Get ahead of the crowd with these great recent releases that may not be on the New York Times bestseller list, but that have critics and readers talking.
April - June 2025 Issue
See also:
- Featured Review: Victorian Psycho by Virginia Feito
- Nonfiction Recommendations
- Previous Issues
Aber, Aria. Good Girl.
A young woman, born in Berlin, Germany to Afghan parents, embarrassed by her heritage and seeking her freedom, finds sanctuary at a techno club and gets into an unhealthy relationship with a much older man.
Armfield, Julia. Private Rites.
In this speculative fiction set in a flooded and collapsing city, the three queer and quarrelling daughters of an emotionally abusive architect father try to cope with his death and his legacies. Ebook, downloadable audiobook
Barker, Pat. The Voyage Home.
This third and last volume of the author's reimagining of the lives of women during the violence and upheaval of the Trojan War centers on Agamemnon's palace in Mycenae, and the perspectives of Ritsa, an enslaved Trojan woman, and the vengeful Queen Clytemnestra.
Berlinski, Mischa. Mona Acts Out.
This witty comedy set in New York City, with many allusions to Shakespeare's plays, concerns a theater actress, increasingly worried about her upcoming portrayal of Cleopatra, who escapes her extended-family dinner on Thanksgiving and goes to visit her disgraced mentor instead.
Bollen, Christopher. Havoc.
This offbeat psychological suspense story is narrated by an elderly widow from Wisconsin who is living at a luxury Egyptian hotel when the Covid-19 pandemic hits. She makes a hobby of breaking up what she considers bad marriages and finds herself increasingly threatened by a precocious and troubled eight-year-old boy.
Boyle, William. Saint of the Narrows Street.
After a young Brooklyn woman hits her abusive husband on the head with a cast-iron pan and accidentally kills him, she and her sister bury his body in upstate New York, telling everyone in their Italian neighborhood that he ran away from home, but the incident follows her and her family.
Buxton, Kira Jane. Tartufo.
In this comic novel, a huge truffle is found in a tiny Tuscan village inhabited by a cast of eccentrics, including the mayor, who is responsible for keeping the truffle safe until it can be auctioned off.
Caffall, Eiren. All the Water in the World.
A young teenager recounts the story of how her family took refuge at the American Museum of Natural History in New York after a massive flood destroyed the city. Ebook, downloadable audiobook
Chen, Karissa. Homeseeking.
In this novel set amid the political turmoil of 20th century China, a boy and girl meet as first graders in Shanghai, but their lives take them far apart from each other until they finally meet again in the United States decades later. Ebook, downloadable audiobook
Desai, Anita. Rosarita.
A young woman from India who is studying Spanish in Mexico meets a stranger in a park, who recognizes her as the daughter of an old friend, and tells her that her mother had also come to the city years before, to study art.
Eckstine, Erin Crosby. Junie.
In this novel set in 1860, a Black enslaved teenager works as a house servant and maid for the plantation owner's daughter; when an impending change in the household causes her to raise the ghost of her older sister, she learns the truth about her family's history. Downloadable audiobook
Evison, Jonathan. The Heart of Winter.
This novel tells the story of a long, successful marriage between opposite personalities, moving between past events and the present, when the husband is turning 90 years old, and the wife is facing a long recovery from extensive cancer surgery.
Fagan, Kay. The Three Lives of Cate Kay.
This fictional memoir, narrated by a young woman who has written a series of bestsellers under a pen name, explores the multiple identities she has taken on throughout her life, beginning with her childhood. Ebook, downloadable audiobook
Francis-Sharma, Lauren. Casualties of Truth.
A successful Black lawyer meets her husband's new co-worker and realizes that she met him years before when she was an intern in South Africa; they share a secret which he threatens to expose.
Haslett, Adam. Mothers and Sons.
A hardworking immigration lawyer, estranged from his mother, takes on a new client, a gay Albanian man seeking refuge in the United States, whose story of harassment and persecution leads the lawyer to finally confront the painful memories from his past that he has tried to bury. Downloadable audiobook
Holmes, Linda. Back After This.
In this unusual romantic comedy, an expert podcaster is finally given the chance she's been waiting for to have her own show, but it's not what she really wanted – she has to date 20 men chosen for her by a relationship coach, and document her experiences. Ebook
Hurston, Zora Neale. The Life of Herod the Great.
This is an unfinished novel by a famous Black author and anthropologist, which retells the Biblical story of Herod, Governor of Galilee, and, based on historical research, portrays him as a strong leader, ambitious, but loyal to his people.
Johnson, Nancy. People of Means.
The daughter of a well-off Black Chicago family, who begins college at Fisk University in Nashville in 1959, is appalled by the racism of the south and gets involved in the Civil Rights Movement; thirty years later, her own daughter, a professional at a public relations agency, defies her parents by joining a racial protest group and dating a working-class bus driver. Ebook
Kauffman, Rebecca. I'll Come to You.
This is the story of an extended family, centering on two divorced middle-aged characters who start their new relationship with an awkward blind date.
Lamont, Tom. Going Home.
In this novel set in a British-Jewish community in North London, a man who left the neighborhood to lead a more independent life comes back home to visit his ailing father and babysits the two-year-old son of friends, with unexpected consequences.
O'Donnell, Roisín. Nesting.
In this suspenseful Irish story, a pregnant woman, with very little money and nowhere to go, escapes from her controlling husband, taking her two little girls with her.
O'Neill, Heather. The Capital of Dreams.
In this dark fairy tale set in an imaginary European country threatened by war, a writer takes the opportunity to put her 14-year-old daughter, as well as a precious manuscript hidden in her suitcase, on a train which the enemy has promised will take the children of the capital city to safety.
O'Neill, Molly. Greenteeth.
In this fantasy novel inspired by Welsh folklore, a lake monster called a Jenny rescues a woman who has been sentenced to death for witchcraft; joined by a hobgoblin, they set off on a quest to defeat an ancient and powerful evil king.
Peters, Amanda. Waiting for the Long Night Moon: Stories.
This is a collection of short stories, moving between past and present times, depicting the destruction of indigenous families by European colonization, as well as their resilience in keeping their traditions. Ebook
Rivera Garza, Cristina. Death Takes Me.
In this complicated and violent literary murder mystery from Mexico, a literature professor finds a mutilated corpse while on a run; she, a police detective, and a journalist work to solve the crime and find the poetry-obsessed serial killer behind it. Ebook
Rose, Lucy. The Lamb.
In this gruesome fairy-tale-like story, a girl lives with her mother, an angry and voracious woman, in an isolated house in the English forest, and grows up eating the lost strangers her mother rescues and then murders.
Ross, Adam. Playworld.
This coming-of-age story is narrated by a teenager who has unwillingly become a popular television star; he lives in Manhattan with his self-absorbed parents and finds his life generally perplexing. Ebook
Shamieh, Betty. Too Soon.
In this novel which describes the lives of three generations of Palestinian women, a Palestinian-American director is given the opportunity to stage her gender-switched version of Shakespeare's Hamlet in her grandmother's home village of Ramallah.
Shigematsu, Kiyoshi. The Blanket Cats.
This book from Japan tells the stories of seven cats, who, accompanied by their blankets, are available for three-day rentals, and who manage to change the lives of seven people who borrow them from the shop.
Sligar, Sara. Vantage Point.
A member of a wealthy and prominent American family finds that a compromising video of her has been released on the Internet, just as her brother is running for the Senate. Is it the legendary family curse, or is something else going on?
Smith, Ali. Gliff.
In this novel set in a dystopian near-future, two young teenage siblings, separated from their mother, set off on their own, befriend a horse and an old woman living off the grid, and find sanctuary in an abandoned school.
Swyler, Erika. We Lived on the Horizon.
This speculative fiction takes place in the walled city of Bulwark, built by self-sacrificing citizens whose descendants are called Saints, and who live in luxury while other citizens struggle. The main character is a Saint, a scientist, who is building a body for her AI assistant.
Walker, Karen Thompson. The Strange Case of Jane O.
After a young woman disappears and then wakes up in a park with no memory of how she got there, a psychiatrist begins working with her, and becomes fascinated by her highly detailed memories, blackouts, and hallucinations.
Wang, Weike. Rental House.
An interracial couple attempt to bridge the gaps between their families – hers are hard-working Chinese immigrants, and his is white and very conservative – but the clash of cultures strains the couple's own relationship. Ebook, downloadable audiobook
Winters, Julian. I Think They Love You.
In this romantic comedy, a gay man who is competing to succeed his father as CEO of the family business and needs to demonstrate that he is capable of commitment, sets up a fake relationship with his ex, a man who broke his heart years before.