From ambitious family stories and futuristic adventures to psychological dramas and thought-provoking nonfiction, this month’s book releases offer something for almost every kind of reader. Some come from Pulitzer Prize winners, others from Booker Prize contenders, and several are already generating buzz beyond the literary world.
Here are 10 books worth putting on your reading list.
1. Under Story — Chloe Benjamin
Chloe Benjamin returns with an ambitious science-fiction love story that plays with time and reality. After exploring mortality and the future in her previous work, Benjamin once again challenges the way we think about time. The novel already has a screen adaptation in development, making it one to watch beyond the book world.
2. The Disappearers — Marlon James
Booker Prize-winning author Marlon James returns to Jamaica with a sprawling and intense story set in 1988. The novel follows a group of gay men who come together with hopes of putting on a play while confronting a deeply hostile environment.
Spanning 17 years, the story combines violence, ambition, identity and survival into an epic narrative.
3. Switzy — Emma Cline
Emma Cline turns her attention to wealth, aging and mortality in Switzy. The story follows an aging executive traveling to a euthanasia clinic in Switzerland while reflecting on his past and unraveling state of mind.
The novel offers a darker look at privilege and the personal cost of a life spent chasing success.
4. Taipei Story — R.F. Kuang
R.F. Kuang takes readers to Taiwan through the story of Lily Chen, an American college student spending the summer trying to better understand her Chinese ancestry.
Expect academic pressure, complicated friendships, cultural identity and the challenges of translation to collide in this coming-of-age story.
5. Our Noble Selves — Kate Atkinson
Kate Atkinson returns to post-World War II Britain in a story about rebuilding after years of destruction.
The novel follows journalist Harry Flynn, a former prisoner of war, as he tries to find his footing while helping organize the Festival of Britain. Behind the celebrations, however, Britain’s deeper problems remain.
6. Exit Party — Emily St. John Mandel
What happens when a moment of peace appears in a world falling apart?
Emily St. John Mandel’s latest novel takes place in a bleak near-future where the United States has dissolved into civil war. An apartment party offers a brief escape, but strange and seemingly impossible events soon disrupt the celebration.
Fans of speculative fiction will want this one on their radar.
7. American Hagwon — Min Jin Lee
Following the success of Pachinko, Min Jin Lee returns with another ambitious family story.
Set largely during the 1990s and 2000s, the novel follows a family of five and explores their experiences with the intense world of South Korean private tutoring institutions, known as hagwons.
At its heart, it’s a story about family, education, identity and belonging.
8. The Radiance — Ayad Akhtar
Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright and novelist Ayad Akhtar explores one of the biggest questions of all: what is real?
The story follows a narrator recovering from a hit-and-run while becoming increasingly entangled in intrigue on a college campus. As reality and uncertainty begin to blur, readers are left questioning what they can trust.
9. Ply — Hernan Diaz
Hernan Diaz moves from America’s past into a distant future.
Centuries after civilization has collapsed, a shrinking population survives among the remains of the old world. Electricity has become one of the most valuable resources, controlled by a powerful monopoly.
The novel follows a man who secretly steals electricity — until his latest innovation attracts unwanted attention.
10. The Wreckers — George Makana Clark
For readers looking for adventure, The Wreckers offers an unusual combination of history, mystery and action.
The story crosses three continents and two centuries while following a quest for historical artifacts connected to Portuguese colonizers. Pirates, natural disasters, elaborate schemes and a lost kingdom all become part of the journey.
It’s historical fiction with the energy of a cinematic adventure.
