BEAUTIFUL, SURREAL Hungarian essays take a lighthearted approach to the most serious subjects, and vice versa. B PLUS

NIGHT SCHOOL (PAPERBACK)
Open Letter
2019

KEEN-EYED YET WHIMSICAL essays from a New Zealand poet shine with love and bewilderment and beautiful words. B PLUS

CAN YOU TOLERATE THIS? (HARDCOVER)
Riverhead Books
2018

TWO WOMEN’S VENGEANCE pact unspools into bloody #MeToo payback. Sharp, timely thriller, relentless pacing. B PLUS

LAST WOMAN STANDING (HARDCOVER)
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
2019

SATIRE? FABLE? SCIENCE FICTION? Yes, all of these. A thirtieth-century world where advertising rules all is the setting for this delightful, surreal Gogol/Heinlein hybrid. B PLUS

BUY OR DIE: THERE COMETH A TIME OF RUTHLESS ADVERTISING.
Theodor Ventskevich
2019

THE TRAGICALLY SHORT LIFE of playwright Lorraine Hansberry, opened up beyond the merely iconic. Thoughtful writing with an emphasis on Hansberry’s politics. B PLUS

LOOKING FOR LORRAINE (HARDCOVER)
Beacon Press
2018

A COLD CASE GOES SUPERNOVA in the newest Edinburgh mystery starring old warhorse John Rebus and the tireless Siobhan Clarke. Deeply entertaining procedural. B PLUS

IN A HOUSE OF LIES
Little Brown and Company
2018

SENIOR LIVING IN SPACE, with an imperious AI ship who also has a soft spot for young wanderers. Charming, fun SF. B PLUS

INDEPENDENT LIVING
Foner Books
2019

AN IRREVERENT KALEIDOSCOPE OF MEMOIR from punk pioneer Viv Albertine spares neither scrutiny nor whole-hearted love. B PLUS

TO THROW AWAY UNOPENED (HARDCOVER)
Faber & Faber Social
2018

A SKEPTICAL REPORTER UNCOVERS a hidden world of magic and ancient legends in New York. Fast-moving, exciting fantasy thriller! B PLUS

GHOSTS OF GOTHAM (PAPERBACK)
47north
2019

HOW COUNTRIES CREATE THEMSELVES, from Somaliland to Abkhazia to the Mohawk nation of Akwesasne. Thought-provoking and relatable. B PLUS

INVISIBLE COUNTRIES: JOURNEYS TO THE EDGE OF NATIONHOOD
Yale University Press
2018