24 new books to kick off the week.

June 1, 2021, 4:47pm

Dear reader, I hope this list finds you well-rested and ready to read. We’ve got an almost intimidating amount of exciting new titles coming our way today!

Kristen Arnett, With Teeth
(Riverhead)

“[A] hilarious and astute dive into the not-so-fun parts of parenthood. Arnett shows her range with laugh-out-loud scenes and moments of honest sadness.”
–BookPage

Kiese Laymon, Long Division
(Scribner)

“One Mississippi town with two engaging stories in two very different decades. The sharp humor and deep humanity make this debut novel unforgettable.”
–MSNBC

Doireann Ní Ghríofa, A Ghost in the Throat
(Biblioasis)

“…the book is an extraordinary feat of ventriloquism delivered in a lush, lyrical prose that dazzles readers from the get-go.”
–The Times

Zakiya Dalila Harris, The Other Black Girl
(Atria)

“[A] brilliant debut …The novel takes some bold stylistic risks that pay off beautifully, leaving the reader longing for more of Harris’s words and unique view on the world.”
–Vogue

Edward St. Aubyn, Double Blind
(FSG)

“A rollicking tale of love and science in a world increasingly hostile toward both . . . Hectic—but very funny.”
–Scientific American

Taylor Jenkins Reid, Malibu Rising
(Ballantine)

“Reid unfurls a fast-paced and addictive story. . . . This page-turning indulgence hits the spot.”
–Publishers Weekly

A. Natasha Joukovsky, The Portrait of a Mirror
(Overlook Press)

“The author uses the backdrop of Vivien’s exhibition on Ovid’s Metamorphosis and the figure of Narcissus for astute observations on the core characters’ self-involvement.”
–Publishers Weekly

Clint Smith, How the Word Is Passed
(Little, Brown)

“In reexamining neighborhoods, holidays and quotidian sites, Smith forces us to reconsider what we think we know about American history.”
–TIME

Grace Perry, The 2000s Made Me Gay
(St. Martin’s Griffin)

“A humorous and reflective journey of self-discovery via pop culture.”
–Kirkus

César Aira, The Divorce
(New Directions)

“Aira is unencumbered. He does what he does, and what we receive is giddy, unquestionably self-indulgent, and yet absolutely perfect.”
–NPR

Daisy Hernández, The Kissing Bug
(Tin House)

“A compelling indictment of our failing health care system and the people falling through its ever widening cracks.”
–Kirkus

Benjamin Percy, The Ninth Metal
(Houghton Mifflin)

“Percy (The Dark Net) launches the Comet Cycle series with this wildly entertaining and highly original melange of northern Minnesota lore and slam-bang near-future SF action.”
–Publishers Weekly

Jeff Shesol, Mercury Rising
(W. W. Norton)

“Entertaining and deeply researched…readers will savor the hair-raising ride.”
–Publishers Weekly

Edward Slingerhand, Drunk
(Hachette)

“A witty and well-informed narrator, Slingerland ranges across a wide range of academic fields to make his case.”
–Publishers Weekly

Martin Padgett, A Night at the Sweet Gum Head
(W. W. Norton)

“A balanced, colorfully depicted portrait of a Southern LGBTQ+ movement.”
–Kirkus

Lana Bastašić, Catch the Rabbit
(Restless Books)

“A moving exploration of how perspective characterizes friendship, sometimes to a fault.”
–Kirkus

Chi Ta-Wei, tr. Ari Larissa Heinrich, The Membranes
(Columbia University Press)

“Chi’s classic queer Chinese-language SF novel, first published in 1995, makes its English-language debut and invites a new audience into its strange, subtle world.”
–Publishers Weekly

Sasha Issenberg, The Engagement
(Pantheon)

“Part Grisham-esque legal thriller, part Sorkin-esque political drama, and part Maddow-esque historical yarn.”
–O, the Oprah Magazine

Ashley C. Ford, Somebody’s Daughter
(Flatiron)

“A shining example of story and craft that embodies how exquisite a memoir can be.”
–The Seattle Times

Michael Burlingame, An American Marriage
(Pegasus Books)

“An entertaining though entirely unflattering biography that will certainly provoke debate.”
–Kirkus

Jose Emilio Pacheco, tr. Katherine Silver, Battles in the Desert
(New Directions)

“A fresh translation of this classic of 20th-century Mexican literature, ready for a new audience to savor.”
–Kirkus

Tom Lin, The Thousand Crimes of Ming Tsu
(Little, Brown)

“The story’s supernatural elements never get in the way of the action, as first-time novelist Tom Lin displays remarkable skill in maneuvering his plot and characters so that readers continue to believe the tale even when it seems impossible.”
–BookPage

M. Leona Godin, There Plant Eyes
(Pantheon)

“Playwright and columnist Godin approaches her subject from a unique perspective. Now blind, she gradually lost her sight from retinal dystrophy, a frightening process she poignantly recounts throughout the book.”
–Kirkus