"Whale Harbor"

Coming October 20 from Scribner: Whale Harbor: A Novel by Mary Beth Keane.

About the book, from the publisher:

From New York Times bestselling author of the “magnificent” (Fresh Air), “propulsive” (People), and “profound” (Vogue) Ask Again, Yes, a sweeping multigenerational saga inspired by the author's own family history, following eleven brothers as they are set on different paths between Ireland, England, Montana, and New York.

1960s, Ireland. In the wake of tragedy, a father makes choices for his eleven grieving sons. The older brothers will emigrate to England for work, while the younger ones will stay behind. The second eldest, Macdara, is offered a job on a Montana cattle ranch and sets off. His spirited younger brother Rian begs to come along and Mac promises to bring Rian to America as soon as he’s old enough. But then one day Mac gets a call that Rian has gone missing. His disappearance will haunt Mac and his family across decades.

Spanning lifetimes and continents, Whale Harbor is “tender, immersive, and exquisitely written” (Florence Knapp, author of The Names) with award-winning author Mary Beth Keane’s signature wit, eloquence, and attention to the emotional resonance of family, brotherhood, and the choices that echo across generations.

Visit Mary Beth Keane's website.

The Page 69 Test: Fever.

Writers Read: Mary Beth Keane (March 2013).

--Marshal Zeringue

"Empire by Association"

New from Yale University Press: Empire by Association: Agriculture and the Reorganization of the Rural Economy in Colonial Korea by Holly Stephens.

About the book, from the publisher:

How governmental associations shaped agricultural production in Korea during Japan’s colonization

Drawing on the diaries of everyday farmers, Holly Stephens examines the introduction of scientific and commercial agriculture in Korea from the late nineteenth century through liberation from Japanese rule in 1945. After Japan annexed Korea in 1910, colonial bureaucrats introduced numerous agricultural policies as they sought to turn Korea into a useful imperial possession. In particular, the colonial government hoped to establish Korea as a source of raw materials. To support the necessary increase in cultivation, it created policies introducing new cultivars, new farming methods, and new procedures for crop sales. Yet nature and farmers alike defied the expectations of colonial planners.

To demonstrate how the colonial infrastructure of scientific agriculture was experienced and interpreted by ordinary farmers, Stephens traces the implementation of colonial agricultural policies through a series of semi-governmental associations, which were the main agents of the colonial state in the rural economy. As these associations became embedded within the rural economy, they took on significance not just as a representation of the government but also as a conduit of new exchange networks and understandings of agriculture based on scientific and commercial principles, issues that would continue to influence agricultural production even after liberation.

--Marshal Zeringue

"The Finalist"

New from Grand Central Publishing: The Finalist by Faith Gladwin.

About the novel, from the publisher:

Seven ballerinas. One fallen primadonna. The audition of a lifetime. And a mysterious house that swallows the weakest one by one...

There is no performance art as punishing as ballet―and no top-tier ballerina is as punished as Eden. While others practice their steps over and over, Eden waits, knowing her body can perform only so many times before it breaks. But Eden will need to be perfect―or even better―at Deveraux Manor, secluded amid snowy mountains, where she and six other hopefuls are sequestered in a month-long audition for the mysterious, alluring, tragic former ballerina Leanora Karagianni.

Only one finalist will join Leanora's company and dance the lead. Eden wants it more than anything, but not more than anyone. Her competitors will take every advantage they can. And the cursed house twisting around them will push each ballerina to the bloody edge―and over it. As Eden fights her attraction to the seductive Leonora and the stakes turn lethal, she'll discover that only the dancer who pays the house’s terrible price can become the finalist.

Visit Faith Gladwin's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Forms of Suffering"

New from Cornell University Press: Forms of Suffering: Ethics, Aesthetics, and Chaucerian Pity by Jessica Hines.

About the book, from the publisher:

Forms of Suffering demonstrates how Geoffrey Chaucer transformed pity into a central ethical and aesthetic concern in English literature by tracing his reformulations of trans-European pity discourses for an English audience. In these reformulations, Chaucer brought to the fore the modes and effects of pity's work in challenging, even overturning, traditional power structures such as social status, gender, and race. Critically, his consideration of pity also explores its precarity: the ways that pity could easily slide from transformative justice into a weapon of unjust oppression.

Jessica Hines describes how Chaucer's writing was formative in shaping an English pity discourse increasingly critical of the sociopolitical capacity of pity to act as a tool for challenging injustice and reforming oppressive social structures. Forms of Suffering makes clear the profound appeal of pity's ability to challenge structures of power in Chaucer's writing, as well as the ways that pity itself could be―and was being―manipulated by the powerful for their own ends.

Visit Jessica Hines's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Strange Bedfellows"

New from Atria/Emily Bestler Books: Strange Bedfellows: A Novel by Amanda Mortlock.

About the book, from the publisher:

A dark and steamy debut novel about a girl, who is sometimes a cat, the witch she loves, and the toxic secrets from her past that are threatening to unravel the delicate balance of her future.

Cleo is a willfully aloof college student with an impossible secret. When she meets Wes, a brooding musician, at a Halloween party, their connection is instant, electric, and impossible to ignore. Their romance takes a mystical turn when Wes discovers what Cleo’s been hiding: sometimes she takes the form of his pet cat.

Enter Bailey and Ollie—their magical counterparts—who reveal a deeper tie between Cleo and Wes: he’s a witch, and she’s his familiar. As past secrets collide with their entangled present, Cleo faces her greatest fear—losing Wes. With long-gone threats returning and danger looming, Cleo must confront her role in their dark and violent shared history and decide if she’s willing to fight for their future.

Visit Amanda Mortlock's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Buscando la gozadera / Seeking Pleasure"

New from Wesleyan University Press: Buscando la gozadera / Seeking Pleasure: Timba Culture and Community by Sarah Town.

About the book, from the publisher:

Explores the forging of global community through Caribbean music and dance

Buscando la gozadera / Seeking Pleasure traces the rise and global journey of timba music and culture from its beginnings in 1980s Havana to its vibrant presence in 2010s New York City and beyond. Alongside timba, Cuba's most popular social dance―rueda de casino―began to spread internationally in the 1990s as the island reopened to tourism and foreign investment after years of limited global contact. Through bold performances and shared energy, timba and casino brought musicians and dancers together in moments of joyful intensity known as la gozadera. For Cubans, la gozadera was a form of resilience; for outsiders, it became part of the island's long tradition of offering powerful musical experiences to the world. Buscando la gozadera weaves together history, ethnography, and music and dance analysis to explore interactivity and improvisation. It also examines themes of race, gender, and neoliberalism, while probing issues of labor, economy, and virtuosity in the pursuit and circulation of pleasure through popular music and social dance. Sarah Town is a musician and dancer embedded in the Cuban dance communities she researches. She highlights the importance of grassroots networks of musicians and dancers that inhabit the margins, showing how they refuse narratives of scarcity to immerse themselves in communal pleasure.

Follow Sarah Twon on Instagram.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Trust Fall"

New from S&S Books for Young Readers: Trust Fall by Lynn Painter.

About the book, from the publisher:

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Better Than the Movies, Lynn Painter, comes a rags-to-riches rom-com about a small-town girl whose family inherits a fortune and moves to New York City, where she meets a big-city boy hiding an explosive secret.

Julia is just a small-town girl from Nebraska who loves her peaceful life. But when her elderly next-door neighbor—who just happens to be a secret multi-millionaire—leaves everything to Julia and her family after his passing, Julia is swept away to live in a historic brownstone in New York City and attend an elite private school for the super-rich.

It should be a dream come true. Wrong. Julia doesn’t fit in at her new school; worse, she’s failing. Enter Damion, the mysterious and handsome tutor who will get Julia back on track. Except Damion has a secret. He is the great-nephew of the man who left everything to Julia’s family. Damion doesn’t buy for a second that the person who was like a father to him would leave his home to strangers. And he’s determined to prove it.

To uncover the truth, Damion schemes to earn Julia’s trust. Not an easy task with Julia unsure about this rich boy with a rebellious personality. But the more time Damion spends with Julia, the more his plan begins to backfire. Because he is falling for the enemy—and the enemy is falling for him.

As Damion and Julia figure out where they belong, can they see past their differences and act on their feelings, or will the trust Damion has worked so hard to gain fall apart?

Visit Lynn Painter's website.

Q&A with Lynn Painter.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Ordinary Horror"

New from Stanford University Press: Ordinary Horror: The Aesthetics of Deformation from Leopardi to Ferrante by Andrea Capra.

About the book, from the publisher:

What is horror? Setting aside the implausible circumstances typical of the horror genre, Capra investigates what he terms "ordinary horror"—the horror that haunts our world, and that we may encounter firsthand. Drawing from ordinary language philosophy and phenomenology, he reframes horror as a common human experience tied to a sense of forced powerlessness—the shattering moment when our control over a given situation, and our very sense of reality, unravels. By tracing this experience across texts beyond the horror genre, Capra reveals its significance for our time. Centering on modern Italian literature, Ordinary Horror shows a tradition not typically associated with horror to be rife with it. To this end, Capra emphasizes the centrality of the experience in canonical authors, as seen, for instance, in Giacomo Leopardi's pages on existential suffering, Primo Levi's writings on Auschwitz, and Elena Ferrante's descriptions of sexual violence. Literature, Capra argues, can convey horror's experiential magnitude through what he calls the "aesthetics of deformation"—scenes when otherwise realistic texts depart from verisimilitude and embrace a more disquieting style. Weaving together aesthetics and phenomenology, Capra shows that just as horror may rupture the fabric of everyday life, so too may it rupture the fabric of a literary text.

Visit Andrea Capra's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"House Haunters"

New from Tor Nightfire: House Haunters by KC Jones.

About the book, from the publisher:

From Bram Stoker Award finalist KC Jones comes House Haunters, a fast-paced thrill ride perfect for fans of How to Sell a Haunted House and Play Nice, in which a skeptical reality TV show producer and a misanthropic ghosthunter must team up to survive a shoot from hell.

Grace Wonderly needs a hit show, or her career is dead. But saving her job might just kill her.

With her studio relying on AI to greenlight new projects, finding the next breakout series is Grace's only shot to save her job. And her sanity.

Her solution may be Frank Pendleton: a brilliant but abrasive - and admittedly handsome - ghost hunter who claims he can’t feel fear, making him uniquely attuned to the paranormal.

Frank is either a fraud or the real deal. Skeptical, but hoping for TV gold, Grace assembles a crew to shoot a proof of concept.

But when the production descends into a nightmare, Grace is forced to face the impossible: ghosts are real, and though cold and distant, Frank may be their only chance of getting out alive.

Visit KC Jones's website.

The Page 69 Test: White Line Fever.

Q&A with KC Jones.

--Marshal Zeringue

"The Madness of Markets"

New from Crown Currency: The Madness of Markets: Why Smart Investors Make Crazy Decisions–and How to Exploit Them by Alex Edmans.

About the book, from the publisher:

A groundbreaking look at what drives even the smartest investors to make irrational choices and a practical roadmap for profiting when the market loses its mind—from one of the world’s leading finance professors

Why did Isaac Newton lose a fortune in the South Sea Bubble? Why did people spend millions on cartoon apes during the NFT frenzy? Why does the stock market fall when a national soccer team loses, or rise on a sunny day?

In this lively, eye-opening, and highly practical book, Alex Edmans reveals the hidden psychological forces that push markets away from logic—and create opportunities for those who stay sane while others panic. Drawing on cutting-edge studies and his more than twenty years at the intersection of academia and Wall Street, Edmans explains why investors chronically overreact, underreact, and misreact—and how these mistakes lead to bubbles, crashes, hype cycles, and portfolio wipeouts.

But The Madness of Markets isn’t just about spotting irrationality—it’s about outsmarting it. Edmans shows you how to think sharper, invest smarter, dodge predictable traps, and recognize when the crowd has lost the plot. Playfully rigorous and packed with unforgettable stories—from Reddit frenzies to CEO ego trips to World Cup upsets—The Madness of Markets offers an accessible yet thorough guide for anyone looking to make smarter decisions in a noisy financial world.

This book is for anyone with a pension, an IRA, or a long-term stake in the market—whether you’re chasing crypto highs or simply protecting your retirement while the world spins out of control.

Visit Alex Edmans's website.

The Page 99 Test: May Contain Lies.

--Marshal Zeringue