So weird and wonderful! A funny, moving look at what it means to be real, to grow, and to truly connect with yourself and others
Blob by Maggie Su, (List Price: $26.99, Harper, 9780063358645, January 2025)
Reviewed by Susan Williams, M Judson Booksellers in Greenville, South Carolina
A sparse novel about the desire to be independent and the struggle to remain connected that we all experience when we leave home. The switch in narration in the second and third sections pulled me out of the story a bit but served to highlight the growing distance between mother and daughter.
Blue Light Hours by Bruna Dantas Lobato, (List Price: $17, Grove Press, Black Cat, 9780802163776, October 2024)
Reviewed by Melissa Taylor, E. Shaver Bookseller in Savannah, Georgia
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Natalie is trying to pick up the pieces after she is blindsided by a divorce, and Barbe-Nicole is trying to keep her family’s wine-making business afloat after her husband’s untimely death. Both women face challenges as they navigate new lives, but each one’s story takes place in a different time. Natalie takes off for Paris to heal and explore in today’s time, while Barbe-Nicole is the famed Madame Clicquot struggling to produce and sell champagne during the 1800s. Told in alternating time periods, this story will appeal to anyone who believes in second chances, the timeless power of choice, and the healing properties of a lovely glass of wine.
The Champagne Letters by Kate MacIntosh, (List Price: $28.99, Gallery Books, 9781668061886, December 2024)
Reviewed by Mary Jane Michels, Fiction Addiction in Greenville, South Carolina
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This novel is uber-Murakami, the author back to the magical best of his earlier novels such as Hardboiled Wonderland and the End of the World (note: this makes sense, as the author writes in an afterword that this novel was a second attempt at reworking a novella, the first attempt being Hardboiled Wonderland). You don’t read a Murakami novel; you live it, holding on for dear life until it lets you off at the end, slightly confused but highly entertained. A magical world slowly unravels through an unnamed girl, while everyday life interweaves with it, featuring all the traditional Murakami Bingo tropes (loneliness, high school, jazz, pasta recipes, The Beatles, wells, libraries, cats…all the greatest hits!) There were a few minor logical bugbears, but plot logic was never Murakami’s strong suit. The simplicity of his language has long been a feature, but lately has felt more like a bug at times, with the repetition of banal thoughts (‘it was just my conjecture, but I was sure of it’; I nodded vaguely’ etc.) – perhaps as one of my all-time favourite authors I have come to expect more, but it was still great to be back in Murakami world.
The City and Its Uncertain Walls by Haruki Murakami, (List Price: $35, Knopf, 9780593801970, November 2024)
Reviewed by Doron Klemer, Octavia Books in New Orleans, Louisiana
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Atwood is the queen of dystopian fiction. Be prepared to read the full trilogy if you start Oryx and Crake. Alone, this was a great read, but completing the circle ties it all together nicely. Fans of Station Eleven who haven’t read the MaddAddam trilogy from Atwood definitely need to add this to their list!
Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood, (List Price: $16.95, Anchor, 9780385721677, March 2004)
Reviewed by Krista Roach, E. Shaver Bookseller in Savannah, Georgia
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A detailed and unswerving fable about the impossible choices ahead of us—both as individual people and as a collective species. John Larison’s particular concern is the way that stories of the past can function either as cautionary tales, informing our commitment to a wiser trajectory, or, in the wrong hands, as convenient and exploitative mythology to waylay any doubts that our bright and bountiful future is somehow guaranteed. This book is a testament to the importance of stories that remind us to watch our footing while we climb, and always extend a hand behind us.
The Ancients by John Larison, (List Price: $30, Viking, 9780593831168, October 2024)
Reviewed by Charlie Monroe, Flyleaf Books in Chapel Hill, North Carolina
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I’ve been describing The City In Glass as three hundred years of grief and city planning.
It’s about a demon named Vitrine who loves a city called Azril, and what happens when angels from across the sea destroy that city. Vitrine has to decide what she does after the end of the world and what revenge she can possibly take on one of the angels responsible.
If The City In Glass was inspired by anything, it’s the end of the world and how often in your life you might be confronted with such a terrible thing. It’s inspired by what comes after the end of the world, because so far as I know, there’s always been a time after the end of the world, whether or not we’re around to see it.
― Nghi Vo, Interview, Paul Semel
What booksellers are saying about The City in Glass
About Nghi Vo
Nghi Vo is the author of the novels Siren Queen and The Chosen and the Beautiful, as well as the acclaimed novellas of the Singing Hills Cycle, which began with The Empress of Salt and Fortune. The series entries have been finalists for the Nebula Award, the Locus Award, and the Lambda Literary Award, and have won the Crawford Award, the Ignyte Award, and the Hugo Award. Born in Illinois, she now lives on the shores of Lake Michigan. She believes in the ritual of lipstick, the power of stories, and the right to change your mind.
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It seems to me that all novelists are explorers of unknown worlds. They map them as they go, the white pages showing the tracks of their discoveries, making actual the imagined or unknown. Sometime during the writing of the early pages of This is Happiness, I knew that I had found a world in the west Clare village of Faha. For some time, I had subscribed to the belief in the enormity of small places, the idea that wherever human beings are living the possibilities of story are not bound by the limits of space or number but are in fact endless.
With that novel, something occurred to me that hadn’t happened before. The longer I continued writing about Faha, the more I wanted to stay inside those pages.
― Niall Williams, Dubray Book Blog
What booksellers are saying about Time of the Child
About Niall Williams
Niall Williams was born in Dublin. He is the author of nine novels, including History of the Rain, which was long listed for the Booker Prize and Four Letters of Love, which will soon be a major motion picture starring Pierce Brosnan, Helena Bonham Carter, and Gabriel Byrne. His most recent novel, This Is Happiness was nominated for The Irish Books Award, The Walter Scott Prize, and was one of the Washington Post’s Books of the Year. He lives in Kiltumper in County Clare, Ireland.
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Oh, my! I have no idea what I have just read. Definitely dark, often crazy, sometimes funny, and impossible to put down. A psychological thriller unlike anything I have ever read. A meddlesome 81-year-old woman who has an unstoppable urge to “help” people she thinks are troubled meets her match with an eight-year-old little boy who could be compared to Patty McCormick in The Bad Seed. Together, they wreak havoc upon each other and the guests and staff at the once opulent hotel in Luxor Egypt where they have gathered to escape Covid lockdowns in their home countries. You will not soon forget Maggie Burkhardt, or the ending!
Havoc by Christopher Bollen, (List Price: $30, Harper, 9780063378896, December 2024)
Reviewed by Nancy McFarlane, Fiction Addiction in Greenville, South Carolina
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I can only hope that I’d be as strong as Eliza Kratke (not Kracky!) should everything I ever knew to be true suddenly turned out to be built on a web of lies. Lisa Sandlin’s Sweet Vidalia will have you cheering for Eliza as she picks up the pieces of her life and figures out how to be successful going forward. A thought-provoking novel on how to dig deep to find one’s inner strength no matter the obstacles.
Sweet Vidalia by Lisa Sandlin, (List Price: $28, Little, Brown and Company, 9780316578004, December 2024)
Reviewed by Barb Rascon, Page 158 Books in Wake Forest, North Carolina
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The perfect compendium for a beloved sci-fi classic, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy 25th Anniversary Edition holds five novels that follow the adventures of a British man (Arthur Dent) as he’s whisked away through the galaxy with a strange set of comrades to save the Earth, the Galaxy and themselves. Adams balances humor, wit, and some scientific insight in this series; be amazed to read about sentient dolphins who have their own language and singing abilities, a supercomputer who finally figures out the meaning of life, and many other zany characters.
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy 25th Anniversary Edition by Douglas Adams, (List Price: $22, Crown, 9781400052929, August 2004)
Reviewed by Hilton Airall, Carmichael’s Bookstore in Louisville, Kentucky
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Show of hands—who’s had a rough couple of years? It’s a mark of just how brutal life’s been that I know your hand went up. Life’s been hard. It’s been cruel. And in the summer of 2022, I’d had it. I was tired of being sad and feeling crushed by the continued crap life heaped on us all. So, I set out to recapture joy by writing a rom-com. A silly, irreverent, whimsical rom-com about how you spend your life chasing nostalgia even when you know those moments will never be quite the same; about not just surviving, but living, and doing that while being unapologetically queer.
― Sara Raasch, Letter to indie booksellers
What booksellers are saying about The Nightmare Before Kissmas
About Sara Raasch
Sara Raasch grew up among the cornfields of Ohio and currently lives in the historical corridor of southeastern Virginia. She is the New York Times bestselling author of seven books for young adults. In her debut adult novel, Raasch offers readers all the joy, irreverent wit, and crackling sexiness of your favorite sweet-as-a candy-cane holiday romp.
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I’ve always been really interested in the idea of the detective as a character. That there is some unknown, some mystery, some secret, and the detective can put together the clues and uncover the truth. For me, the character of Claudia came first. I had always wanted to write a gay female because growing up, I had never come across these types of characters. I wanted a gay female character who is out there, having adventures, doing these things which are unexpected for someone like her. To be honest, I was hesitant about also making her Asian. When you write a minority character, you worry that everyone will think, “Oh, that’s you.” Those sorts of concerns about being pigeonholed. But ultimately, I had a clear sense about who this character was, and it was that she is a Chinese American, second-generation immigrant, and because of that, she viewed the world in a particular way. Setting it up that way, the way she moves and thinks is necessarily informed by who she is. This isn’t a novel about Asian or lesbian identity, but about someone who possesses these traits, and you therefore see the world from their perspective.
― Jane Pek, Interview, Diasporic Vietnamese Artists Network
What booksellers are saying about The Rivals
About Jane Pek
Jane Pek was born and grew up in Singapore. She holds a BA from Yale University, a JD from the New York University School of Law, and an MFA in Fiction from Brooklyn College. She is the author of a novel, The Verifiers, and her short fiction has appeared in The Brooklyn Review, Witness, Conjunctions, Literary Hub, and twice in The Best American Short Stories. She currently lives in New York, where she works as a lawyer at a global investment company.
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Ella Baxter‘s novel Woo Woo joins a handful of brilliant 2024 books featuring female creatives (All Fours by Miranda July, Colored Television by Danzy Senna, Exhibit by R. L. Kwon). The daily struggle and balancing act of being a productive artist is examined here as conceptual artist Sabine preps for a huge solo exhibition. She is trying desperately to be seen while also hiding from a stalker. She wants to use social media rather than be used by it and all the while her marriage feels off-kilter. Woo Woo gives us insights into a woman trying to come into her own while forces want to make her smaller.
Woo Woo by Ella Baxter, (List Price: $27, Catapult, 9781646222551, December 2024)
Reviewed by Rachel Watkins, Avid Bookshop in Athens, Georgia
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Given how full the cozy mystery world is, new series need extra sparks to stand out. This one has puzzles plenty and instead of silly, quirky characters, there’s added maturity and emotional depth. This may be a small town story with a bookstore at its center, but it offers a new and enjoyable touch.
Booked for Murder by P. J. Nelson, (List Price: $28, Minotaur Books, 9781250909954, December 2024)
Reviewed by Jan Blodgett, Main Street Books in Davidson, North Carolina
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