Alta Journal’s California Book Club
The book: The Consequences by Manuel Muñoz
Our reviewer says: “Obligations fall heavily upon the characters in Muñoz’s deeply affecting collection…. This packs a hell of a punch.” Read more.
The book: Homeseeking by Karissa Chen
Our reviewer says: “In this sweeping and heart-rending debut, Chen brings to life more than 60 years of Chinese history through the tale of childhood sweethearts separated by war and reunited decades later in America.” Read more.
Barnes & Noble Book Club and Read with Jenna
The book: This Is a Love Story by Jessica Soffer
Our reviewer says: “A New York City artist reckons with her terminal illness in the poignant if overstuffed latest from Soffer…. Patient readers will find something to appreciate in this delicate meditation on love.” Read more.
The book: Neighbors and Other Stories by Diane Oliver
Our reviewer says: “This extraordinary posthumous debut collection from Oliver (1943–1966) astutely portrays the realities of African American life in the South during the Jim Crow and civil rights eras.” Read more.
The book: The Mystery Guest: A True Story by Grégoire Bouillier
Our reviewer says: “In this slim and lyrical memoir, French writer Bouillier tells of the moment when he received a phone call in his Paris apartment in the fall of 1990.” Read more.
Eclectix The Book Club and PBS Books Readers Club
The book: Good Dirt by Charmaine Wilkerson
Our reviewer says: “In Wilkerson’s incohesive sophomore novel, the daughter of a prominent Black New England family contends with heartbreak and trauma…. Readers will be disappointed.” Read more.
The book: Confessions by Catherine Airey
Our reviewer says: “Secrets and unplanned pregnancies shape the lives of two generations of women in Airey’s bold and intricate debut…. Readers will be eager to see what Airey does next. ” Read more.
Good Morning America Book Club
The book: Junie by Erin Crosby Eckstine
Our reviewer says: “In Eckstine’s finely crafted debut, an enslaved teen girl uncovers secrets about her family in 1860 Alabama…. Eckstine evokes the earthly and supernatural to equally powerful effect in this richly layered tale.” Read more.
Good Morning America YA Book Club
The book: Under the Same Stars by Libba Bray
Our reviewer says: “Three generations of teens find themselves while fighting for change in this inspiring historical mystery from Bray.” Read more.
Jewish Book Council Book Club (fiction)
The book: The Last Dekrepitzer by Howard Langer
Jewish Book Council Book Club (nonfiction)
The book: The In-Betweens: A Lyrical Memoir by Davon Loeb
Our reviewer says: “Loeb debuts with a shallow depiction of growing up biracial in New Jersey…. On the very crowded shelf of coming of age memoirs, this one doesn’t stand out.” Read more.
The book: The Eye of the Bedlam Bride by Matt Dinniman
The book: Seven Days in June by Tia Williams
Our reviewer says: “Williams explores how trauma affects relationships in this emotional romance…. Williams doesn’t shy away from the darker aspects of human experience, and her characters are fully formed and believable as a result.” Read more.
The book: The Coin by Yasmin Zaher
Our reviewer says: “In Zaher’s hypnotic debut, an obsessive Palestinian woman flees her oppressive homeland for Manhattan and employs increasingly unorthodox methods to teach English at the private school where she works.” Read more.
The book: Women’s Liberation and the African Freedom Struggle by Thomas Sankara
The book: Run by John Lewis
Our reviewer says: “This worthy successor to the late Congressman Lewis’s March graphic memoir trilogy picks up in the civil rights leader’s life during the 1960s counterculture revolution.” Read more.
The book: Dream State by Eric Puchner
Our reviewer says: “In this introspective drama from Puchner two families’ entwined fates are set in stark relief against harsh changes to the climate in near-future Montana.” Read more.
The book: Isola by Allegra Goodman
Our reviewer says: “Goodman delivers an engrossing if overlong account of French noblewoman Marguerite de la Rocque de Roberval (1515–1542), who lived to tell the tale of her solitary exile on an island off the coast of New France.” Read more.
The book: We Could Be Rats by Emily Austin
Our reviewer says: “Austin chronicles the complicated relationship between two sisters in her nuanced latest… It’s a distinctive character portrait.” Read more.
The book: Blob: A Love Story by Maggie Su
Our reviewer says: “In Su’s marvelous debut, a Taiwanese American woman sculpts a seemingly perfect partner out of a sentient blob…. The result is a top-notch tale of arrested development.” Read more.
The book: Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
The book: Everything We Never Had by Randy Ribay
Our reviewer says: “Ribay examines masculinity and familial trauma via four generations of Filipino teens’ alternating perspectives in this emotionally resonant tale.” Read more.
The book: A Love Song for Ricki Wilde by Tia Williams
Our reviewer says: “Elegantly blending past and present, romance and fantasy, Williams delivers a gorgeous, transportive love letter to the Harlem Renaissance.” Read more.
The book: The Lamb by Lucy Rose
Our reviewer says: “Rose debuts with a potent and grotesque tale about a girl raised to be a cannibal…. This modern folktale hits hard.” Read more.
