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SHORTLISTED FOR THE INTERNATIONAL BOOKER PRIZE *; A NEW YORK TIMES TOP 10 BOOK OF THE YEAR *; AN NYPL BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR *; A WASHINGTON POST NOTABLE BOOK *; A LATE SHOW WITH STEPHEN COLBERT BOOK CLUB PICK ';Nothing short of brilliant.' The Wall Street Journal From ';a surpassingly gifted storyteller' (The New York Times), a visionary novel inspired by the life of film director G.W. Pabst, who fled to Hollywood to resist the Nazis only to return to his homeland to create propaganda films for the German Reich.An artist's life, a pact with the devil, and the dangerous illusions of the silver screen. G.W. Pabst, one of cinema's greatest directors of the 20th century, was filming in France when the Nazis seized power. To escape the horrors of the new and unrecognizable Germany, he fled to Hollywood. But now, under the blinding California sun, the world-famous director suddenly looks like a nobody. Not even Greta Garbo, the Hollywood actress whom he made famous, can help him. When he receives word that his elderly mother is ill, he finds himself back in his homeland of Austria, which is now called Ostmark. Pabst, his wife, and his young son are suddenly confronted with the barbaric nature of the regime. So, when Joseph Goebbelsthe minister of propaganda in Berlinsees the potential for using the European film icon for his directorial genius and makes big promises to Pabst and his family, Pabst must consider Goebbels's thinly veiled order. While Pabst still believes that he will be able to resist these advances, that he will not submit to any dictatorship other than art, he has already taken the first steps into a hopeless entanglement. Kehlmann's latest oeuvre explores the complicated relationships and distinctions between art and power, beauty and barbarism, cog and conspirator.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER PropulsiveWhen the full history of this moment is ready to be written, Into the Wood Chipper will be a vivid source. The New York Times A gripping page-turner that doubles as both a warning and an inspiration. Samantha Power, Pulitzer Prizewinning author of A Problem from Hell A civil servant discovers his breaking point when the Trump administrations cruelty and indifference threaten to violate the oath he swore to uphold.Nicholas Enrich had finally achieved his lifelong dream: becoming USAIDs lead official for global health. But that dream turned out to be a nightmare in the tumultuous time after President Trumps second inauguration. In the months that followed, USAID became the first target of Elon Musks newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). The mission to which Enrich had dedicated his career was being dismantled before his eyeseven the name of the agency was removed from the buildings facade. Enrich witnessed firsthand the Trump administrations lies, how it systematically prevented USAID from providing lifesaving foreign aid, and the death and suffering around the world that resulted from careless decisions. Finally determining he could no longer keep quiet, and risking the career that he loved deeply, Enrich released a set of whistleblowing memos exposing the administrations illegal and destructive actions. Enrich was put on administrative leave, yet his memos went viral and had a sustained impact. In the days following their release, hundreds of canceled aid projects were revived, and the documents were cited in a Supreme Court case on the legality of USAIDs dissolution. While his memos were too late to save USAID, Enrich was one of the first government officials to publicly blow the whistle on DOGEs reckless destruction, sounding an early alarm bell for other federal agencies that would soon find themselves in the crosshairs. Urgent and profoundly human, Enrichs story offers an astonishing behind-the-scenes look at a federal agency under siege, from the early days when Enrich and his team were unaware of what was to come to the shockingly ignorant, callous, and bigoted conversations they witnessed. Enrich reveals in this detailed, no-holds-barred account what was truly at stake when DOGE set out to dismantle one of Americas most effective humanitarian institutions, and how millions of lives hung in the balance.

For readers who loved Call Me By Your Name. Dua Lipas Service95 A dreamy debut novel about the summer love that changes two girls at the edge of adulthood.In the heat and the green haze that seemed to surround us both like a physical presence, I felt intensely awake. One afternoon at the start of summer, a teenage girl watches a new girl move in across the street. In Clara, she recognizes the same loneliness that she feels herself, but finds tenderness and laughter, too. Over hot, languid days spent talking and reading side by side in the garden, the narrator is awakened to the possibility of a true connection with another human being, free of the self-consciousness she feels with others. Meanwhile, in a distant fictional galaxy, Nadia the space explorerthe protagonist of a childhood book series beloved by both girlstraverses the known universe with her companion Rosa. Their imagined adventures make sense of new and powerful feelings. First Summer captures the innocence and agony of adolescence and the exquisite promise of love on the cusp of adulthood: a moment where fantasy is still vivid in the mind, even as adulthood looms. This story of the first summer of love echoes throughout the characters lives and will change them forever.

“A call to strengthen our spines.” —The New York Review of Books “Nothing short of brilliant.” —The Wall Street Journal “A surpassingly gifted storyteller.” —The New York Times From “one of the brightest, most pleasure-giving writers at work today” (Jeffrey Eugenides, Pulitzer Prize–winning author), a visionary tale inspired by the life of film director G.W. Pabst, who fled to Hollywood to resist the Nazis only to be forced to return to his homeland and create propaganda films for the German Reich.An artist’s life, a pact with the devil, and the dangerous illusions of the silver screen. G.W. Pabst, one of cinema’s greatest directors of the 20th century, was filming in France when the Nazis seized power. To escape the horrors of the new and unrecognizable Germany, he fled to Hollywood. But now, under the blinding California sun, the world-famous director suddenly looks like a nobody. Not even Greta Garbo, the Hollywood actress whom he made famous, can help him. When he receives word that his elderly mother is ill, he finds himself back in his homeland of Austria, which is now called Ostmark. Pabst, his wife, and his young son are suddenly confronted with the barbaric nature of the regime. So, when Joseph Goebbels—the minister of propaganda in Berlin—sees the potential for using the European film icon for his directorial genius and makes big promises to Pabst and his family, Pabst must consider Goebbels’s thinly veiled order. While Pabst still believes that he will be able to resist these advances, that he will not submit to any dictatorship other than art, he has already taken the first steps into a hopeless entanglement. Kehlmann’s latest oeuvre explores the complicated relationships and distinctions between art and power, beauty and barbarism, cog and conspirator.

Two young women meet in Paris one sultry summer in a decades-spanning tour de force about the enduring power of young love and the poignant heartbreak of missed chances—perfect for fans of One Day and Normal People.Erica and Laure meet on the steps of the Sacré-Coeur in Paris, 1978. Erica is a student, relishing her first summer abroad before beginning university at home in England. Laure is studying for her PhD at the Sorbonne, drinking and smoking far too much, and sleeping with a married woman. The moment the two women meet, the spark is undeniable, but their encounter turns into far more than a summer of love. It is the beginning of a relationship that will define their lives and every decision they have yet to make… Erica and Laure’s love story spans decades, marriage, children, secret trysts, and the agonizing changes—both personal and political—that might mean they can be together, after all. But when life brings them within touching distance again, will they be brave enough to seize a future together? Beautifully capturing young love and all its complexities, Almost Life is a story of longing for the paths not taken, and the almost lives we live.

An “astonishing…disturbingly dreamlike” (Daniel Kehlmann, The Director) debut, inspired by the author's own family story—a gothic, inter-generational family saga capturing the rise and fall of an aristocratic Hungarian family against the backdrop of the two world wars.The Lázárs are a noble Hungarian family who spend their time between their rural summer estate, the “Waldschloss”—surrounded by menacingly dark, fairytale-like woods—and a glittering winter castle in the city. Lajos von Lázár is the youngest child and only son, who looks nothing like the rest of his family with his light blue eyes and translucent skin. Feeling a constant divide between himself and others, he is only able to truly connect with his uncle, whose otherworldly foresight is often confused for insanity. As the decades go by, the Lázárs repeatedly fall prey to their own desires, leading to a family history steeped in tragedy and recurring trauma. But time and again, in the lighter years, great love and hope shine through. Masterfully written and deeply haunting, Lázár is an astonishingly self-confident, clever novel, and Nelio Biedermann is a brilliant storyteller, a fresh voice of a new generation looking at history through a different lens and telling it in a way that feels both modern and timeless.

Academy Award–winning actor Sir Anthony Hopkins delves into his illustrious film and theater career, difficult childhood, and path to sobriety in his honest, moving, and long-awaited memoir.Born and raised in Port Talbot—a small Welsh steelworks town—amid war and depression, Sir Anthony Hopkins grew up around men who were tough, to say the least, and eschewed all forms of emotional vulnerability in favor of alcoholism and brutality. A struggling student in school, he was deemed by his peers, his parents, and other adults as a failure with no future ahead of him. But, on a fateful Saturday night, the disregarded Welsh boy watched the 1948 adaptation of Hamlet, sparking a passion for acting that would lead him on a path that no one could have predicted. With candor and a voice that is both arresting and vulnerable, Sir Anthony recounts his various career milestones and provides a once-in-a-lifetime look into the brilliance behind some of his most iconic roles. His performance as Iago gets him admitted into the prestigious Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and places him under the wing of Laurence Olivier. He meets Richard Burton by chance as a young boy in his art teacher’s apartment, and later, backstage before a performance of Equus as an established actor meeting his hero. His iconic portrayal of Hannibal Lecter was informed by the creepy performance of Bela Lugosi in Dracula and the razor-sharp precision of his acting teacher. He pulls raw emotion from the stoicism of his father and grandfather for an unforgettable performance in King Lear. Sir Anthony also takes a deeply honest look at the low points in his personal life. His addiction cost him his first marriage, his relationship with his only child, and nearly his life—the latter ultimately propelling him toward sobriety, a commitment he has maintained for nearly half a century. He constantly battles against the desire to move through life alone and avoid connection for fear of getting hurt—much like the men in his family—and as the years go by, he deals with questions of mortality, getting ready to discover what his father called The Big Secret. Featuring a special collection of personal photographs throughout, We Did OK, Kid is a raw and passionate memoir from a complex, iconic man who has inspired audiences with remarkable performances for over sixty years.

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Inspirational, entertaining, and rigorously honest. Robert Downey Jr. Academy Awardwinning actor Sir Anthony Hopkins delves into his illustrious film and theater career, difficult childhood, and path to sobriety in his unflinchingly honest (USA TODAY), moving, and long-awaited memoir.Born and raised in Port Talbota small Welsh steelworks townamid war and depression, Sir Anthony Hopkins grew up around men who were tough, to say the least, and eschewed all forms of emotional vulnerability in favor of alcoholism and brutality. A struggling student in school, he was deemed by his peers, his parents, and other adults as a failure with no future ahead of him. But, on a fateful Saturday night, the disregarded Welsh boy watched the 1948 adaptation of Hamlet, sparking a passion for acting that would lead him on a path that no one could have predicted. With candor and a voice that is both arresting and vulnerable, Sir Anthony recounts his various career milestones and provides a once-in-a-lifetime look into the brilliance behind some of his most iconic roles. His performance as Iago gets him admitted into the prestigious Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and places him under the wing of acclaimed Shakespearean thespian Laurence Olivier. He meets Richard Burton by chance as a young boy in his art teachers apartment, and later, backstage before a performance of Equus as an established actor meeting his hero. His iconic portrayal of Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs was informed by the creepy performance of Bela Lugosi in Dracula and the razor-sharp precision of his acting teacher. He pulls raw emotion from the stoicism of his father and grandfather for an unforgettable performance in King Lear. Sir Anthony also takes a deeply honest look at the low points in his personal life. His addiction cost him his first marriage, his relationship with his only child, and nearly his lifethe latter ultimately propelling him toward sobriety, a commitment he has maintained for nearly half a century. He constantly battles against the desire to move through life alone and avoid connection for fear of getting hurtmuch like the men in his familyand as the years go by, he deals with questions of mortality, getting ready to discover what his father called The Big Secret. Featuring a special collection of personal photographs throughout, We Did OK, Kid is a sensational (The Wall Street Journal), raw, and passionate memoir from a complex, iconic man who has inspired audiences with remarkable performances for over sixty years.

Each page is sharp, piercing, and totally defiant of the expected. Douglas Stuart [A] beautiful book that delights in resisting its readers expectations. Rumaan Alam, New York Times bestselling author From the Booker Prize finalist author of Burnt Sugar comes a riveting and lyrical novel of rupture and rebirth, of one womans journey to understand the fault lines in her marriage, her home, and her family.When my husband comes into the bedroom we have shared for thirteen years and tells me he doesnt want to be married anymore, I reach for my neck. My head is missing. A husband announces he is leaving, that he was never happy. A woman is left behind with their two children in the house they built together, reeling at this forced recasting of the story of their marriage. Everything becomes strange: an encounter at the grocery store, a looming cicada horde, a statue of Diana that suddenly appears in her neighbors yard. Or was it always there? As she wades through the aftermath of her marriage, her complicated family resurfaces. Although close to her parents, her relationship with them is strained, and she is fully estranged from her older sisterthe perfect daughterwho still lives at home and always disapproved of her husband. So when did the trouble begin? And where will she go from here? When she was a child, an astrologer in India told her parents that the family would die in water. Ever since, theyve avoided pools and lakes and the ocean; no one ever learned to swim. From the Booker finalist and beloved author of the viscerally poetic (Publishers Weekly, starred review) Burnt Sugar comes a brilliant story of betrayal, renunciation, and renewal, of a woman spiraling who swims to the other side and comes up for air.

Nadia is a fierce warrior for justice and a beautiful human being I feel privileged to know. She will inspire women for generations. Amal Clooney In a lyrical and profoundly moving memoir, New York Times bestselling author of The Last Girl and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Nadia Murad reclaims her extraordinary journey from ISIS captivity to becoming a global human rights activist, from the embers of devastation to a fight for freedomand for what comes next when a young girls flame cannot be extinguished.In 2014, Nadia Murad was living in northern Iraq when her world was shattered. Fighters from the so-called Islamic State attacked her village, massacring hundredsincluding her mother and six of her brothersand forcing her, along with thousands of Yazidi women and girls, into ISISs system of sexual slavery. Her life since then has been split in two. In one she is a global symbol of courage a survivor and activist who has stood before world leaders to demand justice. In the other, she is a woman learning how to be a friend, a student, a wife; a woman rediscovering ordinary joy. In I Choose My Beginning, Nadia brings these two selves together. With honesty and grace, she transforms the pain of her past into a life defined not by what was done to her, but by strength, perseverance, and the freedom to choose happiness. From reshaping international law to building a life filled with friendship and love, Nadia carries the memory of those she lost and those who survived. Their presence reminds herand all of usthat she has always been more than a victim. Powerful and deeply inspiring, I Choose My Beginning is the story of an extraordinary woman reclaiming her humanityand showing that survival is not the end of the story. It is the beginning.

Never fall for your prey....A thrilling tale of manipulation and deceit about an American private investigator who travels to Turkey to track down the daughter of a wealthy family, unwittingly setting off a sinister plot.Four children from wealthy families are sent to a strict prestigious boarding school for troubled teenagers. Haunted by the horrors they experience, they vow to disrupt the status quo by all means necessary. Years later, Tyler is a private investigator with a failing career who has been hired by petrochemical billionaire James Arthur Knight Jr. to find his run-away daughter, Chana. At a seaside hotel in Turkey, he finds Chana lounging with her three wealthy friends and living with a fake name. Enthralled by Chana's shyness and elegance, Tyler decides to keep his discovery to himself, accepting Mr. Knight's payments while feeding him elusive information and partying with Chana and her friends over wine and raki. One night, when Tyler lets slip his relationship with the American consul, Chana lights up with interest and asks if he can orchestrate a meeting. With a backdrop of of glitzy ex-pat parties, diplomatic galas, and the gritty underworld of Istanbul, Chana conjures a plot involving the consul that sets into motion a dark chain of events.

An “eloquent…beautiful” (The Wall Street Journal) memoir from award-winning writer Peter Godwin about his evolving relationships with the women and places that shaped his life.Peter Godwin’s mother is dying. Born in England, and having spent most of her adult life as a doctor in Zimbabwe, she now lies on a hospital bed in the partitioned living room of his sister’s London home. Peter has spent his life missing his Zimbabwean childhood, a longing that does not diminish as he reflects on his time as a journalist on the frontlines of combat around the world, or life in New York with his English wife and transatlantic children. In his mother’s final months, he must come to terms with everything his family was and wasn’t: the secrets they kept from one another, the stoicism that sometimes threatened to destroy them, and the beauty of the wildly different places they called home. With generations of history behind him, Godwin lyrically brings us into the spaces which make us question and suffer, shows us how we can heal our own scars, and celebrate the lives we have among family and friends.

NATIONAL BESTSELLER “You’re going to get papercuts, you’re going to turn the pages so fast.” —Brad Thor, Today “If Tom Wolfe, Jay McInerney, and Margo Jefferson somehow collaborated, this might have been the delightful result.” —Boris Kachka, The Atlantic “Incandescent…full of sentences I want to cut out and glue to my forehead.” —Kaveh Akbar, New York Times bestselling author of Martyr! “A masterpiece…At once fresh and original while delighting the reader with hints of Franzen, McInerny, Baldwin. This novel—a whodunit, a coming-of-age, a New York novel—heralds the arrival of a rarefied talent.” —Elin Hilderbrand, bestselling author of Swan Song A gripping, elegant debut novel about a young Black man caught between worlds of race and class, glamour and tragedy, a friend’s mysterious death and his own arrest, from an electrifying new voice.An arrest for cocaine possession on the last day of a sweltering New York summer leaves Smith, a queer Black Stanford graduate, in a state of turmoil. Pulled into the court system and mandated treatment, he finds himself in an absurd but dangerous situation: his class protects him, but his race does not. It’s just weeks after the death of his beloved roommate Elle, the daughter of a famous soul singer, and he’s still reeling from the tabloid spectacle—as well as lingering questions around how well he really knew his closest friend. He flees to his hometown of Atlanta, only to buckle under the weight of expectations from his family of doctors and lawyers and their history in America. But when Smith returns to New York, it’s not long before he begins to lose himself to his old life—drawn back into the city’s underworld, where his search for answers may end up costing him his freedom and his future. Smith goes on a dizzying journey through the nightlife circuit, anonymous recovery rooms, Atlanta’s Black society set, police investigations and courtroom dramas, and a circle of friends coming of age in a new era. Great Black Hope is a propulsive, glittering story about what it means to exist between worlds, to be upwardly mobile yet spiraling downward, and how to find a way back to hope.

NATIONAL BESTSELLER ';Cool and concise; a talent to watch.' Jay McInerney author of Bright Lights, Big City ';You're going to get papercuts, you're going to turn the pages so fast.' Brad Thor, Today A gripping debut from an electrifying new voice about an upwardly mobile and downwardly spiraling Black man caught between worlds of race and class, glamourous parties and sudden consequences, a friend's mysterious death and his own arrest.An arrest for cocaine possession on the last day of a sweltering New York summer leaves Smith, a queer Black Stanford graduate, in a state of turmoil. Pulled into the court system and mandated treatment, he finds himself in an absurd but dangerous situation: his class protects him, but his race does not. It's just weeks after the death of his beloved roommate Elle, the daughter of a famous soul singer, and he's still reeling from the tabloid spectacleas well as lingering questions around how well he really knew his closest friend. He flees to his hometown of Atlanta, only to buckle under the weight of expectations from his family of doctors and lawyers and their history in America. But when Smith returns to New York, it's not long before he begins to lose himself to his old lifedrawn back into the city's underworld, where his search for answers may end up costing him his freedom and his future. Smith goes on a dizzying journey through the nightlife circuit, anonymous recovery rooms, Atlanta's Black society set, police investigations and courtroom dramas, and a circle of friends coming of age in a new era. Great Black Hope is a propulsive, glittering story about what it means to exist between worlds, to be upwardly mobile yet spiraling downward, and how to find a way back to hope.

Most Anticipated Books of the Year by TIME Best Books of September by New York Times and NPR Best Books of Fall by Boston Globe Simply put, a work of genius. Abraham Verghese, author of The Covenant of Water A mysterious accident along a country road sparks an awakening and an investigation in Pulitzer Prizewinning playwright and acclaimed novelist Ayad Akhtars most daring work yeta visionary novel of spiritual transformation in an age of fracturebordering at times on the ineffable (Mary Gaitskill, bestselling author of Bad Behavior). When a hit-and-run shatters more than his body, a writer is plunged into a spiritual awakening he cant tell from madness. In its grip, hes drawn to a brilliant campus colleague by an uncanny pull, and into a scandal that threatens to destroy them both. What begins as a provocative portrait of academic and cultural warfare deepens into erotic entanglement, the exposure of a family secret, and the mystery surrounding the narrators accidentboth the violence and its aftermath. Moving between rural America and Europe, Islam and Christianity, the intimate and the metaphysical, The Radiance is of our American moment and beyond itasking not only what has broken, but what radiance remains.

Creepy and atmosphericgives the gothic novel an intriguingly fresh twist. Paula Hawkins, bestselling author of The Girl on the Train An unexplained tragedy. A handsome stranger. A house of ghosts and memories. In this fresh take on the Gothic tale, a young Nigerian woman returns to the family mansion where her brother diedonly to find the past ready to consume herperfect for readers of Tananarive Due and Silvia Moreno-Garcia.1967, Nigeria. Celia has been estranged from her family since they banished her to St. Agness reform school after her brothers death. When the school closes down, she has nowhere to go and no one to write for help. She secures a job as a typist, marking the beginning of a new chapter; she hopes to leave behind the demons of her past and become a normal, happier person. And when a charismatic yet secretive aspiring politician hires her to be his fianc, Celia begins to dream of a possible new future. But when everything falls apart, Celia, in desperation, returns to her childhood homethe Water House. There, Celia is confronted by her hostile mother, a past love, and the horrors that the house holds deep in its walls. As a civil war brews in the outside world, Celia begins to suspect that the truth behind her brothers death might be more sinister than she imagined. In a twist on Jane Eyre and Rebecca, Nneoma Ife-Njoku weaves a mesmerizing story of a woman confronting a home where the past refuses to stay buried.

NATIONAL BESTSELLER From the bestselling and “soul-stirring” (Oprah Daily) author of Room, a sweeping historical “nail-biter” (People) of a novel about an infamous 1895 disaster at the Paris Montparnasse train station.Based on an 1895 disaster that went down in history when it was captured in a series of surreal, extraordinary photographs, The Paris Express is a propulsive novel set on a train packed with a fascinating cast of characters who hail from as close as Brittany and as far as Russia, Ireland, Algeria, Pennsylvania, and Cambodia. Members of parliament hurry back to Paris to vote; a medical student suspects a girl may be dying; a secretary tries to convince her boss of the potential of moving pictures; two of the train’s crew build a life away from their wives; a young anarchist makes a terrifying plan, and much more. From an author whose “writing is superb alchemy” (Audrey Niffenegger, New York Times bestselling author), The Paris Express is an evocative masterpiece that effortlessly captures the politics, glamour, chaos, and speed that marked the end of the 19th century.

NATIONAL BESTSELLER From the bestselling and “soul-stirring” (Oprah Daily) author of Room, a sweeping historical “nail-biter” (People) of a novel about an infamous 1895 disaster at the Paris Montparnasse train station.Based on an 1895 disaster that went down in history when it was captured in a series of surreal, extraordinary photographs, The Paris Express is a propulsive novel set on a train packed with a fascinating cast of characters who hail from as close as Brittany and as far as Russia, Ireland, Algeria, Pennsylvania, and Cambodia. Members of parliament hurry back to Paris to vote; a medical student suspects a girl may be dying; a secretary tries to convince her boss of the potential of moving pictures; two of the train’s crew build a life away from their wives; a young anarchist makes a terrifying plan, and much more. From an author whose “writing is superb alchemy” (Audrey Niffenegger, New York Times bestselling author), The Paris Express is an evocative masterpiece that effortlessly captures the politics, glamour, chaos, and speed that marked the end of the 19th century.

Summer’s Best Beach Reads by The New York Times • Books You Should Read This July by New York magazine • Books We’re Most Excited About by Today • Best Beach Reads by Harper’s Bazaar • Best Books of Summer by ELLE • Most Anticipated Books of the Summer by Time • Best Summer Reads by Oprah Daily • Books to Read this Summer by The Washington Post “Feels pleasurably like clicking through the back archives of a webcomic or lingering over lunch with an old friend. As with Nora Ephron’s Heartburn…you read Maggie to spend time with its author.” —The Washington Post A Chinese American woman spins tragedy into comedy when her life falls apart in a taut, wry debut novel that grapples with grief, motherhood, and myths—perfect for fans of Joan Is Okay and Crying in H Mart.A man and a woman walk into a restaurant. The woman expects a lovely night filled with endless plates of samosas. Instead, she finds out her husband is having an affair with a woman named Maggie. A short while after, her chest starts to ache. She walks into an examination room, where she finds out the pain in her breast isn’t just heartbreak—it’s cancer. She decides to call the tumor Maggie. Unfolding in fragments over the course of the ensuing months, Maggie; Or, a Man and a Woman Walk Into a Bar follows the narrator as she embarks on a journey of grief, healing, and reclamation. She starts talking to Maggie (the tumor), getting acquainted with her body’s new inhabitant. She overgenerously creates a “Guide to My Husband: A User’s Manual” for Maggie (the other woman), hoping to ease the process of discovering her ex-husband’s whims and quirks. She turns her children’s bedtime stories into retellings of Chinese folklore passed down by her own mother, in an attempt to make them fall in love with their shared culture—and to maybe save herself in the process. In the style of Jenny Offill and the tradition of Nora Ephron’s hilarious and devastating writing on heartbreak and womanhood, Maggie is a master class in transforming personal tragedy into a form of defiant comedy.

A New York Times Notable Book. One of Time's 100 Must-Read Book of 2025. Summer's Best Beach Reads by The New York Times *; Books You Should Read This July by New York magazine *; Books We're Most Excited About by Today *; Best Beach Reads by Harper's Bazaar *; Best Books of Summer by ELLE *; Most Anticipated Books of the Summer by Time *; Best Summer Reads by Oprah Daily *; Books to Read this Summer by The Washington Post ';As with Nora Ephron's Heartburnyou read Maggie to spend time with its author.' The Washington Post A Chinese American woman spins tragedy into comedy when her life falls apart in a taut, wry debut novel, ';as playful as it is profound' (Alison Espach, author of The Wedding People)perfect for fans of Joan Is Okay and Crying in H Mart.A man and a woman walk into a restaurant. The woman expects a lovely night filled with endless plates of samosas. Instead, she finds out her husband is having an affair with a woman named Maggie. A short while after, her chest starts to ache. She walks into an examination room, where she finds out the pain in her breast isn't just heartbreakit's cancer. She decides to call the tumor Maggie. Unfolding in fragments over the course of the ensuing months, Maggie; Or, a Man and a Woman Walk Into a Bar follows the narrator as she embarks on a journey of grief, healing, and reclamation. She starts talking to Maggie (the tumor), getting acquainted with her body's new inhabitant. She overgenerously creates a ';Guide to My Husband: A User's Manual' for Maggie (the other woman), hoping to ease the process of discovering her ex-husband's whims and quirks. She turns her children's bedtime stories into retellings of Chinese folklore passed down by her own mother, in an attempt to make them fall in love with their shared cultureand to maybe save herself in the process. In the style of Jenny Offill and the tradition of Nora Ephron's hilarious and devastating writing on heartbreak and womanhood, Maggie is a master class in transforming personal tragedy into a form of defiant comedy.

For fans of Gilmore Girls and Gary Shteyngart, a sharp and brilliantly observed debut set across Southern California, with stops in DC and Budapest, about a young single mother and her increasingly inquisitive daughter, who wakes up one day and decides to find out who her father is.Los Angeles, 2001. Sonia is a single mother who spends her time running away from PTA moms, engaging in not-quite-illegal business activities involving rich Eastern Europeans and high-tech gadgets, and raising her beloved Milosh, Mila. Cast in her mother’s image, Mila is a precocious, intelligent girl with a burgeoning Shostakovich obsession. The pair live an unconventional life and are, all in all, quite happy together. But Sonia’s guarded life and refusal to discuss their family has left Mila lonely and isolated. When she stumbles across emails between her mother and an unknown man, Mila’s curiosity about her father leads her to form a plan, putting into motion a chain of events that will cause their carefully constructed lives to implode. Flashback to 1990. The world has begun to breathe again after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Eighteen-year-old Szonja Imre travels to visit her sister in LA in search of the quintessential adventure in the “land of the free.” What she doesn’t expect is the discovery that her sister Rina’s conception of the American dream is vastly different from hers—a lot less Hollywood and more, as Szonja eloquently puts it, “Jewish Stepford Wife.” Rina finds freedom in reconnecting with her roots, but Szonja can’t see how Rina’s new life is less restricted than the one she left behind in Budapest. Their disparate lifestyles lead to conflict, and when Szonja ends up in a difficult situation, she makes a series of snap decisions that leave her navigating America alone as an illegal immigrant. Taking place across Budapest in the years preceding the fall of the Berlin Wall, DC in the thick of cold war politics, and the bright sunshine of retro LA, Porcupines captures the rich, complex, and entirely absorbing relationships between sisters, mothers, and daughters. At its heart, it is a book about all the ways we find community and companionship, sometimes in the unlikeliest of places.

The award-winning, bestselling Japanese phenomenon: a speculative, prophetic novel following a young and brilliant celebrity architect in Tokyo who takes on her most controversial project yet—perfect for readers of Klara and the Sun and Chain-Gang All-Stars.Welcome to the Japan of tomorrow. Here, the practice of radical sympathy toward criminals has become normalized. The incarcerated are considered victims influenced by their environments to commit crime and are labeled accordingly as Homo miserabilis. A grand, yet controversial, skyscraper in the heart of Tokyo is planned to house lawbreakers in compassionate comfort—Sympathy Tower Tokyo. Acclaimed architect Sara Machina has been tasked with designing the city’s new centerpiece but is filled with doubt. Haunted by a terrible crime she experienced as a young girl, she wonders if she might inherently disagree with the values of the project, which should be the pinnacle of her career. As Sara grapples with these conflicting emotions, her relationship with her gorgeous—and much younger—boyfriend grows increasingly strained. In search of solace and in need of creative inspiration, Sara turns to the knowing words of an AI chatbot… The recipient of Japan’s highest literary prize, Sympathy Tower Tokyo is an extraordinary novel from one of the most exciting new global voices. Partly inspired by conversations with an artificial intelligence, it offers an urgent and brilliant defense of the power of language written by humans, a moving exploration of the imaginative impulse, and an often hilarious send-up of our modern world’s unrelenting conformity.

A young woman with a mysterious past searches for her father—who has committed an unspeakable crime—in an exquisitely lush historical novel set among the champagne vines of 19th century Australia.Van Diemen’s Land, 1839. A young woman of means arrives in Hobart, Australia, with a boy in her care. Leasing an old cottage next to an abandoned vineyard, Caroline Douglas must navigate an insular colony of exiles and opportunists and invent a new life on this island of extreme seasons and wild beauty. But Caroline is carrying a secret of such magnitude that it has led her to cross the world. It will take all she is made of to bring it into the light. A Great Act of Love is a spellbinding story that soars from the French Revolution to London and New York on an epic voyage to Tasmania. Here is a story of a family with champagne in their blood, and an enterprising woman determined to rewrite their legacy. The lives of Caroline, her father, and the residents of the island will collide in devastating and profound ways. Immensely beautiful with unforgettable characters, this heartrending family saga chronicles a father and daughter’s journey back to each other and captures the enduring power of familial love.

Buckle up for a fluorescent romp. People, Best Books of July Nora Ephron meets The Hangover in this screwball romantic comedy and family drama with a big, beating heart, set in the sun-bleached neon of Las Vegas.Kurt Richter has been in love with Eugenie Zepp since he was eight years old. Now hes in his fifties, twice divorced, a father of four. The entire neighborhood is suing him, and hes been estranged from Eugenie for a decade. In other words: perfect timing to declare himself to her. Kurt and Eugenie grew up in Vegas among the glamour and the grit, slot machines in pharmacies, off-Strip tiki bars, all night poker games, shimmering desert heat. Theyve spent a lifetime orbiting each other, building families and making a beautiful mess of them while trying to decide if what they share is destiny or disaster. Now their adult children are back in town with grudges, heartbreaks, and schemes of their own. As secrets surface and loyalties shift, will this be the right time for Eugenie and Kurt, after everything theyve been through? In this delicious, darkly funny, romantic comedy, everyone is looking for love in all the wrong places and gambling on the biggest games in lifebut in Dangerland, theres always one more chance to win.

From National Book Award–winning Elisa Shua Dusapin, a subtle yet powerful portrayal of family, secrets, and silence set against the backdrop of a crumbling house in the French countryside—perfect for readers of Katie Kitamura and Elena Ferrante.“A bewitching meditation on tenderness and violence, intimacy and estrangement, The Old Fire will transport you to an ancient and wild place, immersing you in its temperatures and rainfalls, its grief and grace and sound and silence. You won’t be the same when you leave it.” —Tess Gunty, National Book Award–winning author of The Rabbit Hutch Through the window, I can see a light inside. Agathe leaves New York and returns to her home in the French countryside, after fifteen years away. She and her sister Véra have not seen each other in all those years, and they carry the weight of their own complicated lives. But now their father has died, and they must confront their childhood home on the outskirts of a country estate ravaged by a nearby fire before it is knocked down. They have nine days to empty it. As the pair clean and sift through a lifetime’s worth of belongings, old memories, and resentments surface. Tender and tense, haunting and evocative, The Old Fire is Elisa Shua Dusapin’s most personal and moving novel yet. An exploration of time and memory, of family and belonging, it is also a graceful and profound look at the unsaid and the unanswered, the secrets that remain, and whether you can ever really go home again. “A touching, mysterious novel, imbued with the beauty and strangeness of a fairy tale.” —Aysegül Savas, author of The Anthropologists “Dusapin has a rare and ferocious gift for pinning the quick, slippery, liveness of feeling to the page: Her talent is a thrill to behold.” —Alexandra Kleeman, author of You Too Can Have a Body Like Mine

';A feisty true-crime obsessive's erotic awakening.' Ada Calhoun, author of Crush A ';compulsively readable' (Sophie Stava, author of Count My Lies) novel about a San Diego housewife whose love affair with her neighbor's roofer is interrupted by a murder.Perdita Jungfrau thought she was going to be married to her husband forever, so falling in love with Nando, her neighbor's anarcho-Marxist roofer, is a crisis. Life seems to put every possible obstacle in their way: she's pregnant, he has a girlfriend, he's fifteen years younger, she's terrified of messing up her children and equally drawn towards this magnetic man who entrusts her with his deepest secret. Now it's three years later and Nando has been murdered. As her bewildered husband tries to make sense of the wildly unpredictable person his wife has become, Perdita has other things on her mind. For starters, who is the mysterious woman sitting outside her house in a parked car all day? How can she stop her adored baby brother from being pulled under by his opioid addiction? Can someone with a childhood like hers ever be the mother her children deserve? And most of all, what should she do with the searing memories of the affair which turned her life upside down?