"The Monster in Your Path"

New from the University of California Press: The Monster in Your Path: The Private Life of Caste in India by Sharika Thiranagama.

About the book, from the publisher:

The Monster in Your Path is an original and provocative look at why the global Left stumbles when dealing with historical structures of subordination like caste or race. Sharika Thiranagama examines rural communities in the South Indian state of Kerala, where decades of Communist Party rule has transformed life through land reform and social reorganization. Despite Marxist ideals, new forms of caste disparities have moved from “public” space to private spaces and private lives. Through an exquisitely crafted ethnography that centers Dalit women, the book explains how historical economies of humiliation and subordination continue to influence modern spaces like the private home. From histories of enslavement to an exploration of the houses and neighborhoods through which Dalit communities build dignity and self-worth, Thiranagama sets a new agenda for caste studies in India and beyond.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Thanks For Watching"

New from Inimitable Books: Thanks For Watching by Kate Cavanaugh.

About the book, from the publisher:

This irreverent psychological thriller shows the humor and dark side of the life of an influencer - think And Then There Were None but with sponsored livestreams.

Michelle Monroe’s fifteen minutes are almost up.

After ten years online, she is a master at her trade: scamming her fans. But her once-bright internet stardom is blinking into oblivion. The brand deals are drying up, the views are plummeting, and even her haters no longer care enough to snark.

When she spots an ornate, scarlet envelope sitting outside her high-rise condo, she realizes her luck is about to change. It’s an invite to an exclusive brand trip for the new energy drink company, Excelsior. The answer is easy: Yes. Even if she has to tolerate hours with the peers that surpassed her.

The worst she expects is a blow-out fight or two (filmed, of course, from multiple angles). But no one anticipates joining a different kind of Mile-High Club: witnessing the death of their frenemy at 30,000 feet. Still, the most tragic news of all is that there’s no internet on the island, no turndown service, and only each other and their shared grudges for entertainment.

As the backstabbing turns literal, and more influencers die in awful, strange ways, the dwindling group can no longer deny the obvious: someone gathered them there to die.

Visit Kate Cavanaugh's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Deep Dark Data"

New from the University of California Press: Deep Dark Data: How Information Became Personal by Alison Cool.

About the book, from the publisher:

Why does the problem of data privacy remain so intractable? Deep Dark Data explores how this contemporary problem begins with the ways we define and use personal data. Instead of debating how best to protect personal data, Alison Cool argues that we would be better off asking how data became personal in the first place. Drawing on years of ethnographic research in Sweden, the most datafied country in the world, Cool reveals that what we call personal data encapsulates a number of very different relations between data and persons, none of which are inherent in the data itself. This surprising and highly original book untangles these relations and traces their troubled histories, ultimately inviting us to understand privacy as a gendered and racialized politics of moral exclusion.

--Marshal Zeringue

"The Lost Book of Lancelot"

New from Grand Central Publishing: The Lost Book of Lancelot: A Novel by John Glynn.

About the novel, from the publisher:

A "breathtaking" (Sarah Penner) reimagining of the legend of Sir Lancelot, following the famous knight as he grows up orphaned, falls in love, and attempts to fulfill his destiny at the Round Table—from the bestselling author of Out East.

Hidden away on the Isle of Women, a nameless orphan grows up among a powerful sisterhood, but always at a distance. He hears whispers of a prophecy that may shed light on his destiny—and his true identity: Lancelot. Determined to master the skills of knighthood, he begins training in tandem with the handsome Galehaut. As the two become inseparable, they guide one another toward their truest selves. But no matter how tightly they cling to one another, each has a role to play in the wizard Merlin's grand prophecies.

When Lancelot is forced to follow Merlin to Camelot, he fights to protect his heart while seeking the fabled grail alongside King Arthur and his knights of the Round Table. But when Roman legionaries encroach on their kingdom, their quest takes on new urgency, as does Lancelot's explosive secret—the truth of what he left behind on the Isle of Women.

Steeped in rich medieval lore, The Lost Book of Lancelot is at once an immersive, a poignant love story and an epic, unforgettable tale of a vulnerable boy who is forced to rise to the occasion amid a battle between the old world and the new.

Visit John Glynn's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Delivering Knowledge"

New from Stanford University Press: Delivering Knowledge: Jewish Midwives and Hidden Healing in Early Modern Europe by Jordan R. Katz.

About the book, from the publisher:

This book offers a new perspective on the history of early modern Jewish communities by centering the experiences of Jewish midwives. In the wake of the Thirty Years' War, as cities and towns across northern and central Europe placed new emphasis on the regulation of healthcare and childbirth, Jewish midwives stood at the crossroads of tremendous changes in both Jewish communities and the surrounding Christian municipalities. Drawing on previously untapped archival sources, Jordan Katz reveals that Jewish midwives were integral to the expansion of medical bureaucracies, crossing boundaries between genders, between religious communities, and across classes through their work caring for pregnant women and newborn babies.

Grounded in rich historical evidence, the book shows how a focus on Jewish midwives illuminates the complex relationships between Jewish communities and local municipalities, showcasing a level of engagement between Jews and Christian civic authorities that has gone unstudied. Through the lens of midwives, this book opens up new understandings of Jewish communal history, the history of women's healing practices, Jewish-Christian relations, and cultures of record in the early modern period.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Girls Our Age"

New from Lake Union: Girls Our Age: A Novel by Phoebe Thompson.

About the book, from the publisher:

Three women navigate their late twenties together in a bittersweet novel about female friendship, identity, and growing up―from the hope and promise of college to the realities that lie beyond.

Lily, Ana, and Margot have been best friends ever since Hawthorne Res Life assigned them as roommates during their first year of college.

Ten years later and Lily is planning her wedding to the endlessly supportive and entirely symmetrical Jack. Ana is a fourth-grade teacher at the prestigious Horizon Academy, alma mater of her long-term boyfriend, who’s finally asked her to move in. Margot is about to land a life-changing promotion at ad agency McQueen O’Doul.

It all looks good from here.

But when the three friends converge on Maine for the wedding, the real challenges they’ve been able to keep from each other begin to surface. It’s finally time to open up about the very private struggles they’ve hidden for too long and the risks they’ve taken to protect themselves, and those they love, from the truth.

Visit Phoebe Thompson's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Transgressing Time"

New from Ohio State University Press: Transgressing Time: The Device at the Heart of Time Travel by Edward Royston.

About the book, from the publisher:

The first systemic analysis of time travel as narrative device, Edward Royston’s Transgressing Time argues that as a fictional conceit, time travel can most fruitfully be understood from a narratological perspective that sidesteps questions of its plausibility. In service of this goal, Royston identifies the precise narrative device, “anachronic metalepsis,” that powers time travel. Existing at the confluence of narrative’s power to manipulate temporality and fiction’s power to transgress and displace across ontological boundaries, anachronic metalepsis demonstrates that the power of narrative itself is what enables time travel.

Royston bolsters this concept through readings of classics such as Back to the Future and Octavia E. Butler’s Kindred, contemporary works such as the video game Outer Wilds and Scott Alexander Howard’s The Other Valley, and lesser-known works such as the nineteenth-century Spanish novel El Anacronópete. These readings demonstrate how time travel functions across different mediums and genres and spotlights the ways authors and creators have used anachronic metalepsis to contend with themes of exile, freedom and consequences, the powers and pitfalls of nostalgia, the nature of history and our relationship to it, and the nature of time itself.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Time to Burn"

Coming August 4 from Harper: Time to Burn: A Novel by Ellery Lloyd.

About the novel, from the publisher:

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Club comes a gripping mystery about time travel tourism and the dangerous consequences which ensue when the privileged make the past their playground.

Mercurial tech entrepreneur Inigo Frank has perfected commercial time travel, though it is tightly regulated and so expensive that it’s open only to the very wealthiest.

His company, Tempus Tours, has so far been approved for just one route: a journey back to London in 1941, to the days of the Blitz, allowing the super—rich to experience the awesome sights and sounds of the aerial bombardment of the capital during World War II. It’s a slick operation—routes across the wartime city are meticulously plotted, guides are extensively trained, and rules for the time tourists are strictly enforced.

To immortalize his achievement, Frank enlists award—winning filmmaker Phoebe Hunt to create a fly—on—the—wall documentary. On her first day shadowing Inigo, she is set to witness the return of a billionaire property developer and his family from their trip to the past. But instead of their awe—filled return, she captures the group arriving bloodied and traumatized, with one of their number missing.

Not only that, but Phoebe recognizes the missing woman, and knows not only that she’s not who she claims to be but that she has every reason to harbor a grudge against her. And as events begin to unravel in the present day, it seems increasingly clear that she had sinister motives for returning to the past—and that people close to Phoebe are in danger.

Phoebe must race to untangle the truth—before past and the future are rewritten.

With this inventive, propulsive and genre—bending page turner, the bestselling author of The Club and The Final Act of Juliette Willoughby once again delivers an enthralling tale of legacy and wealth, history and technology with a gripping mystery at its core.

Visit Ellery Lloyd's website.

My Book, The Movie: The Final Act of Juliette Willoughby.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Falling Fast"

New from Oxford University Press: Falling Fast: The Perils and Possibilities of Emophilia by Daniel N. Jones.

About the book, from the publisher:

A unique look at emophilia--the tendency to fall in love fast, easily, and often--and the profound impact it has on our lives and the lives of those around us.

Why do some people fall in love in an instant--again and again--while others take months or even years?

Across cultures, the concept of "love at first sight" has captivated us across recorded history. We all seem to know at least one hopeless romantic who falls quickly and easily, and while it's easy to dismiss this, only recently have we begun to study it from a psychological standpoint. In this book, social and personality psychologist Daniel N. Jones explores the fascinating science behind the tendency to fall in love fast, easily, and often. This groundbreaking book introduces emophilia--a powerful but often overlooked personality trait that influences how we connect, commit, and sometimes crash in our romantic lives. It draws upon cutting-edge research to explore topics like why some people are wired for whirlwind romances, risks behind what is known as "emotional promiscuity"--including infidelity and toxic partners--and impacts on emotional wellbeing.

With its fresh lens on love, intimacy, and the psychology of connection, this insightful, provocative, and deeply human book, offers a refined understanding of people who fall in love quickly and deeply--and sometimes out of love just as fast.

Visit Daniel N. Jones's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"The Last Page"

New from Crooked Lane Books: The Last Page: A Novel by Katie Holt.

About the novel, from the publisher:

A bookseller with a dream of running her beloved bookstore vs. the owner’s out-of-touch grandson who inherits everything. Game on.

From the author of Not in My Book comes another irresistible, bookish contemporary romance.

Ella has grown up at The Last Page, a charming local bookstore in New York City where she now works. Her first kiss was in the women’s health section. A boyfriend dumped her in comedy. The owner is like a second father to her and has begun training her to take over the store. So when he unexpectedly dies and his estranged grandson is left everything in the will, Ella is devastated.

Henry doesn’t know the first thing about running a bookstore. With his aging mom back in Tennessee, he plans to stay in New York just long enough to ensure things are running smoothly and then head back home. What he never could have counted on was the beautiful, funny bookseller who loves The Last Page more than any place in the world—and who sees him as the villain who’s come to ruin her life.

But when it becomes evident that the store is in deep financial trouble and Henry and Ella are both at risk of losing everything, they have no choice but to put their differences aside and team up—despite the inconvenient chemistry blossoming between them.

Fans of Christina Lauren and Ali Hazelwood will adore this rivals-to-friends-to-lovers bookish romance!

Visit Katie Holt's website.

--Marshal Zeringue