The book: James by Percival Everett
Our reviewer says: "Everett portrays in this ingenious retelling of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn a Black man who’s mastered the art of minstrelsy to get what he needs from gullible white people.... Everett has outdone himself." Read more.
Alta Journal’s California Book Club, Barnes & Noble Book Club, and Good Morning America Book Club
The book: Colored Television by Danzy Senna
Our reviewer says: "A struggling Los Angeles novelist succumbs to Hollywood’s siren call in the mordant latest from Senna.... [A] complex and satisfying portrait of a woman at odds with the categories that define her." Read more.
The book: The Rich People Have Gone Away by Regina Porter
Our reviewer says: "The striking latest from Porter revolves around a woman’s disappearance during the early months of the Covid-19 pandemic.... This one makes the lockdown worth revisiting. " Read more.
The book: Rez Ball by Byron Graves
Our reviewer says: "Debut author Graves, who is Ojibwe, realistically depicts life living on a reservation... and plentiful fast-paced basketball game sequences will appeal to fans of sports fiction." Read more.
The book: Paradise by Toni Morrison
Our reviewer says: "So intense and evocative in its particulars, so wide-ranging in its arch, this is another, if imperfect, triumph for the Nobel Prize–winning author." Read more.
The book: TBA
The book: Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler
Our reviewer says: "Hugo and Nebula Award–winner Butler's first novel since 1989's Imago offers an uncommonly sensitive rendering of a very common SF scenario: by 2025, global warming, pollution, racial and ethnic tensions and other ills have precipitated a worldwide decline." Read more.
The book: Here One Moment by Liane Moriarty
Our reviewer says: "A woman upends strangers’ lives by predicting their deaths in the powerful latest from bestseller Moriarty.... Moriarty has outdone herself." Read more.
Jewish Book Council Book Club (fiction)
The book: Song for the Brokenhearted by Ayelet Tsabari
Our reviewer says: "In this heartfelt and lyrical debut novel from Tsabari, a Yemenite Jewish woman contends with her family’s origins.... This is transportive." Read more.
Jewish Book Council Book Club (nonfiction)
The book: Henrietta Szold: Hadassah and the Zionist Dream by Francine Klagsbrun
The book: The Butcher's Masquerade by Matt Dinniman
The book: Monday's Not Coming by Tiffany D. Jackson
Our reviewer says: "Jackson’s sophomore novel, following 2017’s acclaimed Allegedly, features another ripped-from-the-headlines premise that will keep readers guessing through the final pages.... Jackson’s characters and their heart-wrenching story linger long after the final page." Read more.
The book: Get the Picture: A Mind-Bending Journey Among the Inspired Artists and Obsessive Art Fiends Who Taught Me How to See by Bianca Bosker
Our reviewer says: "Journalist Bosker takes an energetic jaunt through the elitist and competitive world of contemporary art.... Connoisseurs and neophytes alike will be charmed and captivated by Bosker’s boundless curiosity and astute powers of observation." Read more.
The book: The Black Woman: An Anthology, edited by Toni Cade Bambara
The book: Cinderella Is Dead by Kalynn Bayron
Our reviewer says: "Bayron’s deconstructive reimagining of the classic fairy tale is ambitious, replacing the happily-ever-after with a tragic legacy and a defiant, feminist tone." Read more.
The book: Tell Me Everything by Elizabeth Strout
Our reviewer says: "The latest from Pulitzer winner Strout brings together characters from her previous novels for a masterly meditation on storytelling.... Longtime fans and newcomers alike will relish this." Read more.
The book: The Cemetery of Untold Stories by Julia Alvarez
Our reviewer says: "The uplifting latest from Alvarez follows a 60-something author as she contends with the relationship between fiction and reality.... This brims with the intoxicating power of storytelling." Read more.
The book: Blue Sisters by Coco Mellors
Our reviewer says: "Mellors delves into sibling drama with this frank and soulful offering.... This story of addiction and grief will resonate with readers." Read more.
The book: The Comfort of Crows: A Backyard Year by Margaret Renkl
Our reviewer says: "New York Times columnist Renkl invites readers along on a year of loving outdoor observations in this gently moving memoir.... This gorgeous reflection on humanity’s symbiotic relationship with the outdoors will transform the way readers interact with their own backyards." Read more.
The book: Communion: The Female Search for Love by bell hooks
Our reviewer says: "While feminism may have changed boardrooms, it didn't make much headway in bedrooms, argues philosopher/writer hooks.... [O]lder women, particularly those raising girls themselves, will find much to ponder here." Read more.
The book: It's Elementary by Elise Bryant
Our reviewer says: "Shady dealings at a California elementary school propel this frothy adult debut from YA author Bryant.... This deserves a sequel." Read more.
The book: Jazz by Toni Morrison
Our reviewer says: "Morrison's authoritative novel... tells the story of three intersecting tragic lives, and adroitly uses the motif of jazz to make palpable the feel and excitement of Harlem in the 1920s." Read more.
The book: Trick Mirror by Jia Tolentino
Our reviewer says: "New Yorker contributor Tolentino debuts with a sharp, well-founded crackdown on the lies of self and culture in these nine original, incisive reflections on a hypercapitalist, internet-driven age that 'positions personal identity as the center of the universe.'" Read more.
The book: Where They Last Saw Her by Marcie R. Rendon
The book: The Hypocrite by Jo Hamya
Our reviewer says: "Hamya’s provocative second novel lays bare a family’s fraught relationships over the course of an afternoon at the theater.... None of the characters escape Hamya’s bemused and excoriating view, nor are there any easy answers to the questions raised about expressions of gender and privilege in art." Read more.
