"Sink or Swim"

New from The University of North Carolina Press: Sink or Swim: Capitalist Selfhood and Nineteenth-Century American Literature by Andrew Kopec.

About the book, from the publisher:

People living in the nineteenth-century United States saw shocking upheavals in both the economy and in ideas of selfhood in a commercial society. Narratives such as Horatio Alger’s rags-to-riches tales allured Americans with visions of financial success, while events such as the Panics of 1819, 1837, 1857, and 1865 threatened them with sudden and devastating financial failure. The antebellum period’s “go-ahead” ethos encouraged individuals to form an identity amid this chaos by striving for financial success through risk-taking—that is, to form a capitalist self. Andrew Kopec argues that writers of this era were not immune to this business turbulence; rather, their responses to it shaped the development of American literature. By examining the public and private writings of well-known American writers—including Washington Irving, Catharine Maria Sedgwick, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville, and Frederick Douglass—Kopec contends that, instead of anxiously retreating from the volatile market, these figures deliberately engaged with it in their writing.

These writers grappled with both the limits and opportunities of capitalist selfhood and tried, in various ways, to harness the economy’s energies for the benefit of the self. In making this argument, Kopec invites readers to consider how this era of American literature questioned the ideologies of capitalist identity that seem inescapable today.

--Marshal Zeringue

"The Irish Goodbye"

New from Henry Holt: The Irish Goodbye: A Novel by Heather Aimee O'Neill.

About the book, from the publisher:

In this debut, for fans of J. Courtney Sullivan and Mary Beth Keane, three adult sisters grapple with a shared tragedy over a Thanksgiving weekend as they try to heal strained family bonds through the passage of time.

It’s been years since the three Ryan sisters were all together at their beloved family home on the eastern shore of Long Island. Two decades ago, their lives were upended by an accident on their brother Topher’s boat: A friend’s brother was killed, the resulting lawsuit nearly bankrupted their parents, and Topher spiraled into depression, eventually taking his life. Now the Ryan women are back for Thanksgiving, eager to reconnect, but each carrying a heavy secret. The eldest, Cait, still holding guilt for the role no one knows she played in the boat accident, rekindles a flame with her high school crush: Topher’s best friend and the brother of the boy who died. Middle sister, Alice, has been thrown a curveball that threatens the career she’s restarting and faces a difficult decision that may doom her marriage. And the youngest, Maggie, is finally taking the risk of bringing the woman she loves home to meet her devoutly Catholic mother. Infusing everything is the grief for Topher that none of the Ryans have figured out how to carry together.

When Cait invites a guest from their shared past to Thanksgiving dinner, old tensions boil over and new truths surface, nearly overpowering the flickering light of their family bond. Far more than a family holiday will be ruined unless the sisters can find a way to forgive themselves—and one another.

Visit Heather Aimee O'Neill's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Scream with Me"

New from Atria Books: Scream with Me: Horror Films and the Rise of American Feminism (1968-1980) by Eleanor Johnson.

About the book, from the publisher:

A compelling, intelligent, and timely exploration of the horror genre from one of Columbia University’s most popular professors, shedding light on how classic horror films demonstrate larger cultural attitudes about women’s rights, bodily autonomy, and more.

In May of 2022, Columbia University’s Dr. Eleanor Johnson watched along with her students as the Supreme Court reversed Roe v. Wade. At the same time, her class was studying the 1968 horror film Rosemary’s Baby and Johnson had a sudden epiphany: horror cinema engages directly with the combustive politics of women’s rights and offer a light through the darkness and an outlet to scream.

With a voice as persuasive as it is insightful, Johnson reveals how classics like Rosemary’s Baby, The Exorcist, and The Shining expose and critique issues of reproductive control, domestic violence, and patriarchal oppression. Scream with Me weaves these iconic films into the fabric of American feminism, revealing that true horror often lies not in the supernatural, but in the familiar confines of the home, exposing the deep-seated fears and realities of women’s lives.

While on the one hand a joyful celebration of seminal and beloved horror films, Scream with Me is also an unflinching and timely recognition of the power of this genre to shape and reflect cultural dialogues about gender and power.

--Marshal Zeringue

"The October Film Haunt"

New from St. Martin's Press: The October Film Haunt: A Novel by Michael Wehunt.

About the book, from the publisher:

Horror Movie meets the scope and emotion of Stephen King in this heart-pounding, magnetic tour de force novel, destined to become an instant classic, about a woman pulled into a cult horror film that is determined to have a sequel, by critically acclaimed author Michael Wehunt.

Ten years ago, Jorie Stroud was the rising star of the October Film Haunt – a trio of horror enthusiasts who camped out at the filming locations of their favorite scary movies, sharing their love through their popular blog. But after a night in the graveyard from Proof of Demons – perhaps the most chilling cult film ever made, directed by the enigmatic Hélène Enriquez – everything unraveled.

Now, Jorie has built an isolated life with her young son in Vermont. In the devastating wake of her viral, truth-stretching Proof of Demons blog entry — hysteria, internet backlash, and the death of a young woman — Jorie has put it all, along with her intense love for the horror genre, behind her.

Until a videotape arrives in the mail. Jorie fears someone might be filming her. And the “Rickies” – Enriquez obsessives who would do anything for the reclusive director – begin to cross lines in shocking ways. It seems Hélène Enriquez is making a new kind of sequel…and Jorie is her final girl.

As the dangers grow even more unexpected and strange, Jorie must search for answers before the Proof of the movie’s title finds her and takes everything she loves.

This riveting and layered horror novel unleashes supernatural terror in a world where truth can be manipulated, and nothing is as it seems. Beautiful and horrifying, with an unforgettable cast of characters, The October Film Haunt will shock and delight readers all the way to its breathless final page.

Visit Michael Wehunt's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Lab Dog"

Coming October 14 from Seal Press: Lab Dog: A Beagle and His Human Investigate the Surprising World of Animal Research by Melanie D.G. Kaplan.

About the book, from the publisher:

The “remarkable” (Dr. Jane Goodall) story of a beagle’s past, and the future of animal research

When journalist Melanie D.G. Kaplan adopted her beagle Hammy, all she knew was that he had spent nearly four years in a research lab. Curious to know more about this gentle creature’s past, as well as the broader world of animal research, Kaplan—with Hammy in tow—embarks on a quest for answers. How did Hammy end up in a research facility? Why are we still using millions of animals a year in experiments? What have we learned from them? Is there another way?

In Lab Dog, Kaplan investigates the breeding and use of beagles for biomedical research, drug and product testing, and education. She takes readers on a journey, peeking behind laboratory doors and visiting with researchers, activists, ethicists, veterinarians, lawmakers, and innovators. Along the way, she finds thoughtful and caring humans on all sides of the debate, explores promising developments in nonanimal testing, and discovers puzzle pieces from Hammy’s past. Equal parts journalism and love story, Lab Dog offers a nuanced view on our relationship with a species that we both love and exploit, and a reason to hope for a better future for all.

Visit Melanie D.G. Kaplan's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"The Reveal"

Coming October 7 from Montlake: The Reveal (Book 1 of 2: Bloodlore) by Megan Crane.

About the book, from the publisher:

In the wake of a monstrous world war, a mortal woman’s submission to an enigmatic vampire is the only way to live in this enthralling paranormal romance from USA Today bestselling author Megan Crane.

It’s a different world now, Winter Bishop. Get used to it. Or die.

For the three years since the Reveal, when monsters rose from the shadows, I’ve been just another human trying to maintain normalcy in a world where life is short and brutal. Coexisting with werewolves, zombies, and vampires―each alarmingly true to their myths―isn’t easy.

Now I’ve been summoned by Ariel Skinner, the charismatic king of the vampires, who holds my missing brother’s life in his hands. To save him, I must do everything Ariel says. His quicksilver gaze and the way he makes my body hum should scare me, but the wildfire chemistry is just too hot.

I should have known that Ariel would want more.

Because there’s a greater cataclysm to come, and it will make everything worse. To help stop it, Ariel needs me. And whatever fresh hell arises, with every beat of my disastrously mortal heart, I need him.

After all, I’m only human.

Visit Megan Crane's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Too Poor to Die"

New from Rutgers University Press: Too Poor to Die: The Hidden Realities of Dying in the Margins by Amy Shea.

About the book, from the publisher:

Death is the great equalizer, but not all deaths are created equal. In recent years, there has been an increased interest and advocacy concerning end-of-life and after-death care. An increasing number of individuals and organizations from health care to the funeral and death care industries are working to promote and encourage people to consider their end-of-life wishes. Yet, there are limits to who these efforts reach and who can access such resources. These conversations come from a place of good intentions, but also from a place of privilege.

Too Poor to Die: The Hidden Realities of Dying in the Margins, a collection of closely connected essays, takes the reader on a journey into what happens to those who die while experiencing homelessness or who end up indigent or unclaimed at the end of life. Too Poor to Die bears witness to the disparities in death and dying faced by some of society’s most vulnerable and marginalized and asks the reader to consider their own end-of-life and disposition plans within the larger context of how privilege and access plays a role in what we want versus what we get in death.

Visit Amy Shea's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"The Librarians"

New from Berkley: The Librarians by Sherry Thomas.

About the book, from the publisher:

Murder disrupts four quirky librarians' lives when they try to hide among books to keep their secrets.

Sometimes a workplace isn’t just a workplace but a place of safety, understanding, and acceptance. And sometimes murder threatens the sanctity of that beloved refuge....

In the leafy suburbs of Austin, Texas, a small branch library welcomes the public every day of the week. But the patrons who love the helpful, unobtrusive staff and leave rave reviews on Yelp don’t always realize that their librarians are human, too.

Hazel flees halfway across the world for what she hopes will be a new beginning. Jonathan, a six-foot-four former college football player, has never fit in anywhere else. Astrid tries to forget her heartbreak by immersing herself in work, but the man who ghosted her six months ago is back, promising trouble. And Sophie, who has the most to lose, maintains a careful and respectful distance from her coworkers, but soon that won't be enough anymore.

When two patrons turn up dead after the library’s inaugural murder mystery–themed game night, the librarians’ quiet routines come crashing down. Something sinister has stirred, something that threatens every single one of them. And the only way the librarians can save the library—and themselves—is to let go of their secrets, trust one another, and band together....

All in a day’s work.

Visit Sherry Thomas's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Black Gold"

New from the University of California Press: Black Gold: The Rise, Reign, and Fall of American Coal by Bob Wyss.

About the book, from the publisher:

Coal's central role in America's history and its ongoing threats in the climate crisis.

For decades coal has been crucial to America's culture, society, and environment, an essential ingredient in driving out winter's cold, cooking meals, and lighting the dark. In the coalfields and beyond, Bob Wyss describes how this magical elixir sparked the Industrial Revolution, powered railroads, and built urban skylines, while providing home comforts for families.

Coal's history and heritage are fundamental to understanding its legacy of threats to America's well-being. As industry developed so did clashes between powerful tycoons, coal miners, and innocent families. Exploitation and avarice led to victimization, deadly violence, and ultimately the American labor movement. More recently coal has endangered American lives and safety, brought on by two centuries of carbon combustion, and here the threat remains unresolved. This is coal's most enduring legacy, and Black Gold is pivotal in helping us understand how we got to this point.

--Marshal Zeringue

"The Weaver Bride"

New from Delacorte Press: The Weaver Bride: Book 1 by Lydia Gregovic.

About the book, from the publisher:

A sweeping fantasy about a witch who must navigate a ruthless marriage competition—and try not to fall in love along the way. Part twisting mystery, part thrilling romance, The Weaver Bride is an unputdownable romantasy steeped in a lush magical world.

The gorgeous first edition of The Weaver Bride will feature stunning, stenciled edges and printed endpapers!

Lovett Tamerlane is a silkwitch. Like all girls of her kind, she holds a rare magic—a magic that can be harnessed only through marriage to a Weaver. But finding a Weaver husband requires status, refinement, and money, all of which Lovett sadly lacks. Her one secret ability, to open any door, is her saving grace. Hidden in plain sight, Lovett spends her days using her gift to steal from wealthy families and her nights avoiding the fate imposed on all unwed silkwitches: a life confined to the cloisters.

But opening doors can be dangerous, and when Lovett steals from the wrong person, she finds herself face to face with Eliot Lear, the notorious son of a prominent Weaver. It turns out Eliot’s been watching Lovett. He knows she’s a silkwitch, and he offers her a life-altering opportunity: entrance to the Vainglory, a competition with the ultimate prize—marriage to Noé Alaire, heir to generations of Weaver wealth. The catch? Last year, the Vainglory ended in tragedy. The winner died. And the winner was Eliot’s sister.

The arrangement is simple: If Lovett solves the mystery of Ophelia Lear’s death and unmasks her killer, Eliot will ensure she has her pick of Weaver suitors, regardless of who wins the competition. Yet unraveling Ophelia’s murder proves far more complicated than either of them anticipated. And Lovett should know better than to take a Weaver at his word.

After all . . . what is love without betrayal?

Visit Lydia Gregovic's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"The Sweet Taste of Empire"

New from the University of Pennsylvania Press: The Sweet Taste of Empire: Sugar, Mastery, and Pleasure in the Anglo Caribbean by Kim F. Hall.

About the book, from the publisher:

How seventeenth-century English literary genres associated with gastronomic and aesthetic pleasure shaped representations of Caribbean colonization and slavery

Over the course of the seventeenth century, sugar prices fell drastically. As this newly affordable luxury made its way from royal entertainments to the closets of home cooks in ever increasing quantities, sugar bound England’s fortunes to the Caribbean. The pursuit of sugar’s pleasures and profits generated newly visible and vexed relationships―not simply between enslaved and enslaver but also between enslaved and consumer―that threatened the English sense of the nation, the household, and the self.

The Sweet Taste of Empire explores how the unique emphasis the English placed on confections as a marker of status and national identity offered a framework for grappling with changing notions of race, gender, labor, and domesticity that shaped early colonization. Tracing the literal and literary uses of sugar in seventeenth-century England, Kim F. Hall shows how literary genres associated with gastronomic and aesthetic pleasure shaped representations of Caribbean colonization and slavery, developing a culinary language that functioned as a discourse of pleasure and white innocence. In turn, Hall argues, Caribbean sugar production influenced domestic consumption and trade in England, as well as the very notion of what it meant to be English.

Drawing on a wide range of early Anglo-Caribbean texts―from cookbooks and banquet menus to economic poetry, to maps and treatises on plantation labor and health―Hall uncovers what she calls a plantation aesthetic, in which writers mobilize ways of seeing from pastoral, georgic, and landscape discourses when addressing issues of race and enslavement. This plantation aesthetic reveals deep worry over the threat African slavery poses to the imagined idea of English plantations as idealized agrarian life, ultimately shaping the history of both English slavery and the later anti-slavery response. Recentering the Caribbean in early modern literary studies, The Sweet Taste of Empire sheds new light on the aesthetic and the poetic in the archives of Caribbean enslavement.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Fake Skating"

New from Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers: Fake Skating 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 heartfelt and banter-filled rom-com about childhood sweethearts whose icy reunion in their hockey-loving hometown unexpectedly thaws when they fake a romantic relationship.

Growing up, Dani couldn’t help but follow around the adorable son of her mom’s best friend. Funny, kind of nerdy, and a little soft, Alec was always down to hang with Dani when they were little. From play dates on the playground to sneaking into movie theaters, Dani and Alec were inseparable. Until Dani moved away. Alec promised they’d stay in touch—except, they didn’t.

Flash forward and Dani is back in Minnesota for her senior year, she and her mom living with her grandfather. Dealing with the fallout of her parents’ devastating divorce, Dani wouldn’t mind a nerd-out with the cozy and comforting Alec (and maybe a chance to confront him on his MIA status for all these years). But teenage Alec is nothing like the kid Dani remembers. He’s a hockey star in a town where hockey players are worshiped as gods. Dani’s place as his shadow has been taken up by drooling female fans...and he loves it.

Dani is resolved to ice out her former best friend until an unlikely series of events brings them together—and forces them to fake being a couple. Once forced together, the former childhood sweethearts begin to reconnect, unearth complicated family secrets, and face their true feelings towards each other...including the real reason Alec has been pushing Dani away all these years.

Visit Lynn Painter's website.

Q&A with Lynn Painter.

--Marshal Zeringue

"The Road Was Full of Thorns"

New from The New Press: The Road Was Full of Thorns: Running Toward Freedom in the American Civil War by Tom Zoellner.

About the book, from the publisher:

A radical retelling of the drama of emancipation, from New York Times bestselling author and winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award

In the opening days of the Civil War, three enslaved men approached the gates of Fort Monroe, a U.S. military installation in Virginia. In a snap decision, the fort’s commander “confiscated” them as contraband of war.

From then on, wherever the U.S. Army traveled, torrents of runaways rushed to secure their own freedom, a mass movement of 800,000 people—a fifth of the enslaved population of the South—that set the institution of slavery on a path to destruction.

In an engrossing work of narrative history, critically acclaimed historian Tom Zoellner introduces an unforgettable cast of characters whose stories will transform our popular understanding of how slavery ended. The Road Was Full of Thorns shows what emancipation looked and felt like for the people who made the desperate flight across dangerous territory: the taste of mud in the mouth, the terror of the slave patrols, and the fateful crossing into Union lines. Zoellner also reveals how the least powerful Americans changed the politics of war—forcing President Lincoln to issue the Emancipation Proclamation and opening the door to universal Black citizenship.

For readers of The 1619 Project—and anyone interested in the Civil War—The Road Was Full of Thorns is destined to reshape how we think about the story of American freedom.

Visit Tom Zoellner's website.

The Page 99 Test: The Heartless Stone.

Writers Read: Tom Zoellner (May 2008).

--Marshal Zeringue

"Wanting Daisy Dead"

New from Thomas & Mercer: Wanting Daisy Dead by Sue Watson.

About the book, from the publisher:

They all had a reason. Only one had the nerve.

Twenty years ago, student Daisy Harrington went out for the evening and never came home. Her body was found a week later. The killer was caught. Case closed.

Now, on what would have been her fortieth birthday, her five university housemates are invited to a weekend gathering. None of them want to go. But none of them can refuse―the invitation makes it clear that if they don’t attend, the past they’ve spent two decades hiding will finally come to light.

Because the man convicted of Daisy’s murder was innocent. And one of the five has known this all along. As the weekend unfolds, the truth threatens to finally be revealed…

They all wanted Daisy dead, but one wanted it more. The question is…who? And why?

Follow Sue Watson on Facebook, Instagram, and Threads.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Tech: When Silicon Valley Remakes the World"

New from the University of California Press: Tech: When Silicon Valley Remakes the World by Olivier Alexandre.

About the book, from the publisher:

The first holistic analysis of the space, mindset, and inner workings of Silicon Valley in a generation.

Sometimes only an outsider can show how an industry works—and how that industry works upon the world. In Tech, sociologist Olivier Alexandre takes us on a revealing tour of Silicon Valley's prominent personalities and vibrant networks to capture the way its denizens live, think, relate, and innovate, and how they shape the very code and conduct of business itself.

Even seasoned observers will gain insight into the industry's singular milieu from Alexandre’s piercing eye. He spends as much time with Silicon Valley's major players as with those who fight daily to survive within a system engineered for disruption. Embedded deep within the community, Alexandre accesses rooms shut tight to the public and reports back on the motivations, ambitions, and radical vision guiding tech companies. From the conquest of space to quantum computing, engineers have recast the infinitely large and small. Some scientists predict the end of death and the replacement of human beings with machines. But at what cost? Alexandre sees a shadow hanging over the Valley, jeopardizing its future and the economy made in its image. Critical yet fair, Tech illuminates anew a world of perpetual revolution.

--Marshal Zeringue

"It's Me They Follow"

New from Amistad: It's Me They Follow: A Novel by Jeannine A. Cook.

About the book, from the publisher:

An allegorical love story — a modern day Alchemist meets The Never Ending Story — set in a world where a book shopkeeper becomes a reluctant matchmaker, bringing soulmates together through books.

It’s Me They Follow is an allegorical love story set in a not so distant past. It follows The Shopkeeper, a bookseller and reluctant matchmaker. Helping others find love through books comes easily for The Shopkeeper, until it is time for her to find love for herself.

She secretly yearns for her first customer, ME, who took both her most prized book and a piece of her heart when he left. But just when she begins to lose hope, she discovers that she may hold the key to her own happily ever after as well.

Real life Shopkeeper and author Jeannine A. Cook has conjured a magical story that is a book within a book within a book. Soon, readers will find themselves falling under the same love spell as her customers and characters. In this magical bookshop where the line between fiction and reality blurs, stories and real life intertwine

in an enchanting and moving narrative about human connection, the power of storytelling, and the spirit of love.

Visit Jeannine A. Cook's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Film City Urbanism in India"

New from Cambridge University Press: Film City Urbanism in India: Hyderabad, from Princely City to Global City, 1890-2000 by C. Yamini Krishna.

About the book, from the publisher:

The book is about the reciprocal relationship between cinema and the city as two institutions which co-constitute each other while fashioning the socio-political currents of the region. It interrogates imperial, postcolonial, socio-cultural, and economic imprints as captured, introduced, and left behind by politics of cinema, in the site of Hyderabad. It traverses through the makings and remakings of Hyderabad as princely city, linguistic capital city, and global city, studied through capital, labour, and organization of the film industry. It brings together diverse, and rich historical material to narrate the social history of Hyderabad, over a hundred years.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Murder at Blackwood Inn"

New from Crooked Lane Books: Murder at Blackwood Inn: A Haunted Dead and Breakfast Mystery by Penny Warner.

About the book, from the publisher:

A haunted house and the occult are the least of Carissa Blackwood’s problems when her eccentric aunts are accused of murder in this cozy series debut by multiple award–winning author Penny Warner.

Ghostwriter Carissa Blackwood is having the worst year of her life. After leaving her cheating husband, she finally takes up the offer to help her two eccentric aunts manage the Blackwood Bed ’n’ Breakfast Inn in Pelican Point, California–a house they only recently inherited from their deceased father, Bram Blackwood. The old man dabbled in the occult, and his daughters haven’t fallen far from the family tree. Aunt Runa is into crystals and plans to hold séances at the reportedly “haunted” house. Aunt Hazel has an herbary and offers herbal cures for everything from headaches to paranormal visions. But it’s Hazel’s poison garden that really concerns Carissa.

When one of the townspeople dies from a poison that could have only come from Aunt Hazel’s garden, the town is quick to point fingers. It doesn’t help that one of Aunt Runa’s charms is found at the scene of the crime. With a little help from Noah, the mysterious and handsome handyman; Aiden, the charming newspaperman—and the ghost of Carissa’s grandfather—it’s up to Carissa to clear her aunts and find the real killer before someone else is checked out for good at the B&B.

Visit Penny Warner's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Parting Gifts of Empire"

New from the University of California Press: Parting Gifts of Empire: Palestine and India at the Dawn of Decolonization by Esmat Elhalaby.

About the book, from the publisher:

Parting Gifts of Empire narrates an untold story of how Arabs and South Asians in the twentieth century sought to decolonize their minds. The histories of Palestine and India—both partitioned by the British Empire—are intimately linked. In the face of similar imperially created chasms, Arab and Indian intellectuals reinvigorated centuries of shared histories to forge new horizons, new solidarities, new institutions, and new fields of knowledge. In this book, Esmat Elhalaby traces the forgotten lives of scholars like Wadi’ al-Bustani, revisits Arab and Indian feminist meetings, highlights gatherings such as Delhi’s 1947 Asian Relations Conference, and argues for the centrality of Palestine to the rise of the Third World. This book breaks new ground to unfold a global intellectual history of anticolonialism, Asian unity, pan-Islamism, and nonalignment in the making of what became known as the Global South.

Visit Esmat Elhalaby's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Underspin"

New from Astra House: Underspin: A Novel by E. Y. Zhao.

About the book, from the publisher:

Stay True meets Headshot in this intimate, bruising coming-of-age novel about the short and tumultuous life of a charismatic and enigmatic table tennis prodigy, as seen through the eyes of those pulled into his orbit.

Ryan Lo begins playing table tennis at age eight, under the tutelage of his brilliant but ruthless coach Kristian, who sees talent in him that might be nurtured into greatness. Throughout an adolescence circumscribed by Kristian's demanding behavior, Ryan forms jealousy-fueled and mutually adoring friendships with his teammates and competitors, falls in love with fellow table tennis star Anabel Yu, and above all, wins championships.

By twenty-one, Ryan ascends all the way to the German Bundesliga, the highest echelon of international table tennis, just as he was supposed to, but he doesn't stay there. It is clear to all that Ryan Lo was meant to be the greatest in the world. Instead, he abandons competition and is dead before his twenty-fifth birthday. What happened?

In crisp, evocative prose, Underspin masterfully delves beneath the relentless pressure that forges a champion, considering adolescence, estrangement, and the great injustices committed within our closest relationships. A love letter to an underdog sports circuit and a tender exploration of love, loss and abuse, Underspin is a bildungsroman and literary puzzle for readers of Rita Bullwinkel, Hua Hsu, Susan Choi, and Brandon Taylor.

Visit E.Y. Zhao's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Epochal Crisis"

New from Cambridge University Press: Epochal Crisis: The Exhaustion of Global Capitalism by William I. Robinson.

About the book, from the publisher:

In a groundbreaking new study, acclaimed scholar of global capitalism William I. Robinson presents a bold, original, and timely 'big picture' analysis of the unprecedented global crisis. Robinson synthesizes the different economic, social, political, military, and ecological dimensions of the crisis, applying his theory of global capitalism to elucidate these multidimensional and interconnected aspects. Addressing urgent issues such as economic stagnation, runaway financial speculation, unprecedented social inequalities, political conflict, expanding wars, and the threat to the biosphere, he illustrates how these different dimensions relate to one another and stem from the underlying contradictions of a global system spiralling out of control. This is a significant theoretical contribution to the study of globalization and capitalist crisis, in which Robinson concludes that the conditions for global capitalist renewal are becoming exhausted.

Visit William I. Robinson's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"A Dark and Deadly Journey"

New from Minotaur Books: A Dark and Deadly Journey: An Evelyne Redfern Mystery (Volume 3) by Julia Kelly.

About the book, from the publisher:

Evelyne Redfern returns in A Dark and Deadly Journey, the next book in international bestselling author Julia Kelly’s captivating historical mystery series.

After being sidelined for a pesky gunshot wound, typist-turned-field agent Evelyne Redfern is ready for her next assignment with Britain’s secretive Special Investigations Unit. When a British Intelligence informant in Portugal mysteriously disappears just after hinting that he has vital information about German plans that could tip the balance of World War Two, Evelyne and her dashingly irksome partner, David Poole, are sent headed to Lisbon to find him.

Once they land, Evelyne and David aren't even able to leave the airport, before she discovers one of their fellow aeroplane passengers murdered and uncovers a diary with a clear link between the victim and their missing informant. With their mission in jeopardy before it can truly begin, Evelyne and David fight to keep their cover intact as they descend deeper into the shadows that surround Lisbon’s glittering collection of wealthy expats and dangerous spies. This case will test Evelyne and David’s training, charm, and wit—and their growing attraction for one another.

Visit Julia Kelly's website.

The Page 69 Test: The Lost English Girl.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Movable Londons"

New from the University of Michigan Press: Movable Londons: Performance and the Modern City by Julia H. Fawcett.

About the book, from the publisher:

In September 1666, a fire sparked in a bakery on Pudding Lane grew until it had destroyed four-fifths of central London. The rebuilding efforts that followed not only launched the careers of some of London’s most famous architects, but also transformed Londoners’ relationship to their city by underscoring the ways that people could shape a city’s spaces—and the ways that a city’s spaces could shape its people. Movable Londons looks to the Restoration theater to understand how the dispossessed made London into a modern city after the Great Fire of 1666 and how the introduction of changeable scenery in theaters altered how Londoners conceptualized the city. Fawcett makes a claim for the centrality of unplanned spaces and the role of the Restoration theater in articulating those spaces as the modern city emerged and argues that movable scenery revolutionized London’s public theaters, inviting audiences to observe how the performers—many of them hailing from the same communities as their characters—navigated the stage.

Visit Julia H. Fawcett's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Snake-Eater"

Coming December 1 from 47North: Snake-Eater by T. Kingfisher.

About the book, from the publisher:

From New York Times bestselling and Hugo Award–winning author T. Kingfisher comes an enthralling contemporary fantasy seeped in horror about a woman trying to escape her past by moving to the remote US desert―only to find herself beholden to the wrath of a vengeful god.

With only a few dollars to her name and her beloved dog Copper by her side, Selena flees her past in the city to claim her late aunt’s house in the desert town of Quartz Creek. The scorpions and spiders are better than what she left behind.

Because in Quartz Creek, there’s a strange beauty to everything, from the landscape to new friends, and more blue sky than Selena’s ever seen. But something lurks beneath the surface. Like the desert gods and spirits lingering outside Selena’s house at night, keeping watch. Mostly benevolent, says her neighbor Grandma Billy. That doesn’t ease the prickly sense that one of them watches too closely and wants something from Selena she can’t begin to imagine. And when Selena’s search for answers leads her to journal entries that her aunt left behind, she discovers a sinister truth about her new home: It’s the haunting grounds of an ancient god known simply as “Snake-Eater,” who her late aunt made a promise to that remains unfulfilled.

Snake-Eater has taken a liking to Selena, an obsession of sorts that turns sinister. And now that Selena is the new owner of his home, he’s hell-bent on collecting everything he’s owed.

Visit T. Kingfisher's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"The Ruin Dwellers"

New from the University of Chicago Press: The Ruin Dwellers: Progress and Its Discontents in the West German Counterculture by Jake P. Smith.

About the book, from the publisher:

Traces the shifting dynamics within leftist activism in 1970s and ’80s Europe and its experiments in art, life, and politics.

The Ruin Dwellers takes readers into the urban spaces of youth revolts during the 1970s and ’80s in West Germany and elsewhere in western and central Europe. Whereas earlier generations of leftist activists were primarily oriented toward the utopian future, participants in the youth movements of the 1970s and ’80s developed a more complex set of temporal practices that sought to scramble the borders between the past, present, and future.

Examining a rich corpus of radical texts and practices, historian Jake P. Smith shows that squatters and their leftist allies in this period engaged in social, cultural, and aesthetic experiments with modes of autonomous living. Smith brings to life the real and imagined landscapes conjured in squatted houses and street protests; in art, dress, music, graffiti, and film; and in philosophical, poetic, and political texts. In so doing, he offers an eye-opening look at anarchic world-making practices that found new ways of imagining an emancipated future through inhabiting the fractured past.

--Marshal Zeringue

"The Sisterhood"

New from Minotaur Books: The Sisterhood: A Lady Emily Mystery by Tasha Alexander.

About the book, from the publisher:

Lady Emily investigates the murder of a glamorous debutante in the next irresistible mystery of Tasha Alexander’s New York Times bestselling series.

London, 1907: When the Season's most accomplished and elegant debutante, Victoria Goldsborough, collapses and dies at her engagement ball, the great and good of London Society prepare to mourn the tragic loss of an upstanding young woman. But all is not what it seems, and after a toxic beverage is revealed to be the cause of death, the king himself instructs Lady Emily and her husband Colin Hargreaves to unearth the truth.

Who would want to harm one of the most popular women of the year? Is it her fiancé with whom she had an unusually brief courtship; a rival for his affections bitter at being cast aside; her best friend who is almost certainly hiding a secret from Colin and Emily; a disappointed suitor with a hidden gambling habit; or a notorious jewel thief who has taken a priceless tiara from the Goldsborough home? When a second debutante succumbs to poison, the race is on to find a ruthless killer.

Emily and Colin’s investigation leads to a centuries old tomb in the center of London with a mysterious link to another death dating back to Roman times and the violent reign of Boudica, ancient Britain's fearsome warrior queen. As the stakes rise and the clock ticks down, Emily must find the killer before they strike again.

Visit Tasha Alexander's website.

Q&A with Tasha Alexander.

The Page 69 Test: The Dark Heart of Florence.

Writers Read: Tasha Alexander (October 2022).

The Page 69 Test: Secrets of the Nile.

My Book, The Movie: Secrets of the Nile.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Goliath's Curse"

New from Knopf: Goliath's Curse: The History and Future of Societal Collapse by Luke Kemp.

About the book, from the publisher:

12,000 years ago, human history changed forever when the egalitarian groups of hunter-gathering humans began to settle down and organize themselves into hierarchies. The few dominated the many, seizing control through violence. What emerged were “Goliaths”: large societies built on a collection of hierarchies that are also terrifyingly fragile, collapsing time after time across the world. Today, we live in a single, global Goliath—one that is precariously interdependent—under threat from nuclear war, climate change, and the existential risks of AI. The next collapse may be our last.

In Goliath’s Curse, Cambridge scholar Luke Kemp conducts a historical autopsy on our species, from the earliest cities to the collapse of modern states like Somalia. Drawing on historical databases and the latest discoveries in archaeology and anthropology, he uncovers groundbreaking revelations:

• More democratic societies tend to be more resilient.
• A modern collapse is likely to be global, long-lasting, and more dire than ever before.
• Collapse may be invisible until after it has occurred. It’s possible we’re living through one now.
• Collapse has often had a more positive outcome for the general population than for the 1%.
• All Goliaths contain the seeds of their own demise.

As useful for finding a way forward as it is for diagnosing our precarious present, Goliath’s Curse is a stark reminder that there are both bright and dark sides to societal collapse—that it is not necessarily a reversion to chaos or a dark age—and that making a more resilient world may well mean making a more just one.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Tourist Season"

New from Slowburn: Tourist Season by Brynne Weaver.

About the book, from the publisher:

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Brynne Weaver comes a wickedly delicious new series where dark romantic comedy meets thrilling suspense—and where falling in love can be a killer.

Welcome to Cape Carnage! Visit Once, Stay Forever.

You can hide in the farthest reaches of the deepest hell, and I will still drag you out. Even the devil can’t save you from me.

Cape Carnage is a seaside town of colorful houses, quirky shops, and an unusually high body count. With tourists comes trouble, and Harper Starling won’t let anyone ruin her picture-perfect home. A skilled gardener with killer instincts, Harper protects her sanctuary—and her aging mentor with a fading memory—at any cost. Troublesome tourists don’t check out of Carnage. They compost beneath Harper’s award-winning flowerbeds.

But Nolan Rhodes isn’t your average tourist. Devilishly handsome, disarmingly charming, and skilled with a blade, Nolan is relentless in the pursuit of revenge. On every anniversary of the hit-and-run accident that fractured his life, Nolan slays another target. And he’s saved the best for last: the undeniably beautiful Harper Starling. The problem? Harper isn’t the monster he expected. And she won’t go down without a fight.

When an amateur true crime investigator comes to Cape Carnage on the trail of a long-lost serial killer, Harper and Nolan strike an uneasy truce. If Nolan helps Harper protect her town, she’ll keep quiet about his hunting habits . . . for now. But their alliance soon spirals into obsession, one that threatens to shatter every secret in Carnage—including their fragile love.

Tourist Season is a darkly funny, slow burn, enemies-to-lovers romance where destruction and desire are balanced on the edge of a blade—and where love is the most dangerous battleground of all.

Visit Brynne Weaver's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Big Culture"

New from the University of Chicago Press: Big Culture: Toward an Aesthetics of Magnitude by David Wittenberg.

About the book, from the publisher:

A philosophical exploration of our relationship to large objects and their outsized psychological effects.

Big Culture asks a simple question: why do big things give us big feelings? Skyscrapers, disasters, and other large phenomena can elicit fear, attraction, and awe. David Wittenberg argues that these feelings cannot be explained through objects’ size alone. Instead, he contends that an encounter with bigness is a primal, even violent sensation like little else that we experience in our well-proportioned adult lives.

Drawing on examples as commonplace and as singular as atomic bombs, cinematic effects, pornographic “macrophilia,” monstrous creatures, and more, Wittenberg demonstrates how big things tap into our earliest experiences of the world, reigniting our most fundamental feelings about reality. In doing so, Wittenberg offers a new aesthetics of magnitude and of the special role that bigness plays in our everyday perception of objects and images.

--Marshal Zeringue

"The Gilded Butterfly Effect"

Coming October 21 from Three Rooms Press: The Gilded Butterfly Effect by Heather Colley.

About the book, from the publisher:

A darkly comic and unflinching feminist campus novel for the age of prescription pills, impossible beauty standards, and weaponized friendships. Fans of Mona Awad’s Bunny and Ottessa Moshfegh’s My Year of Rest and Relaxation rejoice—your newest “weird girl” antiheroes are finally here.

When introverted loner Penny transfers to a midwest university in search of the all-American college experience, she finds herself under the intoxicating influence of Stella, a glamorous, damaged sorority girl with a razor-sharp wit and a bottle full of secrets. As their unlikely friendship deepens into obsession, both young women spiral into a hall of mirrors—haunted by frat-house cruelties, prescription drug dependencies, and the brutal expectations of modern femininity.

Narrated in alternating voices, The Gilded Butterfly Effect exposes the glossy absurdities and grim realities of contemporary campus life, exploring themes of body dysmorphia, mental health, sexual assault, and peer manipulation with both ferocity and humor. This acerbic, atmospheric debut asks: how much of ourselves do we lose when trying to belong?

Colley isn’t afraid to put campus life under a microscope, examining complex topics ranging from sexual assault to prescription drug abuse to body dysmorphia with an unwavering steady hand. The Gilded Butterfly Effect is a delightfully twisted (and timely) read that promises to deliver loveably imperfect female protagonists, humor, and a whole lot of dysfunction.

The Gilded Butterfly Effect is the debut novel by author Heather Colley, whose short fiction has writing won The Oxford Review of Books Short Fiction Prize, the Hopwood Award, and the Desperate Literature Short Fiction Prize Shortlist.

Visit Heather Colley's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Lives Revised"

New from LSU Press: Lives Revised: Assia Wevill, Ted Hughes, and Sylvia Plath by Julie Goodspeed-Chadwick.

About the book, from the publisher:

In Lives Revised, Julie Goodspeed-Chadwick engages the entangled life stories of Assia Wevill, Ted Hughes, and Sylvia Plath to recover details, nuances, and perspectives excluded from previous biographies. Based on extensive archival work at the British Library and Emory University, as well as unpublished materials in private hands, Goodspeed-Chadwick considers how biographical storylines are constructed, reconceived, and dismantled across decades of research and interpretation. Her work plumbs the practical challenges and interpretive possibilities of biographies that engage with difficult subjects such as Wevill, Hughes, and Plath, particularly given the personal traumas, tragic ends, and competing legacies involved.

Drawing on documents and recordings only recently made available to researchers, Lives Revised: Assia Wevill, Ted Hughes, and Sylvia Plath recovers previously inaccessible accounts about its subjects, contextualizes them within the critical traditions of feminism and trauma studies, and asks readers and scholars to rethink previous conclusions about three complex figures in literary and cultural history.

--Marshal Zeringue

"The Man in the Stone Cottage"

New from Regal House: The Man in the Stone Cottage by Stephanie Cowell.

About the book, from the publisher:

In 1846 Yorkshire, the Brontë sisters— Charlotte, Anne, and Emily— navigate precarious lives marked by heartbreak and struggle. Charlotte faces rejection from the man she loves, while their blind father and troubled brother add to their burdens. Despite their immense talent, no one will publish their poetry or novels. Amidst this turmoil, Emily encounters a charming shepherd during her solitary walks on the moors, yet he remains unseen by anyone else. After Emily’ s untimely death, Charlotte— now a successful author with Jane Eyre— stumbles upon hidden letters and a mysterious map. As she stands on the brink of her own marriage, Charlotte is determined to uncover the truth about her sister’ s secret relationship. The Man in the Stone Cottage is a poignant exploration of sisterly bonds and the complexities of perception, asking whether what feels real to one person can truly be real to another.

Visit Stephanie Cowell's website.

The Page 69 Test: Claude & Camille.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Positive Tipping Points"

New from Oxford University Press: Positive Tipping Points: How to Fix the Climate Crisis by Tim Lenton.

About the book, from the publisher:

We can all play a part in triggering positive tipping points that accelerate us out of the climate crisis.

How do we get out of a climate crisis of our own making?

As global change escalates, we are already starting to experience damaging tipping points in the social, ecological and climate systems that we depend upon - and much worse is to come. These shocks tell us we have left it too late for incremental change to save us: we need to change course fast to avoid the worst, yet we are acting far too slowly. Our supposed leaders appear paralysed by the complexity of the situation or, worse still, determined to maintain the status quo. This is leading to increasing despair, especially among young people.

At the same time, hopeful signs of change are also growing fast. The climate movement, the spread of electric vehicles, and the rise of renewable energy are all examples of change accelerating in the right direction. They have all passed tipping points where their uptake becomes self-propelling, taking the status quo by surprise - and they are spreading worldwide. To get ourselves out of trouble in time, we need more of these positive tipping points towards global sustainability, which eliminate greenhouse gas emissions, reverse the destruction of nature, and promote social justice.

This book identifies the positive tipping points that can help us avoid the worst from damaging tipping points. It takes the reader on a journey through understanding how tipping points happen, showing how tipping points have transformed human societies in the past, and facing up to the profound risks that climate tipping points pose to us all now. Then, it offers hope and empowerment in a series of uplifting examples of social and technological changes that started small but are already spreading rapidly to transform our societies to a more sustainable state. It identifies the positive tipping points that are still needed, the forces that are opposing them, and the actions that can trigger them, showing how we can all play a part in triggering positive tipping points that accelerate us out of the climate crisis.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Dying Cry"

Coming October 14 from Crooked Lane Books: Dying Cry: A Timber Creek K-9 Mystery by Margaret Mizushima.

About the book, from the publisher:

A killer lurks in Colorado’s snowy high country in Dying Cry, the tenth thrilling installment of award-winning author Margaret Mizushima’s Timber Creek K-9 mystery series.

Newlyweds Mattie and Cole Walker are teaching Cole’s daughters how to snowshoe in a remote canyon when a shattering scream pierces the air. They know that somewhere ahead, someone has been injured or worse. Cole takes the girls while Mattie and Robo go deeper into the canyon to search for the source of the scream.

From a distance, Mattie and Robo see a shadowy figure at the base of a cliff, but a rockslide buries the person under layers of stone and shale before they can provide help. Desperate to uncover the individual in case they’re still alive under the rock, their efforts are in vain. The victim is already dead. When they investigate the canyon rim from which the person fell, they discover evidence that indicates the fall was no accident. To make matters worse, the victim was one of Cole’s friends.

The Timber Creek County investigative team springs into action, uncovering a trail of greed that leads to a killer who threatens Mattie’s cherished new family and tests her with the most difficult task she’s faced in her duty as a K-9 handler.

Visit Margaret Mizushima's website and follow her on Facebook, Instagram, and Threads.

Coffee with a Canine: Margaret Mizushima & Hannah, Bertie, Lily and Tess.

Coffee with a Canine: Margaret Mizushima & Hannah.

My Book, The Movie: Burning Ridge.

The Page 69 Test: Burning Ridge.

The Page 69 Test: Tracking Game.

My Book, The Movie: Hanging Falls.

The Page 69 Test: Hanging Falls.

Q&A with Margaret Mizushima.

The Page 69 Test: Striking Range.

The Page 69 Test: Standing Dead.

The Page 69 Test: Gathering Mist.

Writers Read: Margaret Mizushima (October 2024).

--Marshal Zeringue

"The Bonds of Freedom"

New from Yale University Press: The Bonds of Freedom: Liberated Africans and the End of the Slave Trade by Jake Subryan Richards.

About the book, from the publisher:

The story of the long fight for freedom of African captives rescued from the illegal slave trade only to be forced back into bondage

The Bonds of Freedom tells the forgotten story of people seized from slave ships by maritime patrols, “liberated,” then forced into bonded labor between 1807 and 1880. Using extensive archival research from Sierra Leone, South Africa, Brazil, Cuba, the United Kingdom, and the United States, historian Jake Subryan Richards uncovers the contrasting ideas and practices of authoritarianism and freedom that empires and liberated Africans developed during the protracted end of the illegal slave trade.

Following the Africans’ journeys from enslavement to liberation, Richards recounts their capture and embarkation on ships that participated in the vast slave trade to Brazil and Cuba, the maritime seizure of those ships, and the adjudication that assigned freed captives to bonded labor. The captives fought against their bondage as state agents limited their freedom of choice and movement. The liberated Africans’ story shows that, far from following a straightforward path to freedom, these men and women navigated anti-slave-trade laws that both subjected them to authoritarian control and provided a domain for them to create their own visions of freedom. Through meticulous research and engaging narrative, Richards sheds light on their legal battles, community-building efforts, and ongoing quest for justice and autonomy in the face of enduring challenges.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Broken Dolls"

Coming September 30 from HarperCollins: Broken Dolls by Ally Malinenko.

About the book, from the publisher:

"Put it on your list!" -Stephen King

Author of Ghost Girl and This Appearing House Ally Malinenko brings to life a terrifying middle grade novel about a girl learning to grieve her grandfather and the creepy antique dolls in his house that seem to come alive, perfect for fans of The Doll in the Garden.

One. Two. Three. Are you ready to play?

Ever since Kaye's grandfather died, she's been obsessed with counting things: the steps to her bedroom, the dolls on her sister's bed, even the threads on her favorite blanket. It's arithmomania, and with the selective mutism that sometimes prevents her from speaking, she literally can't find the words to talk about how she feels now that Grampa is gone. When they take the summer to clean out and renovate his old house, Kaye finds herself counting the days.

That is, until her younger sister, Holly, starts finding dolls. She finds them buried in the backyard, stuffed in the walls, crammed into the closets. From the first one, Kaye knows they aren't like normal dolls. They smile at her like they know something, and sometimes their eyes open and close on their own. Kaye hears her sister talking to them constantly—and she swears she's heard the dolls whispering back.

Everyone assumes that Holly's just a kid with a good imagination. Kaye doesn't think it's a game, because she knows that Holly—and the dolls—are going to make her play with them. Forever.

Visit Ally Malinenko's website.

Q&A with Ally Malinenko.

The Page 69 Test: Ghost Girl.

The Page 69 Test: This Appearing House.

Writers Read: Ally Malinenko (August 2022).

--Marshal Zeringue

"Railway Infrastructure and the Victorian Novel"

New from Cambridge University Press: Railway Infrastructure and the Victorian Novel: From Platform to Plot via the Railroad by Nicola Kirkby.

About the book, from the publisher:

From 1830 onwards, railway infrastructure and novel infrastructure worked together to set nineteenth-century British society moving in new directions. At the same time, they introduced new periods of relative stasis into everyday life – whether waiting for a train or for the next instalment of a serial – that were keenly felt. Here, Nicola Kirkby maps out the plot mechanisms that drive canonical nineteenth-century fiction by authors including Charles Dickens, Elizabeth Gaskell, Anthony Trollope, George Eliot, Thomas Hardy and E. M. Forster. Her cross-disciplinary approach, as enjoyable to follow as it is thorough, draws logistical challenges of multiplot, serial, and collaborative fiction into dialogue with large-scale public infrastructure. If stations, termini, tracks and tunnels reshaped the way that people moved and met both on and off the rails in the nineteenth century, Kirkby asks, then what new mechanisms did these spaces of encounter, entanglement, and disconnection offer the novel?

--Marshal Zeringue

"Witch of the Wolves"

Coming soon from St. Martin's Griffin: Witch of the Wolves by Kaylee Archer.

About the book, from the publisher:

DELUXE EDITION - featuring gorgeous stenciled edges -Caught between spells and savage beasts, Cordelia Levine must unravel the secrets of her dual heritage—half witch, half werewolf—and face her desire for the one creature who holds her future in his hands.

Cordelia Levine, a twenty-three-year-old witch hidden in the human world, leads a quiet life in London with her aunt, managing an apothecary for the supernatural. But her life is upended when a brooding and handsome werewolf, Bishop Danvers, kidnaps her on her estranged father’s orders—the Alpha of the Albion Pack.

It is at Trevelyan, her father’s estate, that Cordelia learns she comes from a long line of witches with secondary werewolf traits—a powerful and unique bloodline that must be protected from foreign packs.

Not everyone in the pack is happy about Cordelia’s arrival, and as danger closes in, she wonders if the man who ripped her from her life could be the one to save it.

Visit Kaylee Archer's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Replaying Marc Anthony"

New from Ohio State University Press: Replaying Marc Anthony: Sonic, Political, and Cultural Resonances by Frances R. Aparicio.

About the book, from the publisher:

Replaying Marc Anthony is the first book-length study of Marc Anthony’s cultural, aesthetic, and political contributions to Latinx popular music and Latinx communities. Despite the trivializing label of “Latino pop,” Anthony’s repertoire has had a tremendous impact on his audience, particularly within the US Latinx community. Considering his music outside of limiting frameworks imposed by the music industry, Frances R. Aparicio situates Anthony’s songs within specific musical genealogies and histories, demonstrating that his songs not only foster healing from colonial violence but also produce, textually and sonically, multiple identities that resonate with his listeners. Relistening to five of Anthony’s most canonical songs—“Preciosa,” “Hasta Que Te Conocí,” “I Need to Know,” “Aguanile,” and “Vivir Mi Vida”—Aparicio traces the circulation of these sonic texts, examining their social, cultural, gender, and political meanings. Among the myriad topics Marc Anthony’s music critically reflects on are Puerto Rican and Diasporican itinerant subjectivities, Blackness, environmental crises, MexiRican sonic exchanges, Latinidad, masculinities, struggles with belonging as an “American,” and Global South solidarities.

--Marshal Zeringue

"If You Knew Me"

New from Thomas & Mercer: If You Knew Me: A Novel by S.P. Miskowski.

About the book, from the publisher:

In this twisted psychological thriller from acclaimed horror author S.P. Miskowski, a novice reporter walks a perilous tightrope between ambition and obsession.

Parker Dillon can’t win. Just as she’s trying to start her journalism career, her aunt sells the website where she works, and the new owner is keen to replace employees with AI. But her luck seems to turn when she discovers an intriguing cold pitch buried in her aunt’s files.

Ann Mason claims she did something terrible and never got caught. She’s also weirdly infatuated with a long-forgotten TV star. Desperate for a spectacular feature, Parker tracks Ann from Seattle to her home in Arizona. But as she interviews neighbors, coworkers, and friends, her quarry grows increasingly elusive, and her story turns deadlier than she ever imagined.

Parker can’t shake the feeling that she’s the subject, not the author, of this macabre piece―the prey, not the hunter. The more she learns about Ann’s obsessions and drives, the more it’s like looking in a cracked mirror. And Parker’s not sure she likes what she sees…

Visit S.P. Miskowski's website.

--Marshal Zeringue