New & Noteworthy, From Finding Joy to Offbeat Sports Stories
A selection of recent titles of interest; plus, a peek at what our colleagues around the newsroom are reading.
Fernando Pessoa: Office Worker, Occultist, Galaxy of Writers
A new biography by Richard Zenith offers a sharper picture of the Portuguese master, who contained multitudes.
Fiction Based on Real People and Places, for Better and for Worse
These novels have roots in the good, the bad and the ugly parts of history.
Tracking ‘Strange Beasts of China’ With Booze, Smokes and Sleuthing
Set in a fictional Chinese city, Yan Ge’s novel features a bestiary of mysterious creatures and a cryptozoologist narrator who is trying to study and classify them.
It’s All in the Family in These New Novels From Veteran Authors
Joyce Maynard and Diane Johnson are both writing about women looking back on life. Luckily for their readers, the excitement continues.
A Novel of City Walks Pays Tribute to Flâneurs of the Past
“To Walk Alone in the Crowd,” by Antonio Muñoz Molina, follows an unnamed narrator across Madrid, Paris and New York.
An Acerbic Millennial Sex Comedy That Grows Fangs
In Beth Morgan’s shape-shifting debut, “A Touch of Jen,” a young Brooklyn couple grow increasingly obsessed with their Instagram crush.
Animal Electrocutions, Lobotomies and Other Tales of Wicked Science
In his new book, “The Icepick Surgeon,” Sam Kean details evil misdeeds conducted in the name of scientific inquiry.
Getting Away With Murder, Literally
In his true-crime history, “The Case of the Murderous Dr. Cream,” Dean Jobb explains how a Victorian-era serial killer escaped arrest for so long.
Uprooted for Their Husbands’ Jobs, and Eager to Shine on Their Own
In her new novel, “Embassy Wife,” Katie Crouch takes readers on a tour of expat life in Namibia.
Book Review: ‘Landslide,’ by Michael Wolff
“Landslide” tells the dramatic and unprecedented story of the weeks after the 2020 presidential election from inside the White House.
Debut Novels by Pik-Shuen Fung, Rahul Raina and Alex McElroy
New fiction ranges from a Chinese family divided across continents to the founding of a cult for rehabilitating toxic masculinity.
Goblin
An UnCovered Review by Rachel Simmons, ACLS Hammonton Branch Librarian
I
loved the cover of this book. The town of Goblin, MI, is mysterious and
spooky. It is a novel containing six novellas woven together. It
goes full circle, starting with an ominous crate being delivered to an
eccentric man, which is intriguing. This leads to the novellas, starting
with “A Man in Slices:” an obsessed young man wants to impress his
girlfriend who is a big admirer of Van Gough. In “Kamp,” Walter
Kamp is fearful of ghosts and of being scared to death. He lives a life
alone as a recluse until he is no longer alone. "Happy Birthday,
Hunter!“ is about Neal Nash, Goblin’s most decorated hunter, who is after
the most elusive game in Goblin, with twisted consequences. In
"Presto,” a boy admires his favorite magician who, supposedly,
practices real magic. This story is the most disturbing to me. In
“A Mix Up at the Zoo,” the new charismatic zookeeper and his tours is
loved by the animals and children as are his tours. He also works for the
local slaughterhouse. A catastrophic mix-up ensues. Finally, the headline
story, “The Hedges” solves the mystery of the hedge maze which is a
major tourist attraction. One girl manages to get to the end of the maze,
which holds a secret. The epilogue brings us back to the beginning with
the mysterious crate and the carnage that follows.
Goblin by Josh Malerman is available
in print and on Overdrive eBooks.
Savala Nolan Takes a Hard Look at the White Gaze and Its Blind Spots
The essays in “Don’t Let It Get You Down” explore the in-betweenness of race, class and the size of a woman’s body.
'Bring Your Baggage And Don't Pack Light' Is A Baker's Dozen Of Sharply Funny Essays
Helen Ellis, author of American Housewife and Southern Lady Code, is back with her third book in five years — in which the connection with her longtime, close-knit female friends features prominently.
(Image credit: Doubleday)
The Alternating Identities of Shirley Jackson
A new collection of letters reveals a self divided between author and woman.
Nana Nkweti’s Tales of Cameroonians at Home and in America
The stories in “Walking on Cowrie Shells” span genres, generations and geography.
The Lives of Flies
Jonathan Balcombe talks about “Super Fly,” and Marjorie Ingall discusses Holocaust literature for children.
Book Review: ‘An Ugly Truth,’ by Sheera Frenkel and Cecilia Kang
A new, deeply reported book by the Times reporters Sheera Frenkel and Cecilia Kang recounts the full story of the social media company’s foibles.
New in Paperback: ‘Love and Theft’ and ‘The Sirens of Mars’
Six new paperbacks to check out this week.
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