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Soft Skull Press

'Where The Wild Ladies Are' Is Perfect Halloween Reading

October 20, 2020 • Aoko Matsuda's gently supernatural story collection — all about women who are something more than they seem — gets its unearthly feel not from jump scares, but from the quality of the writing.

Alice James Books

'The Voice Of Sheila Chandra' Echoes Through Time And Space

October 18, 2020 • Kazim Ali's new poetry collection was inspired by the story of Sheila Chandra, a well-known singer rendered voiceless by an incurable neurological condition.

Redhook

'The Once And Future Witches' Will Have You Spellbound

October 17, 2020 • Alix Harrow's new book is set in an alternate 19th-century America where the suffragette movement exists alongside a quest to restore magic and end the banishment of witches and witchcraft.

Fantagraphics

Underestimating These 'Maids' Is A Fatal Mistake

October 15, 2020 • Katie Skelly's uncanny new graphic novel retells the real-life story of sisters Christine and Léa Papin, who were working as maids when they brutally murdered their employers.

'The National Road' Takes Readers On A Trip Through Americana

The National Road: Dispatches From a Changing America, by Tom Zoellner Counterpoint hide caption

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Counterpoint

'The National Road' Takes Readers On A Trip Through Americana

October 14, 2020 • Teacher and writer Tom Zoellner has logged tens of thousands of miles zigzagging the continent with, a small tent and backpack, investigating American places and themes — metaphors for our country.

Bloomsbury

'Shelter In Place' Is An Ill-Mannered Comedy Of Manners

October 13, 2020 • David Leavitt's new novel Shelter in Place aims for sparkling social comedy — but it's let down by a cast of privileged, shallow characters you wouldn't want to spend your lockdown with.

Inkyard Press

'The Code For Love And Heartbreak' Isn't 'Emma' — But It Is Charming

October 10, 2020 • Jillian Cantor's new YA novel lifts some of the elements of Jane Austen's classic — like character names — wholesale. But you'll enjoy it more if you don't expect the plot to follow exactly.

Penguin Press

Phil Klay's New 'Missionaries' Is An Ambitious Novel Of Ideas

October 8, 2020 • Klay won acclaim for his debut story collection Redeployment, about the experiences of soldiers. His long awaited novel looks at how America has developed and exported the idea of a war on terror.

Tor Books

'Addie LaRue' Is Invisible — But Memorable

October 8, 2020 • Addie LaRue was born in France 400 years ago — but nobody remembers that. She made a supernatural deal for immortality at the cost of permanent anonymity, so she tries to leave a mark however she can.

'Let My People Vote' Tells Of One Man's Journey To Getting 1.4 Million Back A Voice

Let My People Vote: My Battle to Restore the Civil Rights of Returning Citizens, by Desmond Meade Beacon Press hide caption

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Beacon Press

'Let My People Vote' Tells Of One Man's Journey To Getting 1.4 Million Back A Voice

October 7, 2020 • Desmond Meade rose from addiction, homelessness, and prison to run a campaign to re-enfranchise more than one million Florida voters; it's a tale of hope, persistence, and the power of organizing.

After Chasing Threats Abroad, Former CIA Chief John Brennan Says The Risk Is At Home

Former CIA Director John Brennan testifies on Capitol Hill in May 2017 before the House Intelligence Committee Russia Investigation Task Force. Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP hide caption

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Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP

Books

After Chasing Threats Abroad, Former CIA Chief John Brennan Says The Risk Is At Home

October 5, 2020 • The former spy chief has dealt with almost all of the country's major security challenges over the past two decades. In his memoir, Undaunted, he directs his ire at President Trump.

Viking

It's Not Quite Dark Enough In 'The Midnight Library'

October 3, 2020 • Critic Jason Sheehan says the new novel from Matt Haig — about a mystical library that lets people sample all the ways their lives might have gone — is a little too gentle and straightforward.

Farrar, Straus & Giroux

In 'Jack,' Marilynne Robinson Shows Grace Is For Everyone

October 1, 2020 • Robinson's latest Gilead novel centers on prodigal son Jack, newly released from prison and in love with a Black woman — a crime in 1950s Missouri. But it's not a pat tale of love overcoming racism.

'His Very Best' Calls Jimmy Carter 'Perhaps The Most Misunderstood President'

His Very Best: Jimmy Carter, a Life, by Jonathan Alter Simon & Schuster hide caption

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Simon & Schuster

'His Very Best' Calls Jimmy Carter 'Perhaps The Most Misunderstood President'

September 29, 2020 • Jonathan Alter tells Carter's life story beautifully and with admirable fairness — while it's evident that he admires Carter, he treats the former president as a real person, as flawed as anyone else.

'Leave The World Behind' Is A Signature Novel For This Blasted Year

Leave the World Behind, by Rumaan Alam Harper Collins hide caption

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Harper Collins

'Leave The World Behind' Is A Signature Novel For This Blasted Year

Fresh Air

September 29, 2020 • A family on vacation opens the door of their remote Airbnb rental one night to an older couple who claims to be the home's owners. Rumaan Alam's thrilling novel is about race, class and self-delusion.

'Leave The World Behind' Is A Signature Novel For This Blasted Year

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'All About The Story' Is A History Of Newspapering — And A Primer On Media Ethics

All About the Story: News, Power, Politics, and the Washington Post, by Leonard Downie, Jr. Public Affairs hide caption

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Public Affairs

'All About The Story' Is A History Of Newspapering — And A Primer On Media Ethics

September 28, 2020 • Former Washington Post leader Len Downie is well-placed to offer a look at 50 years in news — but he also writes of times he had to weigh the public's right to know against national security.

You Can't Send Your Kids To Dance Class Right Now, But You Can Read Them 'Bunheads'

G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers

Are You There God? It's Me, Juanita

You Can't Send Your Kids To Dance Class Right Now, But You Can Read Them 'Bunheads'

September 27, 2020 • Renowned ballerina Misty Copeland's new kids' book Bunheads draws on her own childhood experiences — if your kids love dance, it's just the thing to keep them going until classes come back.

In 'We're Better Than This,' Rep. Elijah Cummings Offers Some Lasting Thoughts

Politician and Maryland congressional representative Elijah Cummings at his campaign headquarters, 1988. Afro Newspaper/Gado/Getty Images hide caption

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Afro Newspaper/Gado/Getty Images

In 'We're Better Than This,' Rep. Elijah Cummings Offers Some Lasting Thoughts

September 24, 2020 • The former congressman's memoir is an urgent call to action, imploring us to defend our democracy as it is assailed by threats — and a poignant reminder of how much the nation lost with his death.

Americans Who Can't Enjoy Full Rights Deemed 'Conditional Citizens' In New Book

Conditional Citizens: On Belonging in America, Laila Lalami Pantheon hide caption

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Pantheon

Americans Who Can't Enjoy Full Rights Deemed 'Conditional Citizens' In New Book

September 23, 2020 • In her first non-fiction work, Laila Lalami says these Americans want the country to succeed, but can't avoid the gulf between purported values of equality and the realities of systematic oppression.

In 'Can't Even,' Burnout Is Seen As A Societal Problem — One We Can't Solve Alone

Can't Even: How Millennials Became the Burnout Generation, by Anne Helen Petersen Houghton Mifflin Harcourt hide caption

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Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

In 'Can't Even,' Burnout Is Seen As A Societal Problem — One We Can't Solve Alone

September 22, 2020 • Burnout, Anne Helen Petersen argues, will end only with sweeping labor-policy changes — meaning it will end only when we "vote en masse to elect politicians who will agitate for [reform] tirelessly."

Latest Tell-All, By Former National Security Adviser McMaster, Is Not All About Trump

President Trump and H.R. McMaster walk toward Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, D.C., on June 16, 2017. Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images hide caption

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Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Latest Tell-All, By Former National Security Adviser McMaster, Is Not All About Trump

September 21, 2020 • This book may be the master in-depth briefing H.R. McMaster always wanted to give the president. For better or worse, it seems listening to lengthy historical explanations has not been Trump's style.

Susanna Clarke Divines Magic In Long-Awaited Novel 'Piranesi'

Piranesi, by Susanna Clarke Bloomsbury Publishing hide caption

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Bloomsbury Publishing

Susanna Clarke Divines Magic In Long-Awaited Novel 'Piranesi'

September 20, 2020 • Clarke fans waited 16 years for this follow-up to Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell. Here, Clarke limns a magic that is part of the very fabric of the universe.