New Arrivals: The Best Recent Book Releases

In a fractured America, a remarkable ten-year-old girl watches her eccentric, mixed-heritage family unravel amid a polarized nation. “The abiding miracle of Shteyngart’s work is that it feels as timely as a Shouts & Murmurs gag in this week’s New Yorker while capturing the timeless absurdity of human life,” writes The Washington Post. “Tastes at first like a cherry-flavored gumdrop, but it’ll burn a hole in your tongue.”

One of the most anticipated nonfiction books of the season, it tells the story of a British couple stranded on a raft after a whale sinks their boat in the Pacific. Months of hunger, doubt, and drifting—plus a marriage pushed to the edge. “Nonfiction that reads like fiction—the best kind,” says USA Today.

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.

This elegant set of stories explores the quiet drama of relationships stretched across cities, languages, and time zones. From expats and artists to sleep-deprived parents, these characters drift between closeness and solitude. Kirkus calls it “subtle but clearly drawn,” while Publishers Weekly praises its “unsparing grace.”

When a teenage guest disrupts a bourgeois household, a woman’s quiet confession unfolds with devastating clarity. “Haushofer’s sentences are simple and concise, and full of careful thought,” praised The Nation. “The ideas she expresses are so important that you wonder how you have managed to get by without them.”

With rare campaign access and sharp reporting, they reveal the decisions, missteps, and turning points that shaped a historic election. "An immersive and philosophical tour," writes The New York Times.

Winner of Italy’s Campiello Prize, Caminito’s debut in English charts a working-class girl’s turbulent adolescence after her family relocates to a placid lakeside town. “Ferocious and riveting,” hailed Kirkus Reviews. “Giulia Caminito adds her name to the list of talented novelists…similar to Silvia Avallone or Elena Ferrante,” noted La Croix.

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.

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.

The latest from the mega-hit author of The Woman in Cabin 10 is a compulsively readable beach bag essential. When a press trip to a Swiss resort takes a sinister turn, a travel writer is drawn into a dangerous chase across Europe.