakable misery … He spins a larger parable, then, plumbing sex and power, causation and complicity. Mostly, though, Trust is a literary page-turner, with a wealth of puns and elegant prose, fun as hell to read.”

–Hamilton Cain ( Oprah Daily )

10. Bliss Montage by Ling Ma (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)

20 Rave • 5 Positive • 2 Mixed Read an interview with Ling Ma here

“The strangeness of living in a body is exposed, the absurdity of carrying race and gender on one’s face, all against the backdrop of an America in ruin … Ma’s meticulously-crafted mood and characterization … Ma’s gift for endings is evident … Ma masterfully captures her characters’ double consciousness, always seeing themselves through the white gaze, in stunning and bold new ways … Even the weaker stories in the book…are redeemed by Ma’s restrained prose style, dry humor, and clever gut-punch endings. But all this technical prowess doesn’t mean the collection lacks a heart. First- and second-generation Americans who might have been invisible for most of their lives are seen and held lovingly in Ma’s fiction.”

–Bruna Dantas Lobato ( Astra )

Our System:

RAVE = 5 points • POSITIVE = 3 points • MIXED = 1 point • PAN = -5 points

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25 Best Fiction Books of 2024 (Our Favorites So Far)

By Leandra Beabout

Updated Sep. 17, 2024

Attention, book lovers! These new and coming-soon fiction books belong on your must-read list for 2023.    

Our editors and experts handpick every product we feature. We may earn a commission from your purchases. Learn more.

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We all have a few tried-and-true fiction faves, but there’s something special about cracking the spine on a brand-new, hot-off-the-press novel. Whether it’s your favorite author’s new release or a new writer’s debut, great fiction books make the perfect escape from ordinary life.

That’s why we’ve rounded up a list of the best new book releases (or soon-to-be releases) in 2023. This handpicked selection spans the gamut of book genres and includes book recommendations from Reader’s Digest editors. The list also includes highly anticipated releases from previous award-winning authors and a few debuts from new authors who have generated buzz among critics and early readers. So are you craving mystery books ? Romance? Thrillers? No matter which you prefer, there are new books to read —and who knows, by next year, some might be on your list of the best books of all time .

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1. Age of Vice by Deepti Kapoor

2. City Under One Roof by Iris Yamashita

3. The World and All That It Holds by Aleksandar Hemon

4. Maame by Jessica George

5. Essex Dogs by Dan Jones

6. What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez by Claire Jiménez

7. A Death at the Party by Amy Stuart

8. The God of Endings by Jacqueline Holland

9. Now You See Us by Balli Kaur Jaswal

10. Dust Child by Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai

11. The Mostly True Story of Tanner & Louise by Colleen Oakley

12. Homecoming by Kate Morton

13. Symphony of Secrets by Brendan Slocumb

14. Silver Alert by Lee Smith

15. Only Love Can Hurt Like This by Paige Toon

16. Paper Names by Susie Luo

17. The Collected Regrets of Clover by Mikki Brammer

18. Yellowface by R.F. Kuang

19. The Second Ending by Michelle Hoffman

20. The Wishing Game by Meg Shaffer

21. Same Time Next Summer by Annabel Monaghan

22. Banyan Moon by Thao Thai

23. Crook Manifesto by Colson Whitehead

24. Everyone Here Is Lying by Shari Lapena

25. Gone Tonight by Sarah Pekkanen

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Release date: Jan. 3, 2023

Deepti Kapoor’s latest action-packed novel unfolds like a bingeworthy Netflix show . This thriller begins when a wealthy Indian man’s car swerves off the road in New Delhi, killing five innocent bystanders. But when the dust settles, the rich man is nowhere to be found. How and to where did he disappear, and what will become of the lowly staff member left at the scene? With a rollicking plot that will whisk you from old-money mansions to humble homes in small agricultural villages, Age of Vice will take you on an unforgettable ride through modern India. Find out what your famous book characters would look like in real life.

Release date: Jan. 10, 2023

This might be Iris Yamashita’s debut novel, but the author is no stranger to tightly woven plots and compelling characters: Yamashita is the Oscar-nominated screenwriter of Clint Eastwood’s Letters from Iwo Jima. In City Under One Roof , she presents a crime story—the first of what will be a two-book mystery series —set in a small, claustrophobic Alaska town. Detective Cara Kennedy has been sent to investigate the origins of severed limbs found washed up on an icy shore. But soon after arriving in Point Mettier, Cara gets snowed in with the 205 townsfolk living in the same apartment building. Who is hiding the key to the crime? And is there anyone she can truly trust?

The gripping story, quirky characters and twisty plot are just a few of the reasons we picked City Under One Roof as our February Reader’s Digest Book Club selection.

Release date: Jan. 24, 2023

If you love an unflinching historical fiction novel, you’ll love Bosnian American author Aleksandar Hemon’s The World and All That It Holds . This love story between two soldiers in the brutal trenches of World War I is one of the best LGBTQ books you’ll read this year. Rafael Pinto is built for poetry, not warfare. His compatriot, Osman, is fiercely protective. Religious and background differences melt away as the two fight for their lives. Hemon traces their relationship across time and continents with lyrical descriptions and philosophical musings.

Release date: Jan. 31, 2023

Maame is a refreshing, irresistible 2023 debut from Jessica George. The story of twentysomething Maddie’s fresh start at adulthood is shot through with themes of family, race and discrimination , womanhood and the immigrant reality of feeling torn between cultures. Maddie is a vibrant protagonist who feels stuck. Her job is a slog. Her mother is far away in Ghana—yet somehow still intimately critical. And her dad has Parkinson’s disease and needs Maddie’s daily help. So when her mother returns to London for a year, Maddie leaps at the chance to rent a new place and live like her friends and colleagues. Only sometimes stepping outside the constraints of home feels a lot like getting lost.

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Release date: Feb. 7, 2023

History buffs might already be familiar with Dan Jones’s nonfiction . This year, the author of Powers and Thrones and Crusaders tries his hand at fiction books with a deeply researched novel that takes place during the Hundred Years’ War. Set to be the first in a trilogy, Essex Dogs follows 10 medieval warriors heading deep into the battles and politics of mapping 14th- and 15th-century Europe.

Looking for your next great book? Read four of today’s bestselling novels in the time it takes to read one with  Reader’s Digest Select Editions . And be sure to follow the Select Editions page on Facebook !

Release date: March 7, 2023

When Ruthy Ramirez was 13, she disappeared. The red-headed Puerto Rican girl with a beauty mark under her left eye went to track practice and never returned. The Ramirez family hasn’t been the same since. Fast-forward 12 years to 2008, when the two remaining Ramirez sisters sit down to veg out in front of a trashy reality-TV show. They can’t help but notice that one of the contestants looks an awful lot like an older version of their long-lost sister—beauty mark and all. Part mystery, part family drama, What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez is a wonderful exploration of family bonds. If you’re trying to read more books this year, What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez is a good place to start—the humor, heart and compelling mystery will propel you right along.

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Amy Stuart’s domestic whodunit A Death at the Party is like a contemporary Agatha Christie novel with a sprinkle of White Lotus . Nadine is throwing a neighborhood garden party when she discovers a body in the basement. Got that? Now quickly rewind to the beginning of the day, before the killing, and try to guess both murderer and victim as the plot unfolds. The entire book takes place in a day, which makes this a deliciously taut, fast-paced thriller.

This atmospheric debut novel from Jacqueline Holland is poised to make a mark on the dark fantasy genre. Collette LeSange is reluctantly immortal. Hundreds of years ago, her life was saved by a grandfather figure who granted her everlasting life—but with a catch. Collette is now a vampire, and keeping the world safe from her growing hunger has made her sad and lonely. Advance readers have compared The God of Endings to the New York Times bestseller The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab, but why not pick up a copy of this vampire novel and draw your own conclusions?

If you loved reading a housekeeper’s perspective in The Maid , Nina Prose’s cozy mystery , pick up a copy of Balli Kaur Jaswal’s Now You See Us . Corazon, Donita and Angel are Filipina domestic workers in Singapore. They are housekeepers and caregivers—the invisible women who witness the comings and goings of the filthy rich. When the three get wind that another domestic worker has been charged with murdering her employer, they commit to solving the crime and unmasking the actual perpetrator.

Release date: March 14, 2023

What happens in wartime doesn’t always stay in wartime. That’s the case in Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai’s Dust Child . Take Phong, for instance. He had as much say as a speck of dust in his conception—the coming together of a Black American soldier and Vietnamese woman in the late 1960s. And then there’s Linda. She knew when she married Dan that he was a military veteran with PTSD from his combat years, but he never divulged all that happened. And then there are Trang and Quỳnh, two young women who became “bar girls” for the GIs, showing their pretty, friendly faces (and more) for money. When Linda and Dan plan a trip to Việt Nam, past and present come together in unexpected ways. If you loved Yaa Gyasi’s Homegoing , you’re going to want to carve out uninterrupted reading time for this historical fiction title .

11. The Mostly True Story of Tanner & Louise by Colleen Oakley

Release date: March 28, 2023

A 21-year-old gamer named Tanner who is, admittedly, in a bit of a slump. An 83-year-old woman named Louise who doesn’t need a caregiver, thank you very much . Thrown together as employee and employer by the octogenarian’s daughter, this unlikely pair can make it through their days just fine on opposite sides of the room. But then Tanner sees a news story about a past jewelry heist with a suspect who looks an awful lot like Louise. Next thing she knows, Louise is suggesting a middle-of-the-night road trip to California. Let the comedic getaway begin! Fans of Thelma and Louise , prepare yourselves. The Mostly True Story of Tanner & Louise is the twist on the classic flick you didn’t know you needed.

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Release date: April 4, 2023

Remember The Clockmaker’s Daughter ? The Lake House ? How about The Secret Keeper ? Yes, those. To date, all Kate Morton’s fiction books have been bestsellers. Like The Lake House , Homecoming builds a plot and characters centered around a crime. On Dec. 24, 1959, a brutal crime occurred at the Turners’ house. The mystery was never solved. Almost 60 years later, when journalist Jess Turner-Bridges returns to the house to visit her fragile grandmother, she starts making connections she’d never made before. Has the key to the crime been there all along?

Release date: April 18, 2023

The author of The Violin Conspiracy (one of our favorite fiction books of 2022 ) is at it again! This time, Brendan Slocumb’s self-described musical thriller centers on a music-history expert named Bern Hendricks, who has uncovered a terrible secret: a renowned 20th-century American composer didn’t compose his own music. The compositions were stolen from a neurodivergent Black composer named Josephine Reed. The news will shock the music establishment, but that doesn’t stop Bern from doing everything he can to uncover the truth and right an old wrong.

With themes of living life to the fullest and second chances, Lee Smith’s Silver Alert would make a perfect 2023 beach read . It’s a road-trip novel set in the Florida Keys, after all! Octogenarian Herb isn’t ready to grow old. But his wife has succumbed to dementia, and his adult children have arrived at his doorstep to tell him it’s time to move into a senior care facility. So Herb does what anyone in his place would do: He suggests a penultimate joyride with his wife’s manicurist for company. Readers are lucky to be invited along as an unlikely friendship forms and the two open up about their fears—his for the future, hers about the past.

Release date: April 25, 2023

If you prefer fiction books with a heaping helping of romance (or love anything from Colleen Hoover or Laura Jane Williams), Only Love Can Hurt Like This belongs on your must-read list. After finding out her fiancé is cheating on her, Wren wants to get out of the U.K. So she heads to the United States to spend a few months in Indiana with her dad and stepmom. There, surrounded by cornfields, she meets a man named Anders, and the two have an instant connection. It would be the perfect summer love story if it weren’t for Anders’s secrets.

Release date: May 2, 2023

Susie Luo’s debut novel, Paper Names , explores what it means to grow up in a family straddling two countries—in this case, China and the United States. It’s the story of Tony, a Chinese man who moved to America for a better life. It’s also the story of his Chinese American daughter, Tammy, who grapples with meeting her dad’s expectations while also following her dreams. Then there’s Oliver, a wealthy white neighbor who, at first glance, seems to have nothing in common with them. But their lives are about to collide in a way that changes them forever. If you love this one, pick up even more must-read books by Asian American authors .

Release date: May 9, 2023

Death doula Clover Brooks spends her days helping the dying come to terms with their lives and doing her best to grant last wishes. The trouble is that Clover is better at giving others a fulfilling death than giving herself a fulfilling life. Outside her working hours, she’s lonely, anxious and socially awkward. When one elderly woman’s last wish sends Clover on the hunt for an old flame from the woman’s youth, Clover must face her fears and ask, “Am I brave enough to live a life with no regrets?” For all its talk of death, The Collected Regrets of Clover is never dark or grim. The feel-good story is beautiful, heartwarming and ultimately hopeful.

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Release date: May 16, 2023

Fair warning: Yellowface is bound to be polarizing. R.F. Kuang—you might recognize her name from the Poppy War fantasy book series —has written it to raise hackles. This self-aware dark satire tackles current issues like cultural appropriation, the lack of diversity in publishing and structural racism. The plot centers on a bestselling author named Juniper Song. The trouble is that Juniper isn’t really Juniper. Her name is June, and her novel is a stolen manuscript from a deceased Asian American classmate. But June’s deception goes deeper. To sell the story, she professed to be an Asian American author. How many layers of lies will she tell to save face?

Release date: May 30, 2023

If you love music, you’ll enjoy Michelle Hoffman’s The Second Ending . And if you don’t have a musical bone in your body? You’ll still get swept up in a story that stresses it’s never too late for a second chance. At first glance, Prudence Childs and Alexei Petrov have nothing in common. She was a child prodigy who is now squandering her talent on commercial jingles. He is a trending internet sensation with no life or friends outside the cutthroat classical music industry. Both get a second go at a better life when they’re pitted against each other on a dueling-piano reality-TV show.

Our list of must-read fiction books wouldn’t be complete without a novel that reminds readers of the power books hold between their pages. Meg Shaffer’s The Wishing Game may not contain any magic—this is a whimsical tale, but it’s grounded in reality—yet there’s something magical about the book. With a story reminiscent of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and as puzzle-filled as The Westing Game , it’s an entertaining escape. In it, a reclusive children’s book author invites four true fans to his private island to compete for a chance to secure the only copy of his new manuscript. Lucy Hart, a teacher’s aide who remembers how the books brought her joy and comfort as a child, is delighted to receive an invitation. Of course, she and the others have no idea what games and plot twists the author has waiting for her on Clock Island.

Release date: June 6, 2023

We’re calling it: Same Time Next Summer might be the ultimate summer read of 2023. No one ever forgets her first love. Sam remembers the magic of high school summers on the beach with Wyatt. The way he made her heart and stomach flutter. The stolen kisses and treehouse rendezvous. These days, Sam is older, wiser and over him, with the buttoned-up personality to prove it. Or so she thinks. But when Sam takes her fiancé, Jack, to the old beach house to check out nearby wedding venues, a chance encounter with Wyatt sends her mind and heart into a tailspin.

Release date: June 27, 2023

Thao Thai’s debut novel traces three generations of Vietnamese American women from wartime Vietnam to the swamps of Florida. Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai, author of The Mountains Sing and Dust Child (another of our favorite fiction books of 2023!), has called Banyan Moon “heart-shatteringly beautiful” and “a love letter to keepers of secrets, to motherhood, family and survival.” This powerful historical fiction novel is one of the most-anticipated books of the year.

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Release date: July 18, 2023

Pulitzer Prize–winning author Colson Whitehead whisks readers back to 1970s New York City in Crook Manifesto , the sequel to 2021’s bestselling Harlem Shuffle . Between the seedy politicians, Hollywood debutantes and powerful mobsters, Harlem is teeming with all walks and seasons of life. Ray Carney is a man caught in the fray. As the story by one of today’s greatest Black authors moves through the ’70s, Ray swerves between being a criminal and a hero, all while staying dedicated to what matters most: keeping his business open and his family close.

Release date: July 25, 2023

Say hello to another twisty domestic thriller from Shari Lapena, author of The Couple Next Door . The tight-knit neighbors of Stanhope all say it’s a wonderful town, the ideal place to raise a family. Of course, no one is perfect, and, well, everyone here is lying . One of the liars? William Wooler, whose tempestuous affair ends the same day his 9-year-old daughter goes missing. You’ll be clinging to every page as neighbors step forward to share what they know, all while harboring their own dark secrets.

Release date: Aug. 1, 2023

How far would you go to keep a loved one safe from potential danger? Would you lie to her? Would you undermine her blossoming friendships ? Would you control every detail of her life so she’d never have to know the pain you’ve known? Sarah Pekkanen’s startling, breathtaking tale of a mother and daughter will plunge you into a plot layered by lies and trauma but still infused with love. Through deft writing and thoughtful character development, she’s created a fast-paced thriller in Gone Tonight , daring to ask deep questions about love versus fear, and control versus protection.

Next, here are some great books for men to check out.

Originally Published: March 07, 2022

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Rachel Kushner’s Booker-shortlisted Creation Lake is top-notch

For an undercover operative, Sadie Smith takes unnecessary risks as she infiltrates an eco-activist group. Why? And where do the Neanderthals fit into Creation Lake, Rachel Kushner's Booker-shortlisted climate fiction novel? Emily H. Wilson loved finding out

By Emily Wilson

26 September 2024

Rachel Kushner’s Creation Lake has been shortlisted for the Booker prize

Creation Lake Rachel Kushner (Jonathan Cape (UK, 5 September); Scribner (US, 3 September))

Creation Lake by Rachel Kushner is a thriller, a spy caper, a comedy and also a poetic take on human history all the way back to the time our species, Homo sapiens , shared Earth with the Neanderthals. It is a sensationally enjoyable novel and has deservedly made the Booker prize longlist.

The story is narrated by our anti-hero, Sadie Smith (not her real name). She is a US undercover operative working for shady employers who is sent to France to infiltrate and ultimately destroy Le Moulin, a group of eco-activists whose members are known as Moulinards.

Sadie sets about her task in an entirely amoral fashion. First, she seduces a man named Lucien who has contacts within the activists. After a few months, she has secured work among the Moulinards and travels to Lucien’s family house, conveniently placed in an area of Guyenne, south-west France, where Le Moulin is based.

The best new science fiction books of September 2024

From Michel Houellebecq to Booker-longlisted Richard Powers and Rachel Kushner, there is plenty of excellent science fiction to read this September

The roof leaks, but the house itself is a great eyrie to spy upon her prey from – a job made easier by her high-powered, military grade binoculars and a caseful of high-tech kit.

The novel’s structure is brilliant. We follow Sadie as she worms her way into the justifiably paranoid Moulinard community. We are also led backwards through her life, rifling through her backlist of operations and lingering resentments against those who are attempting (rightly) to expose her. We gradually realise our apparently super-professional operative takes unnecessary and dangerous risks. Is she, in fact, a vulnerable young woman hanging by a thread, or a grenade with the pin pulled out? Or both?

These two strands, moving forwards and backwards, are equally gripping, each informing the other with perfect dramatic timing. But it is the book’s third strand, relating to a much older man’s emails, that becomes the beating heart of the book.

Richard Powers's new novel is a beautiful love letter to our oceans

From colonialism to AI, this Booker-longlisted novel urges us to wake up to how we treat wild creatures and places

Sadie has hacked into Le Moulin’s group email account so she can read every message they get from someone named Bruno Lacombe. He is a mentor and inspiration to the group, and it makes sense that she pays his emails particular attention.

In the messages, Bruno talks about his views on the superiority of Neanderthals, the inferiority of H. sapiens and his life living alone in a Neanderthal cave. He also lectures the Moulinards on the history of the Guyenne area.

As a plot device, these emails have every right not to work. But we quickly learn to read them intently, just as Sadie does. Soon we realise that it is the relationship between Sadie and Bruno (albeit a relationship only she knows about) that is at the emotional centre of the novel.

She is more interested in him and what he has to say than any of the Moulinards are. Might she run into him before her operation in France is over?

I found Bruno’s musings on the Neanderthals, however biased and unscientific, particularly gripping – perhaps because I read them while on a New Scientist tour of the prehistoric art of northern Spain. The oldest artwork there is believed to be by Neanderthals , and however different (or not) they were from us, Bruno’s passion is evocatively captured.

I can’t say any more without spoiling the high-octane plot. As for Sadie, does she deserve our sympathy, and where do the book’s events leave her as a person? I look forward to reading this again, and perhaps puzzling that out.

Emily also recommends…

The Ministry for the Future Kim Stanley Robinson (Orbit)

Creation Lake is arguably climate fiction. But if you want the ultimate in cli-fi, then read The Ministry for the Future. The book plays out a scenario that is almost upon us as the world heats up. Its structure, made up of fictional eye-witness accounts, is bold and relentlessly brilliant .

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Londoners, look up – Alan Moore wants to show you a better world

The great comic-book artist begins a new fantasy series with The Great When, a tale of two realms that’s lurid to the point of overheating

Londoners! There is another city behind your city , or above it, or within it. This other place, known as Long London, belongs to the Great When, a super-real realm that lurks behind your common-or-garden reality. Whenever there are shenanigans over there – caused by Jungian archetypes called Arcana, who jockey for esoteric advantage – it stirs mundane events over here. An artist-magician called Austin Spare puts it this way: “If this London is what they call the Smoke, then that place is the Fire, you follow me?” A bruiser called Jack “Spot” Comer is more forthright: “This other London, that’s the organ grinder, an’ our London’s just the fackin’ monkey.”

Sometimes one of these Arcana even stumbles from Long London into the real . In 1936, the Beauty of Riots – think Eugène Delacroix’s bare-breasted Liberty Leading the People, only 10 feet tall – finds herself picking through the battle of Cable Street. Sometimes a visit is arranged across the divide. In 1949, Harry Lud, “the red-handed soul of crime itself”, comes at Spot’s beckoning to sort out some bother with the gangster Billy Hill.

If Spare, Spot and the rest – in fact, everything I’ve written above – are unfamiliar to you, look the names up. Alan Moore obsessives, of whom there are many, will be used to how his wildest yarns emerge from the mouths of London’s more colourful historical figures. Yes, this is the oldest, cheapest trick in the arsenal of the London novelist – but, as The Great When proves, Moore keeps getting away with it.

The plot: a few years after the Second World War , underachieving Dennis Knuckleyard has been effectively adopted by Coffin Ada, the nastiest second-hand book-dealer in Shoreditch. Having accidentally purchased a book that doesn’t exist – at least, not in this realm – Dennis finds himself caught between worlds. Can he return the book to Long London and its severed, vitrine-dwelling City Heads, and maintain the wall between the realms? Will his adventures make a man of him? Will he win the favours of tart-with-a-heart Grace Shilling?

Moore’s not doing anything new here. Readers of urban fantasy – and I’m among them – have fallen or forced our way along so many Diagon Alleys over the years, have waited so very long for that bus to Viriconium, or Neverwhere, or Un Lun Dun, that it’s a wonder we have an appetite for (ahem) more. In this, the first of a promised series, what does Moore bring to what is by now a familiar itinerary? 

More Moore for a start, which is to say characters as if by Dickens, and set dressing as if by Iain Sinclair. It’s a heady brew. His esoteric Long London, when Dennis runs into it at last, is rendered in language so unhinged it teeters on the unreadable, so sure is Moore that the reader will be hooked. His maximalist prose isn’t for everyone. Will you join Dennis as he “glories in a robust sausage sandwich – slabs of fresh bread, soft and baked to flaking umber at the edges, soaking up the hot grease of the bangers”? I did not, though I admit that the “glossy chunks” of chip-shop cod “that slid apart like pages in a poorly stapled magazine” were nicely done.

More impressive is the control Moore has over his architecture. His straightforward story harbours a surprising degree of pathos: when the plot around the misplaced book resolves unexpectedly, halfway through, it leaves Dennis with a couple of hundred pages in which to make ordinary human mistakes, chiefly mistaking friends for enemies, and friendliness for sexual attraction. So our complicated young hero grows up as kinked and keeled-over as the rest of us, while the war, long over, continues to unhinge the world, financing its criminal class and normalising its violence.

You can catch a glimpse of where Moore’s new series is going. His London is too complicated to explain in simple terms. Such terms have become a thing of the past, “and we shan’t be seeing ’em again.” Magical thinking is not just possible for Moore’s characters; it’s reasonable. It’s inconceivable that the writer of the 1990s comic sensation From Hell won’t find himself wandering through Victorian Whitechapel at some point. Still, I would like to think that The Great When is edging away from Ripper territory into a wider and more generous vision of what London was, is and may become.

The Great When is published by Bloomsbury at £25. To order your copy for £16.99, call 0808 196 6794 or visit Telegraph Books

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Fiction Review: Vanessa Saunders Reads Annell López’s Collection I’ll Give You a Reason

Annell López’s first book, I’ll Give You A Reason , is masterclass in writing about people on the margins. The winner of the 2023 Louise Meriwether First Book Prize from Feminist Press, this short-story collection delves into themes of exclusion on the grounds of citizenship, race, and mental illness.

Set in New Jersey, a haunting sense of grief is present in these stories, which often center the feeling of not feeling at home. Despite their darker themes, there is a solid seam of hope that prevents us from collapsing into total despair. The women of these stories are whip-smart, powerfully observant, funny, and horny.

Much like Carmen Maria Machado in Her Body and Other Parties , López puts female eroticism at the center of her stories. One example of this is in the story called “The Other Carmen.” In this story, a plus size woman of color finds a porn star with her same name on the internet. This other Carmen becomes a role model for the main character, inspiring her sexual liberation. In a scene in a therapist’s office, our protagonist tells her doctor about the porn star she idolizes:

In the end, the protagonist decides to seek out a new form of a pleasure, one that is not predicated on the perfect female body or the perfect pose. In this book, López writes about female arousal that does not cater to the male gaze or sometimes does not feature men at all. While reading this book, I was reminded of bell hooks’ declaration that the wish for social progress is inextricably bound with the quest for sexual pleasure . The sexual empowerment of these characters is an example of women enact agency in a society that attempt to strip them of it—in these stories, I read the focus on female eroticism as a form of hope.

Throughout this collection, we are reminded of the small ways in which one can survive the unsurvivable, whether it be through humor, sex, love, food, or intelligence. It’s true that a razor-sharp eye that spares no one is ever-present in López’s fiction. At times, this book is laugh out loud funny. One humorous moment takes place in the story “Darth Vader.” In this story, a high school dropout is having an affair with her married boss, Mateo, who keep sending her dick pics. At one point, she becomes frustrated with their generation differences:

I found I’ll Give You A Reason often lead me into unexpected places. Whether it be surprising moments of humor, sensuality, or pure zaniness, there was something delightfully unstable about the people in these stories. Her fiction uses conflicts between people to speak broader themes, so it stimulates the heart and the brain at once. 

In “The World as We Know It,” a white woman calls Childhood Protective Services on an undocumented family because she suspects they are abusing their child. Though innocent, this family has to flee their home due to fears about deportation, which destroys the white woman’s self-image as a savior.

In the stories of this collection, white people are portrayed as lost in their own myths of self-grandeur and victimhood. In a literary canon where whiteness is so often silent, in the words of scholar Richard Dyer, López “makes whiteness strange.” In this book, whiteness is undesirable, messy, and unaware of itself, yet López’s representation never falls into the trap of cliché. Her characters feel like real people, unaware of their flaws, but palpable all the same. As a white woman reading this book, I felt like López’s stories helped me form a more conscious relationship to my own race. We should all read López’s fiction, regardless of who we are, to learn more about the structural inequities of the country we live in. 

When read as a collection, these stories make us laugh, feel sad, angry, horny, but mostly bewildered. Bewildered by the country we live in. How the deprivation of belonging can haunt a whole community, leaving its people with a sense of unassailable grief. These stories capture the heartbreak and the grief of our current moment of social divide.

I’ll Give You a Reason , by Annell López. New York, New York: Feminist Press, April 2024. 208 pages. $16.95, paper .

Vanessa Saunders is a professor of practice at Loyola University New Orleans. Her feminist, experimental novel, The Flat Woman , won the Ronald Sukenick Innovative Fiction Prize and is forthcoming from University of Alabama Press and FC2 in November of 2024. Her hybrid work, fiction, and poetry has appeared in  Seneca Review ,  Los Angeles Review ,  Sycamore Review ,  Passages North , and  PANK  among others. Born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, she received her MFA from Louisiana State University. She is at work on a novel. 

Check out  HFR ’s  book catalog ,  publicity list ,  submission manager , and buy merch from our Spring store . Follow us on  Instagram  and  YouTube . Disclosure:  HFR  is an affiliate of Bookshop.org and we will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase. Sales from Bookshop.org help support independent bookstores and small presses .

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The Best Books We Read in 2021

“ De Gaulle ,” by Julian Jackson

New Yorker writers reflect on the year’s highs and lows.

This superb biography of the former French leader brilliantly explores how he managed to dominate his country’s political life for decades. Jackson’s account of De Gaulle’s youth and conservative milieu only enhances one’s respect for De Gaulle’s stand, in 1940, against the Vichy government, and his account of De Gaulle’s war years in London makes clear why Churchill and Roosevelt found him almost impossible to deal with. The second half of the book—which deals with De Gaulle’s return to power during the conflict in Algeria, and his somewhat autocratic presidency—is even more compelling; together the two halves form as good an argument as one can make for believing that a single individual can alter the course of history. But Jackson, with sublime prose and a sure grasp of the politics and personalities of the Third, Fourth, and Fifth Republics, never allows that argument to overshadow De Gaulle’s extremely difficult and domineering personality, and why it never entirely fit the democracy he helped rescue and then presided over. —Isaac Chotiner

“ Segu: A Novel ,” by Maryse Condé

In a year that began with an attempted coup, it was good to remember that zealotry and factionalism have menaced every society—and often make for excellent storytelling, too. Maryse Condé’s 1984 novel “Segu” opens in the ruthlessly competitive capital of the eighteenth-century Bambara Empire, in present-day Mali, where the ruling mansa uneasily monitors the rise of Islam and the mysterious arrival of white explorers. Griots sing the exploits of a noble family, the Traores, whose sons are destined to suffer every consequence of modernity’s upheavals. Condé, who was born in Guadeloupe but spent years in West Africa, is the great novelist of the Afro-Atlantic world, and “Segu,” her masterpiece, is the mother of diaspora epics. The novel follows the Traores as they are scattered across the globe, from Moroccan universities to Brazilian sugarcane fields, pulled every which way by their ambitions, lusts, and religious yearnings. Condé excels at evoking the tensions of a world in flux, whether it’s the ambivalence of a man torn between his family gods and Islam’s cosmopolitanism or the cynicism of a wealthy mixed woman who sells slaves on the coast of Senegal. Despite its magisterial scope, “Segu” is also warm and gossipy, and completely devoid of the sentimental attachment to heritage that turns too many family sagas into ancestral stations of the cross. Condé has a wicked sense of humor that doesn’t play favorites, especially with her mostly male protagonists, whose naïve adventurism and absent-minded cruelty (especially toward women) profoundly shape the history that eludes their grasp. —Julian Lucas

“ Upper Bohemia: A Memoir ,” by Hayden Herrera

I came upon this recent memoir while browsing the shelves at the Brooklyn Public Library, and was immediately drawn in by its cover: a black-and-white photograph of two young girls, perched out the back window of a sports car, whose ruffled blouses and blond hair suggested a kind of patrician free-spiritedness. Herrera is known for her biographies of artists such as Frida Kahlo and Arshile Gorky, but in “Upper Bohemia” she turns to the story of her own family, a high-Wasp clan as privileged as it was screwed up. During the nineteen-forties and fifties, Herrera and her older sister Blair were shunted, willy-nilly, between their divorced parents, both of whom were possessed of great looks, flighty temperaments, and intense narcissism. Her mother and father—each married five times—often disregarded the girls, treating them as considerably less significant than their own artistic or sexual fulfillment, whose pursuit took them through urbane, artsy circles in Cape Cod and New York, Mexico City and Cambridge. Herrera tells a fascinating cultural history of a particular milieu, but what is most affecting is her ability to channel, in sensate detail, the life of a lonely child trying to make sense of the world around her. Her tone carries a measure of detachment, but I often found it immensely moving. “Blair and I had not spent much time with our mother since the fall of 1948 when, after putting us on a train to go to boarding school in Vermont, she drove to Mexico to get a divorce,” she writes. “Whenever our mother did turn up, she brought presents from Mexico, animals made of clay or embroidered blouses for Blair and me. She always made everything sound wonderful. She was like sunshine. Blair and I moved toward her like two Icaruses, but we never touched her golden rays.” This is a beautiful book. —Naomi Fry

“ Long Live the Post Horn! ,” by Vigdis Hjorth, translated by Charlotte Barslund

Vigdis Hjorth’s “Long Live the Post Horn!”—a swift, darkly funny novel about existential despair, collective commitment, and the Norwegian postal service—buoyed me during this strange, roiling year. Ellinor, the novel’s narrator, is a thirty-five-year-old public-relations consultant whose projects and relationships are characterized by a bleak, steady detachment. When her colleague Dag leaves town, Ellinor grudgingly inherits one of his clients: Postkom, the Norwegian Post and Communications Union, which wants to fight an E.U. directive that would usher in competition from the private sector. For Ellinor, the project begins creakily; gradually, she gets swept up. What results is a personal awakening of sorts—a newfound desire to live, connect, and communicate—and a genuinely gripping treatment of bureaucratic tedium. “Long Live the Post Horn!” is rich with political and philosophical inquiries, and gentle with their delivery. They arrive in the form of dissociative diary entries, awkward Christmas gift exchanges, and the world’s loneliest description of a sex toy (“he had bought the most popular model online, the one with the highest ratings”). There’s also a long yarn told by a postal worker, which makes for a wonderful, near-mythic embedded narrative. “What exactly did ‘real’ mean?” Ellinor wonders, experiencing a crisis of authenticity while desperately trying to produce P.R. copy for the Real Thing, an American restaurant chain. “Was the man behind the Real Thing himself the real thing, I wondered? I googled him; he looked like every other capitalist.” Expansive and mundane—this novel was, for me, sheer joy. —Anna Wiener

“ Free: A Child and a Country at the End of History ,” by Lea Ypi

Some people feel free to imagine their lives unbounded by history. Lea Ypi did not have that luxury. Born in 1979 in Albania, then one of the most sealed-off countries in the Communist bloc, she had little reason to question her love for Stalin until the day, in 1990, that she went to hug his statue and found that protesters had decapitated it. With the fall of the Berlin Wall, the edifice of Albanian socialism collapsed, too. Even more disorienting was the fact that Ypi’s parents turned out never to have believed in it—they’d just talked a good line to prevent their dissident, bourgeois backgrounds from tainting her prospects. Ypi’s new book, “Free,” out in the U.K. and to be published stateside in January, is a tart and tender childhood memoir. But it’s also a work of social criticism, and a meditation on how to live with purpose in a world where history, far from having ended, seems energized by disinformation. Ypi, a political theorist at the London School of Economics, is interested in how categories of thought—“proletariat,” for instance—were replaced by reductive rallying cries like “freedom.” “When freedom finally arrived, it was like a dish served frozen,” she writes. “We chewed little, swallowed fast and remained hungry.” Her parents became leaders in the new democratic opposition but lost their savings to a shady investment scheme, and when the country devolved into civil war, in 1997, her formidable mother had to leave for Italy, where she worked cleaning houses. When Ypi studied abroad, her leftist friends didn’t want to hear about her experience: their socialism would be done right, and Albania’s was best forgotten. But Ypi is not in the business of forgetting—neither the repression of the system she grew up in nor the harshness of capitalism. Her book is a quick read, but, like Marx’s spectre haunting Europe, it stays with you. —Margaret Talbot

“ Harrow: A Novel ,” by Joy Williams

I have already written at length about the wonder of Joy Williams’s most recent novel , “Harrow.” But I feel compelled to re-state my case. The book is set in a world that climate change has transformed into a grave, and it’s dense with wild oddity, mystical intelligence, and with a keenness and beauty that start at the sentence level but sink down to the book’s core. “Harrow” tracks a teen-ager named Khristen across the desert, where she eventually meets up with a sort of “terrorist hospice” of retirees determined to avenge the earth. Her companion, Jeffrey, is either a ten-year-old with an alcoholic mother or the Judge of the Underworld. Williams, the real Judge of the Underworld, moonlights here as a theologist, animal-rights activist, mad oracle, social historian, and philosopher of language. Her comic set pieces—e.g., a birthday party in which the hastily provisioned cake depicts a replica, in icing, of Goya’s “Saturn Devouring His Son”—unlock tears, and her elegies wrest out laughter, if only because it’s absurd to find such pleasure in a study of devastation. When the book was over, I missed the awful, cleansing darkness of its eyes upon me. —Katy Waldman

“ A Mad Love: An Introduction to Opera ,” by Vivien Schweitzer

My late grandfather spent most of his weekends holed up in his study—a sunken room, adorned with a ratty Chesterfield sofa and posters from various international chess championships—listening to opera. As a child, I found this practice impenetrable. I didn’t understand the languages blaring out of his record player, and I wasn’t old enough to grasp the rhapsodic emotion inherent in the form. Opera is about Big Feelings; it radiates youth, yet it remains a passion that most people age into. (Perhaps that has something to do with the cost of a Met ticket.) Then the pandemic hit, and suddenly all I wanted to do was listen to Maria Callas, whose unhinged arias clicked into place as the soundtrack for my anxious, pacing mind. My grandfather was no longer around to discuss my fixation, but, fortunately, I found Vivien Schweitzer’s 2018 book, “A Mad Love,” which is a sparkling cultural history of opera’s greatest composers and their obsessive brains. Beginning with Monteverdi and barrelling through to Philip Glass, the book is about the blood and sweat that goes into writing an opera (an often lunatic effort, it seems), and about the feverish attachment fans have to the resulting work. I found myself tearing through it in the bathtub, delighted not just to inhale the gossipy backstories of the “Ring” cycle and “La Traviata” but to join the society of opera nuts of which my grandfather was a card-carrying member. I finally understood what he was listening for on those Sunday afternoons: anguish, joy, love, betrayal. —Rachel Syme

“ Not One Day ,” by Anne Garréta, translated by Emma Ramadan

It is a peculiar feeling, reading a book that seems to have been written for you but wasn’t. The friend who recommended the Oulipian writer Anne Garréta’s “Not One Day” must have known that I would find this merger of intimacy and anonymity irresistible. While recovering from an accident that has left her body immobile, the book’s narrator, a nomadic literature professor, decides that she will write about the women she has desired. Each woman will be identified by a letter of the alphabet; to each letter, she will devote five hours a day for precisely one month. She knows that narrating desire requires discipline—and she finds that desire always, always exceeds it. Letters are skipped and jumbled, so that the table of contents reads, “B, X, E, K, L, D, H, N, Y, C, I, Z.” The narrator takes a long break from the project and, when she comes back to it, one of the stories she writes is fiction. Slowly, the categories that keep desire and its creation of “our little selves” in check—self and other, past and present, man and woman, heterosexual and homosexual, solipsistic alienation and shared passion—get wonderfully and terrifyingly muddled. Instead of a confession written in the familiar “alphabet of desire,” we glimpse the making of a whole new language. I could smother the book with adoration—it is aching and maddening, intelligent and wildly sexy. But it would be simpler to say that reading it is like meeting someone new and feeling the world come undone. Here is a book that insists that the desire for fiction, for its mimicry and its mirage, is indistinguishable from the desire for another person. —Merve Emre

“ Tom Stoppard: A Life ,” by Hermione Lee

For a time this year, Lee’s newest biography just seemed to be around , and during a couple weeks when I was ostensibly reading other things, I found myself opening it in odd moments—over breakfast, waiting for the pasta pot to boil—until I realized that I’d worked my way through the whole thing. The biography is nearly nine hundred pages, so my experience of it as a side pleasure, a lark, is a testament to Lee’s craft. Much of Stoppard’s history is widely known: his passage from peripatetic refugee youth to Bristol newspaperman and radio-drama hack, and then, with “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead,” to fame and fortune as a witty playwright. What Lee adds is detail, particularly around interesting career turns, plus a big serving of her own admiration. (Not entirely to its credit, I think, this is the sort of biography that everyone dreams of having written about them; our protagonist is always brilliant, invariably a delight. Stoppard, on reading it, was apparently moved to clarify that he was “not as nice as people think.”) What Stoppard contributes is an air of whimsy on the ride up his great tower of success. There is pleasant cohesion to his body of work, with its blend of bookish intellection and breezy verbal humor. Off the page, it becomes clear, he pairs casual social climbing with the cheery pursuit of material ease, often courtesy of Hollywood. He has maintained a stream of scriptwriting work, on projects such as the Indiana Jones franchise, and his constant efforts to boondoggle more luxury out of what’s offered him—his budget must be increased to accommodate a high-end hotel suite, he tells a studio, “because I prefer not to sleep and work in the same room”—are among the smaller charms of this book. Lee’s biography is ultimately such a pleasure, though, because it is a writer’s book: full of respect for the thrill of the craft, able to keep the progress of the life and the work aloft in the right balance. To read it is to be excited about the act of literature all over again. —Nathan Heller

“ Novel 11, Book 18 ,” by Dag Solstad, translated by Sverre Lyngstad

I first encountered “Novel 11, Book 18,” by the great Norwegian novelist Dag Solstad, on a bright, warm day, on a walk with some friends who were visiting from out of town. Buzzed on the weather and the handsome paperback cover—deep green on cream—and, above all, on the nearness of my friends, I bought it. It was almost funny, then, to discover how relentlessly bleak the book is. Published in 1992, but released in the United States this year, by New Directions, with an English translation by Sverre Lyngstad, it tells the story of Bjørn Hansen, a mild-mannered civil servant who has left his wife and son in pursuit of his lover, Turid Lammers. The change of life means a change of locale: Hansen leaves Oslo and settles in Kongsberg, a small, airless town where he soon joins an amateur theatre troupe, of which Turid is widely considered the most talented performer and a kind of spiritual leader. In probably the best and darkest bit of situational comedy that I read all year, Hansen tries to persuade the troupe—usually a vehicle for light musicals—to put on a production of Henrik Ibsen’s play “The Wild Duck.” He wins out, but the show is a terrible flop—and, worse in Hansen’s eyes, Turid gives a cynical, crowd-pleasing performance that inoculates her, and only her, from the more general disapproval of the audience. The relationship is soon over. Solstad tells the story in deceptively simple sentences that repeat themselves in a fugal fashion, gathering new and ever sadder aspects of meaning as they recur. Hansen, wading through the disappointing wash of his life—he’s having the worst midlife crisis imaginable—eventually cooks up a scheme of revenge that’s so sad and absurd it’s almost slapstick. The book’s generic title implies that tiny tragedies like Hansen’s are happening everywhere, all the time, as a simple cost of being alive. For Solstad, what feels like a reprieve—sun and intimacy, the company of friends—is just another step on a tightrope that stretches across the void. Maybe save this one for summer. —Vinson Cunningham

“ Patch Work: A Life Amongst Clothes ,” by Claire Wilcox

Among the books that most surprised and most moved me this year was “Patch Work: A Life Amongst Clothes,” a memoir by Claire Wilcox. Wilcox is senior curator of fashion at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, and she writes about clothing with an intoxicating specificity: century-old gowns are made from “narrow lengths of the finest Japanese silk, hand-stitched together and then pleated into rills like the delicate underside of a field mushroom.” But this fragmentary, dreamlike book is not about fashion as it is often understood. There is no industry gossip, no analysis of trends. Rather, Wilcox uses her encounters with objects—the bags of lace in the museum’s collection, the pair of purple velvet trousers she borrowed from a charismatic friend—to explore themes of love and loss, birth and bereavement, family and tribe. The book, which is as skillful and oblique in its structure as the precious gowns she describes, is stitched together with loving care from narrative scraps and images, ultimately revealing how materiality and memory operate on one another, so that the sensation of holding a button in her fingers brings Wilcox back to her earliest memory of fastening her mother’s cardigan: “buttoning and unbuttoning her all the way up, and then all the way down again.” —Rebecca Mead

“ Sabbath’s Theater ,” by Philip Roth

Over the course of the pandemic, the actor John Turturro and I have been adapting Roth’s novel for the stage, so I’ve read the book probably twenty times now. I have been astonished again and again. It’s never the adulterous urinating or alte kaker underwear-sniffing that shock me. It’s Roth’s singular capacity for conjuring death—its promises, its terrors, its reliability, and the relentless ache that it leaves behind. There are times when Roth approaches the subject with a cosmic lightheartedness: “Exactly how present are you, Ma? Are you only here or are you everywhere?” Mickey Sabbath, the aging, insatiable puppeteer, asks his dead mother’s ghost. “Do you know only what you knew when you were living, or do you now know everything, or is ‘knowing’ no longer an issue?” When it pertains to Drenka, Sabbath’s Croatian mistress—his “sidekicker,” as she puts it—death is tinged with so much yearning that it’s almost too much to bear, for both Sabbath and the reader (this one, anyway). “Got used to the oxygen prong in her nose. Got used to the drainage bag pinned to the bed,” Sabbath thinks, recalling the last of many nights he spent at her hospital bedside. “Cancer too widespread for surgery. I’d got used to that, too.” For all of Sabbath’s lubricious opportunism, Drenka is his one love. “We can live with widespread and we can live with tears; night after night, we can live with all of it, as long as it doesn’t stop.” But it does, of course. It always stops. Though not, in this book, for Sabbath, Roth’s most unrepentantly diabolical hero, despite his relentless flirtation with suicide: “He could not fucking die. How could he leave? How could he go? Everything he hated was here.” —Ariel Levy

“ Warmth ,” by Daniel Sherrell

In “Warmth,” the writer and organizer Daniel Sherrell’s bracing début memoir , he refers to climate change as “the Problem”—the horrifying, galvanizing fact that should cause all sentient people to lose sleep, to shout themselves hoarse, to reorient their lives in fundamental ways. And yet, apart from a small minority, most people seem content to listen to the string ensemble on the deck of the Titanic, shushing anyone who tries to interrupt the music. To be clear, this is my harsh indictment, not Sherrell’s. For an unabashed climate alarmist, he is mostly compassionate to the quietists, in part because, like all Americans, he used to be one. Sherrell was born in 1990. His father, an oceanographer, took long research trips to the polar ice caps. Of all people, the Sherrells understood what an emergency climate change was—and yet their household was a normal one, in the sense that the Problem didn’t come up much. “Even when all the evidence was there before us,” Sherrell writes, “it was difficult to name.” The book is marketed as a climate-grief memoir, and it certainly is that, but what came through for me, even more clearly than the grief, was a kind of existential irony: not only are we apparently unable to solve the Problem, we can’t even seem to find an honest way to talk about it. Most Americans claim to believe the science; the science says that, unless we make drastic changes, the future will be cataclysmic; and yet, Sherrell observes, “it still sounded uncouth, even a little ridiculous, to spell this all out in conversation.” This is the way the world ends: not with a bang, and not even with much of a whimper. “Warmth,” written in the form of a letter to a child that Sherrell may or may not conceive, is not a thesis-y sort of book. But, if it has a central claim, it’s that the activist chestnut “Don’t mourn, organize!” is a facile mantra, a false choice. Why not both? —Andrew Marantz

“ Brothers and Keepers ,” by John Edgar Wideman

John Edgar Wideman was teaching at the University of Wyoming in the mid-seventies when, one day, his brother, Robert, showed up in town unannounced. Wideman had a young family and a steady job as a writer and an academic. Robert was on a more tumultuous path; he was on the run after a botched robbery back home, in Pittsburgh, had ended with one of his accomplices shooting a man, who later died from his injuries. Published in 1984, “Brothers and Keepers” is Wideman’s attempt to reckon with their diverging lives, and with the bond that they will never relinquish. He sifts through episodes from their childhood, searching for overlooked turning points. No single genre can tell such a complex story. Sometimes, the book is about the deprivations of the criminal-justice system, as Wideman describes in granular detail his visits to the prison where Robert serves a life term. (Robert would pursue education himself in prison, and, in 2019, his sentence was commuted.) At other times, the book feels surreal and fantastical, as Wideman entertains the possibility that their lives might have taken them elsewhere. And there are moments of austerity and dread, as he contemplates the ethics of turning his brother into a character. I often find that memoirs flatten the degree to which “the personal is political” is an idea rife with contradictions. What makes “Brothers and Keepers” so absorbing is that Wideman feels love but not sympathy—not for his brother, and certainly not for himself. —Hua Hsu

2021 in Review

• Richard Brody on the best movies .
• Doreen St. Félix on essential TV shows .
• Ian Crouch on the funniest jokes .
• Amanda Petrusich on the best music .
• Alex Ross on notable performances and recordings .
• Michael Schulman on the greatest onscreen and onstage performances .
• Kyle Chayka on the year in vibes .
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Breaking news.

There’s a new genre on the block, and thanks to BookTok , it’s blowing up.

Odds are, you’ve heard of some sprawling fantasy series and you’ve heard of romance novels, but let us introduce you to romantasy books.

Fantasy romance has been around for a long time, but “romantasy” as a word to define the genre only started to spike as a search term in early 2023 — and since then, interest has only gone up.

So, what is romantasy?

Essentially, it’s a fantasy novel that uses romance tropes and storylines to further the plot. It encompasses all kinds of fantastical worlds with all kinds of creatures — faerie, dragons, vampires, werewolves, and more — with a prominent romantic storyline that is often — but not always — pretty steamy.

As summer turns into fall, there’s no better time to sink your teeth into the best romantasy series. Why? It’s getting dark earlier, spooky season is on the horizon, and with so many books, you can spend the dreariest and coldest months of the year escaping to one fantasy land over and over again.

Below, we rounded up 17 of the best romantasy books, including steamy romantasy books based on reviews from Audible readers.

Audible comes with a one-month free trial , so new users can try out the service with a book of their choice — including every book on this list.

‘A Court of Thorns and Roses’ by Sarah J. Maas

About the book: When nineteen-year-old huntress Feyre kills a wolf in the woods, a terrifying creature arrives to demand retribution. Dragged to a treacherous magical land she knows about only from legends, Feyre discovers that her captor is not truly a beast, but one of the lethal, immortal faeries who once ruled her world. As she adapts to her new home, her feelings for the faerie, Tamlin, transform from icy hostility into a fiery passion that burns through every lie she’s been told about the beautiful, dangerous world of the Fae. But something is not right in the faerie lands. An ancient, wicked shadow is growing, and Feyre must find a way to stop it or doom Tamlin—and his world—forever.

Readers are saying: “A Court of Thorns and Roses” is a bestseller for a reason. I won’t lie to you, though when I saw that it was marketed for fans of George RR Martin, I almost skipped it. I’m honestly sick to death of everything being compared to Game of Thrones and I could slap the next person in my office whose cellphone blares out that theme song. Jennifer Ikeda was the perfect choice of narrator to bring this beautiful, heartbreaking story to life and I’m beyond glad I chose the audio version of this book … Bottom line: If you’re a lover of fantasy romance, but don’t want the romance to overpower the other elements, then go read this book already. Or listen to it, as Ms. Ikeda was an excellent narrator. *shooing motion* Go on!”

Audiobook narrator: Jennifer Ikeda | Run time: 16 hours and 7 minutes | Buy in Paperback

“ A Court of Thorns and Roses “ series:

• “A Court of Thorns and Roses”
• “A Court of Mist and Fury”
• “A Court of Wings and Ruin”
• “A Court of Frost and Starlight”
• “A Court of Silver Flames”

‘Fourth Wing’ by Rebecca Yarros

About the book: 20-year-old Violet Sorrengail is forced to attend Basgiath War College where she undergoes intense training and relentless trials in order to become a dragon rider as a war rages on. She is smaller than most, with a weak and brittle body, and dragons don’t play nice; they incinerate anyone they don’t bond with. As the war continues and the death toll rises, Violet begins to suspect that leadership has some secrets of their own.

Readers are saying: “This is the first time I have read a book from this author, and let me say I will be continuing to read more! The characters, the richness of the world she created, and the adventure-filled storyline, had me riveted from the first moment I listened to it.”

Audiobook narrator: Rebecca Soler, Teddy Hamilton | Run time: 21 hours and 22 minutes | Buy in Hardcover

The Empyrean series:

• “Fourth Wing”
• “Iron Flame”
• “Onyx Storm” — preorder, release date January 21, 2025

‘Lightlark’ by Alex Aster

About the book: Every 100 years, the island of Lightlark appears to host the Centennial, a deadly game that only the rulers of six realms are invited to play. The invitation is a summons—a call to embrace victory and ruin, baubles and blood. The Centennial offers the six rulers one final chance to break the curses that have plagued their realms for centuries. Each ruler has something to hide. Each realm’s curse is uniquely wicked. To destroy the curses, one ruler must die.

Isla Crown is the young ruler of Wildling—a realm of temptresses cursed to kill anyone they fall in love with. They are feared and despised, and are counting on Isla to end their suffering by succeeding at the Centennial. To survive, Isla must lie, cheat, and betray…even as love complicates everything.

Readers are saying: “I picked up this book not knowing what to expect and was pleasantly surprised. I thought I had guessed the plot twist but was so far off (in the best way). It made the story even more exciting, in my opinion. This is a great read for people new to fantasy. It kind of reminds me of princess bride in some ways. There’s love, friendship, humor, curses, ‘magic’, and betrayal. It has all the good stuff to make you feel all the things. I couldn’t put it down. Definitely recommend!”

Audiobook narrator: Suzy Jackson | Run time: 12 hours and 57 minutes | Buy in Paperback

“ Lightlark “ series:

• “Lightlark”
• “Nightbane”
• “Skyshade” — preorder, release date November 12, 2024

‘Powerless’ by Lauren Roberts

About the book: Only the extraordinary belong in the kingdom of Ilya—the exceptional, the empowered, the Elites. The powers these Elites have possessed for decades were graciously gifted to them by the Plague, though not all were fortunate enough to both survive the sickness and reap the reward. Those born Ordinary are just that—ordinary. And when the king decreed that all Ordinaries be banished to preserve his Elite society, lacking an ability suddenly became a crime—making Paedyn Gray a felon by fate and a thief by necessity.

When Paeydn unsuspectingly saves one of Ilya’s princes, she finds herself thrown into the Purging Trials. The brutal competition exists to showcase the Elites’ powers—the very thing Paedyn lacks. If the Trials and the opponents within them don’t kill her, the prince she’s fighting feelings for certainly will if he discovers what she is…completely Ordinary.

Readers are saying: “I haven’t left a book with this many emotions swirling since I read “ACOTAR.” The narration is beautiful. There is no smut and yet the romance aspect is heartbreakingly beautiful. I can’t wait for the next book. I wish I had held off almost because now my brain is nagging at me for how [Roberts] will resolve this. As long as in the end Kai and Pae end up together, I’ll be a happy girl. I don’t care if it takes ten books but give them a happy ending so I can live peacefully. I loved this so much more than I ever could have expected.”

Audiobook narrator: Chase Brown, Cecily Bednar Schmidt | Run time: 17 hours and 28 minutes | Buy in Paperback

“Powerless” Trilogy:

• “Powerless”
• “Reckless”
• “Fearless” — preorder, release date April 8, 2025

‘House of Earth and Blood’ by Sarah J. Maas

About the book: Bryce Quinlan had the perfect life-working hard all day and partying all night – until a demon murdered her closest friends, leaving her bereft, wounded, and alone. When the accused is behind bars but the crimes start up again, Bryce finds herself at the heart of the investigation. She’ll do whatever it takes to avenge their deaths.

Hunt Athalar is a notorious Fallen angel, now enslaved as an assassin to the Archangels he once attempted to overthrow. But with a demon wreaking havoc in the city, he’s offered an irresistible deal: help Bryce find the murderer, and his freedom will be within reach.

As Bryce and Hunt dig deep into Crescent City’s underbelly, they discover a dark power that threatens everything and everyone they hold dear, and they find, in each other, a blazing passion – one that could set them both free, if they’d only let it.

Readers are saying: “This book held my interest from beginning to end. There were quite literally moments where I was holding my breath in anticipation of what was to come next. The story is riveting, it took a while to get all of the character names straight, but once I did, I was hooked. I will be reading book 2!”

Audiobook narrator: Elizabeth Evans | Run time: 27 hours and 50 minutes | Buy in Paperback

“ Crescent City “ series:

• “House of Earth and Blood”
• “House of Sky and Breath”
• “House of Flame and Shadow”

‘From Blood and Ash’ by Jennifer L. Armentrout

About the book: Chosen from birth to usher in a new era, Poppy’s life has never been her own. The life of the Maiden is solitary. Never to be touched. Never to be looked upon. Never to be spoken to. Never to experience pleasure. Waiting for the day of her Ascension, she would rather be with the guards, fighting back the evil that took her family, than preparing to be found worthy by the gods. But the choice has never been hers.

When Hawke, a golden-eyed guard honor bound to ensure her Ascension, enters her life, destiny and duty become tangled with desire and need. He incites her anger, makes her question everything she believes in, and tempts her with the forbidden.

Readers are saying: “A unique twist on a common fantasy that leaves you breathless and writhing. I loved every bit of this book! Suspenseful and conquering story with emotional never ending surprises that keep you pulled in the entire time! This is a book I will probably listen to again and again with obsession once I get through the rest of the series!”

Audiobook narrator: Stina Nielsen | Run time: 19 hours and 46 minutes | Buy in Paperback

“ Blood and Ash “ series:

• “From Blood and Ash”
• “A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire”
• “The Crown of Gilded Bones”
• “The War of Two Queens”
• “A Soul of Ash and Blood”

‘Bride’ by Ali Hazelwood

About the book: Misery Lark, the only daughter of the most powerful Vampyre councilman of the Southwest, is an outcast—again. Her days of living in anonymity among the Humans are over: she has been called upon to uphold a historic peacekeeping alliance between the Vampyres and their mortal enemies, the Weres, and she sees little choice but to surrender herself in the exchange—again… Weres are ruthless and unpredictable, and their Alpha, Lowe Moreland, is no exception. He rules his pack with absolute authority, but not without justice.

Misery has her own reasons to agree to this marriage of convenience, reasons that have nothing to do with politics or alliances, and everything to do with the only thing she’s ever cared about. And she is willing to do whatever it takes to get back what’s hers, even if it means a life alone in Were territory…alone with the wolf.

Readers are saying: “Need a break from complex storylines and exhaustingly long books? This is a great pallet cleanser. I didn’t come in expecting a masterpiece, just a fun love story. I came out pleasantly surprised. The storyline was entertaining and Lowe’s restrained addiction to the FMC was perfect. If you’re looking for a quippy read with some heavy tension, found family, and heartfelt romance, this is a great stop on your reading journey.”

Audiobook narrator: Thérèse Plummer, Will Damron | Run time: 12 hours and 47 minutes | Buy in Paperback

‘Throne of Glass’ by Sarah J. Maas

About the book: In a land without magic, an assassin is summoned to the castle. She has no love for the vicious king who rules from his throne of glass, but she has not come to kill him. She has come to win her freedom. If she defeats twenty-three murderers, thieves, and warriors in a competition, she will be released from prison to serve as the King’s Champion.

Her name is Celaena Sardothien. The Crown Prince will provoke her. The Captain of the Guard will protect her. And a princess from a faraway country will befriend her. When her competitors start dying mysteriously, one by one, Celaena’s fight for freedom becomes a fight for survival—and a desperate quest to root out the evil before it destroys her world.

Readers are saying: “I read this book first as recommended for the “romantic” version of the series. I would say it was somewhat of a slow start for me – it feels like the building of characters and plot. The last 1/4 of the book really started to take off with some action and emotional connection to the characters. I can tell there is still a lot to be learned about the characters and I’m not sure who to trust just yet. Good promise of twists and turns, romance, continued character development, betrayal, and surprise.”

Audiobook narrator: Elizabeth Evans | Run time: 13 hours and 3 minutes | Buy in Paperback

“ Throne of Glass “ series:

• “Throne of Glass”
• “Crown of Midnight”
• “Heir of Fire”
• “Queen of Shadows”
• “Empire of Storms”
• “Tower of Dawn”
• “Kingdom of Ash”

‘The Serpent and the Wings of Night’ by Carissa Broadbent

About the book: The adopted human daughter of the Nightborn vampire king, Oraya carved her place in a world designed to kill her. Her only chance to become something more than prey is entering the Kejari: a legendary tournament held by the goddess of death herself.

But winning won’t be easy amongst the most vicious warriors from all three vampire houses. To survive, Oraya is forced to make an alliance with a mysterious rival, Raihn. In a kingdom where nothing is more deadly than love, Raihn may understand her more than anyone, but their blossoming attraction could be her downfall.

Readers are saying: “The synopsis intrigued me so I purchased the audiobook…but I didn’t really know what to expect. What a spectacular surprise to have been blown away by the story and the narration! I will recommend this to everyone I know who would appreciate a powerfully insightful fantasy.”

Audiobook narrator: Amanda Leigh Cobb | Run time: 15 hours and 4 minutes | Buy in Paperback

“ Crowns of Nyaxia “ series:

• “The Serpent and the Wings of Night”
• “The Ashes and the Star-Cursed King”
• “The Songbird and the Heart of Stone” — preorder, release date November 19, 2024

‘Once Upon A Broken Heart’ by Stephanie Garber

About the book: For as long as she can remember, Evangeline Fox has believed in true love and happy endings…until she learns that the love of her life will marry another. Desperate to stop the wedding and to heal her wounded heart, Evangeline strikes a deal with the charismatic, but wicked, Prince of Hearts. In exchange for his help, he asks for three kisses, to be given at the time and place of his choosing.

But after Evangeline’s first promised kiss, she learns that bargaining with an immortal is a dangerous game—and that the Prince of Hearts wants far more from her than she’d pledged. He has plans for Evangeline, plans that will either end in the greatest happily ever after, or the most exquisite tragedy….

Readers are saying: This book left me wanting more in the best way possible. Each time I thought I had it figured out a new twist emerged. I went through a rollercoaster of hating and loving characters multiple times, back and forth. Fantastic read and great narration!

Audiobook narrator: Rebecca Soler | Run time: 10 hours and 3 minutes | Buy in Paperback

“ Once Upon A Broken Heart “ series:

• “Once Upon A Broken Heart”
• “The Ballad of Never After”
• “A Curse for True Love”

‘A Touch of Darkness’ by Scarlett St. Clair

About the book: Persephone is the Goddess of Spring by title only. The truth is, since she was a little girl, flowers have shriveled at her touch. After moving to New Athens, she hopes to lead an unassuming life disguised as a mortal journalist. Hades, God of the Dead, has built a gambling empire in the mortal world and his favorite bets are rumored to be impossible.

After a chance encounter with Hades, Persephone finds herself in a contract with the God of the Dead and the terms are impossible: Persephone must create life in the Underworld or lose her freedom forever. The bet does more than expose Persephone’s failure as a goddess, however. As she struggles to sow the seeds of her freedom, love for the God of the Dead grows – and it’s forbidden.

Readers are saying: “I loved every moment of this book. I especially loved that I could tell that the author knows the origins of the myth, but found ways to make something new and magical with it. This is an old tale reimagined. Hades is a dark and broody club owner who rules the Underworld. Persephone, a young and naive college student studying journalism. Neither character was overdone for the sake of drama. The good and bad in each was believably balanced. As for the romance part of the story? It was the perfect level of steamy. Sometimes a romance becomes all steam and no sizzle, not this tale. There’s plenty of sizzle, the story, with a sprinkle of steam, the romance, to make you feel satisfied.”

Audiobook narrator: Meg Sylvan | Run time: 11 hours and 6 minutes | Buy in Paperback

Hades x Persephone Saga:

• “A Touch of Darkness”
• “A Game of Fate”
• “A Touch of Ruin”
• “A Game of Retribution”
• “A Touch of Malice”
• “A Game of Gods”
• “A Touch of Chaos”

‘A Fate Inked in Blood’ by Danielle L. Jensen

About the book: Bound in an unwanted marriage, Freya spends her days gutting fish, but dreams of becoming a warrior. And of putting an axe in her boorish husband’s back.

Freya’s dreams abruptly become reality when her husband betrays her to the region’s jarl, landing her in a fight to the death against his son, Bjorn. To survive, Freya is forced to reveal her deepest secret: She possesses a drop of a goddess’s blood, which makes her a shield maiden with magic capable of repelling any attack. It was foretold such a magic would unite the fractured nation of Skaland beneath the one who controls the shield maiden’s fate.

Readers are saying: “The story itself is very well written and captivates your attention from the first chapter but the telling of the story is mesmerizing. I have not always been a fan of audio books because I enjoy reading the words myself but this one could not have been any better. the characters came to life with the different voices and it kept me ready for the next word, next page, and next chapter. Highly recommend and worth the read over and over.”

Audiobook narrator: Nina Yndis | Run time: 15 hours and 16 minutes | Buy in Hardcover

Saga of the Unfated:

• “A Fate Inked in Blood”
• “A Curse Carved in Bone” — preorder, release date May 13, 2025

‘Kingdom of the Wicked’ by Kerri Maniscalco

About the book: Emilia and her twin sister Vittoria are streghe – witches who live secretly among humans, avoiding notice and persecution. One night, Vittoria misses dinner service at the family’s renowned Sicilian restaurant. Emilia soon finds the body of her beloved twin…desecrated beyond belief. Devastated, Emilia sets out to find her sister’s killer and to seek vengeance at any cost – even if it means using dark magic that’s been long forbidden.

Then, Emilia meets Wrath, one of the Wicked-princes of Hell she has been warned against in tales since she was a child. Wrath claims to be on Emilia’s side, tasked by his master with solving the series of women’s murders on the island. But when it comes to the Wicked, nothing is as it seems….

Readers are saying: “First off, this was an extremely genius narration. The performance was amazing. The story was also well crafted and gripping from the start. I thought I could relax; listening to this story, but I was tense the entire time. So glad I can dive into part two immediately!”

Audiobook narrator: Marisa Calin | Run time: 12 hours and 6 minutes | Buy in Paperback

“Kingdom of the Wicked” series:

• “Kingdom of the Wicked”
• “Kingdom of the Cursed”
• “Kingdom of the Feared”

‘Serpent & Dove’ by Shelby Mahurin

About the book: Two years ago, Louise le Blanc fled her coven and took shelter in the city of Cesarine, forsaking all magic and living off whatever she could steal. There, witches like Lou are hunted. They are feared. And they are burned.

As a huntsman of the Church, Reid Diggory has lived his life by one principle: Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live. But when Lou pulls a wicked stunt, the two are forced into an impossible situation – marriage. Lou, unable to ignore her growing feelings, yet powerless to change what she is, must make a choice. And love makes fools of us all.

Readers are saying:

Audiobook narrator: Holter Graham, Saskia Maarleveld | Run time: 14 hours and 13 minutes | Buy in Paperback

“ Serpent & Dove “ series:

• “Serpent & Dove”
• “Blood & Honey”
• “Gods & Monsters”

‘When the Moon Hatched’ by Sarah A. Parker

About the book: As an assassin for the rebellion group Fíur du Ath, Raeve’s job is to complete orders and never get caught. When a rival bounty hunter turns her world upside down, blood spills, hearts break, and Raeve finds herself imprisoned by the Guild of Nobles—a group of powerful fae who turn her into a political statement.

Crushed by the loss of his great love, Kaan Vaegor took the head of a king and donned his melted crown. Now on a tireless quest to quell the never-ebbing ache in his chest, he is lured by a clue into the capitol’s high-security prison where he stumbles upon the imprisoned Raeve….

Readers are saying: “I genuinely never thought I’d find another book that makes me feel as excited to read as the likes of “Throne of Glass,” “ACOTAR,” Harry Potter, the Empyrean Series, etc. but here we are. This book devastated me, surprised me, and intrigued me enough to lose an entire night’s sleep unable to put it down. And perhaps it gave me my new favorite book boyfriend.”

Audiobook narrator: Sarah Mollo-Christensen, Fajer Al-Kaisi | Run time: 20 hours and 12 minutes | Buy in Paperback

‘Rhapsodic’ by Laura Thalassa

About the book: Calypso Lillis is a siren with a very big problem, one that stretches up her arm and far into her past. For the last seven years she’s been collecting a bracelet of black beads up her wrist, magical IOUs for favors she’s received. Only death or repayment will fulfill the obligations. Only then will the beads disappear. Everyone knows that if you need a favor, you go to the Bargainer to make it happen. He’s a man who can get you anything you want … at a price. And everyone knows that sooner or later he always collects. But for one of his clients, he’s never asked for repayment.

Not until now.

Readers are saying: “I never write reviews. Usually just a five-star and move on. I LOVED this book. Binged it easily in two days. I loved the modern world mixed with the other world, I loved the mystery theme and the siren. The chemistry between the FMC and MMC. And the magical IOU’s. It was such a cool book and I’ve already recommended it to everyone I know.”

Audiobook narrator: Chelsea Stephens | Run time: 11 hours and 39 minutes | Buy in Paperback

The Bargainer series:

• “Rhapsodic”
• “A Strange Hymn”
• “The Emperor of Evening Stars”
• “Dark Harmony”

‘Caraval’ by Stephanie Garber

About the book: Scarlett has never left the tiny island where she and her beloved sister, Tella, live with their powerful – and cruel – father. Now Scarlett’s father has arranged a marriage for her, and Scarlett thinks her dreams of seeing Caraval, the faraway once-a-year performance where the audience participates in the show, are over.

But this year Scarlett’s long-dreamt-of invitation finally arrives. With the help of a mysterious sailor, Tella whisks Scarlett away to the show. Only as soon as they arrive, Tella is kidnapped by Caraval’s mastermind organizer, Legend. It turns out that this season’s Caraval revolves around Tella, and whoever finds her first is the winner.

Readers are saying: “I was loving this book from the first page. The excitement, the perils, the twisted and turns and whose fooling who was a great touch in the elusive but captivating tale of two desperate sisters trying to escape with their lives no matter where they seem to be.”

Audiobook narrator: Rebecca Soler | Run time: 10 hours and 6 minutes | Buy in Paperback

“ Caraval “ series:

• “Caraval”
• “Legendary”
• “Finale”
• “Specatular” — preorder, release date October 22, 2024

‘A Discovery of Witches’ by Deborah Harkness

About the book: this tale of passion and obsession, Diana Bishop, a young scholar and a descendant of witches, discovers a long-lost and enchanted alchemical manuscript, Ashmole 782, deep in Oxford’s Bodleian Library. Its reappearance summons a fantastical underworld, which she navigates with her leading man, vampire geneticist Matthew Clairmont.

Readers are saying: “This book series is one of my all time favorites. It’s intelligent, thrilling and very well written. Weaving science and historical facts into fiction is magical to me. This story pulls you in and takes you on a real journey with new and exciting characters. Every time I listen is as exciting as the first.”

Audiobook narrator: Jennifer Ikeda | Run time: 23 hours and 59 minutes | Buy in Paperback

All Souls series:

• “A Discovery of Witches”
• “Shadow of Night”
• “The Book of Life”
• “Time’s Convert”
• “The Black Bird Oracle”

‘The Beautiful’ by Renée Ahdieh

About the book: In 1872, New Orleans is a city ruled by the dead. But to seventeen-year-old Celine Rousseau, New Orleans is a safe haven after she’s forced to flee her life as a dressmaker in Paris. Taken in by the sisters of the Ursuline convent, Celine is quickly enraptured by the vibrant city becoming embroiled in the glitzy underworld, known as La Cour des Lions, after catching the eye of the group’s enigmatic leader, Sébastien Saint Germain.

When the body of one of the girls from the convent is found in Sébastien’s own lair—the second dead girl to turn up in recent weeks—Celine must battle her attraction to Sébastien and suspicions about his guilt along with the shame of her own horrible secret.

Readers are saying: “The Beautiful” brought together some of my favorite reading aspects old New Orleans, vampires, romance, mystery, and action. While the storyline alone is entertaining and the descriptions vivid, some of the romantic aspects aren’t as believable.

However, the Audible performance by Lauren Ezzo is phenomenal and brought the story to an entirely new level. Her voice performance is so emotional and powerful that she fully brings you into the heat of New Orleans, the horror of murder scenes, and the heart crushing emotions of romance.”

Audiobook narrator: Lauren Ezzo | Run time: 13 hours and 9 minutes | Buy in Paperback

The Beautiful Quartet:

• “The Beautiful”
• “The Damned”
• “The Righteous”
• “The Ruined”

Why Trust Post Wanted by the New York Post

This article was written by Angela Tricarico , Commerce Writer/Reporter for Post Wanted Shopping and New York Post’s streaming property, Decider . Angela keeps readers up to date with cord-cutter-friendly deals, and information on how to watch your favorite sports teams, TV shows, and movies on each streaming service. Not only does Angela test and compare the streaming services she writes about to ensure readers are getting the best prices , but she’s also a superfan specializing in the intersection of shopping, tech, sports, and pop culture. Prior to joining Decider and New York Post in 2023, she wrote about streaming and consumer tech at Insider Reviews.

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Sally Rooney kicks off book event with impassioned pro-Palestine speech: ‘Keep protesting’

Exclusive: the ‘normal people’ author urged listeners to ‘not give in to despair’, article bookmarked.

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Louise Thomas

International bestselling author Sally Rooney kicked off an event about her new book Intermezzo with an impassioned speech about the ongoing crisis in Palestine .

The 33-year-old Irish writer, dubbed the “voice of a generation” , is best known for her romantic fiction novels Conversations with Friends and Beautiful World, Where Are You? , and the TV adaptation of Normal People launched the careers of stars Paul Mescal and Daisy Edgar-Jones.

Rooney’s fourth novel, Intermezzo , breaks the format of its predecessors as it follows two brothers, Peter and Ivan Koubek, and their very different ways of dealing with the death of their father. The book has been released to critical acclaim .

Opening an event held at the Southbank Centre on Wednesday (26 September), Rooney welcomed audience members, including The Independent , before delivering a speech about the ongoing conflict.

“Before we begin, I want to acknowledge the broader context in which we’re gathered here this evening,” she began, before reading two pages from her book.

“For almost a year, the people of Palestine have faced a military campaign characterised by mass murder and structural devastation. All of this with the support of the European Union and the United Kingdom.”

She continued, referring to the Southbank Centre: “Countless heritage sites, museums, libraries, schools and mosques, as well as art venues and cultural centres, much like this one, have been irretrievably destroyed.”

The author highlighted the death toll from the campaign, which has resulted in over 40,000 people killed since 7 October . Conservative estimates suggest nearly 17,000 of those are children.

“Each one a precious and irreplaceable life. Each one loved and mourned,” she said. “It is difficult to avoid the conclusion that we are witnessing unfolding genocide.”

As Israel’s military action has expanded into Lebanon, with hundreds of civilians already killed as the state attempts to eradicate Hezbollah, Rooney added: “The violent death of any civilian in Israel, in Lebanon, in Palestine, or anywhere is a terrible tragedy and an outrage and the roots of this particular tragedy are in the illegal Israeli occupation of Palestine and the apartheid system under which Palestinians are forced to live.”

Israel has vehemently denied these claims, which have also been made by the UN, Amnesty International, human rights groups and the ICJ, and has said it is eradicating Hamas following the group’s attacks on the state, which killed over 1,139 people including 815 civilians.

“As we are lucky enough to be here tonight in London and beautiful surroundings for what I hope will be an evening of celebration and community, I want to make clear that we are also here in solidarity with the people of Palestine,” Rooney continued.

She urged: “I want to urge you all just as I also urge myself not to turn away, not to give in to despair or fatigue, to keep protesting, to keep speaking out to keep landing an end to this horrifying war. It is the least we can do.”

For the remainder of the event, Rooney engaged in a discussion with author and New Yorker contributor Merve Emre, touching on topics as diverse as the “textual lineage” of a novel, sibling dynamics, language theory and Wittgenstein, Marxism and climate collapse.

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Hellboy: The Crooked Man Reviews Reveal if It Was Worth Another Reboot

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Is the third time the charm? The latest Hellboy reboot, Hellboy: The Crooked Man , is all set to debut in the United Kingdom tomorrow (it has already debuted in some other international markets) and the first reviews have now begun to trickle through. So, was this year’s Hellboy effort worth another reboot? Let’s find out.

Dan Jolin of Empire sadly did not think so, awarding the comic book outing a lackluster 2/5 and likening the movie to “a lost pilot for a ’90s monster-of-the-week TV show that never made it to air.” Though they did praise The Crooked Man for achieving what it does with lesser budget.

“Valiant though this low-budget attempt to reclaim Hellboy may be, it sadly lacks the storytelling and stylistic savvy to rise above its all-too-obvious budgetary limitations.”

Thankfully, things pick up courtesy of Jamie Graham of Games Radar+ , who gives Hellboy: The Crooked Man a 3/5 and calls the movie "The closest big-screen version yet to the comics” and hopes for further installments in this latest iteration of the character.

“But as it wears on, Taylor’s film descends into a couple of extended set-piece battles. Some sore-thumb CGI amid the largely the practical effects, and the odd gimmicky edit, are further impediments. But there’s plenty here to celebrate – enough to leave you hoping that Taylor makes good on his plan to revisit Hellboy in the '60s, '70s and '80s.”

Another rating of 3/5 comes from Erika Bean of Film Hounds who, while calling the movie “far from perfect,” did enjoy the new Hellboy adventure when it hit the right notes.

“Hellboy: The Crooked Man isn’t perfect. Far from it. As mentioned it is clumsy, clunky, awkward and cheesy, but when it hits the notes it’s aiming for they are in tune and it’s a tune that comic fans will instantly recognise.”

Hellboy: The Crooked Man Will Skip Theaters in the United States

Finally, Ben Read of TheHollywoodNews.com heaps praise on lead star Jack Kesy , who takes over from former Hellboy stars Ron Perlman and David Harbour, and calls The Crooked Man “solid foundations for a franchise we would be interested in seeing more of.”

“Clearly taking more visual and spiritual cues from Perlman than Harbour in his interpretation, Kesy is the clear standout. Striking a fine balance between gruff and likeable, he manages to find a nice sweet spot here. Simultaneously strong, but also vulnerable, Kesy’s Hellboy is something we would very much like to see again.”

Wow: The Hellboy Reboot Is Actually Doing Something Exciting (At Least for Horror Fans)

Hellboy: The Crooked Man director Brian Taylor took inspiration from an acclaimed horror icon when shaping the reboot...

So, while Hellboy: The Crooked Man seems to be a pretty middling effort in the comic book movie genre, it sounds like it will at least avoid the lows of the previous Hellboy reboot in 2019. Hellboy: The Crooked Man is scheduled to be released in theaters in the United Kingdom on September 27. Surprisingly, it has now been revealed that the movie will skip theaters in the United States and head straight to video on demand (VOD), with streaming platforms now listing The Crooked Man for release October 07, 2024 9:00 PM PDT. Directed by Brian Taylor ( Crank, Happy! ), from a screenplay by Mike Mignola and Christopher Golden, you can check out the official synopsis below.

"In the 1950s, Hellboy and a rookie BPRD agent, stranded in rural Appalachia, discover a small community haunted by witches, led by a local devil with a troubling connection to Hellboy's past: The Crooked Man."

Hellboy: The Crooked Man stars The Strain and The Killer star Jack Kesy as the titular Hellboy alongside Adeline Rudolph ( Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, Resident Evil ), Jefferson White ( Yellowstone ), Leah McNamara ( The Gentlemen ), Joseph Marcell ( The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air ), Hannah Margetson ( Min kamp ), and Martin Bassindale ( Masters of the Air ) as the titular Crooked Man.

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Books Spring Preview: Fiction

18 New Works of Fiction to Read This Spring

New novels from Jennifer Egan, Ali Smith and Hernan Diaz; debuts from Aamina Ahmad and Jenny Tinghui Zhang; posthumous stories and a novel by Tove Ditlevsen; and plenty more.

• Share full article

By Joumana Khatib and Elisabeth Egan

This season, watch for new books by Emily St. John Mandel, Chris Bohjalian, Monica Ali and Douglas Stuart; a literary vampire story by Claire Kohda; and new novels in translation.

FAMILY SAGAS

‘ The Candy House ,’ by Jennifer Egan

A follow-up to her Pulitzer Prize-winning novel “A Visit From the Goon Squad,” this story picks up with familiar characters, including the friends and descendants of the music producer Bennie Salazar and his protégé, Sasha, who is now an installation artist of renown. But you don’t need to be familiar with “Goon Squad” to enjoy this book, which opens with the “tech demi-god” Bix Bouton, who has created technology that allows people to upload their memories to an external consciousness and browse the experiences other users have shared.

Scribner, April 5

‘ Young Mungo ,’ by Douglas Stuart

Stuart follows his debut novel, “ Shuggie Bain ,” which won the Booker Prize and earned praise for its portrayal of working class Scottish life, with a love story set in a Glasgow housing project. Two young men, Mungo and James, fall in love and imagine a brighter future for themselves while protecting their secret.

Grove, April 5

‘ The Return of Faraz Ali ,’ by Aamina Ahmad

As a young boy, Faraz is taken from his mother, who works in Lahore’s red light district, and sent to live with distant relatives in a more respectable part of the city. Years later, his father — a political operator with connections throughout the city — asks him to return to the neighborhood to help contain the fallout of a young girl’s murder.

Riverhead, April 5

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