Seven titles that weigh the choice of motherhood

Alexia Nader is the author of the The Meaning of Daughter. She was a 2023-2024 Steinbeck Fellow. Her work has been published in The Nation, Los Angeles Review of Books, and The New Yorker among other publications. She is from Miami, Florida and currently lives in San Francisco where she teaches creative writing to children and teens.

At Electric Lit Nader tagged seven novels that "have shown me that there are many variations to the questions I grappled with in my novel about what goes into reproductive decisions." One title on the list:

Breasts and Eggs by Mieko Kawakami, translated by Sam Bett and David Boyd

The heart of this novel lies in a complicated desire shared by two sisters, Natsuko and Makiko, who both want to exert control over their bodies in ways that don’t make sense to the other. In the first section of the novel, Natsuko, the narrator, hosts Makiko and Makiko’s daughter in her apartment in Tokyo, as Makiko looks into getting breast implants. Natsuko doesn’t understand Makiko’s obsession with changing her breasts and doesn’t make an effort to understand what’s driving her sister either. In the novel’s second section, the tables are turned. Natsuko wants to try to have a child on her own. Makiko wonders why Natsuko would choose to be a single mother—knowing from Makiko’s life as well as their shared childhood—how hard it can be. Natsuko ends up turning to friends, colleagues, and other people in her community to help her understand her desire to have a child. The novel not only explores the power of women fully owning their bodily desires, but also the psychic pain of not truly being accepted on your own terms by those closest to you.

Read about the other entries on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue

Five non-traditional crime novels

The staff at Publishers Weekly tagged five non-traditional crime novels for fans of James Sallis, who work "often folds the tropes of genre fiction into strange, contemplative tales of self-discovery." One title on the list:

The Night Always Comes by Willy Vlautin

Taking a cue from classic noir, Vlautin (Don’t Skip Out on Me) offers a stunning, heartbreaking study of one woman’s struggle against fate and circumstance in an America that’s left her behind. The housing boom in Portland, Ore., has priced many working-class families out, but 30-year-old Lynette’s landlord offers her a good deal on the decrepit house she and her mother have been renting for years. Lynette works two jobs while caring for her developmentally disabled brother, Kenny, who also lives with them, and she has finally saved up enough for a down payment. All she needs is her mother to cosign on the loan. At the last minute her mother, exhausted by her own life of struggle and disappointment, backs out of the deal. Desperate, Lynette makes a last-ditch effort to buy the house herself. Along the way, a plot to steal a safe from a friend who owes Lynette money takes her into her dark past of mental illness, sexual abuse, and prostitution, and up against men who prey upon vulnerable women. This gritty page-turner sings with pitch-perfect prose, and Lynette’s desperation is palpable. Vlautin has achieved a brilliant synthesis of Raymond Carver and Jim Thompson.

Read about the other titles on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue

Seven Austen-inspired historical romance retellings

Rachel Brittain is a writer, Day Dreamer, and Amateur Aerialist. Her short fiction has appeared in Luna Station Quarterly, Andromeda Spaceways, and others. She is a contributing editor for Book Riot, where she screams into the void about her love of books. Brittain lives in Northwest Arkansas with a rambunctious rescue pup, a snake, and a houseful of plants (most of which aren’t carnivorous).

At Book Riot she tagged seven Austen-inspired historical romance retellings. One entry on the list:

The Unlikely Pursuit of Mary Bennet by Lindz McLeod

Much like in The Other Bennet Sister, Mary takes center stage—along with Charlotte—in this sequel to Pride and Prejudice. Lizzy and Jane already got their love stories. Even Lydia found her match. Now, it’s Mary’s turn. But when the middle Bennet sister comes to stay with the recently widowed Charlotte, she’s not the ungainly kid sister Charlotte remembers. Mary has gone to live with her aunt and uncle, has discovered herself, and has possibly, even, a thing or two to teach Charlotte these days. It’s an unlikely match I never would’ve guessed, but McLeod brings them together seamlessly.

Read about the other books on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue

Eight of the of best books about the Romanovs

At Town & Country Lauren Hubbard and Norman Vanamee tagged eight of the best books to explore the history of the Romanov family. One title on the list:

Rasputin: Faith, Power, and the Twilight of the Romanovs by Douglas Smith

Perhaps the most famous figure associated with the Romanovs and their dramatic downfall wasn't a member of the royal family himself. Debauched and devoted, openly despised yet politically powerful, the strange dichotomy of Grigori Rasputin made the so-called Mad Monk as much a mystery during his life as it has since his infamous death and has turned him into a figure of modern legend.

Read about the other entries on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue

Seven titles that share a comforting charm

At Bustle Grace Wehniainen tagged "seven books as cozy as Gilmore Girls for whatever fall flavor you may be craving." One title on the list:

The Kamogawa Food Detectives by Hisashi Kashiwai

Gilmore Girls fans know that Luke’s Diner is Lorelai’s preferred place to get her coffee coffee coffee. But Kyoto’s tucked-away Kamogawa Diner provides a different kind of sustenance — as father and daughter Nagare and Koishi have an uncanny knack for bringing to life long-lost dishes from patrons’ most precious memories.

Read about the other entries on the list.

Also see Kristy Woodson Harvey's seven cozy, Gilmore Girls-coded fall novels.

--Marshal Zeringue

Three of the best paranormal thrillers

Kennedy Cole is a speculative author with a BFA in Creative Writing and a Certificate in Publishing. Born in North Carolina, she lives by the beach with her partner and enjoys playing games, puzzling, sipping matcha, and collecting tattoos.

Her creative portfolio includes an array of published fiction, poetry, and nonfiction with Oakland Arts Review, Carolina Muse, Second Story Journal, and others.

There Used to Be People Here is Cole's first novel.

At Book Riot Cole tagged three of her favorite paranormal thrillers. One title on the list:

As a reader who’s been recommended books by Tananarive Due for years, I’d be remiss if I didn’t pass the torch and endorse her latest novel, Mazywood. A historical horror novel set in a mountain cabin and following a famous Black actress’ generations-long legacy, this book is perfect for readers seeking thrillers rich with place and a lurking monster with a story of its own. Plus, really, really good writing.

Read about the other novels on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue

Five timeless historical fiction titles

At Mental Floss Chelsea Thatcher tagged five novels "that paint vivid pictures of history," including:

Beloved by Toni Morrison

Beloved is considered to be one of the best novels written in modern history. Toni Morrison captures the physical and psychological horrors of slavery by basing her main character, Sethe, on the life of Margaret Garner. Garner was a slave who, when recaptured after trying to escape, killed her daughter so she would not have to suffer from slavery.

Morrison's Beloved does not flinch away from the brutal truths of chattel slavery and the Fugitive Slave Act. The free slaves are still haunted eighteen years after fleeing their master, but Sethe more than most. In her broken state, killing her child was an act of love, but the repercussions of such a choice still disrupt the life of freedom her family hoped for.

Read about the other titles on the list.

Beloved also appears on Rachel Brittain's list of five top historical horror novels, Chandler Morrison's list of five top lightly surreal novels, Hester Musson's top five list of Gothic heroines, Mary Kuryla's list of six works about deeply flawed literary mother figures, Daryl Gregory's list of ten Southern gothic novels that changed the game, Anne Enright's list of six amazing books, Candice Carty-Williams's list of six heroic women in literature, Kate Racculia's list of ten gothic fiction titles that meant something to her, Emily Temple's list of the ten books that defined the 1980s, Megan Abbott's list of six of the best books based on true crimes, Melba Pattillo Beals's 6 favorite books list, Sarah Porter's list of five favorite books featuring psychological hauntings, Matthew Fellion and Katherine Inglis' list of ten books that were subject to silencing or censorship, Jeff Somers's list of ten fictional characters based on real people, Christopher Barzak's top five list of books about magical families, Ayelet Gundar-Goshen's ten top list of wartime love stories, Judith Claire Mitchell's list of ten of the best (unconventional) ghosts in literature, Kelly Link's list of four books that changed her, a list of four books that changed Libby Gleeson, The Telegraph's list of the 15 most depressing books, Elif Shafak's top five list of fictional mothers, Charlie Jane Anders's list of ten great books you didn't know were science fiction or fantasy, Peter Dimock's top ten list of books that challenge what we think we know as "history", Stuart Evers's top ten list of homes in literature, David W. Blight's list of five outstanding novels on the Civil War era, John Mullan's list of ten of the best births in literature, Kit Whitfield's top ten list of genre-defying novels, and at the top of one list of contenders for the title of the single best work of American fiction published in the last twenty-five years.

--Marshal Zeringue

Five of the best books on the AI industry

The Guardian’s tech reporters shared a list of the best books on the AI industry, including:

The AI Con – Emily M Bender and Alex Hanna

In response to claims that AI will soon far surpass all human capabilities, and that the technology is advancing so quickly it’s on the verge of becoming a new life form, the authors of The AI Con have a simple response: “LOL” and “they wish”. These two tech critic academics argue that this kind of rhetoric is “AI hype” – lies and exaggerations that are helping rich people make more money “by justifying data theft, motivating surveillance capitalism, and devaluing human creativity”.

Read about the other books on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue

Five top unexpected sequels to crime novels

Janice Hallett is a former magazine editor, award-winning journalist, and government communications writer. She wrote articles and speeches for, among others, the Cabinet Office, Home Office, and Department for International Development. Her enthusiasm for travel has taken her around the world several times, from Madagascar to the Galapagos, Guatemala to Zimbabwe, Japan, Russia, and South Korea. A playwright and screenwriter, she penned the feminist Shakespearean stage comedy NetherBard and cowrote the feature film Retreat. She lives in London and is the author of The Appeal, The Twyford Code, The Christmas Appeal, and The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels.

Hallett's new novel is The Silent Appeal.

At CrimeReads the author tagged five crime novel "sequels no one was expecting, least of all the author themselves." One title on the list:

Lisa Jewell, The Family Remains

This is a sequel driven by reader-power! Lisa Jewell published The Family Upstairs as a standalone, but was soon overwhelmed by requests for a follow-up. So relatable and complex were the characters that readers simply couldn’t wait for more. The Family Remains was published three years later to just as much critical and commercial acclaim.

Read about the other novels on the list at CrimeReads.

The Family Remains is among L.K. Bowen's ten top marriage-gone-bad thrillers.

--Marshal Zeringue

Eight titles about spending half your life at work

Devon Halliday’s fiction has been awarded a Pushcart Prize and distinguished by Best American Short Stories. Her writing appears in Ploughshares, One Story, the Los Angeles Review of Books, Liberties, and elsewhere. She is the author of To Stay, To Stay, To Stay (McSweeney’s), which was longlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize.

At Electric Lit she tagged "eight novels [in which] the daily grind is presented in obsessive, sometimes absurdist detail, turning the familiar into something uncanny and worth studying." One title on the list:

The New Me by Halle Butler

Millie is as stuck as a failed-to-launch millennial can get. She has a good education, but has ended up in a series of dispiriting temp jobs. Her parents help pay for her apartment, while Millie can barely bring herself to cook or clean. She hates everyone, but she’s also lonely. She puts people off with her lack of effort, but when she makes an effort, that puts people off too. The only way out that Millie can see is the glimmer of a full-time job offer—but as she devotes herself to secretarial work, the reader catches on that even this slight hope is not what it seems. The New Me is relentless in its exposure of the hollowness of workplace culture, and of the void where any alternative fulfillment would go.

Read about the other entries on the list.

The New Me is among Andy Anderegg's eight books about girls growing up on the internet.

--Marshal Zeringue

Eight top titles about cults

At Huffington Post Tessa Flores tagged eight books that will satisfy your fascination with cults. One title on the list:

Seductive Poison: A Jonestown Survivor's Story of Life and Death in the Peoples Temple by Deborah Layton

“Seductive Poison'' is the firsthand account of Deborah Layton, who managed to escape from the infamous Jim Jones' Peoples Temple. The cult is known for the Jonestown massacre in Guyana in 1978, a horrific mass murder-suicide orchestrated by Jones in which 918 members were poisoned. Layton was once a high-ranking member of the cult but was able to leave before the murders and fled home to America, where she attempted to warn others about the sinister influence of Jones and the abuses she witnessed. Her memoir is a warning for readers of how charismatic individuals can manipulate and brainwash large groups into doing unspeakable things.

Read about the other entries on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue

Nine of the best vampire novels

Lorna Wallace has a PhD in English Literature and is a lover of all things science fiction and horror. She lives in Scotland with her rescue greyhound, Misty.

At Mental Floss Wallace tagged nine "vampire novels with a little less sparkle and a little more bite," including:

The Passage (2010) // Justin Cronin

Justin Cronin came up with the idea for The Passage after his nine-year-old daughter, Iris, asked him to write “about a girl who saves the world.” The story starts with six-year-old Amy Bellafonte being detained by FBI agents so that she can be used in a military experiment. The first half of the novel charts this experiment, which leads to a vampire outbreak and the downfall of civilization as we know it. The second half jumps forward almost a century in time to see how the remnants of humanity are surviving in this changed world. Cronin also penned two sequels: The Twelve (2012) and The City of Mirrors (2016).

Read about the other entries on the list.

The Passageis among Gabriel Bergmoser's ten top horror novels, C.J. Tudor's eight thrillers featuring a child with a mysterious supernatural power, Anthony Horowitz's top ten apocalypse books and Annalee Newitz's ten works of science fiction that are really fantasy.

--Marshal Zeringue