December 1, 2022, 2:17pm
Unfold the blankets, brew some coffee, and get ready for another solid month of paperback releases. (Doubles as an ICYMI gift guide.)
*
Juhea Kim, Beasts of a Little Land
(Ecco, December 6)
“Everyone is extraordinary, a singular beast in exceptional times, and in Kim’s capable hands this liberty pays off. The plot sweeps us along.”
–The Times Literary Supplement
Tabitha Lasley, Sea State
(Ecco, December 6)
“A peculiar and entrancing blend of memoir and reportage … Smart about sexual desire and the ease of analyzing — but the difficulty of escaping — familiar gender roles.”
–NPR
Marc Myers, Rock Concert
(Grove, December 6)
“Myers deftly weaves a compelling narrative that documents decades of music and cultural history … its insider perspectives have an immediacy that will appeal to a broad swath of music fans.”
–Library Journal
Francesco Pacifico, tr. Elizabeth Harris, The Women I Love
(Picador, December 6)
“If the male writer’s goal is to neither render judgment on his female characters nor reduce them to stereotype, ‘is there anything left?’ … Pacifico finds his answer in a kind of wistful reportage, striving not to interpret these women but simply to portray them.”
–The New York Times Book Review
Brendan Slocumb, The Violin Conspiracy
(Vintage, December 6)
“The Violin Conspiracy takes the reader on a musical journey ripe with passion and intrigue. Slocumb’s cogent narrative explores time-worn themes with a fresh and powerful voice.”
–The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Maureen Quilligan, When Women Ruled the World
(Liveright, December 6)
“Quilligan lucidly explains the era’s complex familial, religious, and political dynamics, and draws incisive character sketches. Renaissance buffs will treasure this sparkling revisionist history.”
–Publishers Weekly
Gabrielle Union, You Got Anything Stronger?
(Dey Street, December 6)
“In her follow-up to her debut memoir, We’re Going to Need More Wine, actor and writer Gabrielle Union picks up where she left off, delving deep into her journey to conceive daughter Kaavia, her experience as a stepmom, and the rest—ugly, beautiful, and in-between.”
–Bustle
Matthew Gabriele and David M. Perry, The Bright Ages
(Harper Perennial, December 6)
“Incandescent and ultimately intoxicating, for as the chapters progress, it dawns on the reader that those who lived in this period were more conventional than cardboard figures.”
–The Boston Globe
Paul Bloom, The Sweet Spot
(Ecco, December 6)
“Bloom writes as if speaking, which brings a welcome immediacy to his explorations … The effect, simultaneously authoritative and chummy, is engaging.”
–Harper’s Magazine
Nikki May, Wahala
(Mariner, December 27)
“Sharply observed … It’s a striking setup: as if The Other Black Girl strolled into Sex and the City.”
–NPR
