Champion marathoner Rideout debuts with a gritty and inspiring autobiography. Born in working-class Somerville, Mass., in 1971, Rideout grew up watching his uncle Barney shooting heroin and vowed never to touch drugs himself. Nevertheless, he went on to experiment with cocaine in college, and after moving to New York City, he suffered an ankle injury and became addicted to opioids. While navigating a vicious, yearslong cycle of sobriety and relapse in the aughts, he found support and relief from his future wife, Shelly. When his sobriety was finally stable, Rideout turned to athletic training to keep his demons at bay, and much of the account details his experiences in triathlons, half-marathons, and marathons. Rideout’s recollections of first-place finish after first-place finish—he won his age category in major races including the New York and Boston marathons, making him one of the world’s fastest over-50 marathoners—are admirably straightforward: he doesn’t brag about his prowess or sugarcoat the anxieties, fears, and physical pain that accompanied him through nearly every victory. Instead, he convincingly argues that hard work and dedication can turn around even the most desperate circumstances. Readers will be galvanized. Agents: Byrd Leavell and Dan Milaschewski, UTA. (Mar.)

Reviewed on 02/13/2026 | Details & Permalink

Rossi (A Pack for Winter, written as Emilia Emerson) delivers a smoldering dark romance, the first in the Empire of Royals series, originally self-published in 2024. After 13 years as Don of the Italian mafia in New York City, Matteo Rossi, 38, is dealing with encroachment from rival mobsters and decides to settle the matter with a marriage alliance. Cruel Chicago crime boss Rustik Ivanov offers up one of his sheltered daughters, 21-year-old Sofiya, as a candidate, with a photo that entrances Matteo against his will. What he doesn’t learn until their wedding day is that Sofiya has hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, a rare genetic connective tissue disorder that often leaves her unable to walk. Gentle yet strong, Sofiya has always dreamed of a love match, but steels herself to accept what Matteo offers, as he is unwilling to derail his life with romance. Sofiya’s chronic illness sets her apart from most dark romance heroines and, though she encounters a lot of ableism over the course of the novel, her disability is sensitively handled. Meanwhile, Rossi keeps the drama coming at a fast pace, with plenty of threats, violence (including the satisfying dispatches of several ruthless enemies), and spicy, if eventually repetitive, sex scenes. Mafia romance fans will eat this up. (Mar.)

Reviewed on 02/13/2026 | Details & Permalink

Times of London business editor Prescott debuts with a riveting investigation into the late tech founder Mike Lynch, who was accused of defrauding Hewlett-Packard during the $11 billion sale in 2011 of his software company, Autonomy. Two sudden deaths, which occurred hours apart in August 2024, loom over the author’s query: Lynch himself, who drowned when his superyacht capsized, and former Autonomy VP Stephen Chamberlain, who was hit by a car. The author spends minimal time on conspiracy theorizing, however, instead tracking Lynch’s ambitious rise—a son of Irish immigrants, he was “hailed as ‘Britain’s Bill Gates’ ”—and heavily litigated fall. Prescott evocatively channels the exhilaration of Autonomy’s rapid ascent after its 1996 founding, as well as the pressures of the 2008 recession, when the company began to fudge its books, including by logging sales before their completion. Though whistleblowers raised red flags, Autonomy’s accounting irregularities only became a problem when Hewlett-Packard, reeling from buyer’s remorse, accused Lynch of fraud. Prescott’s detailed examination of the subsequent legal battles captivates, but the book shines as an in-depth character study of Lynch. The founder is at once brilliant and tyrannical, an eccentric who named boardrooms after Bond villains and “a king of spin” who could “lie... with fluidity” (he once pretended to have a finance director who simply “did not exist”). It’s an enthralling tale of tech industry hubris. (Jan.)

Reviewed on 02/13/2026 | Details & Permalink

Abraham Lincoln was a gifted party organizer and shrewd political operator, according to this eye-opening biography. Historian Pinsker (Knowing Him by Heart) tracks how Lincoln forged a winning Republican coalition in 1850s Illinois by steering between antislavery radicals (i.e., abolitionists) and moderates (who wanted slavery restricted), only to swerve decisively to a radical position in 1858 to undercut his proslavery Democratic rival, Stephen A. Douglas. As president, Lincoln walked a similar tightrope between pro- and anti-emancipation Republican camps, once again swerving hard to the radical position in order to win reelection in 1864. Pinsker’s prosaic Lincoln is a fascinating departure from typical depictions; Lincoln the party boss “rarely indulged in the warm, folksy language of his popular legend,” but was rather a man forever twisting arms, counting votes, considering (but not committing) voter interference, “barking out orders, providing advice, [and] pressing others to stay on task.” Examples of Lincoln’s sharp-elbowed tactics include calling a meeting with Frederick Douglass, who had begun to support radicals’ calls for Lincoln’s ouster, to casually raise the possibility of revoking the Emancipation Proclamation; Lincoln also allowed pro-Southern Ohio congressman Clement Vallandigham to return from exile so the Democrat’s strident antiwar rhetoric would alienate voters during the 1864 election. The result is a penetrating study of low politics in the pursuit of higher purpose. (Feb.)

Reviewed on 02/13/2026 | Details & Permalink

Berlinerblau (As Professors Lay Dying), a professor of Jewish civilization at Georgetown University, delivers a thought-provoking survey of contemporary comedians who have sparked controversy. The prevalence of these comedic disputes demonstrates that the general consensus about free speech—the belief that political, intellectual, and artistic expression should not be suppressed—is being challenged, Berlinerblau argues. In a section on American comedians, he contends that Dave Chappelle’s jokes have “punched down” at the LGBTQ+ community. The more LGBTQ+ people pushed back, the more time Chappelle devoted in his sets to mocking them, according to the author, who writes that “to consume Chappelle’s art is to be consumed by the controversies triggered by Chappelle’s art!” In India, consensus around free speech is “crumbling” and “jokes are literally being policed,” Berlinerblau explains. For example, the comedian Vir Das, who has made jokes about the Hindu nationalist government, has been frequently threatened with charges of sedition. In Zimbabwe, comedian Samantha Kureya was kidnapped and tortured by a group widely believed to be associated with the government, after she participated in a sketch insinuating Zimbabwean law enforcement was corrupt and abusive. Through detailed case studies, Berlinerblau effectively reveals how “humorists are increasingly confronted by those who wish to shut them up and shut them down.” This amounts to a thorough report on the shifting landscape of modern comedy. (Mar.)

Reviewed on 02/13/2026 | Details & Permalink

Mount Shasta, Calif., high school senior Izumi Tanaka is a normal 18-year-old American girl: she enjoys baking, watching Real Housewives, and dressing like “Lululemon’s sloppy sister.” But Japanese American Izzy, conceived during a one-night stand in her mother Hanako’s final year at Harvard, has never known the identity of her father. So when she and her best friend find a letter in Hanako’s bedroom, the duo jump at the chance to ferret out Izzy’s dad’s true identity—only to find out he’s the Crown Prince of Japan. Desperate to know her father, Izzy agrees to spend the summer in his home country. But press surveillance, pressure to quickly learn the language and etiquette, and an unexpected romance make her time in Tokyo more fraught than she imagined. Add in a medley of cousins and an upcoming wedding, and Izzy is in for an unforgettable summer. Abrupt switches from Izzy’s perspective to lyrical descriptions of Japan may disrupt readers’ enjoyment, but a snarky voice plus interspersed text conversations and tabloid coverage keep the pages turning in Jean’s (Empress of All Seasons) fun, frothy, and often heartfelt duology starter. Ages 12–up. Agent: Erin Harris, Folio Literary Management. (May)

Reviewed on 05/07/2021 | Details & Permalink

Kelkar’s (Bindu’s Bindis) novel features Oceanview Academy middle schooler Sonali, whose stoicism contrasts with her love of Bollywood movies’ melodrama. Stuck in a Los Angeles home with constantly arguing parents and her sensitive nine-year-old brother Ronak, Gujarati American Sonali, 11, tries to make sense of her world through the Hindi movies she’s seen all her life. Ever since an earnest public attempt five years ago to stop her parents’ fighting led to widespread embarrassment in front of family, Sonali has resolved to hide her emotions and do her best to ignore her parents’ arguments. But her efforts prove futile when her parents decide to try the “nesting” method of separation, where they take turns living in the house with Sonali and Ronak. The contemporary narrative takes an entertaining fabulist turn as Sonali’s life begins to transform into a Bollywood movie, with everything she feels and thinks made apparent through her “Bollywooditis.” Sonali’s first-person perspective is sympathetic as she navigates friendship and family drama, and Kelkar successfully infuses a resonant narrative with “filmi magic,” offering a tale with universal appeal through an engaging cultural lens. Ages 8–12. Agent: Kathleen Rushall, Andrea Brown Literary. (May)

Reviewed on 05/07/2021 | Details & Permalink

When she was six, Justice Kasric watched her blue-eyed merchant father play chess with the Faerie King. Now 15, Justice believes the event was merely a dream. She spends her days yearning for adventure, watching from the sidelines while her 16-year-old sister Faith, as slender and golden-haired as Justice but not as curious, becomes the toast of Victorian London society. One night, however, their father shatters their comfortable lifestyles when he forces the family—Justice, Faith, their younger brother Henry, and their constantly medicated, distant mother—into a locked carriage that takes them to a shadowy mansion. Justice’s discovery that the Faerie have invaded the human world and are targeting her family gains further urgency when she learns that her parents are on opposite sides of the conflict. Together, the Kasric siblings—including older brothers Benedict and Joshua—must find a way to save their family. While characters lack depth at times, and insufficient historical details don’t fully evoke the Victorian setting, Klaver’s (the Supernatural Case Files of Sherlock Holmes series) rich, lyrical descriptions augment the fantastical source material in this engaging series starter. Ages 13–up. Agent: Lucienne Diver, the Knight Agency. (May)

Reviewed on 05/07/2021 | Details & Permalink

Nine years before this novel begins, eight-year-old best friends Esme Randal and Kayla Price snuck out of their cabin at Camp Pine Lake in Texas. They swore never to discuss the terrible events that followed, but when the girls, now 17, return to the camp as counselors-in-training from their hometown of Lewisburg, Pa., that proves easier said than done. Someone begins sabotaging camp activities, and ominous—and increasingly public—threats appear, referencing that fateful summer. The only other person who knows Esme and Kayla’s secret is a local girl named Lillian Campbell, whom they left to fend for herself that night in the woods. They’re loath to voice their suspicions of revenge lest they get in trouble or look bad in front of hunky fellow counselors Jake and Olly, but as events escalate, they realize they may not have a choice. Narrating from Esme’s increasingly apprehensive first-person perspective, Preston (The Twin) pays homage to classic summer camp slasher films. The underdeveloped, predominantly white cast relies heavily on stereotype, and the clichéd tormenter’s motive feels unearned, but horror fans will likely appreciate this paranoia-fueled tale’s gruesome, shocking close. Ages 12–up. Agent: Jon Elek, United Agents. (Mar.)

Reviewed on 05/07/2021 | Details & Permalink

Inspired by her own family’s refugee journey from Vietnam to Hong Kong, Văn’s (If You Were Night) spare picture book, powerful in its deliberate simplicity, follows a black-haired, pale-skinned child as they, their guardian, and two younger siblings join other asylum seekers for a perilous maritime voyage. In a third-person voice, Văn anthropomorphizes objects, relaying their wishes: “The dream wished it was longer,” one spread reads, as a balding, mustached guardian holds the protagonist close, and a guardian with a bun rouses the second child to dress them. “The clock wished it was slower,” the subsequent pages read, as the two children tearfully hug their mustached guardian goodbye. The narrative continues as the now family of four make their way onto the boat and beyond. A final-act switch to first-person perspective drives home the journey’s personal nature. Intricate, lissome fine-lined art by Ngai (Dazzle Ships) recalls classical Asian compositions, Japanese woodblock prints, and an evocative sensibility in a gradated, surrealistic color palette. A seamless interweaving of elegant prose and atmospheric art marks this affecting immigrant narrative. Back matter includes heartfelt author’s and illustrator’s notes. Ages 4–8. (May)

Correction: A previous version of this review misquoted the book's text.

Reviewed on 05/07/2021 | Details & Permalink