Hole in the Sky, Daniel H. WilsonRead about the other titles on the list.
This book is an essential addition to the growing canon of first-contact literature, crafted from Daniel H. Wilson’s singular perspective as an indigenous writer and robotics engineer, and featuring a perfect mixture of technical know-how, native history, and dynamic character interactions. Lyrical, creative, and truly original!
Audition by Katie KitamuraRead about the other novels on the list.
A performance, a love triangle, and an unnamed actress quietly dissecting her internal world. These are the constituent parts of Katie Kitamura’s Booker Prize-shortlisted fifth novel, which opens with a young man declaring himself the nameless narrator’s long-lost son. Quickly, the book plunges into the murky territory of identity, where nothing is quite fixed or true. With sentences sharp as knives, Audition does everything possible to slip up the reader, asking: If identities transform, why shouldn’t stories transform too?
My Ex, The Antichrist, Craig DiLouieRead about the other entries on the list.
Craig DiLouie’s new novel is a particularly fun take on the rise of religious horror. Metal band The Shivers, self-described as a “demon disco” ensemble, find out their lead guitarist is the antichrist after a series of violent riots break out at their live shows. When the guitarist leaves to form another band, the Shivers must pivot to the only musical style capable of preventing the apocalypse: pop punk. Honestly, makes sense!
Dolly Parton, Songteller: My Life in Lyrics by Dolly Parton and Robert K. OermannRead about the other entries on the list.
Not only does this memoir provide the context and history behind country music icon Dolly Parton's most beloved songs, it's also chock full of visuals that had not been seen by the general public until publication.
Read about the other entries on the list.The Cabin at the End of the World
Paul Tremblay
An exercise in extreme narrative tension, The Cabin at the End of the World throws a quartet of highly disquieting strangers into the harmonious world of young Wen and her two fathers, and forces them to make a horrifying choice.
Pro Bono, Thomas PerryRead about the other entries on the list at CrimeReads.
An attorney with a skill for recovering assets takes a new case to help a recent widow and soon finds himself shot at, followed, and generally tangled up in a dangerous mess. Perry, a master storyteller, unspools the mystery at breakneck speed and the financial crime at the heart of Pro Bono makes for genuinely compelling suspense.
Read about the other books on the list.Us by David Nicholls
You may remember Nicholls from One Day, his love-story-turned-rom-com starring Anne Hathaway. In his latest novel, a Booker Prize nominee, he once again chronicles a struggling relationship, but this one centers on a couple who, after nearly two decades, has realized that their marriage has grown stale. Unfortunately for them, but luckily for the sake of plot, this epiphany coincides with a trip they've planned to take their 17-year-old son on a tour of Europe's artistic monuments. The ensuing clever family saga might be the best way to take a quick break from your own family this week.
The Dream Hotel, by Laila LalamiRead about the other entries on the list.
In Laila Lalami’s unnerving speculative novel, archivist Sara Hussein is detained for having a problematic “risk score” due to violent dreams. Baffled, desperate, and increasingly enraged, Sara builds alliances, battles hopelessness, and strains to demonstrate her innocence in the face of institutional suspicion and weaponized data. Privacy never sounded so good.
Read about the other entries on the list.The Felons’ Ball, Polly Stewart
In this follow-up to Stewart’s acclaimed debut, The Good Ones, tension boils over at an annual birthday summit where a pair of old friends recount past misdeeds for a raucous and appreciative gathering. In The Felons Ball, Stewart paints a lively portrait of small-town secrets and generational entanglements. Stewart is proving herself a master of suspense.
Tanya Grant writes twisty thrillers full of secrets, murder, and gossipy group dynamics. When not conducting highly suspicious web searches (for research!), she also writes romances. Her essays have appeared on HelloGiggles.com and Bust.com, and she's spoken about creativity on various podcasts. When she's not writing, you can find the author listening to the coyotes howl outside her Seattle-area home, drinking cinnamon tea, and chasing her two children.
Read about the other thrillers on Grant's list at CrimeReads.Lisa Unger, Close Your Eyes and Count to 10
A game of extreme hide and seek hosted by an adventurous reality TV star turns deadly in this atmospheric thriller. Each character has a different reason for traveling to the island where the game is held, and some of the most desperate motives lead to chilling choices.
At Vogue Daisy Jones and Emma Specter tagged seven "messy divorce novels and memoirs to read (or revisit) now," including:
Maggie; or, A Man and a Woman Walk Into a Bar by Katie Yee (2025)Read about the other entries on the list.
A Chinese-American woman names her newly discovered tumor after her husband’s mistress in this quirky, thoughtful, and genuinely funny exploration of what it means to be left behind by your partner and discover a whole new life in the wake of your relationship’s destruction.
Where Late The Sweet Birds Sang by Kate Wilhelm (1976)Read about the other entries on the list.
Perhaps the most well-known book on this list and winner of Hugo, Nebula and Locus awards, “Where Late The Sweet Birds Sang” is a bit different from other books on this list as it covers both post-apocalyptic and dystopian scenarios. Civilizationhas collapsed due to large-scale pollution which has devastated the planet’s environment. The population declines at an alarming rate as incurable diseases affect the masses. Meanwhile, a wealthy family builds an isolated community for themselves for survival where they discover that they have become infertile. So, they adhere to the last possible option for their survival, cloning, thinking that they might become fertile after a few generations.
But eventually when the clones grow-up, they prefer the idea of further cloning over natural reproduction, and their actions eliminate any individual thoughts from the society over a passage of time.
But amongst them is a kid named Mark, who is a natural-born human who has abilities to survive on his own, unlike the clones. Mark is portrayed as an arrogant kid who doesn’t think much of his cloned relatives and often makes cruel jokes of them, but he has one quality which the clones lack for other human beings outside of their community – empathy. And as being empathetic and acting like a jerk are some of the special human traits, the book’s core aim is to explore the concept of individuality and what it means to be human.
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