by Idra Novey
A novel in the hands of Idra Novey (Ways to Disappear; Those Who Knew) is one sure to startle and subvert readers' expectations. Her third work of fiction, Take What You Need, maps out tense boundaries in a forgotten town in the Allegheny Mountains, before thoroughly turning those divisions inside out. Leah moved away from this place long ago, but is now returning with her Peruvian husband, Gerardo, and their son, Silvestre, to settle the unconventional estate of her estranged stepmother, Jean, a woman as
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by Ari Shapiro
Smart, humane and just a bit quirky, The Best Strangers in the World is exactly the kind of memoir one would expect from Ari Shapiro, veteran NPR correspondent and host of the network's iconic evening news program All Things Considered. In an episodic collection of pieces, including two "musical interludes," Shapiro blends highlights of his two decades at NPR with personal stories, all intended to illuminate his goal of "seeking out ways to help people listen to one another."
Shapiro's moving
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by Jessi Sheron
The Sea in You by Jessi Sheron began in 2015 as a webcomic and has been transformed into an enthralling full-color graphic novel. The story might initially feel familiar, but Sheron's exceptional, irresistible adaptation ensures an entertaining, visually rewarding experience.
Corinth has been at her Ocean City, Md., high school for a year, but she hasn't made any friends. Her single dominating relationship is with Seth, who is more bully than the loving boyfriend he claims to be. While voluntarily cleaning
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by Colleen Oakley
Colleen Oakley (The Invisible Husband of Frick Island; You Were There Too) takes readers on an offbeat, whirlwind road-trip adventure--with an underlying serious message--in The Mostly True Story of Tanner & Louise. Louise Constance Wilt is an unpredictable, whip-smart native of Atlanta, Ga. The 84-year-old widow hobbles around on a bum hip, so her children, who live hours away, decide it's time for their mother to have some live-in help. Enter floundering, 21-year-old Tanner Quimby, whose promising college
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by Elizabeth McKenzie
Even the dilapidated sea-green van, the titular "Dog of the North," is oddly likable in this boisterous novel from Elizabeth McKenzie (The Portable Veblen). The Dog of the North features sympathetic narrator Penny Rush and her quest to untangle generations of family idiosyncrasies and puzzles, ever hopeful that she might discover a path to happiness. Penny confronts problems at hand with rare glances at her past: an abusive father, the disappearance five years earlier of her mother and stepfather in the Australian
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by Ricardo Nuila
Physician Ricardo Nuila has spent most of his career practicing at Ben Taub, an unusual public hospital in Houston, Tex. Nuila's incisive, thoughtful first book, The People's Hospital, takes readers into the lives of his patients and explores the ways the American medical system--which he calls "Medicine Inc."--fails them.
Nuila recounts his journey as a doctor, from spending time at his father's OB-GYN clinic to medical school and his residency at Ben Taub. He also explains, clearly and thoughtfully, the
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by Elizabeth Berg
Earth's the Right Place for Love by Elizabeth Berg is a poignant, emotionally powerful novel about the formative years in the life of 16-year-old Arthur Moses in the late 1940s. Arthur--along with those in his orbit--has been featured in three other Berg novels set in Mason, Mo.: The Story of Arthur Truluv, Night of Miracles and The Confession Club. In this novel, 85-year-old Arthur looks back on his life in 1947 as a high school sophomore. He is greatly influenced by--and looks up to--his dashing older brother,
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