'Homegoing' by Yaa Gyasi
"A promising debut that’s awake to emotional, political, and cultural tensions across time and continents."A novel of sharply drawn character studies immersed in more than 250 hard, transformative years in the African-American diaspora.Read full book review.
'Smoke' by Dan Vyleta
"A terrific, suspenseful tale that could definitely cross over to the teen audience. Sequel, anyone?"A dystopian fantasy novel set sometime in 19th-century England.Read full book review.
'The Crow Girl' by Erik Axl Sund, translated by Neil Smith
"A smart, rewarding psychological thriller, with an emphasis on both of those genre terms."“How sick can a person get?” So, rightly, wonders a character toward the end of Sweden’s newest entry in the race to claim Stieg Larsson’s throne.Read full book review.
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'Before the Feast' by Saša Stanišic, translated by Anthea Bell
"A brilliant, quirky entertainment."In his sophomore novel, Bosnian-born writer Stanišic (How the Soldier Repairs the Gramophone, 2008) meditates on history, real and counterfactual.Read full book review.
'Secondhand Time: The Last of the Soviets' by Svetlana Alexievich, translated by Bela Shayevich
"Profoundly significant literature as history."A lively, deeply moving cacophony of Russian voices for whom the Soviet era was as essential as their nature.Read full book review.
'The Child Poet' by Homero Aridjis, illustrated by Chloe Aridjis
"A fine introduction to a writer who deserves to be better known to English-language readers."Proust meets magical realism in this searching, lyrical memoir by the Mexican poet and conservationist.Read full book review.
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'The Fox Was Ever the Hunter' by Herta Müller, translated by Philip Boehm
"An essential work of post–Iron Curtain literature and a harrowing portrait of life under suspicion."Atmospheric, lyrical novel from Nobel Prize–winning writer Müller (Traveling on One Leg, 1998, etc.) of life in Romania during the closing days of the Ceausescu dictatorship.Read full book review.
'The Birds' by Tarjei Vesaas, translated by Michael Barnes, Torbjørn Støverund
"From the first page, this novel grips us with an acutely sensitive rendition of a mentally handicapped man's inner world."The point of view of a mentally simple man provides a poignant perspective on day-to-day events in this novel from Norway.Read full book review.
'The Association of Small Bombs' by Karan Mahajan
"An engaging if plot-thick novel that’s alert to the intersection of the emotional and political."A terrorist bombing in Delhi powers this exploration of radicalization, politics, and religion.Read full book review.
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