Children, from infants to adult offspring, have a rough go of it in Fathers and Fugitives, South African author S.J. Naudé's uncompromising novel composed of a quintet of connected stories. Translated from the Afrikaans by Michiel Heyns, these pieces span decades in the life of Daniel, a gay South African journalist based in London, "the British broadsheets' tattletale from the colonies." At the novel's outset, he meets two Serbian men at the Tate Modern and begins an intimate relationship with them despite suspicions that their intentions are less than noble. Years later, Daniel returns to Cape Town to reconnect with his estranged elderly father, an investment banker whose dementia has given him "a memory apparently wiped clean overnight."

Naudé's gift for gut-wrenching sequences in these early chapters is even more pronounced in subsequent entries. In one, after his father's death, Daniel has to satisfy one condition to collect his inheritance: visit his "seriously ill" cousin, Theon, in the Free State and "do his best to support and encourage" him, a task that turns out to involve caring for a 10-year-old boy with blood cancer. Even more devastating is the story in which Daniel, living on a South African farm, wants to become guardian of a three-month-old baby whose mother has died, only for a young man recently taken in by the farm's owners to complicate the prospect. Grim stuff, but Naudé's compassion for his characters makes it a worthwhile reading experience. The author's first novel to be published in the U.S., Fathers and Fugitives is an important addition to South African literature. -- Michael Magras, freelance book reviewer

Mai Mochizuki's delectable The Full Moon Coffee Shop, cozily translated by Jesse Kirkwood, follows other whimsical, welcoming café-themed Japanese novels, like Toshikazu Kawaguchi's Before the Coffee Gets Cold and its multiple sequels. Here the eponymous shop "has no fixed location," but rather just appears, with lunar cooperation, when would-be patrons most need the encouraging refuge. Orders aren't possible, however, because the staff--yes, of course, they're cats!--happen to bring out just the right "desserts, meals, and drinks--selected just for you."

Mizuki was "dubbed a hitmaker" back in her 20s for all the successful TV dramas she wrote; now at 40, after too many flops, she's pseudonymously writing video game storylines for supporting characters. TV director Akari can't get over her last almost-affair, while Akari's star actress, Satsuki, is being publicly vilified for being a married actor's mistress. Takashi, co-owner of an IT company, might have a second chance at first love while helping his new client, Megumi, build a website for the career of her dreams. With each character facing life changes, astrologically astute felines are at the ready with helpful star charts to clarify (better) choices.

Mochizuki is already well established among manga aficionados, with multiple ongoing series available in translation (Holmes of Kyoto, Alice in Kyoto Forest). She's an easy, engaging writer to enjoy; her narratives here are contemporary and universal, with a gratifying emphasis on unexpected connections enabled by acts of kindness. Not surprisingly, the magical encounters begun in The Full Moon Coffee Shop continue in sequels published in Japan. Hopefully those multiple volumes will also extend their enchantments to English-language readers soon. --Terry Hong

Guide Me Home, Attica Locke's tense, gripping final novel in her Highway 59 trilogy, examines the political landscape of East Texas during the presidency of Donald Trump and probes the inner landscape of a Black man forced to reckon with his choices and his complicated family history.

Struggling with the ethical implications of his last case (detailed in Heaven, My Home), Texas Ranger Darren Mathews has turned in his badge. As he considers what to do next (including whether to resist the siren call of bourbon), his semi-estranged mother shows up at his house with a story about a missing college student: Sera Fuller, a Black girl who suddenly disappeared from her all-white sorority house. Though Darren knows his mother is a notorious liar, he's worried for Sera and intrigued by the case. As mother and son investigate, they turn up secrets about Sera's family, and Darren begins asking questions about his own history--the version he's heard, and the less clear-cut truth.

Locke writes with deep affection about her native east Texas, but also unflinchingly exposes its deep racism: the personal, political, and economic history that allows wealthy white people to manipulate people of color. Locke weaves together the mystery of Sera's disappearance with the fraught realities of Trump-era Texas, and explores Darren's complex feelings about the career he loves and the mother he has never truly known.

Powerful and unsettling, full of layered characters and difficult choices, Guide Me Home is a mystery for readers who appreciate nuance and resist too-tidy endings. --Katie Noah Gibson, blogger at Cakes, Tea and Dreams

An unusual bequest drives a retired widow to abandon her English bungalow and move to a glitzy Mediterranean island in Matt Haig's magnificently plotted mystery, The Life Impossible. Haig explores "love, fear, grief, guilt, [and] forgiveness" in a satire-fueled drama layered with otherworldly mysticism.

Former math teacher Grace, a self-described "crotchety old Brit," is the last person who would seek adventure. She hasn't felt pleasure since her son, Daniel, died in a horrible accident decades ago. Her life is upturned when an old colleague, Christina, bequeaths her a house in Ibiza, Spain. The circumstances of Christina's death, however, remain mysteriously unclear. Grace surprises herself by setting off for Ibiza.

Her quest takes on a magical aura when she meets Christina's friend Alberto. She reluctantly goes scuba diving at midnight with him, and he shows her an ancient seagrass meadow, brilliantly illuminated by an ethereal force beneath Ibiza's waters. Environmental activists want to save the meadow from a malevolent businessman eager to exploit it for profit, and Grace finds herself the unlikely heroine of their epic crusade. The mystery of Christina's disappearance, it turns out, is connected to the impending ecological threat.

Grace's story, as recounted in her correspondence with Maurice, a former student, sparkles with humor at the absurdity of everyday life and marvels at the miracles that unfold when unexpected opportunities are seized. Therein, Haig (Notes on a Nervous Planet; How to Stop Time) reminds readers, lies the true magic of being alive. --Shahina Piyarali

In her fourth historical novel, Katharine, the Wright Sister, Tracey Enerson Wood charts the Wright brothers' thrilling (and sometimes harrowing) journey toward mechanical flight, made possible in large part by the efforts and sacrifices of their sister, Katharine.

Wood (The President's Wife) toggles expertly between three points of view: those of Wilbur, Orville, and Katharine herself, providing their varied perspectives on the highs and lows of their attempts to build and perfect their flying machines. Although most Americans have heard of the Wrights' flight at Kitty Hawk, N.C., Wood fills in the background of how they got there: dozens of failed attempts, countless calculations of wind speed and resistance, and numerous yards of white muslin, which Katharine sourced for her brothers. Wood explores the sometimes tricky dynamics among the siblings: Wilbur's ambition, Orville's social anxiety, and Katharine's inner conflict between pride in her brothers' work and resentment at missing some key triumphant moments. That conflict eventually comes to a head when Katharine wonders if it's too late to pursue her own happiness--or if her family will understand why she needs to.

Wood draws on historical documents and research to immerse the reader in the Wrights' world of Dayton, Ohio, at the turn of the 20th century, sharing details of the music, clothes, food, and social issues of the day. Katharine later becomes involved in the suffragist movement in Ohio, and the Wrights travel across Europe, meeting heads of state and touring iconic cities. Readers will be swept away by Wood's vivid depictions of early flight, and inspired by Katharine's dedication to stay true to both her brothers and herself. --Katie Noah Gibson, blogger at Cakes, Tea and Dreams

Ayelet Tsabari's luminous first novel, Songs for the Brokenhearted, explores the complex history of a Yemeni Israeli family and a daughter's journey to learning more about the mother she never understood.

Tsabari (The Art of Leaving) centers her narrative on Zohara, a frustrated Ph.D. candidate living in New York City in 1995. She returns home to the Tel Aviv area after her mother, Saida, dies. Zohara is still grappling with her divorce and finds herself undone by her mother's passing, though their relationship was always fraught. While she cleans Saida's house and sifts through her belongings, Zohara discovers a set of cassettes with recordings of Yemeni songs in her mother's voice, and a mysterious manuscript containing a love story she's never heard. As she struggles to reconcile these discoveries with the image she holds of her mother, Zohara realizes that most stories--even her own--are more complicated than she expects.

Although the novel is mostly Zohara's story, Tsabari draws in other perspectives, including that of Yaqub, a young Yemeni man who meets Saida in an immigrant camp in 1950, and Zohara's nephew, Yoni, whose grief over his grandmother's death spurs him to join student protests as political tensions rise to a fever pitch. Tsabari weaves together the intimate experiences of her characters' emotional lives with larger narratives about the Middle Eastern Jews who emigrated to Israel and the peace agreements of the mid-1990s that provoked strong reactions on all sides.

Tender, wry, and powerfully written, Tsabari's novel is a tribute to the bonds of family and sometimes conflicted but unmistakable gravitational pull of home. --Katie Noah Gibson, blogger at Cakes, Tea and Dreams

Madeline Martin thoughtfully explores the imprint of World War II on a British mother and daughter in The Booklover's Library, a deeply moving, meticulously researched historical novel.

Set in England, the story follows Emma Taylor, whose mother died soon after she was born. Her beloved father raised her in the bookshop he owned, passing on to her his passion for books. After he perished in the fire that also claimed his shop, Emma married a solicitor, but he was struck and killed by a car when their daughter, Olivia, was still very young.

In 1939, as World War II looms, Emma struggles to find work--being widowed with a child is deemed "too much of a liability" for employers. Then she encounters a woman familiar with her father and his bookshop, who is impressed by Emma's literary knowledge and offers Emma a position at a subscription-style lending library, with conditions: Emma must claim that she is unmarried and be addressed as "Miss Taylor," and she must refer to her daughter as her "sister."

Amid the war, a multitude of challenges arise, and Emma is forced to send Olivia away to the English countryside to keep her safe. Separated, mother and daughter struggle in an uncertain world, but the power of friendship and community and the comfort of books sustain them.

Martin (The Last Bookshop in London) authentically depicts how the terror of World War II--and the many sacrifices so many people made--inspired great resilience of the human spirit. --Kathleen Gerard, blogger at Reading Between the Lines

Scheming Southern flare lights up The Empress of Cooke County, the first novel by Elizabeth Bass Parman. Set in 1966, in the small, folksy town of Spark, located in Cooke County, Tenn., this dual point-of-view narrative centers on a fraught mother-daughter relationship.

Posey Jarvis is an outspoken, 38-year-old wife and mother who idolizes Jacqueline Kennedy. She and her sweet, good-natured husband of almost 20 years, Vern, appear settled in Spark. However, Posey still carries a secret torch for a man who jilted her years before; swigs of gin from a tucked-away flask help her cope. Posey's broken heart still colors her life and, especially, her high hopes for her 18-year-old daughter, Callie Jane. When Callie Jane is shocked by an unexpected marriage proposal and feels pressured into saying yes by her fiancé's family, she must confront the expectations that have shaped her life. The stakes are raised when Posey inherits a once glamorous but now dilapidated house from a long-lost relative; she decides to spruce up the house for Callie Jane's upcoming wedding and her own 20th high school reunion. A lifetime of angst, secrets, and rebellion escalates between overbearing, conniving Posey and Callie Jane, who fights to finally come into her own.

Mounting drama sharpens brisk plotting, which includes story threads about a Peeping Tom and the changing mores of the social-climbing South. Fans of unfaltering Southern belles written by authors such as Fannie Flagg and Kathryn Stockett will bask in the sassy charm of Parman's stellar debut. --Kathleen Gerard, blogger at Reading Between the Lines

Though we've heard the warnings, talking to strangers sometimes can't be avoided, as Fiona Barton (The Widow; The Child) shows in her sharply plotted thriller, Talking to Strangers. Such conversations aid Detective Inspector Elise King in her many investigations in the English town of Ebbing and are business as usual for journalist Kiki Nunn. But warnings to children about avoiding unknown people sometimes go unheeded.

Chats with strangers may have led to the murder of hairdresser Karen Simmons, who ran a singles group called Free Spirits. Karen, who was well known in Ebbing, was last seen during the group's gathering at a popular pub. As Elise's inquiries ramp up, Kiki follows her own leads garnered during a recent interview with Karen about her single life. Friendly rivals Elise and Kiki clash but realize cooperation is mutually beneficial. Elise needs a successful case, emotionally and professionally, since she has just returned to duty following treatment for breast cancer, while Kiki hopes her reporting earns her a promotion. Karen's high-profile murder also piques the interest of Annie Curtis, whose eight-year-old son was murdered 16 years before, in the same place where Karen's body was found.

Elise tries to keep her health concerns from her police colleagues. Kiki worries that she neglects her daughter, while Annie wonders if Karen's murder is linked to her family. Barton effortlessly moves Talking to Strangers among the three women's points of view and delves into the personal challenges each deals with during the search for Karen's murderer, adding to the intense suspense.  --Oline H. Cogdill, freelance reviewer 

At the rate Ragnar Jónasson is going, it will soon be easier to list the Icelandic noir titles he hasn't written than the ones he has. To his chiseled and frequently chilling body of work he adds Death at the Sanatorium, translated from the Icelandic by Victoria Cribb, and a spin-off of his novel The Darkness.

It's 2012, and Reykjavík-based Helgi Reykdal is writing his dissertation for his master's degree in criminology. His subject is a decades-old cold case: one morning in 1983, a nurse arrived at work--a patient-free former tuberculosis hospital being used for research by a small staff--and found another nurse dead, two fingers cut off. A second staff death on the premises a week later was written off by the police--lazily, as Helgi sees it--as a suicide. The novel skitters around in time, airing the viewpoints of the surviving sanatorium staff, whom Helgi interviews, ostensibly for his dissertation. The truth? He's bent on getting to the bottom of the two sanatorium deaths.

Death at the Sanatorium is a wily bit of thriller business that includes a few fleeting appearances by Hulda Hermannsdóttir, the formidable detective who drives Jónasson's Hidden Iceland series (The Darkness; The Island; The Mist); her scenes make up one of two personal-story arcs that the novel leaves tantalizingly unresolved. The shifting timelines and perspectives keep the question "How will this figure into things?" percolating, as does Helgi's curious obsession with golden-age detective novels. At one point he rhapsodizes that they offer "pure escapism." Gratifyingly, Jónasson's books offer more. --Nell Beram, author and freelance writer

A young nobleman allies himself with a bold army officer to save his sister from a disastrous fairy bargain in Confounding Oaths, Alexis Hall's witty, adventurous follow-up to Mortal Follies.

Robin Goodfellow, exiled from the fairy court and "trapped in the dreary, damp, culinarily moribund country" of England in 1815, narrates the travails of John Caesar, the biracial grandson of an earl. At a ball, another nobleman insults John's sister Mary by calling her a racist slur. John, who is "no pugilist," punches the man and consequently requires the rescue services of James Orestes, a handsome, heroic Black captain. Matters take a turn for the magical when Mary, discontent with her wallflower status, makes a wish to a fairy for beauty that's granted in a dangerous way. John will need the help of Captain James and his skilled cadre of comrades to save Mary from her wish turned curse and to thwart a mysterious and murderous cult. The attraction between the nobleman and the soldier is too intense to deny, but can the two men from different social classes find a happy ending to their fairy tale?

This puckish romp is filled with Hall's trademark bon mots passed through the mouthpiece of the snarkiest fairy in two realms. By packing plenty of longing and angst alongside the leads' strong chemistry, Hall (Boyfriend Material, A Lady for a Duke) creates a steamy love story while keeping the bedroom door closed. The novel's version of England includes fantasy elements but still provides ample room for social commentary. Fans of Bridgerton who long for a sprinkle of magic should snap up Confounding Oaths. --Jaclyn Fulwood, blogger at Infinite Reads

In D.L. Soria's adorable, wisecracking fantasy romance The Cottage Around the Corner, a small-town witch fights to save her family's business after a polished, indecently attractive mage sets up shop nearby.

Charlie Sparrow loves her life in Owl's Hollow, where she lives with her parents, Mama and Mim, and works in their magic shop, Chanterelle Cottage. She wishes they would let her invest some of her own money and take on more ownership but believes a catastrophic spell-casting mistake she once made has put those dreams out of reach. Then Sterling "Fitz" Fitzgerald and his sister Elinor move to town to open a slick, modern magecraft firm, and Charlie's family's already struggling shop might not survive the competition. Fitz may be "attractive in that urbane, aristocratic way where you can't decide if you want to seduce them or send them to the guillotine," but Charlie could never see herself dating a rival. Then a series of mysterious, magical catastrophes befall Owl's Hollow, and Charlie and Fitz must join forces to save their town--but nothing can save them from falling for each other.

Soria (Thief Liar Lady; Fire with Fire) delivers on the witchy, cottagecore atmosphere her novel's setting demands, offering up an enchanted broom named Broomhilde, plenty of spell casting, and a close-knit community. The plot recalls the classic rom-com You've Got Mail, which the characters repeatedly reference. Its emotional core strikes a heavier note than that film, as Charlie and Fitz both struggle to live up to their perceptions of their families' expectations, but readers looking for a cozy escape should find it here. --Jaclyn Fulwood, blogger at Infinite Reads

With Morbidly Yours, debut author Ivy Fairbanks delivers an enchanting friends-to-lovers romantic dramedy.

A clever, immersive opening sets the tone: Lark Thompson, an upbeat, 29-year-old widow originally from Austin, Tex., mistakenly receives a box containing "five body bags, adult size" at her rental apartment in Galway, Ireland. Bewildered, cowboy boot-clad Lark sets out to deliver the misrouted package next door to Willow Haven, which she believes is a bed-and-breakfast. Instead, Lark finds a funeral home run by Callum Flannelly, a single, 34-year-old piano-playing undertaker who has social anxiety and speaks with a stutter. Both Lark and Callum face challenges that keep their lives in respective states of unrest.

After the sudden death of Lark's husband--a detail she guiltily conceals from Callum--she moved overseas to take on a nine-month assignment as a cartoon creator and animator. But once she meets deeply sensitive Callum, the two spend time together and strike up a friendship. Lark becomes determined to find shy, insecure Callum a wife before he turns 35 so he won't have to forfeit the family business, as required in his grandfather's will. During this pursuit, the relationship between Lark and Callum unexpectedly deepens.

Lark's and Callum's grief and reticence to fall in love anchor this lively first novel. Gaelic charm and a sweet, simmering romance, coupled with tender plot dilemmas driven by a well-drawn, small-town cast, lend hopeful buoyancy to the novel's more serious themes. --Kathleen Gerard, blogger at Reading Between the Lines

"We would face a gray world without bees," writes Hanna Harms in her piercing graphic nonfiction debut, Milk Without Honey, translated from the German by Ruth Ahmedzai Kemp. With strategic precision, Harms focuses on the plight of wild and domestic bees that are ravaged by invasive mites, climate change, and monocultural agricultural systems. But she does not neglect the broader impact of the worldwide destruction of insects: "A third of global crop production depends on pollination, but three-quarters of all cultivated plants benefit from pollination," which isn't accomplished by bees alone--many other insects participate.

Harms's rather grim analysis is lightened by her sketched graphic style and a note of hope at the end. An illustrator and comics author, she employs a minimalist aesthetic and a palette of gray, white, black, yellow, and peach to maximize the impact of her message. The effect is elegant yet approachable, with the pencil lines softening the color contrasts. Some pages contain a setup that relies on boxes and panels, while others forgo any container and use negative space brilliantly.

The sparse narrative is sandwiched by a foreword from author Sarah Wyndham Lewis that serves as a call to action to help the bees, and a dense afterword by bee expert Jürgen Tautz, in which he underscores how dire the rapid decline of insect species is and what the consequences will be if humans don't make changes. Although Milk Without Honey is serious, Harms ensures readers leave with a glimmer of optimism for the future, and more importantly, actions they can take to help. --Nina Semczuk, writer, editor, and illustrator

Baking in the American South: 200 Recipes and Their Untold Stories offers 200 recipes to savor, along with history, stories, tips, vintage snapshots, and mouthwatering full-color photos, but prepare to pause to bake up a tempting Southern treat. Baking in the American South is longtime food writer Anne Byrn's attempt to answer the question, "What makes Southern baking so special?"

Byrn (A New Take on Cake; Skillet Love) credits the book's recipes and insightful tips to cooks and bakers from 14 Southern states, including well-known names (Laura Bush's cowboy cookies), quietly renowned local figures (yeast rolls from a West Tennessee school cook named Charlie Moore), and widely known family recipes ("tea cakes like grandma made," which Byrn notes were "the emblematic food of the Great Migration"). Pies, "plain and fancy"; cakes, plus "frostings and flourishes"; puddings, pancakes, cookies, and a bountiful assortment of breads earn this cookbook a definitive status.

Anecdotes and insights accompany every recipe, but the collection suggests that Southerners might be satisfied living by bread alone. Cornbread, "the South's first daily bread" can be sweet or savory, crispy or fluffy, depending on the types of cornmeal, buttermilk, or pans used. Sugar? Opinions vary! Readers will find versions from President Jimmy Carter's White House chef Henry Haller and historian Shelby Foote. Roughly 20 biscuits illustrate how dough might be beaten, "docked," dropped, or morphed into shortbread or dumplings. Among her many thoughtful observations, Byrn credits the "unparalleled flavor" of Southern yeast breads to patience and overnight refrigeration. Home chefs will treasure this cookbook and appreciate Byrn's entertaining stories while their delicious regional fare bakes. --Cheryl McKeon, Book House of Stuyvesant Plaza, Albany, N.Y.

How war and personality shaped the grand strategy of five of the most influential leaders of World War II is the fascinating focus of The Strategists by historian Phillips Payson O'Brien (The Second Most Powerful Man in America). Referring to his subjects--Winston Churchill, Joseph Stalin, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Benito Mussolini, and Adolf Hitler--as "The Five," O'Brien takes a fresh approach to a well-trodden topic with his emphasis on World War I as a defining shaper of each of the "grand strategists."

Hitler's experiences as a dispatch runner in that war embedded in his mind "the decisive power of modern, heavy artillery," but as a leader, his "stress on strength" was coupled with an inability "to understand rational trade-offs" such as mobility, O'Brien notes. Unsurprisingly, Churchill and Roosevelt receive high marks for their dominance of what O'Brien terms "the air-sea super-battlefield" and their view that the land war would be of "secondary" importance. They were right about this, he contends. Stalin held the "ideological/paranoid view of strategy," and Mussolini believed war was "a contest of will" not reliant on the quality and quantity of military material.

O'Brien seeds the ground in the first half of his study with the development of each leader's mindset, while the second half rigorously dissects the impacts of their decisions upon the course of the war, with a superb interlude bridging the interwar years. The Strategists is a rewarding and robust historical and psychological approach to the grand strategists of World War II and the decisions they--and they alone--made for the world. --Peggy Kurkowski, book reviewer and copywriter in Denver

Historian and perfume expert Élisabeth de Feydeau lovingly and intricately dissects an essential aspect of human history in The Story of Perfume. Poets, philosophers, and scientists alike agree that smell can evoke feelings and memories more powerfully than any other sense, so it's only natural that personal fragrance has inspired fandom throughout history. Whether they are drawn to lactonic, earthy, gourmand, or spicy notes, fragrance enthusiasts of all varieties will find this comprehensive perfume history appealing.

Feydeau explains that in the ancient world, fragrance served as a vehicle into the spiritual realm, but following the Industrial Revolution, it took on a more secular dimension in European society, though it remained a highly powerful and often sacred means of self-expression. For many people, perfume serves as an identity marker, a wordless way to convey an emotion or impression. It's heartening and inspiring to read how these intentions have spanned centuries and crossed geographical borders, and to realize how the transformations of perfume's functions haven't hindered its significance to humanity.

Although the book is textbook-esque, don't be intimidated. De Feydeau presents layered histories to readers in a compelling manner. The pages are delectably adorned with paintings, historical documents, and images of glamorous perfume bottles, making for an endlessly enlightening foray into a niche cultural object. The Story of Perfume provides readers with an approachable anthropological descent into an often-unconsidered manifestation of personality and intention. It's perfect not only for perfume buffs but for history nerds and aesthetes as well. --Jess M., bookseller at Elliott Bay Book Company

How does a person create meaningful bonds with others in a fragmented world where hyperconnectivity paradoxically causes increasing isolation and a "crisis of loneliness"?

David Jay, an asexuality and relationship activist, provides a thoughtful exploration of the current human condition in Relationality: How Moving from Transactional to Transformational Relationships Can Reshape Our Lonely World. This examination of the pitfalls of superficial relationships offers a refreshing perspective on the importance of authentic human connection. Jay's work in asexuality advocacy helped him identify the traits and interactions that contribute to long, thriving relationships.

Jay investigates the complexities of interpersonal interaction and posits a roadmap for cultivating more long-lasting bonds, outside of romantic partnerships, for example. Relationality is also valuable for readers in leadership positions, because it offers insight into the power of transformational relationships to generate organizational success and effect positive social change.

This book will challenge and engage people interested in psychology, sociology, and anthropology. Jay's interdisciplinary approach yields a vivid array of perspectives on adapting "relational containers," which he defines as "environments that are cocreated with the goal of facilitating connection," to increase "relational agency," the "capacity to grow and change the relationship around us to meet our needs."

By illuminating the profound impact of relationality on individual well-being and collective progress, Jay's book proposes a compelling vision for a more connected and compassionate world.

At its heart, Relationality is a book for anyone seeking to foster better, more rewarding communities. It is a call to action for individuals and organizations to prioritize authentic relationships and build a more fulfilling future together. --Elizabeth DeNoma, executive editor, DeNoma Literary Services, Seattle, Wash.

In his 40s, poet Jarod K. Anderson (Field Guide to the Haunted Forest; Love Notes from the Hollow Tree) left his job in academia to try to survive the debilitating depression he'd mostly hidden for decades. Early on in his memoir, he describes taking a walk in the woods, quietly observing nature as he had not in some time. He communes with a great blue heron and finds that there may be solace in a place where he'd forgotten to look.

Something in the Woods Loves You describes the slow and difficult process of seeking help and getting better, in increments, and with relapses. Anderson's journey to wellness is not and perhaps never will be complete, but he does progress. His notes of advice are always couched within Anderson's personal experience, which he acknowledges will not be universal. The result is a memoir of the slow passage toward improved mental health, a deeply beautiful work of nature writing, and a treatise on the underestimated connections between the human and "natural" worlds. While its subject matter is undeniably heavy, Something in the Woods Loves You is frequently light and positive.

Something in the Woods Loves You is organized in a seasonal cycle and structured around 20 species, which include sugar maple, morel, eastern bluebird, lightning bug, raccoon, and human. His poet's prose renders shining, glinting details under a careful eye: great blue herons "are a mix of shaggy and angular, a blade of yellow stone dressed in flowing robes stitched from overcast skies." With these and other scintillating observations, Something in the Woods Loves You is revelatory. --Julia Kastner, librarian and blogger at pagesofjulia

Immortal Dark is a fabulously bloody and intricate reimagining of the vampire myth, wherein an ancient agreement between vampires--or "dranaics"--and humans is all that keeps a massive slaughter of mortals at bay.

Nineteen-year-old Kidan Adane is a murderer. And she'll kill again when she finds the "shadowy vampire" she is convinced kidnapped her twin sister. Kidan is heiress to her parents' legacy, which should include the great House Adane, located on the hidden campus of Uxlay University. But in a baffling twist, Kidan's parents have willed House Adane not to Kidan, but to dranaic Susenyos Sagad, the very vampire Kidan is seeking. Uxlay University, an ancient Black community, exists because of an uneasy peace, the Three Binds, created long ago in Ethiopia between dranaics and humans. Once the alliance was forged, vampires were invited to live alongside humans as companions--as Susenyos had been doing at House Adane. To get to him and break her parents' will so she can inherit, Kidan must live in the estate with Susenyos. Kidan and Susenyos behave brutally--despite their growing and violent attraction--as each plots to make the other leave.

Tigest Girma's ambitious, vividly imagined debut conjures a complex, often messy world in which humans vie for power and vampires fight for control. Her smart writing, which never shies away from violence, features a cutthroat society where life is cheap and heroes rarely pretend to be virtuous. Readers will likely enjoy the intricacies of the mythmaking, and ultimately be left pondering the price of survival in this rewarding and original read, first in a planned trilogy. --Lynn Becker, reviewer, blogger, and children's book author

Popcorn by Rob Harrell (Wink) depicts the "glorious mess" that is life for seventh-grader Andrew Yaeger as he endures a series of misadventures on picture day.

Andrew lives with his mother, Susan, and his grandmother G, who has Alzheimer's disease. Today is picture day. It also happens to be Susan's first day at her new job. Susan's best friend, Mika, comes to take care of G, and Andrew heads off to school with his best friend, Jonesy, Mika's daughter. Andrew has "an issue with worrying. Stressing. Obsessing," and today his anxiety is peaking because both his mom and G say looking nice for school photos is "super important." Despite his best efforts to stay presentable, Andrew is bombarded by contaminants: a classmate's juice-laden sneeze, a flying ketchup rocket, a science experiment gone awry, and debris from physical violence at the hands of a bully. Just as Andrew thinks his day can't get any worse, he receives a call from Mika: G has gone missing.

Popcorn is a sincere and honest narration of one child's experience living with anxiety in a demanding world. Throughout the story, Andrew struggles with various stressors at school and home, like bullying, divorce, caretaking for elderly family members, and his own mental health. Harrell illustrates these worries in cartoonish, often comical, black-and-white spot illustrations. Andrew's first-person narration has a sense of humor that fills the otherwise distressing story with a sense of levity, always including hope that things will turn out for the best--even when you (a small kernel in the world) feel like you may be about to pop. --Cade Williams, freelance reviewer

The Fan Brothers--Terry and Eric, joined again by youngest brother, Devin--bring back one of the "Perfect Pets" from their award-winning The Barnabus Project (2020) in the maybe-even-better companion title, Barnaby Unboxed.

Barnaby is a genetically engineered "half mouse and half elephant, with just a dash of flamingo." One day, Barnaby is chosen by a pleading "little voice": "Can we take him home? PLEASE?" The little girl waits until returning home to unbox Barnaby in front of a camera "so her father could record the special moment." Their relationship commences with an "I love you" and includes funny costume dress-up and learning "marvelous tricks." The pair are constant companions until the girl becomes obsessed with the new "Rainbow Barnaby" on TV and she quickly loses interest in her (formerly) perfect pet. Her father takes Barnaby for a walk, giving Barnaby the chance to run away--not forever, "just long enough for people to miss him." Unable to get home alone, though, he bonds with other lost ("or forgotten") pets, makes new friends, and survives. By the time the little girl finally finds him, Barnaby hardly remembers her. Can the girl regain his trust?

The story is a poignant delight that seamlessly incorporates striking lessons about pets, responsibility, and furever commitment. The Fan brothers' extraordinary art--rendered in graphite and colored digitally--overflows with imagination and whimsy. Their brilliant control of perspective is an invitation to share the point of view, accomplished with illustrations featuring the girl's or Barnaby's back, allowing the reader to share the same gaze. Audiences should be so lucky for more, more, more. --Terry Hong

In Sophie Escabasse's delightfully entertaining and strikingly illustrated middle-grade graphic novel Taxi Ghost, Adèle is anticipating a low-key winter break when she inherits the "family gift." Adèle's grandmother, who sees it less as a gift and more as a curse, explains to her, "People like us... have the power to stand in the middle"--they are mediums, "a bridge between two worlds." As Adèle comes to terms with the startling fact that her first period brought with it the ability to see and hear ghosts, she embraces her newfound talents and discovers a whole new side of Montreal, complete with ghost-watching cats, soul eaters, and Ambroise, a computer-hacking spirit. The ghosts Adèle encounters in her Mile End neighborhood are losing their homes due to gentrification and they believe Adèle can use her voice--and physical body--to stop the new builds.

Escabasse (Witches of Brooklyn) creates a rib-tickling universe in this standalone title. Apparitions hate snow and leave ghost marks on the cars of the living so they can tell which ones end up in which neighborhoods: "Every car is a ghost's taxi, really." The artist uses thickly lined panels that are often broken by speech bubbles, objects, and characters, allowing her art--much like her ghosts--to refuse physical boundaries. Ghost characters are all translucent and monochromatic while the living are opaque and colorful, and Escabasse makes both groups sympathetic beings through an emphasis on their emotions: the rage of Adèle's grandmother, Adèle's own shock and wonder, and the teenage melodrama of Ambroise. Be sure to catch this ride full of humor, suspense, and beautiful art; it will be a thrill. --Jen Forbus, freelancer

Deidre Havrelock (Indigenous Ingenuity), a member of the Saddle Lake Cree Nation, tells the story of Cree activist and musician Carol Powder in The Heartbeat Drum, a visually striking biographical picture book. Havrelock uses accessible language while illustrator and emoji designer Aphelandra's arresting illustrations express strength and jubilation.

Carol learned to love music sitting beside her great-grandfather (moshum). He taught her how to sing and drum and made the girl her own hand drum with moose hide. "Women first made the drum," Moshum said. "It is the sound of a mother's heartbeat." Moshum knew Carol would become a gifted singer but warned, "When I am gone and you grow older, our ways will change--women will not be accepted." Carol, he said, would bring women back to the drum: "because that is where they belong, beside us." Cree ways did change, and although women found themselves unwelcome, Carol "knew women gave life to the drum." Carol passed on Moshum's teachings to her children and her grandchildren, started a female drumming group (Chubby Cree), and became an activist by consistently spreading the healing joy of Cree music.

Aphelandra's ink, brush pen, and digital artwork is radiant. The strong lines and intense colors produce a sense of movement that pulls readers into the heartbeat celebration of the drum. The flowing nature of the lines evokes sound waves, and the text includes lyrics to a song Carol's grandmother sang, highlighting Cree traditions and beliefs. Much like Carol and her music, this picture book is an inspiring experience from start to finish. --Jen Forbus, freelancer