"Strange Familiars"

New from Ace: Strange Familiars by Keshe Chow.

About the novel, from the publisher:

Two scholars of magical veterinary science must put aside their lust and loathing to save the world in the first installment of this whimsical, romantic, dark academia duology.

All Gwendolynne Chan needs is to get through final year at Seamere College, where she is on track to graduate as number one —as long as the pretentious prat Harrisford Briggs doesn’t beat her to it.

Harrisford Briggs’s father, the chief financial officer of Magecorp, a major global distributor of magic, expects him to come top of the class. Harrisford, though, can’t help but notice that his father has been acting odd. And there are strange whisperings, too, of uncontrollable surges of excess magic.

When these magical surges begin to rock London, causing chaos and explosions and animal familiars going feral, Gwen and Harrisford find themselves reluctantly involved, putting both of their veterinary careers at risk.

Along with Gwen’s snarky cat familiar, Gwen and Harrisford must team up to diagnose the problem. But as the two academic rivals fight their burgeoning feelings, they quickly realize that magic is not the only thing surging.

Visit Keshe Chow's website.

Q&A with Keshe Chow.

The Page 69 Test: For No Mortal Creature.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Observing the Unseen"

New from the University of Washington Press: Observing the Unseen: Curiosity and Common Knowledge in Early Modern China by Andrew Schonebaum.

About the book, from the publisher:

Explores the relationship between fantastical literature and scientific inquiry

What did early modern Chinese readers believe about dragons, thunder, or fate, and where did they learn it? Observing the Unseen explores how literate and marginally literate people in China between the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries investigated the invisible, the ubiquitous, and the inexplicable. Whether through medical encyclopedias, daily-use almanacs, or novels and anecdotes, readers pursued knowledge of the natural world with curiosity shaped as much by wonder as by empiricism.

Andrew Schonebaum reveals that for many readers, stories were an important source of reliable information about the world. Knowledge of the natural world evolved in the margins of “fiction.” Entertainment literature and practical texts alike conveyed information that was collected, debated, and even used to treat illness or predict the future. Drawing from overlooked genres such as brush notes, court records, and sequels to popular stories, Schonebaum demonstrates that common knowledge was constructed through a patchwork of sources—elite and vernacular, empirical and fantastical.

Rather than privileging science as courtly or Western, Observing the Unseen shows how ordinary readers made sense of the cosmos in an age of expanding literacy and print culture. It challenges assumptions about what Chinese literature was and how it was read, offering a nuanced picture of everyday life in early modern China. This is a work for scholars of Chinese history and literature, historians of science, and anyone interested in the complicated ways humans seek to understand the unseen.

--Marshal Zeringue

"The Edge of Forever"

New from Feiwel & Friends: The Edge of Forever by Meghan Browne.

About the novel, from the publisher:

Maisie is still reeling from the loss of her dad when her mom deposits her with Aunt Gertie at the start of summer in Heaven, TX. Population: tiny. Gertie is nothing but nice, but Maisie doesn’t want to be there – surrounded by cactus and tumbleweeds.

Thankfully, the Heaven Library is well air-conditioned. Here, Charlene the librarian offers Maisie much-needed solace and book recommendations. Then Maisie meets another actual kid, Walt Wise, Aunt Gertie’s nearest neighbor. As she and Walt work odd jobs together and become friends, they also stumble upon a stealth campaign to develop one of Heaven's most beloved natural resources.

As Maisie and Walt research the development plan, they also uncover a long-buried, life-changing secret about Maisie's family. This secret, along with an explosive event at the Heaven County Fair, will turn a sleepy summer into one Maisie and Walt will never forget.

Visit Meghan Browne's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"White, Black, Brown"

New from The University of North Carolina Press: White, Black, Brown: Becoming Puerto Rican in Chicago by Michael Staudenmaier.

About the book, from the publisher:

Facing persistent exploitation, discrimination, and marginalization in the second half of the twentieth century, generations of Puerto Rican organizers and activists drew on multiple competing versions of nationalism to challenge the racial order in Chicago, one of America’s most segregated cities. Initially, both supporters and opponents of Puerto Rican independence promoted the assimilation of fellow migrants as white citizens. The three-night-long Division Street Riots marked a fundamental pivot point in 1966, ending the pursuit of whiteness and opening the door to waves of nationalist militancy during the 1970s. By the 1980s and 1990s, Puerto Rican nationalists in Chicago had entered electoral politics, building a broader notion of Latinidad even as they softened its radical edges.

Drawing on an extraordinary array of archival material, much of it previously inaccessible, Michael Staudenmaier highlights cultural and political projects profoundly informed by nationalist sentiments, from beauty pageants and parades to protests and bombings to elections and legal battles. Revealing how nationalism became a key site of racial formation for Puerto Ricans in Chicago, White, Black, Brown shows how they understood themselves and demanded to be seen by their neighbors and the world.

Visit Michael Staudenmaier's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"The Hanging Bones"

New from Feiwel & Friends: The Hanging Bones by Elle Tesch.

About the novel, from the publisher:

From the author of What Wakes the Bells comes a rich, gothic fantasy steeped in Germanic folklore about a girl who enters a dangerous, magical hunt with the goal of winning the death of her predatory overlord. Perfect for fans of Adalyn Grace, Maggie Stiefvater, and V.E. Schwab.

Some monsters are born. Some are made. All can be killed.

Once every few years, the Scavenge Moon rises. From beyond its pale glow steps the Breimar Stag, an otherworldly creature with eyes of burning gold. Any reckless adventurer who chooses to join the hunt for the stag only has until the Scavenge Moon sets to claim their prize—if they catch it, they are granted the death of any person of their choice. And if no one catches it, the stag will claim one of the hunters' souls instead.

Katrin has lived on the border of the forest her whole life, raised on tales of the Folk that dwell within. As a gamekeeper for the baron who rules over the region, she is saddled with the onerous task of escorting the entitled nobles who descend upon her home for the Breimar Hunt. None of them respect the forest or its legends, and Katrin is only too happy to let them risk their foolish necks for what they see as a cheap thrill.

When her beloved cousin becomes the latest target of the baron's lecherous appetites, Katrin knows only his death will keep her family safe, and the only way she can claim his life is to win the hunt herself. But something hungry has begun to stir in the woods, something even older and more powerful than the stag. As the horrifying, mutilated bodies pile up, Katrin begins to question where the true danger lies.

Visit Elle Tesch's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"From Doors to Screens"

New from the State University of New York Press: From Doors to Screens: Cinematic Incorporations of Technology by Ido Lewit.

About the book, from the publisher:

Reveals how objects and technologies function as discursive agents in film, with formal, narrative, and argumentative consequences.

From Doors to Screens treats filmic representations of non-filmic technologies as potentially meaningful intermedial encounters, wherein the objects and media represented interact with the basic characteristics of film in ways that affect cinematic expression, meaning-making, and argumentation. Focusing on doors, clocks, gramophones, and video screens in films by Ernst Lubitsch, Fritz Lang, Werner Herzog, Michael Haneke, and others, the book reveals how these objects and technologies function as discursive agents, with formal, narrative, and argumentative consequences. Applying media theory to film analysis, the book proposes a novel methodology for the close reading of films, offering an alternative to more common symbolic and metaphorical interpretations.

--Marshal Zeringue

"The Kindness of Strangers"

New from S&S/Summit Books: The Kindness of Strangers: A Novel by Emma Garman.

About the novel, from the publisher:

A wildly entertaining debut and homage to the classic murder mystery set in post—WWII London where a stranger’s arrival at a boarding house sets a deadly chain of events in motion—perfect for fans of Kate Atkinson, Agatha Christie, and Richard Osman.

London, 1953. Jimmy Sullivan lies dying on the drawing room floor while his housemates look on, their lives about to change forever.

One foggy night in the dead of February, a young man arrives unannounced at 42 Tregunter Road in Chelsea. Self—styled Bohemian Mrs. Honor Wilson—who runs a minor literary journal and lodgings from this timeworn Victorian house—introduces him to her “dear house guests”: Robbie, the writer; Mina, the teenage sleuth; George, the debutante; and Saul, the haunted refugee. Jimmy Sullivan is a family friend, Honor says—yet clearly, something is not right. Despite everyone’s misgivings, she lets the stranger move into the attic.

As they each try to disprove Jimmy’s dubious account of himself, secrets, jealousies, and disturbing schemes come to light, fracturing the household’s delicate allegiances and setting in motion, unstoppably, a tale of perilous self—invention, complicated love, and murderous revenge.

In a house built on lies, the truth will get you killed.

Visit Emma Garman's website.

--Marshal Zerngue

"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

"The Practical Mind"

New from Cambridge University Press: The Practical Mind: Skill, Knowledge, and Intelligence by Carlotta Pavese.

About the book, from the publisher:

Our breathtaking intelligence is embodied in our skills. Think of Olympic gymnastics, and the amount of strength and control required to perform even a simple beam routine; think of a carpenter skillfully carving the wood, where complicated techniques come across as sheer easiness of the bodily movements; of a pianist performing a sonata, balancing technical virtuosity with elegance. Throughout our lifetimes, we acquire and refine a vast number of skills, and the improvement and refinement of skills are not bound to the human lifespan alone either: somehow, they also cross generations. Skills both foster cultural evolution and are refined by it – for example, in the way cultural evolution perfects tools and building techniques. What makes skills possible? And how can skills explain our successes? This book is the first systematic discussion of skills: of their nature, and of their relation to knowledge and reasoning.

Visit Carlotta Pavese's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Spinning at the Edges"

New from Harper: Spinning at the Edges: A Novel by Elizabeth Poliner.

About the book, from the publisher:

From the author of the acclaimed As Close to Us as Breathing, a captivating novel steeped in history, revealing the bonds of family and community, and the healing powers hidden inside broken hearts.

Ruth Pearl has lived in the small New England town of Wells, Connecticut on the shore of Lake Topaqua for much of her adult life. Decades back, she and her parents fled German—occupied Amsterdam after the murder of her beloved older sister Sophia. Her view of Lake Topaqua, in the wake of such loss, has long been a deep comfort to Ruth.

But in the winter of 2000, Ruth’s neighbor builds an addition to his home that blocks Ruth’s lake view, disrupting her peace and sense of control. She seeks a legal resolution and finds none. Her helplessness sparks fear that her past is happening again.

Ruth heads out one day to skate on the lake only to spot a boy, in the distance, falling through the ice. County judge Arthur Cantrell also witnesses the fall, and together Ruth and the judge save sixteen—year—old Ian Lima’s life. The act is, for all of them, redemptive. Over the days to come Ruth and Arthur help to heal Ian, both physically and mentally, and all three find unexpected solace. Ruth even feels able, at long last, to share the story of her life during the Holocaust with her adult daughter.

Set against the backdrop of the controversial 2000 presidential election, dramatizing the growing interconnection between disparate characters’ lives, and steeped in history both recent and remembered, Spinning at the Edges is the story of a woman, a family, a community, the stories that bind us, and how love—and even democracy—are fragile concepts in a changing, spinning world.

Visit Elizabeth Poliner's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"The Incredible Afterlives of Dr. Stevenson"

New from the University of Chicago Press: The Incredible Afterlives of Dr. Stevenson: One Scientist's Epic Quest for Evidence of Reincarnation, Apparitions, Poltergeists, and Other Matters of the Soul by Jesse Bering.

About the book, from the publisher:

The untold story of an iconoclastic scientist: a psychiatrist who dedicated his career to documenting consciousness after death.

While Ian Stevenson (1918–2007) was an academic psychiatrist with a serious demeanor, right down to his three-piece suits and wingtip shoes, he made his name researching an unusual topic for a behavioral scientist: the afterlife. For over four decades, Stevenson traveled the globe investigating cases of reincarnation, apparitions, possessions, and near-death experiences. At the time of his death, Stevenson was widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in parapsychology, a field devoted to psychic phenomena and paranormal experiences.

Set against the colorful backdrop of parapsychology’s rise and fall, from Victorian séances to modern media spectacles, The Incredible Afterlives of Dr. Stevenson captures Stevenson’s relentless quest for evidence of consciousness beyond the grave. Jesse Bering, himself a psychologist, interweaves Stevenson’s research with vivid stories of the larger-than-life characters who shaped his path—from Eileen Garrett, the fearless medium, to Chester Carlson, the inventor of Xerox photocopying and Stevenson’s unlikely patron. Through never-before-seen letters and candid interviews with Stevenson’s surviving family members, readers glimpse the inner turmoil of a scientist struggling to balance his revolutionary ideas with the skepticism of his academic peers as well as those closest to him. Along the way, Bering, a researcher whose own trailblazing work on the psychology of afterlife beliefs had led him to believe it was all just an illusion, is forced to rethink his own worldview. Are psychic phenomena examples of our living brains giving credence to the absurd? Or tantalizing glimmers of life after death?

Equal parts scientific detective story and intimate biography, The Incredible Afterlives of Dr. Stevenson shines a light on a significant figure whose life and work have not yet been fully explored. Bering boldly confronts readers with the complicated legacy of a man who many see as a Galileo-like rebel with groundbreaking ideas, ones that still have the power to upend everything we know about what it means to be human.

Visit Jesse Bering's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Liberty Island"

New from St. Martin's Press: Liberty Island: A Novel by Virginia Hume.

About the book, from the publisher:

From the bestselling author of Haven Point comes a sweeping historical novel about the generations of a family that spends summers in a seaside enclave on the rocky Maine coastline, for fans of Elin Hilderbrand, Beatriz Williams, and Sarah Blake.

1900: 28-year-old Anna Bradley spends summer days supervising three little girls, including her niece, Julia Demarest, on an island off the coast of Haven Point, Maine. There, the girls run free, pretending to be all the things society says they cannot: pirates and rum runners, treasure hunters and Roughriders.

A college graduate determined to remain unmarried, Anna is eager to establish herself independently. Inspired by the summer antics of Julia and her friends, Anna writes "Liberty Island"—a depiction of girls unshackled from the domestic sphere—under a pen name. Young readers are rhapsodic, and it is a runaway bestseller, but it’s not well received by the society matrons in her sister’s circle, who believe that books for girls should prepare them for their future as wives and mothers.

With "Liberty Island" growing in popularity, Anna’s secret is in peril, and when she’s suddenly thrown together with the former object of her affections, she must rethink everything she thought she knew about independence, marriage, and her dreams for her future.

1922: 29-year-old Julia Demarest was once proud of her aunt’s "Liberty Island" books. But as new, bohemian ideas take hold amongst her peers, she has come to see them as quaint, at best. In hindsight, her childhood summers on the island seem like more of an exile than a liberation, and her Boston Brahmin family—particularly her mother, Elizabeth Demarest—like relics of an unlamented past.

But in an effort to break free of expectations, she has ended up alienated from her family and heartbroken when a romantic entanglement with a free-spirited intellectual ends badly. When Elizabeth urgently calls her back to Haven Point, Julia is confronted by all the things she's been trying to escape, and forced to reconsider what truly brings her happiness.

A sweeping saga set in the first tumultuous decades of the twentieth century, Liberty Island is an ode to mothers and daughters, love, friendship, and the ways in which women define freedom on their own terms.

Visit Virginia Hume's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Won't Back Down"

New from W.W. Norton: Won't Back Down: Heartland Rock and the Fight for America by Erin Osmon.

About the book, from the publisher:

One of America’s leading music journalists on heartland rock’s glory days and its role in the populist politics of the 1980s.

Hear “American Girl” or “Born in the U.S.A.” and, like it or not, chances are you begin to hum along. The soundtrack of grocery stores, pool halls, bowling alleys, flea markets, chain restaurants, drug stores, and political rallies―heartland rock, while beloved by some and derided by others, is inescapable even today. As rollicking as the music it describes, acclaimed music critic Erin Osmon’s Won’t Back Down tells the story of the origins, chart-topping development, and tangled legacy of heartland rock, the music that ruled the airwaves of the 1980s and remains instantly recognizable to millions.

Spinning an entertaining and eye-opening account, Osmon delves into the complicated afterlife of heartland rock’s classic albums and songs, including Bruce Springsteen’s “Born to Run,” Bob Seger’s “Against the Wind,” John Mellencamp’s “Small Town,” and Tom Petty’s “I Won’t Back Down.” She demonstrates the centrality of often-overlooked women like Melissa Etheridge, Bonnie Raitt, and Lucinda Williams―explaining how some of the most popular music of the time was made beyond its white-male stereotypes. She traces the genre’s connections to country and Americana, and reveals how legendary figures like Prince were inspired by and expanded heartland rock. And she shows how its success revitalized the careers of figures like Bob Dylan and Neil Young. Through it all, she explores the ’80s cultural developments that fostered the genre―such as the rise of MTV and the switch to CDs―and argues that the music played a vital role in opposition to ’80s conservatism and in support of LGBTQ rights, labor issues, and the environmental movement.

A fair-minded critic with an ear for a great behind-the-scenes story, Osmon makes clear that at its best, heartland rock connected with millions of overlooked people longing to be heard.

Visit Erin Osmon's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Seek Immediate Shelter"

New from Flatiron Books: Seek Immediate Shelter: A Novel by Vincent Yu.

About the novel, from the publisher:

A BREATHTAKING DEBUT novel about survival, hope, and second chances in an Asian American community in Massachusetts, when a false missile throws the residents' lives into chaos.

On an otherwise unremarkable morning, the residents of a small town in Massachusetts all receive the same alert: BALLISTIC MISSILE THREAT INBOUND. SEEK IMMEDIATE SHELTER. THIS IS NOT A DRILL.

Confronted with the options of fight or flight, planning or panicking, the people of Beckitt are stripped to their basest instincts and revealed as their truest selves. Russ squeezes his family into the bathtub, leaving his own survival in question; Nina sends an unforgivable text to her daughter; Milly confesses her unrequited love; and David hits the gas, speeding away from his wife and child.

Then the second message comes in: FALSE ALARM. PLEASE DISREGARD. ALL CLEAR. First comes relief, then comes the reckoning, as each person is forced to face the unforeseen aftermath of decisions they thought might be their last.

Vincent Yu’s searing debut follows this eclectic cast of characters over a period of many years, suggesting that the conflicts the missile exacerbated were simmering under the surface long before, and proving the ripple effects of the false alarm will be felt for years to come.

An urgent, fiercely heartfelt exploration of relationships in all forms, Seek Immediate Shelter explores the balance between love and loyalty, betrayal and forgiveness. What choices would you make if you thought your life were on the line? And if you survive, can you ever redeem yourself?

Visit Vincent Yu's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Narco-Democratization"

New from the University of Pittsburgh Press: Narco-Democratization: Organized Crime and Political Transition in Bolivia by Allan Gillies.

About the book, from the publisher:

The development of the global illicit drug trade has posed significant challenges to democracy throughout Latin America. Scenes of violence and disorder linked to organized crime and the “war on drugs” are imprinted in the popular consciousness. The case of Bolivia, though, shows that the dominant narrative wasn’t the only one. Following decades of authoritarian government, Bolivia democratized in 1982. Its cocaine economy grew rapidly, and the United States made Bolivia a focus of its war on drugs. Such factors are often associated with increased violence in Latin America, yet Bolivia largely avoided a similar fate. State-narco networks―relations of patronage between state actors and Bolivia’s organized crime groups―played an important role in suppressing violent competition in the cocaine trade. These networks were established during the country’s authoritarian period and reflected the historic clientelistic functions of the Bolivian state. As Bolivia democratized, state-narco networks evolved and became bound to a fragile post-transition settlement between the main political actors. Allan Gillies reveals how these networks shaped Bolivia’s political transition while controlling violence, but also limited the function of democracy by reinforcing authoritarian and corrupt practices.

--Marshal Zeringue

"An Inheritance of Lies"

New from Lake Union: An Inheritance of Lies by Rebecca A. Carter.

About the novel, from the publisher:

In this sweeping historical fiction tinged with mystery and romance, a young woman must navigate societal expectations, family secrets, and her own awakening independence in the shadow of World War I and the RMS Lusitania’s doomed voyage.

In the wake of World War I, New York heiress Alexandra Benson finds her life irrevocably changed after the tragic and mysterious death of her parents. Now, in a cruel twist of fate, her father’s testament delivers the agonizing blow, granting her uncle control over her inheritance―unless she marries.

To safeguard her future, Alexandra hatches a plan with the aid of a dashing stranger to fake an engagement and claim what’s rightfully hers. Caught amid wartime tensions and her uncle’s devious plots, Alexandra and her fiancé are forced to embark on the fateful voyage to England aboard the RMS Lusitania. Where nothing is as it seems.

When wartime secrets beckon questions of espionage and betrayal, Alexandra must navigate societal expectations and her own awakening independence as she finds her heart torn by her fake engagement scheme and devastating family secrets in this sweeping tale of one woman’s quest for truth and autonomy at the brink of tragedy.

Visit Rebecca A. Carter's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Egypt's Mediterranean"

New from the University of California Press: Egypt's Mediterranean: Muslim Merchants and the Business of Empire in the Eighteenth Century by Zoe Ann Griffith.

About the book, from the publisher:

Egypt's Mediterranean explores the intersections of commerce and statecraft in the eighteenth-century Ottoman Empire through the lives of overlooked intermediaries who lived and worked on Egypt's Mediterranean coast. Egypt's port cities mediated the geographic distance and economic scales between the province's agricultural landscape, its Red Sea connections, its hegemonic capital city, and its position within the wider Ottoman realm, while Ottoman Muslim merchants acted as linchpins of imperial governance in Egypt, mediating the state's access to Egyptian wealth. Drawing on Arabic, Ottoman, and French sources, Egypt's Mediterranean foregrounds the role of Muslims and Islamic law in Mediterranean history, decentering European capital and actors in an interconnected story of imperial realignment and changing fortunes on the eve of modernity.

--Marshal Zeringue

"The Lovers, the Liars, and Me"

Coming June 23 from Atheneum Books for Young Readers: The Lovers, the Liars, and Me by DeAndra Davis.

About the book, from the publisher:

A teen travels to Jamaica hoping to answer questions about her absent mother, only to discover more about her identity than she could have ever expected—and find herself caught up in an unexpected love triangle—in this dazzling young adult coming-of-age novel by award-winning author DeAndra Davis.

Jaliya Powell has never had a real adventure, a real boyfriend, or spoken up for herself. She’s never even been kissed. Despite being valedictorian of her high school class, Jaliya is used to fading into the background.

But this summer will be different.

This summer, Jaliya is visiting her uncle and his family in Jamaica. Under the guise of one last vacation before college, she plans to find out more about her estranged mother, whose absence has remained an unspoken mystery. But things have changed in the seven years since Jaliya last visited. Her cousin has his own life and is reluctant to let Jaliya in, her childhood crush has only gotten hotter and more unavailable, and her aunt and uncle aren’t everything she remembered, either. Then she meets India, who’s vibrant, gorgeous, and free-spirited. And who makes Jaliya feel something she’s never felt before.

While searching for traces of her mother across the island, Jaliya finds herself entangled in complicated relationships, tricky secrets, and a passionate new love. As she navigates this perfectly complicated summer, Jaliya must choose between who she has always been or who she hopes to become.

Visit DeAndra Davis's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Ties That Bound"

New from Princeton University Press: Ties That Bound: Slavery and Power in Africa by J. C. Sharman.

About the book, from the publisher:

How slavery and the slave trade provided African rulers with a path to political power

Across history, slavery has been central to political power. By the nineteenth century, African rulers dominated the slave trade with the European and Islamic worlds. In Ties That Bound, J. C. Sharman shows how these rulers were empowered by slavery, converting profits from the market for humans into political might. As demand for African captives grew, a new breed of African bandit slave traders–turned–kings leveraged the increasing returns to seize and hold power, paying off followers and buying weapons. Eventually, there were more enslaved Africans within Africa than in the Americas; African kingdoms were secured and administered by slave soldiers and slave officials. Engaging in the slave trade became vital for political survival; success for a few powerful leaders meant misery for millions across the continent.

Arguing that slavery is fundamentally political and relational, Sharman examines the effects of Africa’s slavery-centered connections and linkages with the wider world. This route to power by enslaving others required engagement with other countries, sometimes in war, sometimes in trade and sometimes in both. More than any other region, Africa’s experiences show how slavery as a foundation of power depended on ties between insiders and outsiders. Sharman describes how African rulers became locked into increasingly destructive competition with each other. As much of the continent was ravaged by warlords, the very factors that strengthened rulers individually weakened them collectively, and the resulting destruction paved the way for European conquest in the late nineteenth century’s “Scramble for Africa.”

--Marshal Zeringue

"Homebound"

New from Scribner: Homebound: A Novel by Portia Elan.

About the book, from the publisher:

Five interlocking lives. One beloved story. A dazzling adventure across centuries and continents in search of the things that hold us together.

It’s 1983 and Becks can’t wait to get the hell out of Cincinnati. She’s nineteen, blasting her Walkman, and hiding from the fact that her beloved uncle, the only person who understood her, is dead. But she has work to do: he left her a half—finished game to complete—one last collaboration to find her way out of loneliness.

Little does she know, what Becks is making will echo far into the future and shape the lives of a scientist, a sentient automaton, and a flinty sea captain in ways she cannot imagine. All are bound together by their search for connection—and by a futuristic traveler on a mysterious mission through space.

A novel about our deep interconnectedness, Homebound is a clear—eyed, hopeful adventure into humanity’s future and capacity for love.

Visit Portia Elan's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Boom to Bust"

New from the University of California Press: Boom to Bust: How Streaming Broke Hollywood Workers by Miranda Banks and Kate Fortmueller.

About the book, from the publisher:

A timely investigation into the rise of Peak TV and the perfect storm that caused a rapid decline in Hollywood work

When Hollywood writers and actors went on strike in 2023, they drew attention to the rapidly changing nature of film and television production. In Boom to Bust, media industry experts Miranda Banks and Kate Fortmueller combine economic and cultural analysis and interviews with industry workers to capture the lived experience of Hollywood in crisis. Tracking major disruptions of the preceding decade―including the transformation of streaming services into studios, the overproduction of series during Peak TV, as well as #MeToo and COVID―the authors explain how the conflicting interests of studio executives, creative workers, and workers' unions compelled a renegotiation of the terms of work. Grounding readers in the history of Hollywood labor negotiations, the authors provide a road map to make sense of Hollywood’s present―and what comes next.

The Page 99 Test: Kate Fortmueller's Hollywood Shutdown.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Summer State of Mind"

New from Gallery Books: Summer State of Mind by Kristy Woodson Harvey.

About the novel, from the publisher:

“Queen of the beach read,” (Cosmopolitan) New York Times bestselling author Kristy Woodson Harvey returns with a heartfelt escape to coastal Carolina.

After the worst day in her professional life, burnt-out NICU nurse Daisy Stevens runs to Cape Carolina, North Carolina, looking for a new life—and possibly new romance. On her first day at her “simpler” job, high school baseball coach Mason Thaysden discovers an abandoned baby, sending ripples through the entire tight-knit town of Cape Carolina.

Mason is still struggling to reconcile the scars of the injury that kept him out of the big leagues, stuck in his hometown, and searching for a way out. This newcomer and the child they’ve saved together might be just the motivation he needs to stay put. Sparks fly as Mason acquaints Daisy with Cape Carolina, introducing her to his friends and family, including his batty Aunt Tilley, who is looking for relief from long-buried family secrets and her own fresh start.

But as Daisy becomes increasingly attached to this abandoned child, and begins facing her own demons in the process, a startling discovery is made that threatens to rip the entire town of Cape Carolina apart, placing Daisy, Mason, and Tilley in the center of the storm. In a novel that proves that “Kristy Woodson Harvey is (the) go-to for elevated beach reads” (People), they will each learn that with love, understanding—and a community theater production of Hello, Dolly!—sometimes life conspires to bring us just exactly where we belong.

Visit Kristy Woodson Harvey's website.

My Book, The Movie: Dear Carolina.

The Page 69 Test: Dear Carolina.

The Page 69 Test: The Southern Side of Paradise.

Writers Read: Kristy Woodson Harvey (May 2019).

--Marshal Zeringue

"The Patty Duke Show and the American Sixties"

New from Oxford University Press: The Patty Duke Show and the American Sixties: Hot Dogs and Crêpes Suzette by Caryl Flinn and Dana Polan.

About the book, from the publisher:

In this fascinating book, the first ever published on The Patty Duke Show (1963-66), Caryl Flinn and Dana Polan examine the significance of this classic US sitcom within popular culture and within American society at the time. Child acting sensation Patty Duke plays the all-American Patty as well as her staid British counterpart Cathy, who comes to live with Patty's family in Brooklyn. Far from being a frivolous show, the show's use of twin girls--and their comic antics--offers glimpses into different identities and possibilities to try on, in keeping not only with girls' popular culture of the time but the optimism of John F. Kennedy's Camelot years.

At the same time, the series plugged into many of the contradictions of the mid-1960s. It flirted, as much of the US did, with foreign cultures, such as Julia Child's mediation of Frenchness, only to return to and reaffirm core US values. Like Kennedy, who encouraged the country's youth to engage with the world at large, the show gestures towards a cosmopolitanism that, ultimately, retreats into an American-based perspective, as evidenced in the series' preferential treatment of Patty over Cathy--despite the two characters being played by one actor.

Drawing on archival research, Flinn and Polan bring to light the show's production background, which has until now been largely lost to history, as well as considering the series's conception, reception, its many tie-in products, and its ongoing afterlife in the decades since its initial broadcast. In so doing, they reveal hidden and overt issues that shaped American culture and ideology of the 1960s.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Five"

New from Crown: Five: A Novel by Ilona Bannister.

About the novel, from the publisher:

Five lives. Five stories. Four will live—one will die. Who it will be? In this slow-burn masterpiece of psychological fiction, the choice is all yours.

Have you ever tried to pass the time by imagining the lives of the strangers standing next to you? Ilona Bannister’s Five introduces readers to five seemingly random people waiting for a train. But these are not just any five people. From the beginning we know that one of them is going to die soon. Very soon. In five minutes the next train to London will arrive, killing one of them. But before this happens you will learn their stories.

None of these people are saints. Readers might fall in love with the beautiful young man who is on the verge of gambling his life away. They may pity the cantankerous old woman who has fallen to the ground yet is refusing help. Perhaps readers will look away from the child throwing a tantrum. Or judge his mother, who must surely be to blame. And some will be curiously compelled by the successful and damaged businessman orbiting them all.

These are the candidates for this morning’s misfortune. But they don’t know it. Only you know. And you, our complicit reader, will not be able to resist deciding who deserves to walk away, and who deserves only five more minutes to live.

An incredibly original novel that breaks the fourth wall and asks the reader to be judge, jury, and executioner, Five looks at some of the most complicated issues of contemporary life: motherhood, disability, addiction. Every stranger has a story. And in Ilona Bannister’s skillful hands, five people’s stories come together to create an unforgettable novel.

Visit Ilona Bannister's website.

Q&A with Ilona Bannister.

The Page 69 Test: When I Ran Away.

--Marshal Zeringue

"The Gospel According to Frank Wood"

New from NYU Press: The Gospel According to Frank Wood: Memory and the Making of White American Evangelicalism by Christopher D. Cantwell.

About the book, from the publisher:

An eye-opening history of how white evangelicals came to see America’s past as sacred and themselves as its rightful stewards

Though unknown to scholars of religion today, Frank Wood (1864-1945) was a prominent Protestant figure in his day. He taught what was said to be the largest Bible class in Chicago and helped found the city’s first neighborhood historical society. In this compelling microhistory, Christopher D. Cantwell draws upon these features of Wood’s life to uncover the historic rise and historical origins of the white evangelical nostalgia that haunts the United States today. In fact, Wood’s religious life and historical interests directly reveal how evangelicalism itself is something of an invented tradition—a religious movement devised by layfolk like Frank Wood to defend their white, Protestant privilege.

Beginning with Wood’s move to Chicago, the book situates the origins of the modern evangelical movement in the mass migration of rural, white Protestants from the country to the city at the turn of the twentieth century. The sense of dislocation that accompanied this move made recreating the rhythms of rural social life a major feature of the Bible classes that Wood and millions of other white Protestants joined. The sense of cultural displacement that came with city living, meanwhile, placed an aggrieved sense of nativism and a commitment to Protestant nationalism at the center this community’s religious faith and political vision. Out of this culturally meaningful, but racially charged sense of nostalgia would emerge what Wood and others like him called “the old-time religion,” a wooden yet pliable phrase that spoke to the religious commitments and the social anxieties of an emerging community that identified itself as “evangelical.” The historical importance that everyday white evangelicals attributed to their religious history became a stand-in for the white, Christian nationalism that animated their social vision.

Through this surprising and compelling social biography, The Gospel According to Frank Wood offers a bottom-up examination of American evangelicalism, grounding the movement’s history in the religious beliefs, cultural memories, and social anxieties of white American Protestants.

Visit Christopher D. Cantwell's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"The Library After Dark"

New from Bantam: The Library After Dark: A Novel by Ande Pliego.

About the novel, from the publisher:

A bookseller must escape the infamously haunted library that holds her darkest secrets, but with a murderer in her tour group, escaping alive is not as simple as it seems, in this twisty locked-room thriller from bestselling author of You Are Fatally Invited.

Not all fairytales were meant for children.

Aria Stokes is finally feeling settled—she lives in a tiny New York apartment, works as a bookseller at a local shop, and has even taken a leap of faith in love by indulging her attraction to bookstore regular Jasper. And he seems to already know her so well.

As a Valentine’s Day surprise, Jasper gets the two of them tickets to an exclusive, after-dark tour of the Daedalus Library—the grandiose establishment famed for its immersive genre-based reading rooms and, more notoriously, its rumored hauntings. While Aria normally loves all things ghastly, this place holds more dark secrets than she’d prefer Jasper to know. Like that the last time she was here, she left a body behind.

But when the automatic-door entry malfunctions and Aria, Jasper, and the five other people in their tour group become trapped in the library, they are forced to venture through the storied rooms and hidden passageways of the Daedalus in search of escape . . . and Aria quite literally has nowhere to hide from the shadows of her past. Then the group learns there’s a murderer in their midst.

Now, as she tries to break out of the library’s intricate reading rooms, Aria has to decide who she can trust—and what secrets are best kept buried—if she wants to make it out alive.

Visit Ande Pliego's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"The First Emancipation"

New from Princeton University Press: The First Emancipation: The Forgotten History of Abolition in Revolutionary France by Jeremy D. Popkin.

About the book, from the publisher:

A new history of slavery and the French Revolution

The First Emancipation is a dramatic account of how slavery and race profoundly influenced the course of the French Revolution and had a central impact on the lives of key leaders, including Mirabeau, Robespierre, Toussaint Louverture, and Napoleon. Acclaimed historian Jeremy D. Popkin brings this often-forgotten story to life, highlighting the arguments put forward by French abolitionists and their opponents and the profound repercussions of the first abolition of slavery in a Western empire.

When the French revolutionaries passed the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen in 1789, they immediately faced a burning question: did that document’s first article—“Men are born and remain free and equal in rights”—apply to the 800,000 enslaved Black people in the country’s colonies? Over the next dozen years, revolutionary leaders fought over this question. The First Emancipation tells how French lawmakers initially protected slavery in their constitution but reversed themselves in 1794, making France the first western country to abolish slavery throughout its empire. Yet only eight years later, in 1802, Napoleon tried to force the emancipated Black populations of the colonies back into slavery. His decision led to his first major military defeat and to the proclamation of the independence of the Black nation of Haiti, but also to the reestablishment of slavery in other French colonies, where it would not finally be abolished until 1848.

The story of how France emancipated its enslaved people and declared them full citizens only to return many of them to bondage, The First Emancipation reveals that the course of abolition in the modern world was more winding and halting than is often remembered.

The Page 99 Test: A New World Begins.

--Marshal Zeringue

"The Last Sunday in May"

New from Lake Union: The Last Sunday in May: A Novel by Kate Clark Stone.

About the novel, from the publisher:

She’s a single mom, a devoted daughter, and an Indy 500 hopeful daring to dream in an exhilarating and emotional novel about family, ambition, and second chances.

Mack Williams was the next big thing in motorsports. Until her wild ways forced her to leave racing in her rearview mirror. Ten years later, she’s a single mom in rural Indiana, with a struggling family business and a dad who needs full-time care. The fastest woman on four wheels now drives car pool, her dreams turned to dust.

But Mack’s childhood idol, Janet Joyner, still sees the spark. Famed for breaking gender barriers on the track, Janet gives Mack a last-ditch chance to qualify for the coveted Indy 500. Mack thought her days of impulsive choices were over, but she can’t say no, whatever the risks―moving in with her estranged sister, facing down her daughter’s absentee father, and working with Mack’s new teammate, Leo. He’s gorgeous, supportive, and every kind of distraction Mack can’t afford.

Juggling her personal life with a professional dream close within reach, Mack won’t let a second chance slip away again. Win or lose, the stakes have never been higher.

Visit Kate Clark Stone's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"American Fanatics"

New from NYU Press: American Fanatics: Religion, Rebellion, and Empire in the Nineteenth Century by Jeffrey Wheatley.

About the book, from the publiser:

Shows how religious fanaticism became a tool used to police subversive and targeted religions at home and abroad

In 1822, Thomas Jefferson wrote that the “atmosphere of our country is unquestionably charged with a threatening cloud of fanaticism.” Indeed, during the nineteenth century the United States was full of radical theologies, messiahs, utopian dreams, passionate exhortations, and sacred violence. This book seeks to uncover the history, rationales, and effects of understandings of religious fanaticism, and how the term was wielded to describe and denigrate a diverse array of religious groups in the United States.

American Fanatics traces the development and popularization of religious fanaticism—a precursor to today’s categories of religious terrorism, radicalism, and extremism—and explores the violence hidden in its usage. From the Second Great Awakening in the early 1800s to the US occupation of the Philippines in the early 1900s, the book follows the rise of the concept through distinct conflicts over evangelical revivals, abolition, literature, psychiatry, and colonial anthropology. It charts how the term “fanatic” started out as a marker for excessive religious practices, but evolved into a religio-racial category that framed resistance to power as overly emotional, delusional, and inherently violent.

American Fanatics illuminates how from the colonial period to the nineteenth century, Americans transformed “fanaticism” from a term of Christian theology into one of religio-racial security, wielding it as a tool of domestic and imperial governance.

Visit Jeffrey Wheatley's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Hot Wings and Homicide"

Coming soon from Crooked Lane Books: Hot Wings and Homicide: A Food Truck Mystery by Carmela Dutra.

About the novel, from the publisher:

Twins Beth and Seth Lloyd are on the chopping block in the follow-up to A Murder Most Fowl, where a perfect recipe for murder is stirred up.

Business at Kluckin’ Good is smoking hot. To keep momentum going, Beth and her twin brother, Seth, just scored a prime spot at the Flavors of the Bay Food Festival. For three and a half days, food lovers will flock to the Bay Area’s biggest culinary event to enjoy gourmet food trucks, cook-offs, and live music, but this recipe for success is also the perfect setup for murder.

When the infamous food critic Brad Dawson—also Beth’s ex—turns up dead, the only clue at the scene of the crime is a Kluckin’ Good tumbler mug. The timing couldn’t be worse. Beth and Brad were seen in a heated altercation, and days prior, witnesses saw Seth punch Brad. Suspicion naturally falls on the twins. With the cops hot on their trail, Beth will have to avoid the flames to clear their names and save her food truck’s reputation.

But the chickens are out of the coop, and as Beth digs into Brad’s final hours, she will uncover rivalries, grudges, and a different side of Brad she never knew. If she doesn’t crack the case soon, she might be the next one to get cooked. Best of cluck!

A mouthwatering mystery for fans of Joanne Fluke that will leave you peckish for more.

Visit Carmela Dutra's website.

--Marshal Zeringue

"Beyond Belief"

New from Princeton University Press: Beyond Belief: How Evidence Shows What Really Works by Helen Pearson.

About the book, from the publisher:

The remarkable story of the global movement championing the idea that evidence, not opinions, should guide our decisions

Today, more and more people around the globe are using scientific evidence to figure out what works—in health, government and business as well as conservation, schools and parenting. This wasn’t always the case. This book tells the story of the evidence revolution—a worldwide movement that promotes evidence-based thinking—and shows how it can help us all, especially in an age of alternative facts.

For many years, most medical advice was based on doctors’ opinions and conventional wisdom, not solid science. Helen Pearson describes how evidence-based medicine swept the world in the 1990s—becoming the predominant form of medicine practiced today—and how the idea that evidence should guide decisions is quietly transforming a host of other fields as well. Do police patrols reduce crime? Do performance appraisals boost job performance? Do welfare programs help the poor? Do smaller classes aid learning? Do smartphones harm teenagers? At a time when science is under attack and questionable claims run rampant, Pearson underscores the importance of evidence in all facets of our lives, empowering each of us to sift fact from falsehood and misinformation from the truth.

Essential reading for the rational-minded, Beyond Belief is an engaging portrait of the mavericks, visionaries and rebels who share the simple belief that decisions based on evidence make the world a better place.

Visit Helen Pearson's website.

--Marshal Zeringue