Liska Jacobs’s third novel, THE PINK HOTEL, published to a raft of great press this week. Esquire selected the novel as its July Book Club pick, and published an interview with Jacobs alongside glowing praise: “In this glittering satire about greed, excess, and human folly, Jacobs takes aim at our tenuous class system and sinks a kill shot.” Jacobs was also interviewed by The Orange County Register, where she discussed the inspiration for THE PINK HOTEL: “I love to write books that take place in pressure cookers, and you can’t have anything better than riots and wildfires outside a very luxurious hotel…Under lockdown, I was taping my windows closed because smoke was getting in. It was incredibly toxic. But isolated at the Beverly Hills Hotel, it was $44 salads and underwater music. It felt like a different world.” THE PINK HOTEL received glowing praise from Alta’s Monday Book Review (“THE PINK HOTEL is by turns a love story, a social satire, an elegy for the planet, a farewell to the glamour of Old Hollywood, and, above all, a morality tale…If Jacobs’s descriptions of the staff are insightfully nuanced, her depiction of the wealthy is anthropological”), and was featured as a Lit Hub must-read. Elsewhere, The Los Angeles Times published an essay by Jacobs titled “What do artists and their fans owe each other?” in which Jacobs reflects on the oft-troubled relationship between author and reader: “Every one of us is searching for what it means to be us. And, in that search, artists and their work become something for us to inhabit, to explore who we are...which can sometimes make the artist, who created from a place of need for understanding and intimacy, feel even more alone. But maybe the beauty of art is that it can serve as a bridge, a space where — even briefly — we see one another.” Lit Hub also published a piece by Jacobs “on Leaving Los Angeles, City of ‘Impermanence and Unreliability’ [and] finding Kinship with Eve Babitz and Joan Didion.” MCD published THE PINK HOTEL on July 19, 2022.

DARK EARTH by Rebecca Stott
Book Launches
Rebecca Stott’s DARK EARTH published to fantastic press. The book was featured on must-read lists from Lit Hub, Publishers Weekly, and The Lesbrary. Danik Ellis of Lesbrary raves: “With an intimate yet cinematic scope, DARK EARTH re-creates an ancient world steeped in myth and folklore, and introduces us to unforgettable women who come to vibrant life on the page. A heart-in-mouth adventure full of moments of tenderness, this is a beautiful, profound novel about oppression and power that puts a female perspective on a historical period dominated by men’s stories.” Random House published the novel on July 19, 2022.

Antonia Angress’s debut novel SIRENS & MUSES published to warm reception this week. The Minneapolis Star Tribune published a wonderful review of the novel, in which Ellen Akins praises: “Angress is very good at getting what people think about and what they want when they make art, whether from political conviction, a performative impulse or a deep need to convey what they see…The moments of recognition and frustration, revelation and betrayal, desire and revulsion are convincing and moving, and Angress' portrayal of the intersection — or disconnect — of art, politics, idealism and practicality within the web of familial, romantic,and professional relationships is painterly, in the best sense of the word.” Angress was interviewed by Eva Dunsky for the Chicago Review of Books, where she shared her writing process for SIRENS & MUSES: “I worked on including either imagistic or thematic echoes so that the different storylines were speaking to each other even if they weren’t intersecting…There’s sort of a meta aspect to this book—a lot of the ideas and anxieties it explores were ideas and anxieties I had as I was writing it. I picture the book as a problem I kept creating as I was trying to solve it, almost like an Escher drawing: a problem that falls into itself again and again and which you can’t climb out of because you’re creating it as you go.” The book was featured on must-read lists from The Millions, Reads Rainbow, and Lambda Literary, and Lit Hub featured a personal essay by Angress titled “Fantasy vs. Reality: When the Muse Finally Speaks.” Ballantine Books published SIRENS & MUSES on July 12, 2022.

Nada Alic’s highly anticipated BAD THOUGHTS enjoyed a celebratory launch this week. The New York Times published a fantastic review from A. Cerisse Cohen: “Nada Alic’s debut story collection pierces superficial appearances to access deeper human connection…[E]ach story pushes into weirder, more vulnerable territory as it captures the (usually female) narrator’s borderline perverse thoughts. Alic depicts contemporary womanhood with a wry, uncensored voice reminiscent of those in Miranda July’s off-kilter SoCal tales.” The Cut published an interview between Alic and Katja Vujić, in which Alic discussed her influences and inspirations: “I see my characters going through a misguided hero’s journey. They’re all seeking freedom or power or love, and going about it in all the wrong ways. One of the main things that I find a lot of humor in is how we perform self. The journey from my thoughts to my mouth feels like a game of telephone sometimes; there’s so much going on internally, and I don’t know if I always communicate it well. I often betray myself, and I think a lot of people do. A lot of it comes from trying to dismantle a lot of the shame that I feel and using humor to normalize the fact that we all have good and bad thoughts swirling inside of us — we have the full spectrum of a human experience.” BAD THOUGHTS was also featured on must-read lists from Lit Hub and The London Times, and Electric Lit featured a listicle from Alic titled “9 Books About Women Who Can’t Get Out of Their Heads” in honor of her book’s publication. Vintage published BAD THOUGHTS on July 12, 2022.

On the week of its highly anticipated release, AN IMMENSE WORLD by Ed Yong earned two rave reviews. Jennifer Szalai for The New York Times Book Review writes: “That I found myself surprised at so many moments while reading AN IMMENSE WORLD, Ed Yong’s new book about animal senses, speaks to his exceptional gifts as a storyteller... Yong offers these facts in a generous spirit, clearly aware that part of what will enthrall readers is discovering just how few of these facts many of us have known…Yong’s book is funny and elegantly written.” Meanwhile, for NPR’s Book Review, Barbara J. King writes: “Yong writes in a perfect balance of scientific rigor and personal awe as he invites readers to grasp something of how other animals experience the world…[W]ith AN IMMENSE WORLD, Yong brings into beautiful focus a host of other animal sensory worlds that co-exist with ours, and how we may protect them. He has synthesized and compellingly presented a spectacular amount of scientific information to do this, making it look easy along the way. But isn't easy at all. It's a magnificent achievement.” Random House published the book on June 21, 2022.

Peter C. Baker’s debut novel PLANES published amidst a flurry of positive press from both national and local media, including a review in the Minneapolis Star Tribune (“[Baker’s] prose is an apt delivery system for a subtle portrait of two women who've been robbed of things they might never recover”), Harper’s (“Baker’s prose is clean and vivid, his characters movingly and effectively evoked…[PLANES] illuminates urgent questions in unexpected ways”), and The New York Times Book Review (“In his debut novel, PLANES, Peter C. Baker delicately crafts the internal lives of these very different people…captur[ing] our shared human ache with stunning accuracy.” PLANES has also made an appearance on a number of most-anticipated and summer reading roundups, including lists by Publishers Weekly, Debutiful, Vulture, and the Chicago Tribune, and Baker has been interviewed by INDY Week, the Our Struggle podcast, and the Burned by Books podcast. Knopf published planes on May 31, 2022.

Nicole Pasulka’s HOW YOU GET FAMOUS published this week to further critical acclaim. Esquire featured the book on its list of must-reads for this summer, alongside glowing praise: “Pasulka takes us tumbling down a glittery rabbit hole in this engrossing look at the last decade of Brooklyn ballroom culture…Through this electric constellation of performers, Pasulka paints a vivid portrait of a singular subculture: joyful and scrappy, it’s gone on to galvanize a community and inspire a wider cultural movement.” Meanwhile, Ms. Magazine featured the book on its June roundup, praising it as an “incisive and important debut.” Simon & Schuster published the book on June 7, 2022.

On the day of its release, Lars Horn’s VOICE OF THE FISH was lauded by The New York Times. Reviewer Corinne Manning raves: “Lars Horn, the author of the rapturous lyric essay VOICE OF THE FISH, muses of these creatures that are older than humans, older even than some cities…Horn wants ‘language and narrative to carry more physicality.’ VOICE OF THE FISH meets this desire with a narrative that swells and recedes, with intimate depictions of the writer’s life…In VOICE OF THE FISH—this baptismal, overflowing narrative that reveals the limitlessness of being — Horn’s clear choice is life and light.” Horn also sat down with Max Ruthless of Foggy Pine Books in Boone, North Carolina for a Q&A for the American Booksellers Association’s “Indies Introduce” segment. Ruthless tells Horn: “This collection of essays is so beautifully written that it made my soul ache. The lyrical style makes every word feel individually crafted and weighted with emotion.” Graywolf Press published the book on June 7, 2022.

Rebecca Rukeyser’s debut novel THE SEAPLANE ON FINAL APPROACH published this week to great press. Apartment Therapy featured the book as a June must-read, praising it as “a bristling, lusty coming-of-age tale.” Meanwhile, Lit Hub featured the book on its summer roundup, with Lit Hub Senior Editor Jessie Gaynor raving: “I can’t deny that there’s something enormously satisfying about reading a book that evokes a place—particularly one I’ve never been—with both tenderness and specificity. Such is the great pleasure of Rebecca Rukeyser’s debut novel.” Doubleday published the novel on June 7, 2022.

Kim Kelly’s new book, FIGHT LIKE HELL, is enjoying a whirlwind of positive press following its publication. Kelly sat down with Vogue to discuss the book, which interviewer Emma Specter refers to as “a timely ode to the labor movement” that "carefully situates the current resurgence of union power within its historical context...with depth and nuance.” The book received generous praise in a review from Publishers Weekly: “Journalist and union organizer Kelly debuts with a rousing look at the contributions of marginalized groups to the U.S. labor movement…Shedding new light on key players and episodes within a diverse range of industries—from textile and trucking to sex work—this invigorating labor history is also a powerful call for today’s workers to fight for their rights.” Meanwhile, The Washington Monthly notes its success in addressing issues on the macro level (“call[ing] out the hypocrisy of advertising the availability of the American Dream as available to all then denying some people the opportunity to work”) and the micro level (“an inspired instruction manual for labor organizers”), while a starred review from Library Journal declares that “this accessible, inspiring, and instructive read belongs in school libraries, in university classrooms, and in general readers’ hands for its lessons about workers’ united power and the unfinished business of workplace justice.” The book has been featured as a must-read title by The Philadelphia Inquirer, PW Daily, CNN, The New York Times, Bustle, Thrillist, and more, and excerpts have appeared in The Washington Post, Engadget, and Teen Vogue online. One Signal Publishers published FIGHT LIKE HELL on April 26, 2022.