New Arrivals: The Best Recent Book Releases

When the Debt Police come calling, ex-Hollywood stylist Jada Williams isn’t going quietly. Stranded at the Glendale mall with two equally overqualified, underpaid coworkers, she crafts a bold plot to wipe out their student loans—and strike back at the system that sold them a lie. The Payback is “terrifically fun... made me laugh out loud at least once every chapter,” raved The Los Angeles Times.

When a writer discovers her ex-husband’s debut novel features an unflattering version of herself, she spirals—quietly, then spectacularly. Domestic rhythms give way to absurd revelations in this sharp, surreal exploration of authorship, memory, and identity.

After a breakup and career implosion, a young woman steps into a new role—wife, stepmother, homemaker—only to find the house she now inhabits still ruled by the memory of the woman who came before. As voices begin to echo through the walls, what starts as unease spirals into obsession, revealing a past that refuses to stay buried. "Modern gothic meets psychological suspense in this wholly original work," praised Kirkus Reviews.

In this delectable novel from the bestselling author of Salt and Cod, a 2,000-year-old cheesecake recipe upends life on West 86th Street. Set in the 1970s Upper West Side—where poppyseed strudel and gossip flow in equal measure—Cheesecake charts the rise of one Greek family’s restaurant and the gentrification it fuels, one slice at a time. “The atmosphere [Kurlansky] creates is vivid and oh-so-New York," says Kirkus Reviews. "Good fun.”

When a woman’s body surfaces in the Venetian Lagoon, Gabriel Allon uncovers a stolen da Vinci, a Vatican cover-up, and a criminal network stretching from London to the Riviera. Fast-paced and razor-sharp, An Inside Job is Silva in peak form—an elegant collision of art, espionage, and power, with a climax that threatens the pope himself.

In this eerie multigenerational horror saga, a graduate student researching a forgotten horror novelist uncovers sinister links between her thesis, her family history, and a vanished woman from the 1930s. Set between 1900s Mexico and 1990s Massachusetts, The Bewitching is “suspenseful and terrifying,” according to a starred review from Kirkus. “Moreno-Garcia hits it out of the park yet again.”

This timely investigation blends science, parenting insight, and personal stories to explain the modern pressures facing adolescents.“The book's warmth and sympathy distinguish it on the crowded shelf it occupies,” writes The New Yorker. “This book should be at the bedside of every parent,” raves Kirkus.

Cultural critic Maris Kreizman examines healthcare, ambition, and American delusion in essays that balance fury with affection. Kirkus calls it “intelligent and entertaining”—a clear-eyed look at how systems fail and why we still care.

After a one-night stand with the critic who tanks her play, a struggling actress rewrites the show—and the script of revenge. This sharp, feminist debut by a longtime Fringe journalist is “a fiery reminder that we still have so far to go when it comes to men behaving poorly and getting away with it,” says LitHub.

Adriana Trigiani’s latest novel follows a recently divorced woman who leaves her New Jersey hometown to reconnect with her roots in Tuscany and Lake Como. As she uncovers family secrets and pursues her passion for art, she finds new love and a fresh start. Praised by The New York Times as a “comedy writer with a heart of gold,” Trigiani offers an unmissable love story perfect for beach reading.