Featuring: André Aciman, Aiden Arata, Jane Borden, Holly Brickley, Mirin Fader, Seth Haddon, Sarah Jones, Cassandra Khaw, Evan Leikam, Leah Litman, Matthew Specktor, Liann Zhang

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André Caiman, ROOM ON THE SEA (FSG)

The short fictions in Room on the Sea deal with the heart-wrenching vicissitudes of amorous ambivalence, in André Aciman’s inimitably nostalgic, lyric style.

“The Gentleman from Peru” tells the story of the life-changing encounter of a group of friends with an enigmatic solitary guest in a hotel on the Amalfi Coast. “Room on the Sea” is a dialogue between a man and a woman who meet on jury duty and embark on a complex relationship. “Mariana” is a modern retelling of a famous seventeenth-century novel about a love affair between a nun and a swashbuckling, unreliable aristocrat.

I’ve not read anything by Aciman before, so when I saw that this was available for review, I jumped at the chance to give it a try. The three novellas sound interesting and varied. Looking forward to reading it very soon. Room on the Sea is due to be published by Farrar, Straus & Giroux in North America (April 24th) and Faber & Faber in the UK (April 10th).

Follow the Author: Goodreads, Instagram
Review copy received via NetGalley

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Aiden Arata, YOU HAVE A NEW MEMORY (Grand Central Publishing)

An open-hearted interrogation of our digital selves, braiding cultural criticism, memoir, and narrative musings into an exploration of identity, girlhood, media, tech, nature…

If you told Aiden Arata in 1995 that the internet would one day crown her the “meme queen of depression” and mega corporations would fly her to conferences to speak about commodifying one’s emotions for views, she would have asked you what a meme was. Now, in her highly anticipated debut, she brings us raw reportage from that liminal space between online and offline worlds, illuminating how we got here and where to go next.

In this collection of kaleidoscopic essays, Aiden artfully explores what it means to exist on the internet, from fan fic forums to TikTok. She exposes influencer grifts from the perspective of a grifter, digs into the alluring aesthetic numbness of stay-at-home girlfriend content creators, and interrogates our online fetishization of doom to grapple with the real-world apocalypse. In her own words, “In some ways, the internet feels like a neutral energy in the way that money is a neutral energy, only as virtuous or wicked as the person using it. But then you have to follow that line of inquiry somewhere annoying like, Am I using it for good?”

YOU HAVE A NEW MEMORY is a deeply human inventory of the digital sphere, a searing analysis of the present and a prescient assessment of the future. Aiden is the wry, unexpected voice we need to navigate existing simultaneously as creators, consumers, and products in our increasingly braver and newer world.

I’d never heard of Arata before I saw this available for review. I’ve always been interested in books about tech and our relationship with it, so I thought I’d give it a try. I read it pretty soon after I got the DRC, and while I never stopped thinking it was a strange book, I nevertheless kept reading, and finding a lot to like (it did lose steam, though, in the final third). Arata’s prose style is very good, and the book has many great turns-of-phrase; and moments of clarity sprinkled in among what otherwise is a strangely detached or hallucinogenic style. You Have a New Memory is due to be published by Grand Central Publishing in North America, on July 22nd.

Follow the Author: Goodreads, Instagram
Review copy received via NetGalley

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Jane Borden, CULTS LIKE US (Atria/One Signal)

For readers of Fantasyland and Cultish, a colorful and enlightening pop history that explains why the eccentric doomsday beliefs of our Puritan founders are still driving American culture today, contextualizes the current rise in far-right extremism as a natural result of our latent indoctrination, and proposes that the United States is the largest cult of all.

Since the Mayflower sidled up to Plymouth Rock, cult ideology has been ingrained in the DNA of the United States. In this eye-opening book, journalist Jane Borden argues that Puritan doomsday belief never went away; it went secular and became American culture. From our fascination with cowboys and superheroes to our allegiance to influencers and self-help, susceptibility to advertising, and undying devotion to the self-made man, Americans remain particularly vulnerable to a specific brand of cult-like thinking.

With in-depth research and compelling insight, Borden uncovers the American history you didn’t learn in school, including how we are still being brainwashed, making us a nation of easy marks for con artists and strong men. Along the way, she also revisits some of the most fascinating cults in this country — including, the Mankind United and Love Has Won — presenting them as integral parts of our national psyche rather than aberrations.

“For fans of Fantasyland…” is what caught my attention. I’m a big fan of Kurt Andersen’s books, so my interest was piqued. (Which reminds me, I really need to get around to finishing Evil Geniuses…) The many ways Americans can convince themselves of the strangest things has long been a fascination of mine, so I’m very much looking forward to reading this soon. I think I’ll also check out Borden’s previous book, I Totally Meant to Do That (which looks quite different to this latest, but still interesting). Cults Like Us is due to be published by Atria/One Signal in North America, on March 25th.

Follow the Author: Website, Goodreads, Instagram, BlueSky
Review copy received via Edelweiss

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Holly Brickley, DEEP CUTS (Borough Press)

The first time Joe plays Percy one of his songs in his college room in 2000, she instantly realises three things:

One, she is watching a star in the making.

Two, she can shape his music into something extraordinary.

Three, she will always be on the sidelines.

She swallows her jealousy and throws herself into collaboration, transforming Joe’s songs into indie hits with her blistering critiques.

But there’s an undercurrent to the music they’re making – something undeniably electric, hurtling towards love. And then, almost inevitably, towards heartbreak.

As Joe steps into the spotlight, can Percy bear to watch on in silence?

And can he exist there without her?

This has been getting a lot of positive pre-publication buzz. It does sounds like the kind of novel I’ll enjoy, so when I had the opportunity to read it, I jumped at the chance. Hopefully get to it soon. Deep Cuts is due to be published by Borough Press in the UK (March 13th) and Crown Publishing in North America (March 4th).

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Review copy received via NetGalley

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Mirin Fader, DREAM (Grand Central Publishing)

The life and legacy of pioneering international basketball superstar Hakeem Olajuwon, a two‑time NBA champion whose Hall of Fame career forever changed the game, both in the United States and around the globe…

It’s now the norm for NBA and collegiate teams to have international players dotting their rosters. The Olympics are no longer a gimme for Team USA. Both via fans streaming from all over the globe and leagues starting in countries throughout the world, the international presence of the game of basketball is a force to be reckoned with.

That all started with Hakeem “the Dream” Olajuwon. He was the first international player to win the MVP, which is hard to believe now considering the last time an American‑born player won it was in 2018. Award-winning hoops journalist Mirin Fader explores this phenomenal shift through the lens of what Olajuwon accomplished throughout the 1980s and ‘90s. Dream ignites nostalgia for Phi Slama Jama and “the Dream Shake,” while also exploring the profound influence of Olajuwon’s commitment to Islam on his approach to life and basketball, and how his devotion to his faith inspired generations of Muslim people around the world.

Olajuwon’s ongoing work with NBA Africa, his status as an international ambassador for the game, and his consultations with today’s brightest stars, from LeBron James to Giannis Antetokounmpo, brings the story right up to the present moment, and beyond. Synthesizing hundreds of interviews and in-depth research, Fader provides the definitive biography of Olajuwon as well as a crucial understanding of his pivotal impact on the ever-shifting game.

Mirin Fader’s debut was a biography of Giannis Antetokounmpo — it ended up being possibly the best-timed biography in sports publishing history, released the same year that Giannis’s Milwaukee Bucks won their second NBA championship, 50 years since their first (with Kareem Abdul-Jabber). The author’s second book is a biography of Hakeem “the Dream” Olajuwon, a two-time champion and game-changer during his career with the Houston Rockets. I’m really looking forward to reading this. Dream is out now, published by Grand Central Publishing in North America.

Also on CR: Review of Giannis

Follow the Author: Website, Goodreads, Instagram, BlueSky

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Seth Haddon, VOLATILE MEMORY (TorDotCom)

With nothing but a limping ship and an outdated mask to her name, Wylla needs a big pay day. When the call goes out that a lucrative piece of tech is waiting on a nearby planet, she relies on all the swiftness of her prey-animal instincts to beat other hunters to it.

What you found wasn’t your ticket out — it was my corpse wearing an AI mask. When you touched the mask, you heard my voice. A consciousness spinning through metal and circuits, a bodiless mind, spun to life in the HAWK’s temporary storage. I crystallized and realized: I was alive.

Masks aren’t supposed to retain memory, much less identity, but the woman inside the MARK I HAWK is real, and she sees Wylla in a way no one ever has. Sees her, and doesn’t find her wanting or unwhole.

Armed with military-grade tech and a lifetime of staying one step ahead of the hunters, Wylla and HAWK set off to get answers from the man who discarded HAWK once before: her ex-husband.

This is pitched as “This is How You Lose the Time War meets Ex Machina“, which sounds quite interesting. Volatile Memory is due to be published by TorDotCom in North America and in the UK, on July 22nd.

Follow the Author: Website, Goodreads, Instagram, BlueSky
Review copy received via NetGalley

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Sarah Jones, DISPOSABLE (Avid Reader Press)

In a compelling blend of personal narrative and in-depth reporting, New York magazine senior writer Sarah Jones exposes the harsh reality of America’s racial and income inequality and the devastating impact of the pandemic on our nation’s most vulnerable people.

In the tradition of Matthew Desmond’s Evicted and Andrea Elliot’s Invisible Child, Disposable is a poignant exploration of America’s underclass, left vulnerable by systemic racism and capitalism. Here, Sarah Jones delves into the lives of the essential workers, seniors, and people with disabilities who were disproportionately affected by COVID-19 — not due to their age or profession, but because of the systemic inequality and poverty that left them exposed.

The pandemic served as a stark revelation of the true state of America, a country where the dream of prosperity is a distant mirage for millions. Jones argues that the pandemic didn’t create these dynamics, but rather revealed the existing social mobility issues and wealth gap that have long plagued the nation. Behind the staggering death toll are stories of lives lost, injustices suffered, and institutions that failed to protect their people.

Jones brings these stories to the forefront, transforming the abstract concept of the pandemic into a deeply personal and political phenomenon. She argues that America has abandoned a sacrificial underclass of millions but insists that another future is possible. By addressing the pervasive issues of racial justice and public policy, Jones calls for a future where no one is seen as disposable again.

So often, books about politics take the macro-view, or don’t spend much time examining the “on-the-ground” reality of politics, policy, etc. Jones’s new book promises this ground-view look at how American politics is hurting the most vulnerable. I’ll be reading this, hopefully, very soon. Disposable is due to be published by Avid Reader Press in North America

Follow the Author: Goodreads, BlueSky
Review copy received via Edelweiss

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Cassandra Khaw, THE LIBRARY AT HELLEBORE (Tor Nightfire)

The Hellebore Technical Institute for the Gifted is the premier academy for the dangerously powerful: the Anti-Christs and Ragnaroks, the world-eaters and apocalypse-makers.

Hellebore promises redemption, acceptance, and a normal life after graduation. At least, that’s what Alessa Li is told after she’s kidnapped and forcibly enrolled.

But the Institute is more than just a haven for monsters. On graduation day, the faculty embark on a ravenous rampage, feasting on their students. Trapped in the school’s cavernous library, Alessa and her surviving classmates must do something they were never taught: work together.

If not, this school will eat them alive…

Always interested in new work from Khaw. I’m certainly interested to see what the author’s done with the “dark academia” genre. The Library at Hellebore is due to be published by Tor Nightfire in North America and Titan Books in the UK, on July 22nd.

Follow the Author: Website, Goodreads, Instagram
Review copy received via NetGalley

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Evan Leikam, ANJI KILLS A KING (Tor Books)

An unlikely assassin struggles to escape a legendary bounty hunter in this breakneck fantasy debut that will grab you by the throat…

She killed for a cause. Will she die for it too?

Anji works as a castle servant, cleaning laundry for a king she hates. So when a rare opportunity presents itself, she seizes the chance to cut his throat. Then she runs for her life. In her wake, the kingdom is thrown into disarray, while a bounty bigger than anyone could imagine lands on her head.

On her heels are the fabled mercenaries of the Menagerie, whose animal-shaped masks are magical relics rumored to give them superhuman powers. It’s the Hawk who finds Anji a surly, aging swordswoman who has her own reasons for keeping Anji alive and out of the hands of her fellow bounty hunters, if only long enough to collect the reward herself.

With the rest of the Menagerie on their trail, so begins an alliance as tenuous as it is temporary — and a race against death that will decide Anji’s fate, and may change the course of a kingdom.

Another novel getting some good pre-publication buzz. Reviews and responses for this one are starting to trickle out, and they’ve been pretty positive. Looking forward to trying a new fantasy setting — it’s been a while since a new one caught my attention. Anji Kills a King is due to be published by Tor Books (North America) and Titan Books (UK), on May 13th.

Follow the Author: Website, Goodreads, Instagram, BlueSky
Review copy received via NetGalley

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Leah Litman, LAWLESS (Atria/One Signal)

Something is deeply rotten at the Supreme Court. How did we get here and what can we do about it? Crooked Media podcast host Leah Litman shines a light on the unabashed lawlessness embraced by conservative Supreme Court justices and shows us how to fight back.

With the gravitas of Joan Biskupic and the irreverence of Elie Mystal, Leah Litman brings her signature wit to the question of what’s gone wrong at One First Street. In Lawless, she argues that the Supreme Court is no longer practicing law; it’s running on vibes. By “vibes,” Litman means legal-ish claims that repackage the politics of conservative grievance and dress them up in robes. Major decisions adopt the language and posture of the law, while in fact displaying a commitment to protecting a single minority: the religious conservatives and Republican officials whose views are no longer shared by a majority of the country.

Dahlia Lithwick’s Lady Justice meets Rebecca Traister’s Good and Mad as Litman employs pop culture references and the latest decisions to deliver a funny, zeitgeisty, pulls-no-punches cri de coeur undergirded by impeccable scholarship. She gives us the tools we need to understand the law, the dynamics of courts, and the stakes of this current moment — even as she makes us chuckle on every page and emerge empowered to fight for a better future.

I started reading this almost as soon as I got it. I’m a fan of Strict Scrutiny, the podcast on which Litman is a co-host, so when I was offered the book for review, I obviously said yes. It’s an accessible, intelligent, passionate examination of how broken the Supreme Court is now, and is very highly recommended. I think this is going to be very popular. (Not to mention, an important tool for explaining American politics today.) Lawless is due to be published by Atria/One Signal in North America, on May 13th.

Follow the Author: Goodreads, Instagram, BlueSky
Review copy received via Edelweiss

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Matthew Specktor, THE GOLDEN HOUR (Ecco)

A personal and cultural exploration of the struggles between art and business at the heart of modern Hollywood, through the eyes of the talent that shaped it

Matthew Specktor grew up in the film industry: the son of legendary CAA superagent Fred Specktor, his childhood was one where Beau Bridges came over for dinner, Martin Sheen’s daughter was his close friend, and Marlon Brando left long messages on the family answering machine. He would eventually spend time working in Hollywood himself, first as a reluctant studio executive and later as a screenwriter.

Now, with The Golden Hour, Specktor blends memoir, cultural criticism, and narrative history to tell the story of the modern motion picture industry — illuminating the conflict between art and business that has played out over the last seventy-five years in Hollywood. Braiding his own story with that of his father, mother (a talented screenwriter whose career was cut short), and figures ranging from Jack Nicholson to CAA’s Michael Ovitz, Specktor reveals how Hollywood became a laboratory for the eternal struggle between art, labor, and capital.

Beginning with the rise of Music Corporation of America in the 1950s, The Golden Hour lays out a series of clashes between fathers and sons, talent agents and studio heads, artists, activists, unions, and corporations. With vivid prose and immersive scenes, Specktor shows how Hollywood grew from the epicenter of American cultural life to a full-fledged multinational concern — and what this shift has meant for the nation’s place in the world. At once a book about the movie business and an intimate family drama, The Golden Hour is a sweeping portrait of the American Century.

I’ve been reading Matthew Specktor’s work ever since I bought his debut, American Dream Machine, on a whim when it first came out. In 2021, I loved his first non-fiction book, Always Crashing in the Same Car, so when I learned that he had a new book on the way, it immediately went on my Most-Anticipated list for the year. Luckily, the publisher has sent me a DRC for review. I’ll be reading it very soon. The Golden Hour is due to be published by Ecco Books in North America and in the UK, on April 22nd.

Follow the Author: Website, Goodreads, Instagram, BlueSky
Review copy received via Edelweiss

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Liann Zhang, JULIE CHAN IS DEAD (Atria)

A young woman steps into her deceased twin’s influencer life, only to discover dark secrets hidden behind her social media façade.

Julie Chan has nothing. Her twin sister has everything. Except a pulse.

Julie Chan, a supermarket cashier with nothing to lose, finds herself thrust into the glamorous yet perilous world of her late twin sister, Chloe VanHuusen, a popular influencer. Separated at a young age, the identical twins were polar opposites and rarely spoke, except for one viral video that Chloe initiated (Finding My Long-Lost Twin And Buying Her A House #EMOTIONAL). When Julie discovers Chloe’s lifeless body under mysterious circumstances, she seizes the chance to live the life she’s always envied.

Transforming into Chloe is easier than expected. Julie effortlessly adopts Chloe’s luxurious influencer life, complete with designer clothes, a meticulous skincare routine, and millions of adoring followers. However, Julie soon realizes that Chloe’s seemingly picture-perfect life was anything but.

Haunted by Chloe’s untimely death and struggling to fit into the privileged influencer circle, Julie faces mounting challenges during a weeklong island retreat with Chloe’s exclusive group of influencer friends. As events spiral out of control, Julie uncovers the sinister forces that may have led to her sister’s demise and realizes she might be the next target.

The premise caught my attention, when the publisher offered it for review, so I thought I’d give it a try. Julie Chan is Dead is due to be published by Atria Books in North America (April 29th) and Raven Books in the UK (May 1st).

Follow the Author: Website, Goodreads, Instagram
Review copy received via Edelweiss