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2019 preview: Most anticipated nonfiction

Feature by the editors of BookPage

Last year was a big one for nonfiction (you’ve read Educated, right?), and we’re hoping for another winning year with plenty of revelatory memoirs from voices we’ve never heard before, groundbreaking historical works and must-read essay collections. Here are the 15 nonfiction books we can’t wait to read in 2019 . . . with more to come!

Deep CreekDeep Creek: Finding Hope in the High Country by Pam Houston
Norton | January 29

The latest collection of personal essays from beloved author Houston invites us into what she calls the greatest adventure of her life: her 120-acre ranch in rural Colorado. Surrounded by the Rockies, the ranch has become a sanctuary to Houston—a place of self-discovery, wonder and healing.

Long Live the Tribe of Fatherless Girls by T Kira Madden
Bloomsbury | March 5

Essayist Madden’s debut is high on the list of the year’s anticipated memoirs, as she shares the story of her coming of age as a queer, biracial teenager in Boca Raton, Florida.

The Problem of Democracy: The Presidents Adams Confront the Cult of Personality by Nancy Isenberg and Andrew Burstein
Viking | April 16

For readers who enjoyed Jon Meacham’s The Soul of America or Doris Kearns Goodwin’s Leadership, the trend of history books that re-examine U.S. presidents in light of the current political climate continues with this collaboration from Isenberg (White Trash) and Burstein (The Passions of Andrew Jackson). It offers an intimate family drama about Presidents John and John Quincy Adams as well as critique of their prophetic warnings about demagogues in democracy.

Everything in Its PlaceEverything in Its Place: First Loves and Lost Tales by Oliver Sacks
Knopf | April 23

From the late, acclaimed storyteller and neurologist Sacks comes a posthumous collection of never-before-published essays that explore his varied interests (from swimming to the natural world), his youth and career, and his final case histories of dementia, schizophrenia and Alzheimer’s.

Nanaville: Adventures in Grandparenting by Anna Quindlen
Random House | April 23

Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist and columnist Quindlen showed readers just how much she’s enjoying middle age with her frank and humorous Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake. Now she’s sharing her thoughts and observations on being a grandmother, a role very different from motherhood.

Becoming Dr. Seuss: Theodor Geisel and the Making of an American Imagination by Brian Jay Jones
Dutton | May 7

In previous books, critically acclaimed biographer Jones has captured the stories of Jim Henson and George Lucas. His new work delves into the life and career of another American icon: Theodor Geisel, the beloved Dr. Seuss.

Furious HoursFurious Hours: Murder, Fraud, and the Last Trial of Harper Lee by Casey Cep
Knopf | May 7

Cep’s first book taps into the eternal mystery that was Harper Lee’s life while exploring an incredible story of an Alabama serial killer—a case that Lee investigated with the hope of writing a true crime book.

The Pioneers: The Heroic Story of the Settlers Who Brought the American Ideal West by David McCullough
Simon & Schuster | May 7

From the two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award comes a chronicle of the founding of the Northwest Territory (Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin) by a group of pioneers determined to begin a new settlement that must uphold three conditions: freedom of religion, free universal education and prohibition of slavery.

Aloha Rodeo: Three Hawaiian Cowboys, the World’s Greatest Rodeo, and a Hidden History of the American West by David Wolman and Julian Smith
William Morrow | May 28

In 1908, three Hawaiian cowboys traveled to Cheyenne, Wyoming, for a grand rodeo competition. Initially dismissed by the white cowboys who considered themselves the only “true” cowboys, the Hawaiians proved everyone wrong and walked away as American heroes. This is the tale to remake—and reinvigorate—our love of the American West.

OutragesOutrages: Sex, Censorship, and the Criminalization of Love by Naomi Wolf
HMH | June 18

It’s always news when feminist icon Wolf (Vagina, The Beauty Myth) announces a new book, and her latest is particularly intriguing. Outrages will tell the untold story of how homosexuality, and specifically gay male identity, became codified and demonized in the 1850s.

Late Migrations: A Natural History of Love and Loss by Margaret Renkl
Milkweed Editions | July 9

Renkl is a frequent op-ed writer for the New York Times, where she captures the spirit and contemporary culture of the American South better than anyone. Her articles often include mediations on the natural world, a topic which will feature prominently in her first book, a melding of flora, fauna and family.

They Called Us Enemy by George Takei, Justin Eisinger, Steven Scott & Harmony Becker
Top Shelf | July 16

Takei may be most recognized for his role as Captain Sulu in “Star Trek,” but the 81-year-old actor has also been a tireless activist for human rights and social justice. In this graphic memoir collaboration, Takei writes about his childhood experience of living inside Japanese internment camps during World War II and how legalized racism in America shaped his life.

CoventryCoventry by Rachel Cusk
Farrar, Straus and Giroux | August 20

The award-winning author of the Outline trilogy has put together her first collection of essays, which promises to be a mix of memoir and literary and cultural criticism.

Make It Scream, Make It Burn by Leslie Jamison
Little, Brown | September 24

We adored Jamison’s The Recovering, which combined an investigation into the cultural depiction of alcoholism with the story of her own descent into addiction. But she first began to attract readers with her astute essay collection The Empathy Exams (2014), and now she’s heading back to the form with a new volume that will focus on longing and obsession.

In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado
Graywolf | October 1

The author of the National Book Award finalist Her Body and Other Parties has turned to a deeply personal and painful subject for her first memoir: a tumultuous and psychologically abusive relationship. In what is promised to be a frank and in-depth look at queer domestic abuse, Machado synthesizes her own memories and experiences with historical research and important cultural tropes. Her Body established Machado as a master of the short story, and In the Dream House is poised to do the same in nonfiction.  

Last year was a big one for nonfiction (you’ve read Educated, right?), and we’re hoping for another winning year with plenty of revelatory memoirs from voices we’ve never heard before, groundbreaking historical works and must-read essay collections. Here are the 15 nonfiction books we can’t wait to read in 2019 . . . with more to come!

Science Fiction & FantasyFictionSpeculative Fiction

Short, deadly and sharp

Feature by Alice Gunther

Reinvention and apprehension abound in two surreal new short story collections.

In the introduction to her new collection A Cathedral of Myth and Bone, Kat Howard declares her ambition to “hang a skin of myth on the skeleton of the strange.” If you’re inclined to overlook this phrase as a bit of airy lyricism, don’t. The bone first pokes through the mythical skin in “Translatio Corporis,” in which a young girl’s slow physical decline gives life and dimension to a city of her own creation. By “The Speaking Bone,” a meditation on an imagined island manned by bone-divining oracles, the physical structure and its mythic overlay are indistinguishable. Like the protagonist of another strange short story, Ray Bradbury’s “Skeleton,” Howard is obsessed with the human frame and returns to it again and again.

It’s a fitting motif for a writer as preoccupied by the construction of myth as by its content. “When I wrote my versions of these stories,” Howard writes, “I wanted to . . . break them out of the frames they had been displayed in.” The opening story, “A Life in Fictions,” gives the reader a taste of her intention, depicting a woman whose reality is profoundly altered when she becomes a recurring protagonist in her boyfriend’s writings. The fascinating novella “Once, Future,” published here for the first time, sees an English project turn sinister when college students find themselves helplessly reenacting the fall of King Arthur. (Fans of the short form may wonder if the knowing “Professor Link” heading the experiment is really veteran slipstream writer Kelly Link.) And “Returned,” which is more contemporary thriller than ancient epic, throws a wrench into the Eurydice myth by asking whether our heroine really wanted to be resurrected.

Howard’s myths are independent sallies, some mutually exclusive, not all effective. Her evocation of Catholic imagery sometimes seems as surface-level as a Sacred Heart on the wall of a tattoo parlor. (It’s at its best in “The Calendar of Saints,” which explores doubt by alluding to real hagiography.) Further, her attempts to shatter the frame of myth fail to contend with the fact that such subversion is a common frame in itself. The last story, fittingly titled “Breaking the Frame,” self-consciously describes a gallery of feminist reinterpretation (think Beauty holding the head of the Beast) that would be at home in any college art building. But if Howard’s ringing challenges aren’t always surprising, her more wholehearted investigations may drag you in their wake. The most moving tale in the collection, “All of Our Past Places,” keeps its myth at the edges, using fantastic cartography to explore the history of a longstanding friendship.

If Cathedral speaks for the adolescent rebelling against the prescriptions of its elders, Samanta Schweblin’s Mouthful of Birds is decidedly grown-up, its wildest surrealism rife with parental anxiety. (The fetching abstraction of its translated title doesn’t quite capture the violent punch of the Spanish Pájaros en la boca, “Birds in the mouth”—a fitting header for a story detailing a father’s struggle to accept a teenaged daughter’s bizarre appetite.) In “Preserves,” a young couple discovers an unusual way to put an unplanned pregnancy on hold. No harm is done to the child, but the success of their trick can’t deliver them from the reeking guilt they feel at having played it. “On the Steppe” hits the opposite end of the adult terror spectrum, dealing with the pain of infertility by taking baby fever to feral extremes. Between these points lie a breathtaking range of misgivings and inadequacies, from a lethal mistake comprehended a heartbeat too late in the nightmarish “Butterflies” to a child’s misunderstanding of a broken marriage in “Santa Claus Sleeps at Our House” to a haunting reverberation of the Pied Piper in “Underground.”

Readers may relate to the hearer of the latter tale, who, abandoned without an ending, squints at the landscape, “searching for some revelatory detail.” Schweblin doesn’t offer that easy solution, preferring to dispense discomfort. Her art lies in setting up a problem and letting the reader sit with it. “The Size of Things” gets to the bitter heart of onlooker helplessness, and the title story is a particular highlight, asking (but not quite settling) the question of how far parental love can go.

Reinvention and apprehension abound in two surreal new short story collections.

Children's & YAPicture Book

Tips for teachers: Learning about World War II

Feature by Emmie Stuart

Every year during the long third quarter, my 4th-grade students and I read Lois Lowry’s Number the Stars. This pitch-perfect novel is most students’ first encounter with World War II. Driven by my students’ deep curiosity and interest, I have developed a repertoire of WWII lessons to supplement the novel. The subject matter can be tricky and complicated to teach, and for years, resources for elementary school students were scarce. I was thrilled to see the publication of three strong WWII picture books in the past year which discuss three different aspects of the war, but they all tell stories laced with the courage, faithfulness and reconciliation.

Write to Me: Letters from Japanese American Children to the Librarian They Left Behind by Cynthia Grady and Amiko Hirao

After the bombing of Pearl Harbor in December 1941, young Japanese-Americans were incarcerated with their families in internment camps. In the opening pages of Write to Me, young Katherine Tasaki tells her librarian, Miss Breed, that she is leaving, and Miss Breed gives her an addressed postcard, telling her to write. Thus begins a correspondence between Miss Breed and her young patrons. Told in both a narrative and an epistolary format, the book highlights Miss Breed’s courage and work on behalf of Japanese-Americans and shows the power of literature and story amid darkness. By focusing on the efforts of a single citizen, Write to Me brings a complicated and large issue to a level that is ideal for elementary-age students.

• Establish Background Knowledge—The front and back endpapers have historical photographs showing various aspects of the Japanese-Americans’ internment. Before reading the book, cover the captions and show a few of these pictures to your students. Ask them to tell you what they think is happening in the photographs. If you have not discussed the Pearl Harbor bombing, then briefly read an informational book or article to your students. Emphasize the surprise nature of the attack. Locate Japan and Hawaii on a world map. Ask students to explain why the Pearl Harbor base was an ideal target.

• Opinion Writing—President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 on February 19, 1942. After reading Write to Me, give students an article or let them research the order and the resulting relocation camps. Without too much prior discussion, invite children to think about the order and the relocation camps. Instruct children to respond to the following prompt, “Do you think that President Roosevelt was right when he enforced Executive Order 9066? Why or why not?” Be sure to think about the mindset of the U.S. in early 1942. After students have formed opinions, encourage a few students to share their writing with the class. Or take it a step further and assign a “Dear President Roosevelt” letter-writing assignment where students share their opinion in a formal letter.

• Further Reading—Read other books discussing the relocation of Japanese-Americans like The Bracelet by Yoshiko Uchida and Baseball Saved Us by Ken Mochizuki and Dom Lee. Make a list of the things you learn about the internment camps from the three different books. A few of my students wanted to read more, so I directed them to the novels Dash by Kirby Larson,  Heart of a Champion by Ellen Schwartz and The Journal of Ben Uchida by Barry Denenberg. For a longer, more informational text, be sure to read Dear Miss Breed: True Stories of the Japanese American Incarceration During World War II and a Librarian Who Made a Difference by Joanne Oppenheim.

• Write for Justice—Clara Breed mailed the children postcards, seeds, books, soap and thread. She visited them in the camps, but she was not content with her efforts. So she began to advocate for the rights of the children by writing magazine articles and “letters asking for a library and school for the imprisoned children.” Encourage students to talk to their parents about unjust situations in the U.S. and around the world. When each student has decided upon an issue, show them how to write an article or letter advocating for justice.
 

Thirty Minutes Over Oregon: A Japanese Pilot’s World War II Story by Marc Tyler Nobleman and Melissa Iwai

In September of 1942, to prove that the continental U.S. could indeed be bombed, Japan sent pilot Nobuo Fujita in a small plane to bomb the woods near Brookings, Oregon. Only one of the two bombs exploded, causing a minor forest fire. A later attempt was also unsuccessful. Fast-forward 20 years. Fujita is invited to Brookings’ Memorial Day festival. Burdened by feelings of guilt and shame, Fujita decides to attend the festival, and what unfolds is a story of reconciliation and restoration. Visits between Japan and Brookings lasted until Fujita’s death in 1997. Sharing a little-known story of the war, Thirty Minutes Over Oregon fascinated my students and led to a complex discussion of personal and national loyalties.

• Cultural Knowledge—Fujita strapped his family’s 400-year-old samurai sword to his plane seat when he bombed the Oregon forest. Years later, he gave the sword to the town of Brookings and it is now located in the Brookings Public Library. Learn the cultural importance of the samurai sword by reading a few of the stories in Sword of the Samurai: Adventure Stories from Japan by Eric A. Kimmel and Michael Evans. I also found this article/worksheet from The Asian Art Museum to be very helpful.

• Write Around a Phrase—A WWII veteran responded to protestors who didn’t want Fujita to attend the Memorial Day festival in a newspaper article writing, “He was doing a job and we were doing a job.” Write this phrase on the board or a piece of chart paper. Give students a few minutes to respond to the phrase. Afterward, allow students to share what they wrote about the phrase and lead a class discussion about national responsibility and loyalty. After our discussion, I read Shooting at the Stars by John Hendrix aloud. The story of the WWI Christmas Truce further emphasized the concept that the students had begun to understand and vocalize—that war is made up of individuals who have more similarities than differences with those fighting for the opposing side.

• Vocabulary Art—Learning not just the definition of unfamiliar words but how to apply them in different contexts is an essential skill for all students. With my students, we made a list of “power words” found in Thirty Minutes Over Oregon (examples include catastrophically, pride, veteran, condemning and reconciliation) and then each student selected a word. The assignment was to make an illustrated definition of his/her selected power word. I provided oversized paper, markers, pastels, magazines and other materials to ensure maximum creativity. The only criteria for their illustrated word assignment was that their creation must include a sentence using the selected power word and the artwork must reflect an aspect of their sentence or the word.

• Learn More—Watch two short videos (here and here) about Nobuo Fujita’s life and his reconciliation with the town of Brookings.

Ruby in the Ruins by Shirley Hughes

It’s 1945 in London, and the war has finally come to an end. Young Ruby is thankful her house survived the blitz bombings and is excited for her father’s homecoming. When he finally arrives home from his duty in the war, she is surprised by her feelings of shyness around him. One day Ruby and her friends decide to play on the forbidden piles of rubble that line the London streets. An accident occurs, and Ruby’s dad saves the day. The incident and conversation afterward help ease the emotional distance between the two. Hughes’ straight-forward text and illustrations present the London blitzes and post-war devastation from a child’s point of view, showing how the war affected not just soldiers, but the lives of all English citizens.

• Life in London during WWII—For young Ruby, life during the war meant “nights when the warning sirens wailed and searchlights swept the sky,” terrifying explosions that made her family’s small house shake and trips to the cold and crowded air raid shelter. The BBC People’s War is a collection of several articles (many first-hand accounts) regarding the blitzes and daily life in London during the war. Print various articles and let students read them individually or in pairs. Afterward, write the following words on pieces of chart paper: air-raids, Blitzkrieg, evacuees, siren, rubble, Luftwaffe, Royal Air Force, countryside and air-raid shelter. I wrote two words on each sheet of paper. Let students provide the information they gathered from their articles to flesh out the meanings of the words. My students enjoyed listening to the sound of an actual air-raid siren.

• Nonfiction Text Features—When the students have grasped the concept and big ideas of the London Blitz as well as the mass evacuation, show them these excellent photographs of children evacuees from the Imperial War Museum. Read the captions that accompany the photographs and then discuss the importance of photo captions in nonfiction documents. Teach students that though a caption can be more than one sentence, the first sentence is the most important and must give readers information about the photograph. Give each student a copy of this photograph of young children next to London rubble. Provide the basic details of the photograph and then let them write a caption to accompany the photograph.

I was thrilled to see the publication of three strong WWII picture books in the past year which discuss three different aspects of the war, but they all tell stories laced with the courage, faithfulness and reconciliation.

2019 preview: Most anticipated romance

Feature by Savanna Walker

Every single time I do a most anticipated list, I tell myself that this time, this time, I’m going to keep things in order. A nice tidy list of 15, I say to myself. The result is always what you see here—a wonderfully long list that makes me bounce up and down with excitement at the prospect of all the marvelous books to come.

Nightchaser by Amanda Bouchet
January 1 | Sourcebooks Casablanca

Yes, yes I know—this book is already out, but come on. Who isn’t excited for Bouchet to bring us yet another genre romance, this time a rip-roaring sci-fi adventure. I loved Nightchaser and so will you.

The One You Fight For by Roni Loren
January 1 | Sourcebooks Casablanca

Loren raises the degree of difficulty on the already tricky premise of her acclaimed series, which follows the survivors of a school shooting. The hero of this book, Shaw Miller, is the brother of one of the gunmen. But don’t worry—Loren pulls it off in her typically sensitive and romantic fashion.

Duchess by Deception by Marie Force
January 29 | Zebra

Romantic suspense icon Force is releasing her first-ever historical romance! And it’s set in the Gilded Age (which is so hot right now).

Three Little Words by Jenny Holiday
January 29 | Forever

Holiday closes out her delightful Bridesmaids Behaving Badly series with this glorious road-trip rom-com between prickly, complicated model Gia and the very charming, very Southern chef Bennett Buchanan.

99 Percent Mine by Sally Thorne
January 29 | William Morrow

At long last, Sally Thorne is back. Three years her debut, The Hating Game, took Romancelandia by storm, she returns with a very sexy tale of childhood friends turned potential soul mates.

The Matchmaker’s List by Sonya Lalli
February 5 | Berkley

Having finally had it with her family’s pressure to get married, Canadian-Indian Raina decides to let her grandmother set her up on a series of blind dates. Chaos—and unexpected attraction—ensues.

Devil’s Daughter by Lisa Kleypas
February 19 | Avon

I doubt I have to tell most of you what this one is about, but for those of you who are new . . . the daughter of one of romance’s most beloved couple (Evie and Sebastian of Devil in Winter) gets her own fairy-tale love story.

Hired by Zoey Castile
February 26 | Kensington

Castile seems to be on a one-woman mission to widen our definition of who can be a hero in a romance novel, and I am here for it. This New Orleans-set contemporary will follow escort Aiden Rios as he falls in love with politician’s daughter Faith Abigail Charles.

An Unconditional Freedom by Alyssa Cole
February 26 | Kensington

Cole wraps up her acclaimed, groundbreaking Loyal League series with the story of Daniel Cumberland, a wounded and passionate spy who has hovered on the periphery of the previous two novels. Each book in this series has shown readers a different, often under-explored facet of the Civil War, and An Unconditional Freedom will do so via its Cuban heroine Janeta Sanchez, the free daughter of an enslaved woman and a plantation owner.

Lady Derring Takes a Lover by Julie Anne Long
February 26 | Avon

After blessing us all with the delightful Hellcat Canyon series, Long is returning to historical romance. And let me tell you, if this first book (of which I have enjoyed an advance copy) is any indication, Long’s new series is going to be an utter joy. The titular lady discovers that her late husband has squandered away their money—and had a mistress to boot. So far, so standard. But then, she meets said mistress and decides to team up with said mistress to run a boarding house and thereby make sure they never have to depend upon a man ever again.

In a Badger Way by Shelly Laurenston
March 26 | Kensington

Honey badger shape-shifter heroine. That’s honestly enough to sell me, but I raise you a giant panda shape-shifter hero. You’re either in or you’re out, and I am decidedly in.

When a Duchess Says I Do by Grace Burrowes
April 2 | Forever

My One and Only Duke was one of my favorite romances of the past year, and I am eagerly awaiting my reunion with the Wentworth family. Intelligent and honorable Duncan is next up for his HEA, and he’s about to fall for the mysterious Matilda, a woman on the run who hides her feelings behind barbed wit and snark. Basically, she’s going to fit right in.

The Savior by J.R. Ward
April 2 | Gallery

The only man to ever be expelled from the Black Dagger Brotherhood gets a chance at redemption and love in Ward’s latest installment in the wildly popular paranormal series.

A Duke in Disguise by Cat Sebastian
April 9 | Avon Impulse

This one actually made my fall 2018 Most Anticipated list, but its release seems to have been pushed back. Anywho, I’m still excited about anything Sebastian does, and am very interested to see what her first heterosexual romance will be like. (It’ll probably be devastatingly witty and clever, per usual.)

The Rose by Tiffany Reisz
April 16 | Mira

A few years ago, when I was still a baby romance editor, I stumbled across Reisz’s The Red. Reader, I was unprepared. The Red is one of the most gloriously over-the-top works of erotica I have ever read, a series of art-inspired and astonishingly decadent love scenes that showcase Reisz’s elegant prose and total fearlessness. Apparently, The Rose is a sequel and is inspired at least in part by Greek mythology. It will ruin my life, and I can’t wait.

Fumbled by Alexa Martin
April 23 | Berkley

Martin’s Intercepted was one of the freshest, funniest debuts of last year, and Fumbled has an equally intriguing plot (and just as fabulous a cover). Poppy Patterson and T.K. Moore were high school sweethearts, but now T.K. is a pro-football player and Poppy is a single mom who works a nightclub. Cue emotional fireworks when they unexpectedly reunite.

The Trouble with Vampires by Lynsay Sands
April 23 | Avon

A 3,000-year-old vampire finally finds his life mate in the 29th book of Sands’ bestselling paranormal series.

A Prince on Paper by Alyssa Cole
April 30 | Avon

Cole is wrapping up not one, but two series this year! The finale of Reluctant Royals will finally put Prince Johan von Braustein (aka the sexy fictional Prince Harry of my dreams) in the spotlight.

Getting Hot with the Scot by Melonie Johnson
April 30 | St. Martin’s

There is quite a bit of buzz about Johnson’s debut, which seems to wed the genre’s never-ending love of a man in a kilt with the fun, zippy energy of contemporary romance. Her publisher certainly seems to think she’s a sure thing—the two sequels to Hot with the Scot will be released in May and June of this year.

Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors by Sonali Dev
May 7 | William Morrow

I will admit to some Austen-update fatigue. Does the world really need yet another retelling of Pride and Prejudice? However, my fatigue instantly dissipated when I saw Dev’s name. If anyone can deliver a fresh take on the classic story, it’s her.

The Bride Test by Helen Hoang
May 7 | Berkley

I and most of Romancelandia have been squealing about Hoang’s The Kiss Quotient (my pick for Best Romance of 2018) for many a month now, and I for one will be delighted to have another book of hers to add to my squee repertoire.

Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston
May 14 | St. Martin’s

Well here’s a romance I never knew I needed. Alex Claremont-Diaz is son of the president of the United States. His nemesis is Prince Henry of Britain. Ten bucks says they hate-makeout in a limo.

Rebel by Beverly Jenkins
May 28 | Avon

Real talk, I think I passed out from sheer joy when I saw this jacket and read this synopsis. A transcript of my inner thoughts: “BEVERLY JENKINS! In NEW ORLEANS! Ooh, look at that dress.” And scene.

The Rogue of Fifth Avenue by Joanna Shupe
May 28 | Avon

Whew, first of all, now that is a cover. Second of all, Frank Tripp has been a delightful, deeply charming presence throughout Shupe’s last series, and I am very excited to see him take center stage.

Wolf Rain by Nalini Singh
June 4 | Berkley

This one sounds epic even by Singh’s high standards: “An empath who is attuned to monsters—and who is going to charm a wolf into loving her despite her own demons.”

Say No to the Duke by Eloisa James
June 25 | Avon

I’ve adored the first three novels in the Wildes of Lindow Castle series, which is like the sweet, kindhearted cousin to Hulu’s “Harlots.” Same fabulous Georgian setting, way less death and sadness. This will be the first book with a lady Wilde in the lead—the fabulous Betsy, who wants to have one last adventure before making a brilliant match on the marriage mart.

The Right Swipe by Alisha Rai
July 2 | Avon

After the high drama and glorious angst of her Forbidden Hearts series, it appears Rai’s new series is going to be a bit lighter in tone. Modern Love will revolve around the foibles and hilarity of the technology-driven contemporary dating world. And the first book will feature tech mogul Rhiannon Hunter, who stole many a scene in Rai’s last book.

The Wedding Party by Jasmine Guillory
July 16 | Berkley

I know all I really have to say is “Jasmine Guillory” for us all to get excited, but wait! There’s more! This book will star the two best friends of Alexa, our beloved heroine from Guillory’s debut novel, The Wedding Date, who hate each other as much as they are attracted to each other.

Wicked Bite by Jeaniene Frost
July 30 | Avon

Shades of Wicked was a snarky, sexy delight in the oft-dour sea of paranormal romance, and its sequel promises more adventure and drama for star-crossed lovers Ian and Veritas.

Brazen and the Beast by Sarah MacLean
July 30 | Avon

MacLean’s Bareknuckle Bastards is the rare historical series that makes a point of focusing on lower-class characters—specifically, a family of powerful and sexy criminals. Next up for his HEA is the strong and silent Whit, who finds himself falling for a new business rival.

Sapphire Flames by Ilona Andrews
August 27 | Avon

I have a soft spot in my heart for Andrews, whose Hidden Legacy series singlehandedly introduced this skeptic to the joys of paranormal romance. So I’m eagerly awaiting the second series set in this world, which will focus on Catalina Baylor, a teenage Siren who must learn to control her powers to solve a murder.

The Wallflower Wager by Tessa Dare
August 27 | Avon

The kindhearted, animal-loving Lady Penelope Campion has been a joy to behold throughout Dare’s latest series. Her very grouchy next-door neighbor doesn’t think so, and agrees to help Penny find new homes for all of her animals in exchange for finally having some peace and quiet. This will probably be military-grade adorable, and I’ll be squealing about it for weeks.

Someone to Honor by Mary Balogh
November | Berkley

I love Balogh’s Westcott series, which is the closest thing we’re ever going to get to a sprawling family saga penned by Jane Austen. There’s going to be a time jump of three years in this sixth installment, which will focus on Abigail Westcott. After the scandal that rocked her family to its core and revealed her and her siblings to be illegitimate, Abby isn’t even bothering to look for a husband, despite her family’s schemes to get her married.

Every single time I do a most anticipated list, I tell myself that this time, this time, I’m going to keep things in order. A nice tidy list of 15, I say to myself. The result is always what you see here—a wonderfully long list that makes me bounce up and down with excitement at the prospect of all the marvelous books to come.

Meet the Author: J.R. Krause

Feature by bookpagedev

A boy and a dragon find friendship and learn to face their fears in author and illustrator J.R. Krause’s new picture book, Dragon Night. Krause is an award-winning animator and designer who has worked on many TV shows, including “The Simpsons” and  “Futurama.” He lives in Southern California with his family.

 

A boy and a dragon find friendship and learn to face their fears in author and illustrator J.R. Krause’s new picture book, Dragon Night. Krause is an award-winning animator and designer who has worked on many TV shows, including “The Simpsons” and  “Futurama.” He lives in…

Mystery

Whodunit: February 2019

Feature by Bruce Tierney

The literary exploits of John Lescroart’s San Francisco attorney Dismas Hardy, now numbering 18, have been a mainstay of my reading pleasure since 1989’s Dead Irish. Fast-forward 30 years, and an older and wiser Hardy plies his trade ever more ably in The Rule of Law. Phyllis McGowan, Hardy’s secretary, has been a stalwart pillar of support in his personal and business life. But lately, she seems to have gone off the rails. First, there is her mysterious disappearance for several days, and shortly after that, her surprise arrest as an accessory to murder. The evidence, while not entirely damning, is at least suggestive. Extortionist Hector Valdez, who worked for a modern-day Underground Railroad specializing in spiriting immigrants without documentation out of the Border Patrol’s reach, was murdered at the time of McGowan’s disappearance. In the old days, Hardy had a good working relationship with the district attorney, and likely could have negotiated on McGowan’s behalf, but the new DA has a political and personal chip on his shoulder where Hardy is concerned. Thus, this time out, Hardy is doomed to spend as much time battling the supposed good guys as trouncing the supposed bad guys. Lescroart crafts some of the finest legal thrillers out there today, with interesting characters, complex relationships, a taut narrative and, of course, the (now expected, but still somehow surprising) twist ending.

The original plan was for Caroline to lend Audrey $150 for a bus ticket back to Minnesota to visit her dying father. But on the way to the station, Caroline glances over at her friend and says, “Road trip?”—thus setting the stage for Tim Johnston’s second gripping thriller, The Current. The trip will not end well. Being from Georgia, Caroline has no experience with driving in icy conditions, and after an unanticipated and uncontrolled skid, their car hovers atop a precipice above an icy river. They are shaken but safe, at least until they see the flare of headlights in the rearview mirror, then feel the tap of the bumper that nudges their car over the edge. One dies, one barely survives. The small Minnesota town is in shock. Rumors fly about the presence of a second car at the scene, and the whole situation reminds people of a similar case 10 years prior, one that was never solved. As the official investigation progresses, a grieving father, a dying sheriff and a determined young woman begin covert investigations of their own. All are in search of answers, but none is prepared for what they will find.

Fans of the exploits of Charles Cumming’s MI6 agent Thomas Kell will find a lot to like in the author’s new standalone spy thriller, The Moroccan Girl. Bestselling thriller author Kit Carradine is poised to attend a literary festival in Marrakech when he receives a request that would make any suspense writer champ at the bit: track down a mysterious woman, one Lara Bartok, and surreptitiously deliver a passport to her. However, Carradine’s “handler” has been remarkably spare with details concerning Bartok, leaving out such juicy morsels as the fact that she is a well-placed member of an international terrorist outfit and is quite capable of taking care of herself when facing a potential confidant or adversary (especially one whose espionage exploits are limited to his imagination and the printed page). Things heat up when rival intelligence agencies join the fray, all in search of Bartok for conflicting—and often lethal—reasons. And Carradine is about to find out the hard way that real-life espionage bears little resemblance to his page-turning depictions. Cumming channels the dreamy romance of classic spy movies (think Casablanca, Notorious, The Thirty-Nine Steps) and juxtaposes it with a modern, relentlessly intense and staccato delivery.

June 1947, Beverly Hills. Mobster Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel has just been shot to death in his own home by person or persons unknown. Several hundred miles away, rancher Jonathan Craine tends to his daily chores. In an earlier life, Craine was the unofficial liaison between the Los Angeles Police Department and the movie studios, the “fixer” who kept stars and execs safe from exposure and prosecution—but that was a long time ago and far, far away from his current existence. That is all about to change, as hired lackeys from a sinister boss’s crime syndicate arrive by private aircraft to solicit Craine’s assistance in finding Siegel’s killer. And they won’t take no for an answer—cue the music portending graphic violence. Guy Bolton’s The Syndicate reads like a period thriller, with dialogue true to the golden age of film noir, which the author so obviously admires. The plot seamlessly blends fact with fiction, overlaying a series of real-life events with a fast-paced fictional narrative that is riddled with tension. And bullets.

 

This article was originally published in the February 2019 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

Fans of the exploits of Charles Cumming’s MI6 agent Thomas Kell will find a lot to like in the author’s new standalone spy thriller, The Moroccan Girl. Bestselling thriller author Kit Carradine is poised to attend a literary festival in Marrakech when he receives a request that would make any suspense writer champ at the bit: track down a mysterious woman, one Lara Bartok, and surreptitiously deliver a passport to her.

PhotographyCrafts, Hobbies & Home

Lifestyles: February 2019

Feature by Susannah Felts

File this one under “Titles Whose Time Has Come.” Sure, there are other guides to the chemical intricacies of cannabis and its therapeutic properties, but none are quite like Nikki Furrer’s A Woman’s Guide to Cannabis: Using Marijuana to Feel Better, Look Better, Sleep Better—and Get High Like a Lady, which keeps a central question in mind at all times: How do I help my mom discover the joys and benefits of this amazing stuff? Furrer thoroughly and conversationally lays out the uses of cannabis (analgesic, antidepressant, anti-anxiety, anti-aging and more); explains the whole sativa/indica breakdown; and explores the differences between THC and CBD. If you’re already a cannabis consumer, you’ll be a much better informed one for having read this book. If you’re new to the green? Well, hi(gh), glad you’re here!

Speaking of evergreen topics: Creativity and how to nurture it is one of them, but Conscious Creativity: Look. Connect. Create. strikes me as a truly fresh take on the subject. This is a redefining of creativity as an improved state of being in a world that constantly wears us down. Partly it’s the bright, wabi sabi photos accompanying the text; partly it’s Philippa Stanton’s encouraging but matter-of-fact tone. This book doesn’t try too hard to be inspiring, and as such, it succeeds. Plus, I love Stanton’s attitude toward mess: “The amorphous contents of a drawer which have been secretly shaming you might in fact turn out to be a creative liberation,” she writes. The exercises she provides are designed to make you see and experience surroundings in a new way—to utilize boredom, to notice color, to challenge ingrained perception. Note to self: Put down yo’ phone and pick up this book. 

“I often forget just how many people lack basic photography skills,” I groused recently to a friend. A tad harsh? Perhaps, but seriously—with just a few smart tips, anyone can snap much better photos, no matter the camera. And in the Instagram age, doesn’t this qualify as a life skill? Henry Horenstein’s Make Better Pictures is a succinct, handy resource for shutterbugs of all stripes, with each page focused on a single aspect of photography. Take “Clubbing,” page 85, which offers four practical tips for shooting at low-light events and concerts. Or “Hip,” page 103, which details the advantages of positioning your camera not at eye level. Throughout, a single image illustrates each topic. 

 

This article was originally published in the February 2019 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

File this one under “Titles Whose Time Has Come.” Sure, there are other guides to the chemical intricacies of cannabis and its therapeutic properties, but none are quite like Nikki Furrer’s A Woman’s Guide to Cannabis: Using Marijuana to Feel Better, Look Better, Sleep Better—and…

Cookbooks

Cooking: February 2019

Feature by Sybil Pratt

Jamie Oliver, still proclaiming his “Naked Chef” credo, has been a fabulous fixture of our food scene for over 18 years, and he’s never lost his touch. His signature pizazz and irrepressible can-do confidence shine in his 20th cookbook, 5 Ingredients: Quick & Easy Food. Not one for modesty, Oliver promises that by using his “genius combinations of just five ingredients,” you can get these “utterly delicious” dishes on the table in under 30 minutes—or get the prep done in 10 minutes and let your cooker do the rest. The clever layout—visuals of the five ingredients on the left and a totally tempting photo of the finished product on the right, with super-simple instructions in between—is a big plus, as is Oliver’s joy in making from-scratch cooking truly doable, whether it’s Smoky Pancetta Cod with a side of lentils for a Wednesday night, or flambéed Peachy Pork Chops followed by marmalade-infused Speedy Steamed Pudding Pots for a Saturday night soirée.

The cultural identity of the Palestinian people persists, as does the pleasures of the Palestinian kitchen. Yasmin Khan, a human rights activist and award-winning cookbook author, celebrates its vibrant flavors in Zaitoun: Recipes from the Palestinian Kitchen, seasoned with many moving stories and fabulous photos from her culinary journey. Khan has gathered over 80 recipes with an emphasis on simple, seasonal, plant-based food. She collected classics from Palestinian grandmothers (Hummus with Spiced Lamb), contemporary dishes from friends (Freekah with Butternut Squash) and dishes inspired by local ingredients (Olive, Fig and Honey Tapenade) or techniques (Chocolate and Tahini Cookies). Khan’s instructions are detailed, her header notes informative and her enthusiasm infectious.

Instead of an Instant Pot, an air fryer or a slew of newfangled kitchen appliances, the accomplished cooks and testers from America’s Test Kitchen suggest you take out that tried-and-true multitasker resting quietly in the back of a cabinet. They’re convinced that a big, enameled Dutch oven is “very nearly the only pot you’ll ever need in your kitchen,” and they offer a revelatory roster of over 150 recipes that take advantage of its best features in Cook It in Your Dutch Oven. These dishes go way beyond stews—just try some of the one-pot wonders like Weeknight Pasta Bolognese or Green Shakshuka. Go for Braised Cod Peperonata, deep fry to your heart’s content, then bake a crisp-crusted Spicy Olive Loaf, and for a grand finale, serve up a fudgy Chocolate Lava Cake.

 

This article was originally published in the February 2019 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

Jamie Oliver, still proclaiming his “Naked Chef” credo, has been a fabulous fixture of our food scene for over 18 years, and he’s never lost his touch. His signature pizazz and irrepressible can-do confidence shine in his 20th cookbook, 5 Ingredients: Quick & Easy Food.…

AudioMysteryMemoir

Audio: February 2019

Feature by Sukey Howard

The title of Michelle Obama’s blockbuster bestseller, Becoming, lets you know that you’ll get the answers to many of the questions you’ve had about this extraordinary woman. You’ll find out how a kid who grew up in a cramped apartment on Chicago’s South Side graduated from Princeton and Harvard Law to ultimately become our first African-American first lady and one of the most admired women in the galaxy. More importantly, you’ll understand how she kept her authenticity, grace and sense of self while in the glare of an unrelenting media spotlight, where everything you say and do and wear is scrutinized. Obama is candid and frank, talking about the problems in the early years of her marriage, about being a mother, her dislike of politics and her distress with the current administration. She reads in her warm, familiar voice, and you’ll be swept up in her story, her triumphs and her trials. She’s lived a version of the American dream, but one shadowed by the very American nightmare of racism and prejudice.

It’s been much too long since I spent time with Precious Ramotswe and her colleagues at the Number 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, and it’s always a quiet joy to return. Colors of All the Cattle, Alexander McCall Smith’s 19th installment in his bestselling series, wonderfully narrated again by the liltingly voiced Lisette Lecat, transports us to the sunny charms of Botswana and Mma Ramotswe’s unshakable belief in “old-fashioned” Botswana kindness. Though she’s taken on a difficult case for a victim of a hit-and-run accident, Mma Ramotswe has been pushed into reluctantly running for city council by her friend, the formidable matron of the local “orphan farm.” Smith and Mma Ramotswe never let us down—modesty and honesty trump bravura, and keen but gentle detecting skills solve the case.

A private investigator went missing in 2006, his body never found, the case marred by mistakes and innuendos of corruption. That cold case heats up when some kids come across a red VW in a remote, wooded park, with a handcuffed skeleton in the trunk. That’s for openers in Ian Rankin’s 24th Rebus novel, In a House of Lies, performed by James Macpherson in an authentic Scottish burr that’s still soft enough to be easily understood. Though John Rebus is officially retired from Police Scotland’s Major Crime Division, he was on the case 12 years ago and is as eager as ever to get involved again. And with his former protégé, Detective Inspector Siobhan Clarke, assigned to the investigating team, that’s not hard to accomplish. Pay close attention—Rankin’s in great form, and there’s a lot going on in this intricately plotted police procedural.

 

This article was originally published in the February 2019 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

The title of Michelle Obama’s blockbuster bestseller, Becoming, lets you know that you’ll get the answers to many of the questions you’ve had about this extraordinary woman. You’ll find out how a kid who grew up in a cramped apartment on Chicago’s South Side graduated…
Science Fiction & FantasyFictionChildren's & YAWorld FictionMiddle Grade

The Hold List: February 2019

Feature by bookpagedev

All of our crushes are fictional characters. But what if we actually had the opportunity to date one of our imaginary loves? Just how good (or bad!) would that first date be? The editors have some thoughts.

Hagrid from the Harry Potter series
By J.K. Rowling

There are so many characters from Rowling’s world who’d be great on a date: Sirius Black, Hermione once she’s 30 (if Ron’s OK with it), either of the Weasley twins. But if I want to feel fancy, I’m taking Hagrid. Sure, his beard is out of control, and he’ll probably smell strongly of damp wool, but he gives the best hugs, and you know he’ll try really hard to make it a nice evening. He’ll get dressed up in his best suit, I’ll bring the (oversize, low-priced) bottle of wine, and he’ll show me his favorite clearing in the forest to watch the moon rise. I fully expect the date to be ruined by whatever magical creature is hidden away in his breast pocket, but that’s just fine with me.

—Cat, Deputy Editor

Nino from the Neapolitan Quartet
By Elena Ferrante

Ah, Nino Sarratore. What shy girl hasn’t had their own Nino Sarratore—the brilliant, somewhat pretentious boy you know would love you if you ever worked up the courage to talk to him. However, with the benefit of having read the rest of Ferrante’s brilliant Neapolitan novels, I know what lurks behind Nino’s appealing exterior. And ladies, he’s not worth any of our time. So this Valentine’s Day, I’ll take one for the team. I’ll go on a date with Nino and let him talk at me and think that I’m falling for his “more brilliant than you” act. And then, after I’ve gained his trust and made him think he’s gained a new acolyte-admirer, I’ll stomp on his heart on behalf of bookish girls everywhere.

—Savanna, Editorial Assistant

Leonard from The Marriage Plot
By Jeffrey Eugenides

Listen, I know he’s trouble. But I am in love with Leonard Bankhead. I love his brilliance, his passion, his intensity and his dark and terrible understanding of the world. If Leonard met me, he would realize that we were meant to be together. No one understands him like I do. Leonard and I are going to a dive bar, we’re getting shots of whiskey, and I don’t care what my mother says about it. We’ll talk about our favorite books and how messed up everything is. We’ll get into a heated argument about if reality television has any worth (it does, and I will introduce him to “Vanderpump Rules,” which he will admit to loving). Later, his career on track, he’ll name a type of algae after the color of my eyes: mud.

—Lily, Associate Editor

Matsu from The Samurai’s Garden
By Gail Tsukiyama

For intelligence and thoughtfulness, I’d turn to the devoted gardener from Tsukiyama’s tender, melancholy second novel, set in 1937. In this story about gracefully weathering loneliness and sorrow, Matsu tends his exquisite garden and frequently journeys to a leper colony, where he continues to care for his beloved. But readers only ever see Matsu through the eyes of Chinese student Stephen, and this gentle man deserves to rise above his secondary-character status. He’s such a classic kind of man that I’d love to see his reaction to a contemporary art museum some summer afternoon. Assuming that I’ve learned to speak Japanese for the date, it would be nice to walk silently through a gallery and debrief afterward. 

—Cat, Deputy Editor

Lilliet from The Queen of the Night
By Alexander Chee

James Bond, Holly Golightly, Jay Gatsby—how much fun would it be to go on a first date (but probably not a second) with one of fiction’s most notorious partiers? For glitz, glamour, scandal and an all-around epic night on the town, it would be hard to beat a visit to 19th-century Paris for a decadent costume party with soprano Lilliet Berne. In Chee’s second novel, Lilliet is a woman of many secrets—too many for a long-term relationship—and drama swirls around her to an improbable degree. But dressed in a fabulous costume and swathed in dazzling jewels—and with the possibility of dramatic escapes and scheming aristocrats—an evening spent with this rags-to-riches diva would be quite an adventure.

—Hilli, Assistant Editor

 

This article was originally published in the February 2019 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

All of our crushes are fictional characters. But what if we actually had the opportunity to date one of our imaginary loves? Just how good (or bad!) would that first date be? The editors have some thoughts.

Hagrid from the Harry…

2019: Most anticipated YA

Feature by Hilli Levin

Readers of all ages will find some of the most exciting and diverse stories being published in the world of YA. Here are our 10 most anticipated titles for 2019, so go ahead and start making your TBR list for the new year!

On the Come Up by Angie Thomas
February 5 | Balzer + Bray

With the runaway success of the Thomas’ debut novel The Hate U Give (not to mention all the awards and critical acclaim), it wouldn’t be a most anticipated list without this follow-up. Although this is a standalone story, it’s set in Starr’s neighborhood and follows a 16-year-old girl named Bri who dreams of rap superstardom.

We Set the Dark On Fire by Tehlor Kay Mejia
February 26 | Katherine Tegen

This intense Latinx feminist fantasy is already getting some comparisons to The Handmaid's Tale, but don't worry, it's definitely not as grisly. At the Medio School for Girls, teens are trained to become either primary wives (Primeras) or secondary partners (Segundas) for men. But can one girl succeed in her mission to spy for the growing opposition and smash the patriarchy?

Lovely War by Julie Berry 
March 5 | Viking

Berry’s lush and evocative novel set during World War I explores the love of four teens who are mired in the grisly conflict, and their poignant stories unfold through the narration of Aphrodite and a group of other Greek gods and goddesses. Trust me, you do not want to miss this one.

Children of Virtue and Vengeance by Tomi Adeyemi
March 5 | Holt

Adeyemi’s debut West African-inspired fantasy, Children of Blood and Bone was one of the biggest YA debuts of 2018. In the next installment in this thrilling series, Zélie and Amari must find out what the return of magic means for their kingdom.

Shout by Laurie Halse Anderson
March 12 | Viking

The groundbreaking and award-winning author of Speak will publish her first memoir this spring. An unflinching account of her early life and her experience with sexual assault, this is difficult but life-changing reading.

Internment by Samira Ahmed
March 19 | Little, Brown

Ahmed is following up her acclaimed debut Love, Lies and Other Filters with this fierce and chilling look at an imagined near-future that hits a little too close to home: What would happen if the U.S. Supreme Court reversed their decision on Korematsu vs. the United States and forced Muslim-Americans to live in internments camps?

The Last Voyage of Poe Blythe by Ally Condie
March 26 | Dutton

A near-future, post-apocalyptic steampunk story might not sound like your jam, but Condie’s writing will suck you in immediately, and you won’t want to put down this story of a stubborn and ferocious young engineer who is determined to avenge her murdered boyfriend. I’m getting some Mad Max: Fury Road vibes, but this story is set on a giant ship.

Descendant of the Crane by Joan He
April 2 | Albert Whitman

In this Chinese-inspired fantasy, Princess Hesina must take on the throne when her father is suddenly murdered. Determined to find his killer, she turns to magic, which has been illegal in her land for centuries. With Game of Thrones-style political scheming, plenty of twists, beautifully drawn characters and a lush setting, this will be the romantic fantasy debut readers will be talking about.

With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo
May 7 | HarperTeen

The author of the National Book Award-winning novel-in-verse The Poet X returns with this novel about a teen mother who finds joy and healing in the kitchen and dreams of becoming a chef. I’m hungry just looking at that cover!

There’s Something About Sweetie by Sandhya Menon
May 14 | Simon Pulse

Menon is now an accepted master of charming and smart YA romance, and this companion novel to When Dimple Met Rishi is sure to be a pitch-perfect beach read. Rishi’s brother gets set up with Sweetie, a badass fat Indian-American girl on a mission to stand up to her judgmental parents. I’m sure you can guess that sparks will fly between these two.

No release date yet . . .

Wayward Son by Rainbow Rowell

Simon and Baz return in Rowell’s sequel to her beloved 2015 bestseller, Carry On. There aren’t any details yet, but expect more quips! More smooching! More magicks! And get a load of this promo poster from Kevin Wanda.

Readers of all ages will find some of the most exciting and diverse stories being published in the world of YA. Here are our 10 most anticipated titles for 2019, so go ahead and start making your TBR list for the new year!

Nonfiction

Well Read: February 2019

Feature by Robert Weibezahl

A new collection of essays and speeches from Nobel Prize winner Toni Morrison solidifies her legacy as one of America’s most thoughtful and important writers.

Toni Morrison is such a peerless, masterful storyteller that it is easy to forget she is also one of our most engaged and engaging public intellectuals. Her new collection of essays and speeches, The Source of Self-Regard, reminds us of the breadth and depth of her concerns. Morrison ruminates on and illuminates the political, racial, social and literary issues that have long informed her work with a singular combination of curiosity and confidence. 

Because many of the 40-plus pieces Morrison gathers here were first delivered as speeches at conferences and commencements, they tend to be short, yet brevity does not preclude remarkable expansiveness of thought. This volume is divided into three sections: The first explores political and moral realities through the lens of globalism, racism and the sources and meanings of identity. The second section, anchored by the longest and weightiest pieces in the book, is self-explanatorily called “Black Matter(s).” The final section, “God’s Language,” offers meditations on art and literature (both Morrison’s own and others’). These organizing divisions can prove imprecise, however—it is impossible for this deep-seeing writer to stop the seepage of her vast and broad concerns between one section and the next. And we would not want her to.

Morrison considers the work of a disparate array of fellow writers, including James Baldwin, Gertrude Stein, William Faulkner, Chinua Achebe and Toni Cade Bambara. She parses works such as Beowulf, Cinderella and American slave narratives. Yet it is in the moments when she offers glimpses into the genesis of her own remarkable fiction that the magic of what might be called Morrison’s “reverse prism” takes hold, as she reveals how all of the scattered rays from her pursuit of understanding converge into the laser point of her narratives. “We move from data to information to knowledge to wisdom,” she writes in the title essay. “And if we agree that purposeful progression exists, then you’ll see at once how dispiriting this project of drawing or building or constructing fiction out of history can be . . . how quickly we can forget that wisdom without knowledge, wisdom without data, is just a hunch.”

As with any such collection of pieces spanning decades, The Source of Self-Regard contains repetitions, and interest may ebb and flow with a reader’s individual concerns. But ever-present in this collection is the consistency of vision and the powerful writing that readers have come to expect from the inestimable talent of this American original as she continues to navigate the thorny task of integrating history, of creating art, of learning to belong.

 

This article was originally published in the February 2019 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

A new collection of essays and speeches from Nobel Prize winner Toni Morrison solidifies her legacy as one of America’s most thoughtful and important writers.

NonfictionFictionWorld FictionBiography

Book Clubs: February 2019

Feature by Julie Hale

Top Pick: An American Marriage by Tayari Jones
An Oprah’s Book Club pick in 2018, Tayari Jones’ electrifying fourth novel, An American Marriage, tells the story of Roy and Celestial, a newly married couple whose future looks bright. Celestial is an up-and-coming artist and Roy is a business executive, but their lives are shattered when the couple travels to Roy’s hometown in Louisiana, where he’s wrongfully accused of a terrible crime and sentenced to 12 years in prison. Jones presents a poignant portrait of the once-optimistic couple and the injustices they face as husband and wife during Roy’s incarceration. When he’s released after serving almost half his sentence, the pair struggles to resume their lives and regain a sense of normalcy. Told in part through the letters Roy and Celestial exchange while he’s imprisoned, Jones’ skillfully constructed narrative feels all too timely. It’s at once a powerful portrayal of marriage and a shrewd exploration of America’s justice system. 

The Girls in the Picture
by Melanie Benjamin

This richly atmospheric novel follows the friendship between silent-era screen queen Mary Pickford and screenwriter Frances Marion as they carve out careers in an industry dominated by men.

Jefferson’s Daughters: Three Sisters, White and Black, in a Young America
by Catherine Kerrison

Historian Kerrison uncovers the fascinating lives of Martha and Maria, Thomas Jefferson’s daughters with Martha Wayles Skelton, as well as Harriet, his daughter with Sally Hemings who forges a life for herself outside the bonds of slavery. 

Three Daughters of Eve
by Elif Shafak

Shafak explores feminism, politics and religion in modern Istanbul through this complex portrait of Peri, an affluent wife and mother.

Heads of the Colored People
by Nafissa Thompson-Spires

Long-listed for the 2018 National Book Award, these shrewdly observed, expertly crafted stories of the African-American experience signal the arrival of an important writer.

 

This article was originally published in the February 2019 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

Top Pick: An American Marriage by Tayari Jones
An Oprah’s Book Club pick in 2018, Tayari Jones’ electrifying fourth novel, An American Marriage, tells the story of Roy and Celestial, a newly married couple whose future looks bright. Celestial is an up-and-coming artist and…

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