Books

Smoke seems to be the theme this week as we begin with The Smoke in our Eyes from veteran author James Grady, and conclude our report with Smoke Kings by debut writer Jahmal Mayfield – two very different books but the smoke is pervasive. Our report includes a debut from Northern Ireland, and two historical crime

A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles As the days become shorter, there’s nothing more comforting than immersing myself in a sweeping historical novel—the bigger, the better! When my book club recently voted to read Amor Towles’ A Gentleman in Moscow (Penguin, $18, 9780143110439), I welcomed the opportunity to escape nightly into the grand halls

Kelly is a former librarian and a long-time blogger at STACKED. She’s the editor/author of (DON’T) CALL ME CRAZY: 33 VOICES START THE CONVERSATION ABOUT MENTAL HEALTH and the editor/author of HERE WE ARE: FEMINISM FOR THE REAL WORLD. Her next book, BODY TALK, will publish in Fall 2020. Follow her on Instagram @heykellyjensen. View

CJ Connor is a cozy mystery and romance writer whose main goal in life is to make their dog proud. They are a Pitch Wars alumnus and an Author Mentor Match R9 mentor. Their debut mystery novel BOARD TO DEATH is forthcoming from Kensington Books. Twitter: @cjconnorwrites | cjconnorwrites.com View All posts by CJ Connor

Even if we don’t realize it, buzzwords permeate our professional lives. Who hasn’t heard of phrases like “return on investment” or “customer journey”? They sound very corporate, yes, but they make long-winded ideas easy to recall and make complex information easier to digest. It’s no wonder, then, that buzzwords are well-loved in the literary realm.

Katie Moench is a librarian, runner, and lover of baked goods. A school librarian in the Upper Midwest, Katie lives with her husband and dog and spends her free time drinking coffee, trying new recipes, and adding to her TBR. View All posts by Katie Moench From the novels of Sarah J. Maas to the

Erica Ezeifedi, Associate Editor, is a transplant from Nashville, TN that has settled in the North East. In addition to being a writer, she has worked as a victim advocate and in public libraries, where she has focused on creating safe spaces for queer teens, mentorship, and providing test prep instruction free to students. Outside

You might not immediately associate the horror genre with children’s books, but in fact, there may be no fan of scary stories more passionate than a kid. From the gentle introduction to the genre that is Bunnicula (now also available as a graphic novel) to the spooky Goosebumps series (also available as graphic novels) to

Welcome to a new year of more reading! If you’re curious to know what a bunch of great book clubs have selected this month or are looking to join a book club — as little or as much as you’re comfortable with, they’re all remote but one — you’re in the right place! There’s something

By the time she was 12, Ámbar Mondragón knew how to treat bullet wounds. When she turned 13, her father, Victor, gave her a sawed-off shotgun plus shooting and hot-wiring lessons. And as Nicolás Ferraro’s My Favorite Scar opens, 15-year-old Ámbar is tending to her father’s latest injury: He’s returned from a night out with

Kelly is a former librarian and a long-time blogger at STACKED. She’s the editor/author of (DON’T) CALL ME CRAZY: 33 VOICES START THE CONVERSATION ABOUT MENTAL HEALTH and the editor/author of HERE WE ARE: FEMINISM FOR THE REAL WORLD. Her next book, BODY TALK, will publish in Fall 2020. Follow her on Instagram @heykellyjensen. View

Let’s take a midwinter journey to parts far and wide with this week’s book news, starting in Argentina with an award-winning novel by Nicolás Ferraro. Also in translation, an Italian crime classic from Fruttero and Lucentini, while David McCloskey’s spooks take us to Moscow and Mexico. We’ve also got a stop in The Big Easy

Kelly is a former librarian and a long-time blogger at STACKED. She’s the editor/author of (DON’T) CALL ME CRAZY: 33 VOICES START THE CONVERSATION ABOUT MENTAL HEALTH and the editor/author of HERE WE ARE: FEMINISM FOR THE REAL WORLD. Her next book, BODY TALK, will publish in Fall 2020. Follow her on Instagram @heykellyjensen. View

Translated by Stephanie Smee — As if some of us are not cold enough at this time of year, book publishers seem to delight in choosing January to serve up new reads set in the chilliest climates. One such is Marie Vingtras‘s remarkable debut, the ominously titled Blizzard, which picked up some prestigious awards when

It is a truth universally acknowledged that all the young ladies who make their debut are looking for one thing and one thing only: a wealthy husband. Or are they? In Don’t Want You Like a Best Friend by Emma R. Alban, our heroines Beth and Gwen want anything but. When the two meet at

There’s a grand tradition of Saturday afternoon action TV. The 1970s and 80s treated us to high-concept episodic crime capers in sun-kissed locations, all car chases and shout-outs, every mystery solved with a seemingly endless supply of ammunition and helicopters. The Fall Guy. Magnum PI. The A-Team. Hart To Hart (“When they met, it was

Dissent has played a defining role in the history of the United States. The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution established guides to governance, but it is often dissent, sometimes over many years of struggle, that has brought the principles of those writings into concrete fruition. Temple University historian Ralph Young gives us a meticulously

Kelly is a former librarian and a long-time blogger at STACKED. She’s the editor/author of (DON’T) CALL ME CRAZY: 33 VOICES START THE CONVERSATION ABOUT MENTAL HEALTH and the editor/author of HERE WE ARE: FEMINISM FOR THE REAL WORLD. Her next book, BODY TALK, will publish in Fall 2020. Follow her on Instagram @heykellyjensen. View

Set in Louisiana, the first season of True Detective, back in 2014, was too hot to handle in so many ways. Now, as the anthology series reaches its fourth season, an Arctic chill blows through and we join Jodie Foster as an Alaska cop investigating the disappearance of eight researchers. The show will premiere on

If you want to write a book, you need to know the name Jami Attenberg. A bestselling novelist and memoirist, Attenberg has gathered more than 30,000 followers for her #1000wordsofsummer project over the past several years. It’s a two-week online accountability sprint, during which she sends quick pep talks—her own and those of author friends—to

Set in a dreamy coastal town, Inci Atrek’s debut novel, Holiday Country, is about three generations of women learning to make peace with the choices they have made. Narrated by the youngest of them all, Ada, the story is as much a coming-of-age tale as it is about lost opportunities and how far one may

The first two crime books in our first news column of January 2024 are suitably wintry. In both Helle and Death and Blizzard, severe snow impacts the plot, but in very different ways as one is a mystery and the other more of a thriller. But if you want to melt the ice in other

Sixth in former New York City newsman RG Belsky’s mystery series featuring Channel 10 news director Clare Carlson, Broadcast Blues continues to deliver. Belsky is a former print journalist, as was Clare before her newspaper folded, and both of them tend to look down just a wee bit on the sometimes dubious standards of their

Kelly is a former librarian and a long-time blogger at STACKED. She’s the editor/author of (DON’T) CALL ME CRAZY: 33 VOICES START THE CONVERSATION ABOUT MENTAL HEALTH and the editor/author of HERE WE ARE: FEMINISM FOR THE REAL WORLD. Her next book, BODY TALK, will publish in Fall 2020. Follow her on Instagram @heykellyjensen. View

Originally published in 2001 as Gun Monkeys, Victor Gischler’s Edgar-shortlisted debut has been reissued as Fast Charlie by Hard Case Crime. It ties in with the film adaptation made in 2023, which uses Fast Charlie as its title and features Pierce Brosnan in the lead role alongside Morena Baccarin and James Caan, in his final

“One of the many things that I love about plants is their will and determination to live by any means necessary,” Brandi Sellerz-Jackson writes. “What if we all dared not only to reach for the sun but to take up space while doing so?” In On Thriving: Harnessing Joy Through Life’s Great Labors, Sellerz-Jackson draws

When 44-year-old Sergei Rachmaninoff packed a single bag and boarded a tram in November 1917, he “was aware that I was leaving Moscow, my real home, for a very, very long time . . . perhaps forever.”  Vladimir Lenin toppled Czar Nicholas II earlier that year, hastening a revolution that overturned the social class structure.

Comedy and classicism might seem an unusual pairing, but Natalie Haynes has parlayed her two areas of expertise into a career as a bestselling author of fiction and nonfiction, respected scholar and journalist, and popular podcaster (the BBC’s “Natalie Haynes Stands Up for the Classics”). Her new book, Divine Might: Goddesses in Greek Myth, is

Kelly is a former librarian and a long-time blogger at STACKED. She’s the editor/author of (DON’T) CALL ME CRAZY: 33 VOICES START THE CONVERSATION ABOUT MENTAL HEALTH and the editor/author of HERE WE ARE: FEMINISM FOR THE REAL WORLD. Her next book, BODY TALK, will publish in Fall 2020. Follow her on Instagram @heykellyjensen. View

Brandon Stosuy is a master of pulling together the inspiring words of artists: He has gifted us with the stellar online magazine of interviews The Creative Independent, and three elegantly designed creativity guides. Now he returns with Sad Happens: A Celebration of Tears, a book of reflections, illustrated by Rose Lazar, about the experience and