DREAMING THROUGH MANY WORLDS, a multiverse adventurer and his friends must combat an array of powerful threats. Fascinating speculative fiction with breathtakingly original world-building and lots of action. B PLUS

PRISON OF SLEEP
Angry Robot
2022

STYLISH MODERN GOTHIC plays with traditional conventions in an of-the-moment setting, pitting a struggling med school dropout and botanist against a patrician Boston family with wealth to burn and secrets to keep. B PLUS

TRIPPING ARCADIA
Dutton
2022

IN A MAGICAL 1930s NEW YORK, a private detective with the power of casting runes takes on real estate corruption, stock market chicanery, and an attack on his sorceress sweetheart. Fun mix of noir tradition and fantasy themes. SOLID B

HOSTILE TAKEOVER (ARCANE CASEBOOK BOOK 8)
Dan Willis
2022

ENGROSSING CALIFORNIA THRILLER mixes lots of action and some ripped-from-the-headlines plot points with thoughtful, nuanced characterization. The story in brief: a former child star searches for her missing twin. But there’s more to it than that… B PLUS

I'LL BE YOU
Random House
2022

THE BOLD UNKNOWN WORK of Muriel Rukeyser, the 20th century US poet, playwright, essayist, journalist, and novelist, examined in the context of her time, serves as a powerful illustration of how Cold War-era publishing marginalized key voices. B PLUS

UNFINISHED SPIRIT
Cornell University Press
2022

STORIES OF THE INDIAN DIASPORA, from Mumbai to Mauritius, Melbourne, and California, woven together around the lives of a vividly portrayed extended family circle. Gorgeous characterization in lively prose. B PLUS

BORDER LESS
7.13 Books
2022

AFTER THE RICH DISCARD EARTH, the people left behind—disenfranchised, mostly members of minority groups, living off scraps on a toxic planet—keep on looking for connection, safety, and home. Complex, rewarding narrative of a too-believable future. B PLUS

GOLIATH
Tordotcom
2022

THE FIGHT AGAINST REPRODUCTIVE INJUSTICE and racism in 1970s Alabama and beyond, stunningly recreated in a troubling yet beautiful novel inspired by true events. Powerful narrative educates without being didactic, thanks to nuanced characterization. B PLUS

TAKE MY HAND
Berkley
2022

AN AMBIVALENT THIEF HAS second, and third, thoughts about stealing from a wealthy lookalike. Sharp psychological thriller, well plotted. SOLID B

THE DOUBLE: A TWISTED AND UNPUTDOWNABLE PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER
Tamarillas Press
2022

THE FASCINATION WITH WOMEN’S MADNESS that gave rise to the 19th century “hysteria” industry, evoked in a touching, poetic novel told from the points of view of patients at Paris’s famous Salpêtrière hospital. Lovely and disturbing. B PLUS

CITY OF INCURABLE WOMEN
Bellevue Literary Press
2022