The book: Dearborn by Ghassan Zeineddine
Our reviewer says: "Zeineddine’s striking debut collection details an endearing cast living in the Arab American community in Dearborn, Michigan.... This genuine offering speaks as much to the heart as the head." Read more.
Alta Journal’s California Book Club
The book: The Every by Dave Eggers
Our reviewer says: "Eggers’s uneven follow-up to The Circle, which revolved around a futuristic social network, sparkles with provocative ideas but has trouble keeping itself together." Read more.
Audacious Book Club and Natalie’s Book Club
The book: Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar
Our reviewer says: "Poet Akbar explores the allure of martyrdom in this electrifying story of a Midwestern poet struggling with addiction and grief.... This wondrous novel will linger in readers’ minds long after the final page." Read more.
Barnes & Noble Book Club and Read with Jenna
The book: Good Material by Dolly Alderton
Our reviewer says: "Alderton delivers a flat anti-love story focused on flailing comedian Andy Dawson and his ex, the 'annoyingly loquacious' Jen Bennet.... While the subversion of the typical love story intrigues, the unpalatable characters extinguish its charm. This misses the mark." Read more.
The book: Erasure by Percival Everett
Our reviewer says: "Everett's latest is an over-the-top masterpiece.... [His] talent is multifaceted, sparked by a satiric brilliance that could place him alongside Wright and Ellison as he skewers the conventions of racial and political correctness." Read more.
The book: Just Like Home by Sarah Gailey
Our reviewer says: "Vera Crowder, the protagonist of this superior novel of psychological suspense from Gailey, returns to her childhood home, Crowder House, after 12 years to reunite with her dying mother, a fraught visit that reawakens dark memories.... Minette Walters fans will be captivated." Read more.
The book: Where You End by Abbot Kahler
Our reviewer says: "Historian Kahler makes a brilliant pivot to fiction with this spine-tingling psychological thriller set in the 1970s.... Despite working with themes that often slide into the absurd—family cults, creepy twins, amnesia—Kahler never puts a foot wrong." Read more.
The book: Float Up, Sing Down by Laird Hunt
Our reviewer says: "Hunt’s amiable collection of 14 interconnected character studies is set over the course of one day in the early 1980s.... Fans of Hunt’s previous small-town studies will appreciate these lovingly drawn portraits." Read more.
Good Morning America Book Club and Nerdette Book Club
The book: Come and Get It by Kiley Reid
Our reviewer says: "Reid returns after her smash hit Such a Fun Age with a sardonic and no-holds-barred comedy of manners.... This blistering send-up of academia is interlaced with piercing moral clarity." Read more.
Jewish Book Council Book Club (fiction)
The book: Operation Bethlehem by Yariv Inbar
Jewish Book Council Book Club (nonfiction)
The book: Happily by Sabrina Orah Mark
Our reviewer says: "Mark’s sharp analysis captures the 'cultural resilience' of fairy tales, and her writing hums with lyrical self-reflection. Readers will find this full of insight." Read more.
The book: Everyone Who Can Forgive Me Is Dead by Jenny Hollander
Our reviewer says: "Hollander treads familiar ground with her so-so debut thriller about the discovery of dark secrets pertaining to a campus tragedy.... There’s not enough here to set this apart from the pack." Read more.
The book: Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross
Our reviewer says: "In this affecting fantasy duology opener from Ross, 18-year-old Iris Winnow’s life is upended when long-slumbering gods wake and begin battling for control of the fictional land of Cambria, using human armies as proxies.... [A]n ardent romance and a harrowing exploration of war’s horrors and heartbreaks." Read more.
The book: Black Candle Women by Diane Marie Brown
Our reviewer says: "Love and death plague four generations of magical Montrose women in Brown’s middling debut.... Still, for fans of intergenerational family dramas, this magical twist on the genre will prove refreshing." Read more.
The book: In Pursuit of Revolutionary Love by Joy James
The book: The Black Church by Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
Our reviewer says: "In the companion volume to a forthcoming PBS documentary of the same name, Gates delivers a brisk and insightful look at how the Black church has succored generations of African Americans against white supremacy.... Gates’s crisp account places religious life at the center of the African American experience." Read more.
The book: Redwood Court by DéLana R. A. Dameron
Our reviewer says: "Poet Dameron makes her fiction debut with a gratifying collection about a Black family in South Carolina.... Even amid heartache and turmoil, this brims with joy." Read more.
The book: What You Are Looking for Is in This Library by Michiko Aoyama, translated by Alison Watts
The book: The House of Eve by Sadeqa Johnson
Our reviewer says: "Johnson’s suspenseful and thought-provoking latest (after The Yellow Wife) follows two young Black women as they separately navigate mid-20th-century America.... This well-crafted work is bound to provoke discussion among readers about the conflicts women face regarding pregnancy." Read more.
