New Arrivals for the Week of May 19

Set in a submerged city where a girl and her father live among outcasts, Thien’s latest is a profound meditation on memory, political exile, and storytelling. The Financial Times called it "a marvel of research and imagination...Thien's dazzling historical somersault doubles as a plea for humanity."

In this memoir, the acclaimed novelist and Pulitzer Prize finalist author of Wednesday's Child confronts the devastating loss of her two sons to suicide. Through grief, literature, and the rituals of daily life, she crafts a meditative record of survival. “Li’s astonishing account of how she has chosen acceptance over despair shows why the artists among us sometimes offer more wisdom than any other form of spirituality,” wrote the Los Angeles Times.

Hailed in The New York Times as “a naturalist who can unfurl a sentence with the breathless ease of a master angler,” Macfarlane brings his signature lyricism to this urgent meditation on rivers as living beings. Blending philosophy, law, and deep ecology, Is a River Alive? asks what it would mean—to our politics, our ethics, and our imaginations—to truly listen to water. "Personal as well as political, Is a River Alive? is almost as certain to shift readerly perspectives as it is to be a bestseller," praised The Guardian.

Barry Diller recounts his rise from the mailroom at William Morris to founding Fox Broadcasting and leading IAC.With insights into producing classics like Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Simpsons, Diller offers an unvarnished look at Hollywood and digital media evolution. "One of the better show-biz memoirs to appear in recent years," declared Kirkus. "Highly instructive for would-be tycoons, with plenty of entertaining interludes."

A CNN anchor and an Axios political correspondent team up to deliver a behind-the-scenes chronicle of President Biden’s 2024 re-election campaign. Drawing on hundreds of interviews, they chart the administration’s internal fractures, the concealment of Biden’s health struggles, and the mounting tensions within the Democratic Party. "Superbly reported," wrote The Los Angeles Times. "Reads like a Shakespearean drama on steroids."

The Fun Home creator returns with a witty, self-aware graphic novel about creative paralysis and personal delusion. "Bechdel is incisive, tender, and funny--often at the same time," praised Kirkus Reviews.

In this stylish thriller from the author of The Expats, a luxury building’s quiet Manhattan doorman becomes entangled in a conspiracy involving elite tenants, global surveillance, and personal revenge. "Page-turning from the opening paragraph to its killer finale, the narrative combines noirish atmosphere with a sharp attunement to the particular depravities of ultrawealthy urbanites," praised Publishers Weekly. "Pavone's provocative look at the city that never sleeps will keep readers up well into the wee hours."

The We Were Never Here author is back with a tense narrative where a woman investigates her fiancé's mysterious death amidst a backdrop of rising tides and buried truths. "Andrea Bartz is a master of suspense, and her fifth novel, The Last Ferry Out, is maybe the most unputdownable yet," declared Elle Magazine.

This debut novel follows a Palestinian-American fact-checker who leads a double life as a stand-up comic. Torn between cultural expectations and her desire for freedom, Mia’s forbidden romance and a long-buried family secret unravel in this sharp, heartfelt story about self-discovery and resilience.

This incisive work unveils the deeply entrenched gendered hierarchy shaping America’s history and culture. Combining rigorous scholarship with memoir elements, it reveals how patriarchy is woven into law, society, and everyday life. "Tubbs draws a clear path from her lived experience to systemic patriarchy, illuminating how the abstract manifests in everyday life," observed Booklist.