It’s the week of Thanksgiving, that curious American tradition defined as much by turkeys and stuffing as that dread certain family members feel about seeing each other–all the more so in such an election year, and a strikingly polarizing one at that. Partly because of the holiday, there are also fewer new books out this week than usual, so this week’s list is a fair bit shorter than usual.
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Even so, I’ve still got some exciting things in fiction, poetry, and nonfiction to recommend to you (especially nonfiction, as there’s less fiction than usual out this Tuesday), each of which, depending on your tastes, might be on par with Thanksgiving if you enjoy Turkey Day, or better than it if you do not, and, either way, you’ll have gotten something good to have with you during the holidays.
Enjoy your week, Dear Readers, and be safe and well.
*
Juhea Kim, City of Night Birds
(Ecco Press)
“An ecstatic künstlerroman—meticulously researched, brutally frank, and deliciously glamorous, City of Night Birds enraptures as thoroughly as the ballerina at its beating heart. The artistry possessed by this novel’s sublimely gifted heroine is rivaled only by that of her author. Brava, Juhea Kim!”
–Rachel Lyon
A. D. Rhine, Daughters of Bronze: A Novel of Troy
(Dutton)
“Worthy of gracing the shelves alongside Renault and Miller, Daughters of Bronze is an epic feat. The ladies of the Trojan War are depicted in these brilliant pages with grace, eloquence, and an emotional depth to which many other authors can only aspire. The lyrical writing of A.D. Rhine sets this book apart from so many Greek myth reimaginings, bringing to life a tale as old as time in ways not yet seen before. A stellar accomplishment.”
–Claire M. Andrews
Naomi Wood, This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things
(Mariner)
“Complex, powerful, relatable, hilarious, expansive, REAL tales of modern motherhood. This is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things captures the horror and terror of motherhood as well as the joys and tenderness…so, so funny. It’s a life-affirming companion for any woman who has ever doubted or questioned or winced at her own life choices or deepest feelings. I loved it.”
–Emma Jane Unsworth
Orhan Pamuk, Memories of Distant Mountains: Illustrated Notebooks, 2009 – 2022 (trans. Ekin Oklap)
(Knopf)
“Pictures of a writer’s days….An intimate volume revealing glimpses of his life and work….Although he gave up artwork in favor of writing, he still finds pleasure in combining both, as did William Blake….Some illustrations, glowing with pinks, greens, and yellows, evoke Matisse. In slashes of black and grey, Pamuk captures the dark mysteries of seascapes; in other drawings, he tries to convey the quality of his dreams….A lyrical illuminated memoir.”
–Kirkus Reviews
Michael Owen, Ira Gershwin: A Life in Words
(Liveright)
“Using a rich variety of archival resources…Owen documents Gershwin’s tireless commitment to songwriting, from the linguistic play of his teenage years and his prizewinning successes (and failures) as an adult, to his commitment to preserving the Great American Songbook and the Gershwin family legacy in his final years…indispensable for fans and scholars alike. It shines a revelatory light on the complex life of the great lyricist who lived forever in the shadow of his younger brother George.”
–Anna Harwell Celenza
Najan Darwish, No One Will Know You Tomorrow: Selected Poems, 2014 – 2024 (trans. Kareem James Abu-Zeid)
(Yale University Press)
“These stunning, lyrical poems rise above the din of tragedy and trauma even as the poet traces what politics and war have wrought in Palestine….Both joy and sorrow are found in Darwish’s elegiac petitions….Through the noise and terror of historical conflicts, Darwish’s essential poems are a triumph.”
–Booklist
Stephanie Gorton, The Icon and the Idealist: Margaret Sanger, Mary Ware Dennett, and the Rivalry that Brought Birth Control to America
(Ecco Press)
“Stephanie Gorton recounts the complex, often infuriating, history of the movement to legalize birth control through the rivalry between its two greatest advocates. The Icon and the Idealist is a fascinating portrait of ambition and idealism, politics and passion, and a shocking reminder of just how far some men will go to keep women ignorant and powerless over their own bodies.”
–Debby Applegate
Emily Mester, American Bulk: Essays on Excess
(Norton)
“With compassion, wit, and piercing honesty, Emily Mester delves into our love of consumerism–and what our desires say about who we want to become. Bravely personal, incisively critical, American Bulk is a report on our national psyche and a captivating family story.”
–Larissa Pham
Michael O’Malley, The Color of Family: History, Race, and the Politics of Ancestry
(University of Chicago Press)
“The Color of Family is at once an immediately engaging account of an Irish and Virginian family history and a compelling critique of the work of producing and policing racial categories through official records of individual identity. Through his stories and documents, O’Malley both confronts the commodification of genealogical sources and offers a profoundly important message about the fiction and effects of race.”
–Catherine Nash
Johnny Garrett, The Meaning of Beer: How Our Pursuit of the Perfect Pint Built the World
(Hanover Square Press)
“Garrett shares his huge knowledge about beer and its history with joyful enthusiasm and wit. This book will make you laugh, it will make you smarter and it will make you want to drink more beer.”
–Ned Palmer
Ståle Holgersen, Against the Crisis: Economy and Ecology in a Burning World (trans. Steven Cuzner)
(Verso)
“Holgersen’s book is a powerful indictment of capitalism, a system that can never be sustainable, and an insightful argument for ecosocialism as a program for radical change. It is a precious contribution to the unity between labor and ecological movements.”
–Michael Löwy
