20 new books being published today.


newboosday_the baby on the fire escape

Welcome to the world, book babies! We’ve got a new Don Winslow novel! We’ve got an innovative book in which you can choose your own starting point! We’ve got dinosaurs!! There’s something for everyone here.

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city on fire_don winslow

Don Winslow, City on Fire
(William Morrow)

City of Fire, with its large cast of memorable characters and low-key allusions to classical literature, maintains Mr. Winslow’s well-earned place in these ranks. The book displays earthy eroticism, rough ethnic humor and a cyclical worldview as old as Ecclesiastes.”
–The Wall Street Journal

scary monsters_michelle de kretser

Michelle de Kretser, Scary Monsters
(Catapult)

“Michelle de Kretser’s fiction does more than beckon us in; it requires us to show up. The reward is room to wonder in both senses of the word.”
–The Guardian

Jennifer Close_Marrying the Ketchups

Jennifer Close, Marrying the Ketchups
(Knopf)

“Half of this talent stems from her merry sense of humor — I smiled throughout at various funny observations that also rang true — and the other half stems from the knack she has of inventing story lines that have the feel of extremely good gossip told across a hightop table over a beer with an old friend.”
–The New York Times Book Review

Vaishnavi Patel, Kaikeyi
(Redhook)

“The novel is compelling and rich, drawing on the source material while furnishing its characters with new complexity and motivations. Fans of Madeline Miller’s Circe (2018) will fall hard for this story.”
–Booklist

a strange woman_leyla erbil

Leylâ Erbil, tr. Nermin Menemencioğlu, A Strange Woman
(Deep Vellum)

“[A] novel that plays with the limits of comprehension and communication … There is breathtaking strength in Nermin’s perseverance as she strives to navigate in a world remaking itself, and while the text hints at a feeling of a coming-of-age novel there is a sense of an age eternally yet to come.”
–Full Stop

Search

Michelle Huneven, Search
(Penguin Press)

“The strengths of Huneven’s novel lie in her deep understanding of human nature and her ability to channel the voices of the visiting ministers — not just in their dialogue, but also in their application packets of mission statements, faith journeys and sermons.”
–The Star Tribune

Julie Phillips, The Baby on the Fire Escape
(W. W. Norton)

“Phillips’s insights—like the disconnect between a creative’s expectation of unbroken focus and the reality of mothering as a state of constant interruption—are essential.”
–Booklist

Marytza K. Rubio, Maria, Maria
(Liveright)

“Mysticism and imagination run wild in Rubio’s debut collection, which showcases glittering prose and a fearless approach to form and imagery.”
–Publishers Weekly

Odyssey

Lara Williams, The Odyssey
(Zando)

“Much to its credit, however, The Odyssey turns out to be something quite other than a seasick riff on Normal People. The characters, for one thing, are far from normal.”
–The Times

cees nooteboom_533 days

Cees Nooteboom, 533 Days
(Yale University Press)

“Like Montaigne, who shaped important views on human nature and society while puttering around his garden and library, Mr. Nooteboom also suggests that a life of quiet domestic routine isn’t necessarily an exercise in civic detachment.”
–The Wall Street Journal

zachary lazar_the apartment on calle uruguay

Zachary Lazar, The Apartment on Calle Uruguay
(Catapult)

“His brand of introspection is page-turning, informed by his hip sensibility, musical way with language, and sensuality.”
–Kirkus

cookie mueller_walking through clear water in a pool painted black

Cookie Mueller, Walking Through Clear Water in a Pool Painted Black
(Semiotext(e))

“[A] cult classic for writers… the reissue’s new (to us) pieces demonstrate Mueller’s artistic process. They also map out her singular approach to life.”
–Bookforum

Janelle Brown_I'll Be You

Janelle Brown, I’ll Be You
(Random House)

“Brown infuses this twist-packed mystery with an intense story of creating one’s identity, rife with deep family trauma and a low-key, creepy depiction of the dark side of twin intimacy.”
–Publishers Weekly

LETTERS TO GWEN JOHN

Celia Paul, Letters to Gwen John
(New York Review of Books)

“Paul’s prose is spare and luminous, revealing her painter’s eye in attention to color, texture, and depth.”
–Publishers Weekly

Sara Baume, Seven Steeples

Sara Baume, Seven Steeples
(Mariner)

“Lush imagery and poetic punctuation choices are ever-present in Seven Steeples, appealing to fans of Paulette Jiles and Geraldine Brooks.”
–Booklist

Toni Mirosevich_Spell Heaven

Toni Mirosevich, Spell Heaven
(Counterpoint)

“This artful collection of 23 linked stories, a sort of “Cannery Row” of Northern California, is both. The hardscrabble characters tell their sea stories, but the sea that surrounds the inhabitants of the small town of Seaview is like a capricious character in a fairy tale.”
–The San Francisco Chronicle

Soon Wiley, When We Fell Apart
(Dutton)

“Wiley’s tale is a knockout, its assured narrative ebbing and flowing with grace while painting a haunting and anguished portrait of youth in all its quiet desperation.”
–Booklist

Via Macmillan

Riley Black, The Last Days of Dinosaurs
(St. Martin’s)

“Black avoids the pitfall of overdramatizing, instead bringing the global disaster to life in elegant prose … This is top-drawer science writing.”
–Publishers Weekly

Paul Holes_Unmasked

Paul Holes, Unmasked
(Celadon)

“Grisly, matter-of-fact, and just the thing for aspiring detectives.”
–Kirkus

Kim Kelly, Fight Like Hell: The Untold History of American Labor

Kim Kelly, Fight Like Hell
(Atria)

“Focusing on women and workers of color, invariably low-paid physical laborers, Kelly’s episodic survey details workplace contributions of usually ignored but essential folk.”
–Library Journal