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.
January - March 2025 Issue
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See also:
- Featured Review: Iona Iverson's Rules for Commuting by Clare Pooley
- Nonfiction Recommendations
- Previous Issues
Attenberg, Jami. A Reason to See You Again.
This novel begins with a family playing a board game in their house in a Chicago suburb in 1971; as the story continues, the father dies of cancer, the mother becomes an alcoholic, and the two daughters choose very different lifestyles. Ebook
Battle-Felton, Yvonne. Curdle Creek.
In this speculative fiction story, a middle-aged widow, who lives in a long-established all-Black community with strict traditions and rituals, starts to question the rules when her father is selected to be the victim of an annual murder designed to keep the population number steady. Ebook
Baxter, Charles. Blood Test.
In this dryly comic novel, a middle-aged insurance salesman and Sunday school teacher takes a questionable blood test at his doctor's office, which shows, based on his genetic make-up, that he is very likely to become a criminal, drug addict, and murderer.
Bayard, Louis. The Wildes.
This well-researched novel, about the life of playwright Oscar Wilde, shows the effects that his trial and imprisonment for homosexuality had on his wife and two sons. Ebook
Bieker, Chelsea. Madwoman.
A young Portland wife and mother, who has kept her traumatic childhood a secret, finds her carefully-constructed new life in danger when she unexpectedly receives a letter from her mother, who is in prison after having been convicted of murdering her husband.
Chambers, Clare. Shy Creatures.
In a British psychiatric hospital in 1964, a young woman who works as an art therapist acquires a new patient, a man who doesn't speak but has considerable artistic talent.
Constable, Harriet. The Instrumentalist.
This novel tells the story of 17th century composer and virtuoso violinist Anna Maria della Pieta, who grew up in a convent and orphanage in Venice, where the composer Antonio Vivaldi was the music teacher.
De la Pava, Sergio. Every Arc Bends its Radian.
After the death of his girlfriend, a New York private eye, poet, and philosopher goes home to Colombia to visit his family and gets involved in the search for a young woman who has disappeared.
Doyle, Roddy. The Women Behind the Door.
This novel continues the story of Paula Spencer, a character in several of this author's previous books, who is now aged 66, and is still dealing with the damage her long-dead abusive husband and drinking problem have caused her, as well as the Covid pandemic and a tense relationship with her daughter.
Enriquez, Mariana. A Sunny Place for Shady People: Stories.
A collection of twelve vivid horror stories told by an innovative Argentinian writer, mostly from the point of view of women, and many of them dipping into the supernatural. Ebook
Fu, Mike. Masquerade.
A 20-something queer man from Shanghai, who has been living in New York City for ten years, finds himself floundering in his love and work lives, until a strange green book suddenly appears, which leads to a mysterious and surreal series of events.
Greathead, Kate. The Book of George.
This comic novel tells the story of its aimless, clueless, and dissatisfied main character from childhood to middle age, showing how he developed his habits of leaning on the women in his life and being hypercritical of other people.
Greenwell, Garth. Small Rain.
After a middle-aged man is suddenly struck with severe pain, he is diagnosed with a very rare and sometimes fatal condition, setting off a series of tests, treatments, and a great deal of philosophizing about his body and his life.
Haddon, Mark. Dogs and Monsters: Stories.
A collection of eight thought-provoking stories taken from or inspired by Greek mythology, told as fairy tales and parables.
Hamya, Jo. The Hypocrite.
A celebrated and egotistical novelist is horrified when his daughter writes a scathing play about a holiday the two took together when she was a teenager, which the two writers remember very differently.
Herrera, Yuri. Season of the Swamp.
This novella, based on the few facts known to history and the author's imagination, describes the roughly two years that the Mexican political leader, Benito Juarez, spent living in exile in the rough city of New Orleans in the 1850s.
Hollinghurst, Alan. Our Evenings.
In this literary novel, a gay British/Burmese actor, who was raised by his mother in England, describes his life and love affairs, from his adolescent school days to his acting career.
Jaramillo, Luis. The Witches of El Paso.
In this time-travelling family story, an El Paso teenager in the 1940s goes back to a convent in the late 18th century to study with the witches who live there; in the present day, her grand-niece, also magically gifted, helps her find her daughter, who was born in the convent and is now stranded in the past. Ebook
Kim, Juhea. City of Night Birds.
This contemporary novel tells the story of a Russian ballerina who is accepted by a prestigious ballet school, and becomes a star at the Bolshoi Ballet and the Paris Opera, until an accident brings her career to a halt.
Knausgaard, Karl Ove. The Third Realm.
In the third book in the author's philosophical Morning Star series, a new star appears in the sky in southern Norway, a mysterious phenomenon that seems linked to the fact that suddenly nothing and nobody is dying anymore.
Lavery, Daniel M. Women’s Hotel.
This comic novel with vivid characters portrays life in a fictional New York hotel for single working women in the early 1960s.
Lerner, Betsy. Shred Sisters.
This story of a Connecticut Jewish family is narrated by Amy, the younger of two sisters, who was bullied and friendless as a child, and always in the shadow of her older sister, who was beautiful, manipulative, and mentally ill. Ebook
Lynch, Christina. Pony Confidential.
A pony, who felt betrayed when his beloved 12-year-old owner sold him and moved away 25 years ago, searches for her to exact vengeance, until he realizes she needs his help, since she has been arrested and charged with a long-ago murder.
May, Nikki. This Motherless Land.
A 10-year old girl, who lives in Nigeria with her Nigerian father and her English mother, is sent to live with her English family after her mother and little brother are killed in a car crash; the girl finds her new home and relatives cold, until she meets a cousin, who becomes a close friend. Ebook
Minot, Susan. Don’t Be a Stranger.
A divorced middle-aged writer falls madly in love with a considerably younger musician, though it is clear that he does not love her, and has no intention of making any commitment.
Montague, Anna. How Does That Make You Feel, Magda Eklund?
A New York psychologist, about to turn 70 years old, discovers that her best friend, who has just died, had been planning a road trip for the two of them as a birthday celebration; she decides to make the trip herself, accompanied by her friend's ashes.
Moore, Alan. The Great When.
In this urban fantasy set in London just after World War II, an 18-year-old orphan who works in a bookshop is sent to collect some occult books; however, one book he acquires is not supposed to exist because it belongs to an alternative London, and this puts his life in grave danger.
Pedersen, Kailee. Sacrificial Animals.
In this violent horror story, a middle-aged man, whose abusive father is dying, is called back to the family home in rural Nebraska, bringing with him his older brother, who was disowned by the family after marrying a Chinese-American woman.
Price, Richard. Lazarus Man.
After a survivor is pulled out from the rubble of a collapsed five-story tenement building in Harlem, in New York City, he changes overnight from an unemployed recovering addict to a media sensation.
Quatro, Jamie. Two-Step Devil.
An old man, who lives alone in the mountains in Tennessee and is known as a prophet, rescues a teenaged girl who has been kidnapped, and they soon form a close bond.
Rendon, Marcie R. Where They Last Saw Her.
In this thriller, which was written to bring attention to the thousands of Native American women who have gone missing or been found murdered in recent years, a young Native American woman, who lives on the Red Pine reservation in Minnesota, hears a scream one day when she is out running; after the tribal police can't find anything, she and her friends investigate. Ebook, downloadable audiobook
Rieger, Susan. Like Mother, Like Mother.
In this complex family story, the retired editor of a prestigious Washington, D.C .newspaper dies shortly after her youngest daughter publishes a novel that is a thinly-veiled fictional version of her mother's life, including details that differ from the official version her mother had created.
Solomon, Rivers. Model Home.
In this unusual haunted house story, a Black family, who have moved into an all-white gated community near Dallas, are harassed by strange unexplained phenomena, for which their queer oldest child is blamed.
Stephenson, Neal. Polostan.
In this first book, set in the 1930's, in a planned new historical series, a young woman who was raised by her father in the Soviet Union, but who lived in Montana as a teenager, decides to move back to the U.S.S.R. to devote her life to socialism, but she attracts the attention of the Soviet intelligence agency, who suspect she is an enemy spy.
Tulathimutte, Tony. Rejection.
This inventive and disturbing novel in the form of seven loosely-linked stories centers on the online culture of the early 2000's, and shows its vulnerable and needy characters' inability to handle rejection.