August is upon us! It’s been quite a summer already, filled with heat waves, international political chaos, wildfires, and more. Still, as I always say, there’s one constant you can feel some comfort with: that there will be new books to check out each week. And today, I bring you a whopping twenty-six of them.
There’s poetry, fiction, and nonfiction to choose from, spanning an incredible range of topics and styles. We’re slowly defining how the pandemic will be remembered in art, and, in fiction, Regina Porter is back with a new novel oriented around lockdown, Brooklyn, and a missing woman. Helen Phillips’ much-buzzed-about follows the sometimes striking consequences of mothering.
Magdaléna Platzová offers up a perspective-shifting story following Kafka’s fiancee, Felice Bauer. If you’d prefer something more SFF-oriented, Tananarive Due has a new collection of stories spanning sci-fi, horror, and more. The late Elaine Kraf’s has been re-released with an introduction by Melissa Broder.
And there are many more exciting novels and stories, including work by Ismet Prcic, Sophie Brickman, and many more. In poetry, we have intriguing, anticipated new collections from Carl Phillips, Vincent Toro, and Daniel Borzutzky. And in nonfiction, you’ll find everything from a history of the American bookshop; a natural history true crime tale (!) focused around eels; an exploration of the life of John Andrew Jackson, an escaped slave who Harriet Beecher Stowe hid in her home and who subsequently inspired ; a tenth-anniversary edition of Roxane Gay’s contemporary classic, ; Rollo Romig on Indian politics and the horrific, complex assassination of a journalist; a new history of pirates; and more.
There’s a lot to check out here. As August unfolds, what better inauguration of a new month than by carrying a stack of new delights to read? It’ll be worth it. * “Through an ambitious structure reflecting his own war-torn psyche, Prcic expertly mines his pain like a reporter inside his own wounds, sending out dispatches of reckless intimacy and dazzling humor.
...
It’s a berserker, bravura performance of a busted and booze-soaked heart sorting through its own broken pieces to survive, of a man battling back from the brink(s) with humor, swagger, and just enough crazy to keep going. In short—an absolute triumph.” –Matt Sumell “Regina Porter weaves beauty and humor with pathos, in prose that is winding, prescient, and profound.
She shows us worlds inside of worlds—of queerness, of love and relationships, of who we are and who we’re told to be—crafting a narrative that is both precise and thunderous. moves and transcends. We’re so lucky to have it.
” –Bryan Washington “ is a prescient, unnerving and excellent novel of a future that seems frighteningly possible. It’s the story, in part, of a mother just trying to make her family happy and how the world punishes her for it. Helen Phillips writes with sharp insight and sly humor, making her critique of our current moment feel timely and timeless.
” –Victor LaValle “Bookstores are such idiosyncratic expressions of the humans who run them, and it is a delight to wander through the bookstores of American history in this warm, generous book. I find myself in excellent company amongst the featured booksellers—all fully dedicated, driven by passion, and slightly mad. It’s a wonderful business we’re in.
” –Emma Straub “It’s no surprise that Roxane Gay...
has written such a winning book...
.This best-selling collection of essays manages to be both a cultural biography and a deeply personal story of identity. [T]he book offers Gay’s distinctive voice as both shield and a weapon against social norms just begging for examination.
Perfectly imperfect, Gay is an unforgettable voice, coming at just the right time.” – “We should be grateful to Susanna Ashton for reviving John Andrew Jackson from long-forgotten archives. His was a truly American life, which is to say, one lived on the border between slavery and freedom.
A Plausible Man is not simply plausible; it’s a story with meaning for all of us.” –Michael Eric Dyson “These poems strike poignant and enduring notes, suffused in ‘the split fruit of late fall, ‘ which ‘wears best when worn quietly.’ This is another poised addition to Phillips’s dazzling body of work.
” – “Art is always consumed with distinctions between the interior and the exterior of the self. Daniel Borzutzky belongs to the lineage of poets who refuse this demarcation. His poetry of anti-capital humanism converses with Canetti’s .
In Borzutzky’s hands, the modern cult of the individual is exposed as agent and puppet of the collective capitalist domination. But is also an aesthetic elation..
..It mixes the waters of the reverent with the irreverent.
” –Fady Joudah “The expansive third collection from puertoriqueño poet and performer Toro ( , 2020) scrutinizes and satirizes tech-obsessed contemporary life with gigapixel resolution. Vocally, stylistically, and typographically inventive, Toro’s maximalist lyrics touch on connectivity, politics, consumerism, and aesthetics in electric language..
..Brilliant and buzzing, Toro’s latest underscores his place as one of the preeminent poet-prophets of the Anthropocene.
” – “In , Magdaléna Platzová movingly portrays [Kafka’s fiancee] Felice Bauer’s valiant efforts to forge a new life for herself and her family in the wake of historical catastrophe, even as she grapples with whether to reveal an intimate and painful chapter of her past in service to Kafka’s literary legacy. This meticulously researched and vividly imagined tale peels back the layers of cultural myth, offering a testament to a different kind of heroism.” –Ross Benjamin “ is a gorgeous, swirling, haunted and haunting potion of a book.
It embodies like no other the truth that every absence is as singular and elaborate and mysterious as the presence of the thing—or person—it describes, no matter how back to front, inside out, lucidly or ethereally memories of its particulars may come and go. How utterly moving, to be under its beautiful, artful spell.” –Paul Harding “A curious, thought-provoking, intensely mind-bending exploration of the loss of [hearing] and the potential richness as well as struggle of life with an invisible disability.
Imaginative and spellbinding, is unforgettable.” –Julia Kastner “This thought-provoking memoir will resonate with those seeking solutions to the current loneliness epidemic, or for those challenging notions of what it means to live as an independent adult. Ultimately, it is an inspirational read about someone who consciously chooses to live according to her own values, without ignoring the work it takes to move through discomfort as it arises.
” – “The enigmatic eel has captivated scholars from Aristotle to Rachel Carson to Freud—and now, to the list of eel aficionados, add Ellen Ruppel Shell. In this rollicking book, Ruppel Shell tells the epic story of an ancient creature, artfully weaving the centuries-long scientific quest to understand the eel’s mysterious life cycle with the madcap modern fishery that threatens its future. As wide-ranging and beguiling as its subject.
” –Ben Goldfarb “Rollo Romig is a powerful storyteller. , he charts India’s strident march towards autocracy by telling the remarkable story of Gauri Lankesh—her life, death, and the ideas that made her dangerous. Romig writes with lyricism and empathy, fear and hope in equal measure, telling stories within stories that meander across three southern states.
” –Suchitra Vijayan “A frenetic and glittering manifesto, wherein a woman wrestles—or dances—with the most misunderstood parts of herself...
a well-deserved reintroduction of what is bound to be a beloved classic for contemporary young women.” –Olivia Gatwood “[A] concentrated tale of an epic duel between two temperamentally opposite artists..
..In prose, by turns, as exquisite as Eileen’s creation and as seething as Le Grand’s lust, Alison incisively evokes artistic genius and angst, while infusing a historic scandal with profound heartache and resolve.
” – “ is beguiling and wondrous, with talking dogs and nuns at the end of the world, images that linger with strange pleasure; Richard Kelly Kemick is a stellar wordsmith.” –Mark Antony Jarman “In , Thomas Fuller has given us a moving portrait of an oasis of positivity in a divided America. But he does not oversimplify or romanticize; the feel-good aspects of this story are earned by the grit, honesty and complexity with which Fuller renders characters and issues.
He also has much to teach us about Deaf Culture and its history.” –Andy Martino “ transformed my understanding of Rastafari..
..Finally, an intimate, insider’s recollection and interrogation of one of the world’s great mysteries—where did Rasta come from and who or what is the source of this magnificent power, this tender but insistent force that continues to reach with open arms from Jamaica to bring unity across languages, religions, and borders, revolutionizing while one-loving the world?” –Colin Channer “[T]he stereotypical pirate appeared in the turbulent decades from 1650 to 1730, and this is an entertaining account of that era.
Blakemore concentrates on the Caribbean and Atlantic sea lanes but does not ignore the rest of the world, and he pays close attention to European governments, which became increasingly concerned with suppressing piracy and, despite severe difficulties, enjoyed some success. Compelling maritime history.” – “In these fourteen powerhouse stories, Due probes history, the grim present moment, and not so far-flung futures, delivering an expansive collection that still hits close to home .
. . There are no false notes; every piece is a study in tension, showcasing Due’s mastery at balancing action, suspense, and emotion.
Centering Black characters and often Black experiences, this is a standout in both Black horror and the genre more broadly.” – “I devoured this book with a fervor usually reserved for my nightly bowl of ice cream. But unlike my ice cream, this book was filled with genuinely good stuff–keen insights, sharply observed characters, and astute takes on the sometimes psychotic world of parenting.
Also, it is really funny. Sophie Brickman is a phenomenal writer, and this novel spoke to my heart.” –Ellie Kemper “From the very first page, Daré has proved, once again, that she is a masterful storyteller to be reckoned with.
is a searing, thrilling depiction of the bonds of womanhood that guide us from the villages of Nigeria into something like hope. An engaging, engrossing, remarkable read.” –Tara M.
Stringfellow “Weinberg explores the trials of chronic illness through a darkly comic lens...
.Readers looking for a companion to Ottessa Moshfegh’s and Meg Mason’s will devour Weinberg’s latest.” – “With wit and clarity, Walker outlines a radical new approach to bridge the conceptual gap between non-life and life.
” –Paul Davies.
