August 27, 2024, 4:32am
It’s nearing the end of August, and, with it, the end of summer. It’s a little hard to believe, at least for me; it feels like it all breezed by so quickly. Nevertheless, as we prepare to move from one season to another, one thing remains consistent: that there will always be new books to look forward to. If you’re familiar with the rhythms of the publishing industry, it won’t come as a surprise that there aren’t as many entries today, which is typical for the end of the summer. But what we do have is very much worth it, particularly if you’re in search of nonfiction, as nonfiction dominates my list today.
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Below, you’ll find thirteen new books in fiction and nonfiction, including an innovative professional wrestling novel from Chris Koslowski; a Canadian-Lebanese novel from Dimitri Nasrallah on finding unexpected peace as a postwar immigrant by listening to clients on a weight-loss hotline; an anticipated new biography of Christopher Isherwood; the librarian Amanda Jones’ account of fighting against book-banners; a new (and self-describedly opinionated) history of queer television; an account of ancient beer-making; and more.
Even with a smaller list than usual, there’s a lot to check out. Usher in the fall with exciting new things to read.
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Chris Koslowski, Kayfabe
(McSweeney’s)
“Chris Koslowski’s Kayfabe lands with the force of a clothesline from the top turnbuckle. This is a novel that takes wrestling seriously, in all the best ways. Koslowski has reconfigured the great American office novel to fit the grunt employee whose cubicle is a brightly lit mat inside a ring, and who comes home from the job not figuratively but literally battered. A fast-paced, smart, quick-moving book, and a fabulous debut.”
–Michael Griffith
Dimitri Nasrallah, Hotline
(Other Press)
“Spectacular….Few novels have captured with such quiet, precise subtlety the interplay between isolation and connection that so often dominates the life of a new immigrant….Nasrallah is one of my favorite writers working today, an exceptional talent who deserves to be much more widely read.”
–Omar El Akkad
Katherine Bucknell, Christopher Isherwood Inside Out
(FSG)
“Christopher Isherwood Inside Out is the best biography I’ve ever read. The subject, Christopher Isherwood, was a mindful, moral man, an example for all, and a wonderfully talented writer. The author, Katherine Bucknell, explores every moment of his life—English, German, American—and links them all to the vast ongoing project of his life and work. The book is long but every page is full of surprises.”
–Edmund White
Hannah Silva, My Child, the Algorithm: An Alternatively Intelligent Book of Love
(Soft Skull)
“A striking reflection on the intersection of queer single parenthood and AI….[T]he writing is curious, intelligent, propulsive, and memorable. Silva’s text manages to be both immensely readable at first glance and rewarding to those who choose to read slowly, savoring and annotating….[T]he author’s inventiveness and emotional urgency make this book an intriguing reading experience. Silva is a playful theorist with an elastic intellect.”
–Kirkus Reviews
Amanda Jones, That Librarian: The Fight Against Book Banning in America
(Bloomsbury)
“In her memoir, award-winning school librarian Jones delves into how she was subjected to a hate campaign after speaking out against censorship attempts at her local public library….Jones’s deeply personal account of her battle to regain her reputation and combat intolerance in libraries is essential reading and ultimately a clarion call for others to help defend intellectual freedom and democracy.”
–Library Journal
Karen Hawkins, The Bookshop of Hidden Dreams
(Gallery Books)
“Hawkins has created a delightfully quirky town….Reminiscent of Sarah Addison Allen, Abbi Waxman, and Fannie Flagg, this is a great summer read for those who love small southern towns filled with magic.”
–Booklist
Elisa Albert, The Snarling Girl and Other Essays
(Clash Books)
“Equal parts acerbic, insouciant, insightful, and moving, The Snarling Girl is so tonally-rich and stylistically fluid that you’ll consume page after page and still want more. Albert is a writer of immense talent, wisdom, and wit, and the way she takes on her choice of subjects (contemporary feminism, motherhood, literary ambition, and the intersections of all of the above, to name just a few) is nothing short of brilliant.”
–Rone Shavers
Shayna Maci Warner, The Rainbow Age of Television: An Opinionated History of Queer TV
(Abrams Press)
“A true gem. Warner’s incisive analysis, detailed research, and wry humor make for a genuine page-turner chronicling American LGBTQIA+ TV history. Warner seamlessly navigates between critiquing the institutions that hold LGBTQIA+ television back and appropriately contextualizing and paying homage to those who laid the foundation for all we have now. The Rainbow Age of Television is an essential read for every queer storyteller.”
–Sav Rodgers
Daniel J. Levitin, I Heard There Was a Secret Chord: Music as Medicine
(Norton)
“Exuberant….Enriching lucidly explained neuroscience with ebullient musical appreciation (a Billy Pierce saxophone solo is ‘in turns thrilling, heartbreaking, bustling, radiant, and always, always moving forward’), Levitin makes a persuasive case for music’s therapeutic potential that gives due to its medical promise without undercutting its mysteries. The result is a fascinating take on the tuneful raptures of the mind.”
–Publishers Weekly
Tate Paulette, In the Land of Ninkasi: A History of Beer in Ancient Mesopotamia
(Oxford)
“Paulette has written the essential book for beer lovers and ancient history lovers alike. His accessible writing style places you into the world of ancient Mesopotamia and, like a detective picking up 4000-year-old clues, he pieces together history and recipes for some of the world’s oldest brews. Many have touched on the topic of Mesopotamian beer but never in such depth nor shared the history in such an engaging manner.”
–Max Miller
Casey Michel, Foreign Agents: How American Lobbyists and Lawmakers Threaten Democracy Around the World
(St. Martin’s Press)
“For years, foreign lobbyists have acted as key henchmen for dictators around the world, enriching and entrenching those regimes….Michel shines much-needed light on these foreign lobbyists—and these enablers who are making it easier for despots around the world to expand their reach. Full of sordid tales and striking details, Foreign Agents shows how these foreign lobbyists are, in many ways, just as reprehensible as the dictators they represent—and maybe even more so.”
–Sir Bill Browder
David Rohde, Where Tyranny Begins: The Justice Department, the FBI, and the War on Democracy
(Norton)
“A meticulous chronicle of…the battles between the Trump presidency and the Department of Justice. In a hard-hitting book characterized by careful research and documentation, two-time Pulitzer winner Rohde, author of In Deep and Endgame, delineates how the Trump White House violated well-established post-Watergate norms about judicial conduct, upending and devaluing the work of the DOJ….A cautionary, relevant study.”
Nick Lloyd, The Eastern Front: A History of the Great War 1914 – 1918
“No one is better at recreating the drama of the Great War than Nick Lloyd….Even specialists will learn a great deal from this book. A masterpiece of First World War history.”
–Sean McMeekin
