10 Books Critics Are Raving About Now

From the first contact between European and indigenous people to the present fight, the latest “stunning” work from the Andrew Carnegie Medal-winning author of The Berry Pickers captures resilience in the face of oppression, from a young man that loses his language after residential school to a mother who finds healing as a water protector. “Written in a woven style, integrating past and present, the stories often end at deft, surprising, and important moments,” observed Booklist. “Peters' award-winning debut created an audience ready for anything she writes, and they won't be disappointed by her memorable stories."

In the Australian outback, an unnamed narrator seeks refuge in a religious community after leaving behind her urban life. When three dramatic events—a mouse plague, the return of a murdered nun's bones, and a face from the past—disturb the retreat's quiet, she must confront fundamental questions about human responsibility to one another and to nature.

When her husband, Tony Horwitz, passed away unexpectedly, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Geraldine Brooks faced overwhelming grief amid life's relentless demands. Three years later, seeking solace, she retreated to a remote Australian island to reflect on their extraordinary life together—from war zones to Martha's Vineyard—and explore how cultures process loss. With raw emotion and poetic grace, this memoir celebrates a timeless love and offers a deeply moving meditation on rebuilding life after heartbreak.

Inspired by the true story of Marguerite de La Rocque, this “lushly painted, surprisingly feminist historical fiction” follows a young woman and her lover marooned on an island after their forbidden relationship is discovered. According to People magazine, “It’s a perfect read for cozying up by a roaring fire—and feeling thankful you’re not the sixteenth-century heroine the story is based on.”

Award-winning author Omar El Akkad delivers a searing critique of the West’s failure to uphold its foundational values of freedom and justice. Drawing from decades of reporting on war, climate change, and systemic oppression, El Akkad confronts the painful reality of privilege and exclusion. Through deeply personal reflections, he grapples with what it means to raise hope amidst disillusionment. Raw and urgent, this nonfiction debut challenges readers to demand a better future and reckon with the moral fractures of our time.

The prize-winning author of How to Be Both follows up her acclaimed Seasonal Quartet with a dystopian story about two siblings living in a totalitarian near future Britain. “ If Smith’s recent books were a handbook for 21st-century life,” pondered The Guardian, “Gliff is a warning as to what will happen if we ignore their lessons.”

Remember when mixtapes were love letters and your taste in music pretty much defined your whole personality? Deep Cuts promises to transport you back to that glorious era! Set in the early-2000s indie music scene, it follows two Berkeley college students whose creative partnership gets tangled up in love, ambition, and obsession.

“A new Anne Tyler novel is always a cause for celebration,” declared Oprah Daily. In her latest work, the author of Breathing Lessons follows a divorced mother through the emotional and chaotic days surrounding her daughter’s wedding. “With humor and heart, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of more than twenty novels takes on marriage, divorce, and family in all its modern complexity."

You won't want to miss Dream State—Oprah's latest book club pick. Already snapped up by A24 Productions, this multigenerational epic of inherited guilt, set in a small Montana town, has critics raving. The Washington Post calls it “a transporting wonder” with “one of the most touching endings in years,” while The Boston Globe praises its “cinematic opening”—a vivid scene so warm and attentive, a reader can’t help but fall in head first.

In the latest novel from the All the Birds, Singing author, a dead man observes his grieving girlfriend as a ghost, uncovering the dark Australian secrets she never revealed and how generational trauma shaped their doomed love story. "Wyld has always been in a category of her own, but this is stranger, darker and more brilliant than anything she's written before," remarked The Observer.