With starred reviews from publications including Booklist, Kirkus Reviews, Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, and AudioFile—your patrons will want to read these much-anticipated books that reviewers are raving about.
FICTION:
The Absolute Book: A Novel by Elizabeth Knox
A bewitching epic fantasy about a revenge killing, a mysterious scroll box that has survived centuries of fires, and the book that changed everything.
“Knox’s restrained, poetic writing works well with this ever-spiraling, mind-blowing optical illusion of a novel. . . Weird and enigmatic, occasionally slow but never dull, this grand ode to Story itself is one that begs for a reread.”—Booklist, starred review of the day
Click to Request an eGalley on Edelweiss.
Click to Request an eGalley on NetGalley.
Available Now | Hardcover, eBook, and Audio Editions
The Life of the Mind: A Novel by Christine Smallwood
A disaffected adjunct’s life is disrupted by a miscarriage, forcing her to reckon with her body, work, relationships, and sense of self.
“Literary critic Smallwood debuts with the brilliant story of a young academic powering through her existential dread.”—Publishers Weekly, starred review
Click to Request an eGalley on Edelweiss.
Click to Request an eGalley on NetGalley.
March 2, 2021 | Hardcover, eBook, and Audio Editions
In the Quick: A Novel by Kate Hope Day
A young, ambitious female astronaut’s life is upended by a fiery love affair that threatens the rescue of a lost crew in this brilliantly imagined novel in the tradition of Station Eleven and The Martian.
“June’s path to the stars, as well as the science behind the trip, feels both realistic and accessible. Day’s descriptions of the cold lethality of space make the final frontier feel like a character itself, and, indeed, each location described feels tangible.” —Booklist, starred review
Click to Request an eGalley on Edelweiss.
Click to Request an eGalley on NetGalley.
March 2, 2021 | Hardcover, eBook, and Audio Editions
First Person Singular: Stories by Haruki Murakami
A mind-bending new collection of short stories from the internationally acclaimed, Haruki Murakami.
“The glue that holds together Murakami’s blending realities—in these stories and, indeed, in all of his fiction—is always the narrator’s love for something (a woman, a song, a baseball team, a moment in the past) that is both life-giving and deeply melancholic. Masterful short fiction.”—Booklist, starred review
Click to Request an eGalley on Edelweiss.
April 6, 2021 | Hardcover, eBook, and Audio Editions
The Nine Lives of Rose Napolitano: A Novel by Donna Freitas
A deeply moving novel about a woman who thought she never wanted to be a mother—and the many ways that life can surprise us.
“Fans of Kate Atkinson’s Life after Life (2013), Liane Moriarty’s What Alice Forgot (2011), and the film Sliding Doors will find themselves happily lost in this charming, heartfelt, thought-provoking novel.”—Booklist, starred review
Click to Request an eGalley on Edelweiss.
Click to Request an eGalley on NetGalley.
April 6, 2021 | Hardcover, eBook, and Audio Editions
Malice: A Novel by Heather Walter
A princess isn’t supposed to fall for an evil sorceress. But in this darkly magical retelling of “Sleeping Beauty,” true love is more than a simple fairy tale.
“The villain takes center stage in Walter’s superlative debut, a refreshing spin on Sleeping Beauty. . . . Fairy tale lovers of all ages will be thrilled.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review
Click to Request an eGalley on Edelweiss.
Click to Request an eGalley on NetGalley.
April 13, 2021 | Hardcover, eBook, and Audio Editions
What Comes After: A Novel by JoAnne Tompkins
After the shocking death of two teenage boys tears apart a community in the Pacific Northwest, a mysterious pregnant girl emerges out of the woods and into the lives of those same boys’ families—a moving and hopeful novel about forgiveness and human connection.
“Expect some tears before the story ends, but also admire the art that the author brings to this exceptional literary thriller.”—Booklist, starred review
Click to Request an eGalley on Edelweiss.
Click to Request an eGalley on NetGalley.
April 13, 2021 | Hardcover, eBook, and Audio Editions
Are You Enjoying?: Stories by Mira Sethi
An exhilarating debut by a young writer from Pakistan: provocative, funny, disarmingly original stories that upend traditional notions of identity and family, and peer into the vulnerable workings of the human heart.
“With #OwnVoices nuance and precision, Sethi both exposes and enthralls.”—Booklist, starred review
Click to Request an eGalley on Edelweiss.
Click to Request an eGalley on NetGalley.
April 20, 2021 | Hardcover, eBook, and Audio Editions
Whereabouts 
by Jhumpa Lahiri
A marvelous new novel from the Pulitzer Prize winning author of The Lowland and Interpreter of Maladies–her first in nearly a decade.
“With a painterly interplay of light and shadows, Lahiri creates an incisive and captivating evocation of the nature and nexus of place and self.”—Booklist, starred review
Click to Request an eGalley on Edelweiss.
Click to Request an eGalley on NetGalley.
April 27, 2021 | Hardcover, eBook, Audio, and Large Print Editions
The End of Men by Christina Sweeney-Baird
Set in a world where a virus stalks our male population, The End of Men is an electrifying and unforgettable debut from a remarkable new talent that asks: what would our world truly look like without men?
“Sweeney-Baird’s look inside the heads of these and other shocked, desperate characters and her portrait of a bizarre new world are both thought- and fear-provoking.”—Booklist, starred review
Click to Request an eGalley on Edelweiss.
Click to Request an eGalley on NetGalley.
April 27, 2021 | Paperback, eBook, and Audio Editions
The Music of Bees: A Novel by Eileen Garvin
A heartwarming debut novel for readers of Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, following three lonely strangers in a rural Oregon town, each working through grief and life’s curveballs, who are brought together by happenstance on a local honeybee farm where they find surprising friendship, healing–and maybe even a second chance–just when they least expect it.
“Both buoyant and bittersweet, Garvin’s impressive first novel, a luscious paean to the bonds of friendship and limitations of family, is the kind of comforting yet thought-provoking tale that will appeal to fans of Anne Tyler and Sue Miller.”—Booklist, starred review
Click to Request an eGalley on Edelweiss.
Click to Request an eGalley on NetGalley.
April 27, 2021 | Hardcover, eBook, and Audio Editions
Project Hail Mary: A Novel by Andy Weir
A lone astronaut must save the earth from disaster in this incredible new science-based thriller from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Martian.
“Weir returns with gusto… Weir’s scientific and technical savvy lends the proceedings an air of authenticity…his characters and dialogue cackle with energy… with this novel, he takes place as a genuine star in the mainstream SF world.”—Booklist, starred review
“Readers may find themselves consuming this emotionally intense and thematically profound novel in one stay-up-all-night-until-your-eyes-bleed sitting.”—Kirkus Reviews, starred review
Click to Request an eGalley on Edelweiss.
Click to Request an eGalley on NetGalley.
May 4, 2021 | Hardcover, eBook, and Audio Editions
Scorpion: A Novel by Christian Cantrell
As the world changes faster than humanity can adapt to it, a government insider chases a serial killer who makes her question what it means to be a hero in this electrifying novel from the author of Containment.
“This stunning near-future thriller from Cantrell takes some truly breathtaking turns… Cantrell’s drolly caustic prose encourages readers to care about the characters, even as the many surprises make it dangerous to get close to any one of them. The result is as entertaining as it is intellectually and ethically challenging.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review
May 25, 2021 | Hardcover, eBook, and Audio Editions
The Republic of False Truths: A Novel 
by Alaa Al Aswany
From one of the foremost writers in the Arab world comes a new novel banned across much of the region—a devastating work of fiction about the Egyptian revolution, taking us inside the battle raging between those in power and those prepared to lay down their lives in the defense of freedom.
“They live in a mass of lies that they treat as if they were true,” Asmaa writes as she reflects on the failed revolution. In today’s splintered and partisan political and media landscape, this is a stark lesson for democracies everywhere: Whomever controls the narrative, controls the outcomes. Brave, sobering, provocative, and thoroughly absorbing.”—Booklist, starred review
Click to Request an eGalley on Edelweiss.
Click to Request an eGalley on NetGalley.
August 10, 2021 | Hardcover, eBook, and Audio Editions
POETRY:
I Had a Brother Once: A Poem, A Memoir by Adam Mansbach
A brilliant, genre-defying work—both memoir and epic poem—about the struggle for wisdom, grace, and ritual in the face of unspeakable loss.
“In this heartbreaking, brutally candid memoir, Mansbach employs long stanzas of free verse to recount events surrounding his brother’s death, struggling through anger, sorrow, and confusion… For an author who has written everything from screenplays to middle-grade novels to wildly popular picture books, this courageous and devastating memoir in verse stands out.” — Kirkus Reviews, starred review
Click to Request an eGalley on Edelweiss.
Click to Request an eGalley on NetGalley.
April 13, 2021 | Hardcover, eBook, and Audio Editions
NONFICTION:
American Cider: A Modern Guide to a Historic Beverage by Dan Pucci and Craig Cavallo
A must-have guide to the booming hard cider industry—what to drink, where it comes from, and where it’s heading—by a pioneering cider sommelier, “the hype man cider is lucky to have” (Eater)
“Laying the groundwork by discussing geologic, geographic, and climatic foundations of apple propagation, they inventory and attempt to describe the unique apple varieties these orchardists raise and the people who manage those groves. This is a good, comprehensive guide to this once-again popular, refreshing quaff.” — Booklist, starred review
Click to Request an eGalley on Edelweiss.
Click to Request an eGalley on NetGalley.
March 2 | Paperback, eBook, and Audio Editions
Life’s Edge: The Search for What It Means to Be Alive 
by Carl Zimmer
We all assume we know what life is, but from zygotes and vegetables to aliens and androids, scientists can’t actually agree on what it means to be alive. After centuries of confusion, that may be about to change.
“Respected science writer Zimmer (She Has Her Mother’s Laugh, 2018; A Planet of Viruses, 2011) diligently tackles the true definition of life.”—Booklist, starred review
Click to Request an eGalley on Edelweiss.
Click to Request an eGalley on NetGalley.
March 9, 2021 | Hardcover, eBook, and Audio Editions
Facing the Mountain: A True Story of Japanese American Heroes in World War II 
by Daniel James Brown; Foreword by Tom Ikeda, Executive Director of Densho
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Boys in the Boat, a gripping World War II saga of patriotism and courage: the special Japanese-American Army unit that overcame brutal odds in Europe; their families, incarcerated back home; and a young man who refused to surrender his constitutional rights, even if it meant imprisonment.
“Brown does an excellent job of illuminating his subjects’ motivations, including their conceptions of family honor and bushido, the samurai code of ethics, as well as their actions and the consequences. The result is a compelling and impressively redefining work on an often over-simplified and always consequential subject.”—Booklist, starred review
Click to Request an eGalley on Edelweiss.
Click to Request an eGalley on NetGalley.
March 11, 2021 | Hardcover, eBook, and Audio Editions
Big Time: Stories 
by Jen Spyra; Foreword by Stephen Colbert
The debut collection of raucous, dark, strange, satirical stories from the former Late Show with Stephen Colbert writer and New Yorker contributor, featuring an introduction by Stephen Colbert.
“In each of these 14 stories, Spyra draws out the humanity of the characters who are blissfully unaware that they are wading through a depressing and cruel reality topped with a layer of wokeism in tales that are ebullient, memorable, and oh so entertaining.”—Booklist, starred review
Click to Request an eGalley on Edelweiss.
Click to Request an eGalley on NetGalley.
March 16, 2021 | Hardcover, eBook, and Audio Editions
The Truth at the Heart of the Lie: How the Catholic Church Lost Its Soul 
by James Carroll
A former priest and National Book Award-winning writer examines his crisis of faith and his journey to renewal in this beautifully written memoir that also traces the roots of the Catholic sex abuse scandal back to the history and power structure of the church itself.
“Persuasive, provocative… a must-read.” –Publishers Weekly, starred review
“Consistently captivating…. a book that seamlessly combines moving, forthright autobiography and searing critique. Balanced yet uncompromising, an urgent call to action for believers and a fitting capstone to a fruitful career.” –Kirkus Reviews, starred review
Click to Request an eGalley on Edelweiss.
Click to Request an eGalley on NetGalley.
March 23, 2021 | Hardcover, eBook, and Audio Editions
Under the Sky We Make: How to Be Human in a Warming World by Kimberly Nicholas, PhD
In her astonishing book Under the Sky We Make, Nicholas does for climate science what Michael Pollan did more than a decade ago for the food on our plate: offering a hopeful, clear-eyed, and somehow also hilarious guide to effecting real change, starting in our own lives.
“Libraries wondering if they really need another title on climate change should rest reassured; this is a realistic, accessible, and clarion call for change.”—Booklist, starred review
Click to Request an eGalley on Edelweiss.
Click to Request an eGalley on NetGalley.
March 23, 2021 | Paperback, eBook, and Audio Editions
Francis Bacon: Revelations by Mark Stevens and Annalyn Swan
A decade in the making: the first comprehensive look at the life and art of Francis Bacon, one of the iconic painters of the twentieth century–from the Pulitzer Prize-winning authors of de Kooning: An American Master.
“It is Bacon’s complexity and daring that Stevens and Swan illuminate so precisely in this surpassingly literary biography.”—Booklist, starred review
March 23, 2021 | Hardcover and eBook Editions
The Loneliest Polar Bear: A True Story of Survival and Peril on the Edge of a Warming World by Kale Williams
The heartbreaking and ultimately hopeful story of an abandoned polar bear cub named Nora and the humans working tirelessly to save her and her species, whose uncertain future in the accelerating climate crisis is closely tied to our own.
“This compulsively readable narrative demonstrates how forging a connection with one cute polar bear cub can inspire people to learn about and call for the protection of wild polar bears and their threatened habitat.”—Booklist, starred review
Click to Request an eGalley on Edelweiss.
Click to Request an eGalley on NetGalley.
March 23, 2021 | Hardcover, eBook, and Audio Editions
A Most Remarkable Creature: The Hidden Life and Epic Journey of the World’s Smartest Birds of Prey by Jonathan Meiburg
An enthralling account of a modern voyage of discovery as we meet the clever, social birds of prey called caracaras, which puzzled Darwin, fascinate modern-day falconers, and carry secrets of our planet’s deep past in their family history.
“With the curious trust and approachability often found in remote island species, the striated caracaras are truly the most mischievous of all feathered creation.”—Booklist, starred review
Click to Request an eGalley on Edelweiss.
Click to Request an eGalley on NetGalley.
March 30, 2021 | Hardcover, eBook, and Audio Editions
Rescuing the Planet: Protecting Half the Land to Heal the Earth by Tony Hiss; Introduction by E. O. Wilson
An urgent, resounding call to protect 50 percent of the earth’s land by 2050—thereby saving millions of its species–and a candid assessment of the health of our planet and our role in conserving it, from the award-winning author of The Experience of Place and veteran New Yorker staff writer.
“With the U.N. declaring the 2020s the Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, Hiss’ deeply elucidating and inspiriting chronicle is a keystone resource.”—Booklist, starred review
Click to Request an eGalley on Edelweiss.
Click to Request an eGalley on NetGalley.
March 30, 2021 | Hardcover, eBook, and Audio Editions
A Little Devil in America: Notes in Praise of Black Performance
by Hanif Abdurraqib
A stirring meditation on Black performance in America from the New York Times bestselling author of Go Ahead in the Rain.
“Staggeringly intimate… Abdurraqib shines a light on how Black artists have shaped—and been shaped by—American culture… and his prose is reliably razor-sharp… Filled with nuance and lyricism, Abdurraqib’s luminous survey is stunning.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review
“Startling, layered, and timely, this is an essential, illuminating collection that advances Abdurraqib’s already impressive body of work.”—Booklist, starred review
“A thoughtful memoir rolled into a set of joined essays on life, death, and the Black experience in America… Social criticism, pop culture, and autobiography come together neatly in these pages, and every sentence is sharp, provocative, and self-aware. Another winner from Abdurraqib.” —Kirkus Reviews, starred review
Click to Request an eGalley on Edelweiss.
Click to Request an eGalley on NetGalley.
March 30, 2021 | Hardcover, eBook, and Audio Editions
My Broken Language: A Memoir by Quiara Alegría Hudes
A Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright tells her lyrical story of coming-of-age against the backdrop of a devastated barrio, with her sprawling, idiosyncratic, love-and-trouble filled Puerto Rican family as a collective muse.
“Growing up in lively and diverse West Philly with stints at her dad’s exclusive and restrained Main Line neighborhood, Hudes grapples with reconciling the privilege she enjoys thanks to her white skin and the stark inequities of cousins struggling with illiteracy and dying from AIDS.” —Booklist, starred review
Click to Request an eGalley on Edelweiss.
Click to Request an eGalley on NetGalley.
April 6, 2021 | Hardcover, eBook, and Audio Editions
Can I Recycle This?: A Guide to Better Recycling and How to Reduce Single-Use Plastics by Jennie Romer; Illustrated by Christie Young
Taking readers on a quick but informative tour of how recycling actually works (setting aside the propaganda we were all taught as kids), Can I Recycle This gives straightforward answers to whether dozens of common household objects can or cannot be recycled, as well as the information you need to make that decision for anything else you encounter.
“In this upbeat, helpful guide, recycling expert Romer walks readers through the specifics of what to recycle, what happens to all those recycled items, and what kind of environmental impacts result.”—Booklist, starred review
Click to Request an eGalley on Edelweiss.
Click to Request an eGalley on NetGalley.
April 13, 2021 | Hardcover, eBook, and Audio Editions
Three Dreamers: A Memoir of Family by Lorenzo Carcaterra
The #1 New York Times bestselling author of Sleepers offers a beautiful, heartfelt homage to the women who taught him courage, kindness, and the power of storytelling: his mother, his grandmother, and his late wife.
“With keen perception and even-keeled acceptance, Carcaterra shares the stories of his grandmother, mother, and wife as he traces how their relationships encouraged him to pursue his dream of becoming a writer. Even the harshness of his mother serves as fuel to work harder, earning her recognition that, despite her fears, he became a much better man than his father.” —Booklist, starred review
Click to Request an eGalley on Edelweiss.
Click to Request an eGalley on NetGalley.
April 27, 2021 | Hardcover, eBook, and Audio Editions
Languages of Truth: Essays 2003-2020 by Salman Rushdie
Newly collected, revised, and expanded nonfiction–including many texts never previously in print—from the first two decades of the twenty-first century by the Booker Prize-winning, internationally bestselling author.
“This collection, however, showcases his generous spirit, dedicated to illuminating the work of fellow artists and defending their right to unfettered creativity.”—Kirkus Reviews, starred review
Click to Request an eGalley on Edelweiss.
Click to Request an eGalley on NetGalley.
May 25, 2021 | Hardcover, eBook, and Audio Editions
COOKING:
The New York Times Cooking No-Recipe Recipes: A Cookbook 
by Sam Sifton
The debut cookbook from the popular New York Times website and mobile app NYT Cooking, featuring 100 vividly photographed No Recipe Recipes to make weeknight cooking more inspired and delicious.
“Sifton (See You on Sunday), food editor of the New York Times, gathers in this remarkable cookbook 100 purposefully inexact methods for creating delicious meals.”—Publishers Weekly, starred review
Click to Request an eGalley on Edelweiss.
March 16, 2021 | Paperback and eBook Editions
AUDIOBOOKS:
The Prophets by Robert Jones, Jr. Read by Karen Chilton
A singular and stunning debut novel about the forbidden union between two enslaved young men on a Deep South plantation, the refuge they find in each other, and a betrayal that threatens their existence.
“Narrator Karen Chilton’s stunning performance increases the power of this important debut novel about the far-reaching effects of the love between two male slaves on a Mississippi plantation.”—AudioFile Earphones Award Winner
Available Now | Hardcover, eBook, and Audio Download Editions
Let Me Tell You What I Mean
by Joan Didion; Read by Kimberly Farr and Hilton Als
From one of our most iconic and influential writers: a timeless collection of mostly early pieces that reveal what would become Joan Didion’s subjects, including the press, politics, California robber barons, women, and her own self-doubt.
“Kimberly Farr’s clear, warm voice and intentional pacing—not too fast, not too slow—are the perfect vehicles for this collection of Joan Didion’s early journalism.”—AudioFile Earphones Award Winner
Available Now | Hardcover, Paperback, eBook, and Audio Download Editions
Winterkeep: Graceling Realm, Book 4 by Kristin Cashore; Ready by Xanthe Elbrick
The highly anticipated next book in the New York Times bestselling, award-winning Graceling Realm series, which has sold 1.3 million copies.
“Xanthe Elbrick, narrator of two other audiobooks in the Graceling Realm series, here uses tone, mood, and accents to distinguish characters and transition between settings.”—AudioFile Earphones Award
Available Now | Hardcover, eBook, and Audio Download Editions
The Ex Talk by Rachel Lynn Solomon; Read by Emily Ellet
Public radio co-hosts navigate mixed signals in Rachel Lynn Solomon’s sparkling romantic comedy debut.
“Ellet does a wonderful job of voicing characters as they are pictured, differentiating characters and even controlling for variations for their on-air and off-air tones. . . An emotionally present, superbly aware performance.”—Booklist, starred audio review
Available Now | Paperback, eBook, and Audio Download Editions
Four Hundred Souls: A Community History of African America, 1619-2019 edited by Ibram X. Kendi and Keisha N. Blain; Read by Various
A chorus of extraordinary voices comes together to tell one of history’s great epics: the four-hundred-year journey of African Americans from 1619 to the present—edited by Ibram X. Kendi, author of How to Be an Antiracist, and Keisha N. Blain, author of Set the World on Fire.
An outstanding cast brings these essays and poems vividly to life. . . Many of the accounts depict incredible sacrifice and heroism, and others supply context. All are enhanced by the remarkable narrators. The intense rhythms of the poetry enrich this fine chorus of voices.” —AudioFile Earphones Award Winner
Available Now | Hardcover, eBook, Large Print and Audio Download Editions
The Lion of Mars by Jennifer L. Holm; Read by Maxwell Glick
Blast off with New York Times bestselling and Newbery Honor-winning Jennifer L. Holm’s out-of-this-world new novel about a kid raised on Mars who learns that he can’t be held back by the fears of the grown-ups around him.
“Glick reads the ensuing race-against-time passages with the right amount of near-breathless urgency.”—Booklist, starred audio review of the day
Available Now | Hardcover, eBook, and Audio Download Editions
A Lady’s Formula for Love by Elizabeth Everett; Ready by Elizabeth Jasicki
What is a Victorian lady’s formula for love? Mix one brilliant noblewoman and her enigmatic protection officer. Add in a measure of danger and attraction. Heat over the warmth of humor and friendship, and the result is more than simple chemistry—it’s elemental.
“Narrator Jasicki’s sultry, sexy tones offer clues to the mounting heat growing between the two, but those seductive notes easily change with friend Phoebe’s high-pitched warnings of societal obligations and society matron Fanny Armitage’s screechy insults spewed at Violet.” —Booklist, starred audio review
Available Now | Paperback, eBook, and Audio Download Editions
A Swim in a Pond in the Rain: In Which Four Russians Give a Master Class on Writing, Reading, and Life by George Saunders; Read by George Saunders, Phylicia Rashad, Nick Offerman, Glenn Close, Keith David, Rainn Wilson, BD Wong & Renée Elise Goldsberry
From the New York Times bestselling, Booker Prize–winning author of Lincoln in the Bardo and Tenth of December comes a literary master class on what makes great stories work and what they can tell us about ourselves—and our world today.
“All speak with a neutral American accent and mastery of Russian proper names, and any of these narrations is notable and worth seeking out on its own.” —Booklist, starred audio review
Available Now | Hardcover, eBook, and Audio Download Editions
Kafka and the Doll by Larissa Theule; Read by Adam Alexi-Malle
Inspired by a true story, Kafka and the Doll recounts a remarkable gesture of kindness from one of the world’s most bewildering and iconic writers.
“The thoughtful production elements and Alexi-Malle’s careful and clear narration recommend this audio highly for the full elementary-school age range.” —Booklist, starred audio review
Available Now | Hardcover, eBook, and Audio Download Editions