Book reviews & excerpts from exceptional books set mainly in the present day (2000-current).

People Like Us

A Novel

by Jason Mott

Hardcover: Aug 2025 | Paperback: Aug 2026

Critics' Consensus:

The riveting new novel by the author of the 2021 National Book Award winner and bestseller Hell of a Book.

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Moderation

A Novel

by Elaine Castillo

Hardcover: Aug 2025 | Paperback: Aug 2026

Critics' Consensus:

A bold and inventive novel about real romance in the virtual workplace—​bringing Castillo's trademark wit and sharp cultural criticism to an irresistible story about the possible future of love.

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Mona Acts Out

A Novel

by Mischa Berlinski

Hardcover: Jan 2025 | Paperback: Aug 2026

Critics' Consensus:

An exuberant, darkly humorous novel by the National Book Award–nominated author of Fieldwork.

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Bring the House Down

A Novel

by Charlotte Runcie

Hardcover: Jul 2025 | Paperback: Jul 2026

Critics' Consensus:

A theater critic at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe writes a vicious one-star review of a struggling actress he has a one-night stand with in this sharply funny, feminist tinderbox.

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Hot Girls with Balls

A Novel

by Benedict Nguyen

Hardcover: Jul 2025 | Paperback: Jul 2026

Critics' Consensus:

In this outrageous and deeply serious satire, two star indoor volleyball players juggle unspoken jealousies in their off-court romance ahead of their rival teams' first rematch in a year.

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The Emperor of Gladness

A Novel

by Ocean Vuong

Hardcover: May 2025 | Paperback: Jul 2026

Critics' Consensus:

Ocean Vuong returns with a bighearted novel about chosen family, unexpected friendship, and the stories we tell ourselves in order to survive.

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The Door in Penrose Forest

A Novel

by Sean David Robinson

Hardcover: Jun 2026

Critics' Consensus:

A man returns to his strange hometown twenty years after his mother climbed a staircase in the wilderness and disappeared in this speculative mystery where We Used to Live Here meets The Midnight Library.

Summary + Reading List

Room on the Sea

Three Novellas

by Andre Aciman

Hardcover: Apr 2025 | Paperback: Jun 2026

Critics' Consensus:

Three hypnotic novellas about obsessional love, missed connections, and enduring regret by the bestselling author of Call Me by Your Name.

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The House on Buzzards Bay

A Novel

by Dwyer Murphy

Hardcover: Jun 2025 | Paperback: Jun 2026

Critics' Consensus:

When a group of old college friends reunites for a summer vacation at a beach house in coastal Massachusetts, a sudden disappearance and the arrival of a seductive stranger threaten to unearth the darkest secrets of their relationships.

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The Slip

A Novel

by Lucas Schaefer

Hardcover: Jun 2025 | Paperback: Jun 2026

Critics' Consensus:

For readers of Jonathan Franzen and Nathan Hill comes a haymaker of an American novel about a missing teenage boy, cases of fluid and mistaken identity, and the transformative power of boxing.

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As If

A Novel

by Isabel Waidner

Paperback: Jun 2026

Critics' Consensus:

Two men meet in an apartment in London. They are strangers to one another, and yet they look remarkably alike.

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Pool House

A Novel

by Mary Choi

Hardcover: Jun 2026

Critics' Consensus:

Bestselling young adult author Mary H.K. Choi debuts a brilliantly observed adult novel about mothers, daughters and the complexity of family set against the backdrop of Hollywood.

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