Tomi Obaro’s highly anticipated DELE WEDS DESTINY received a glowing review from Booklist. Reviewer Enobong Tommelleo writes: “Obaro’s debut novel immerses the reader in the highs and lows of being a Nigerian. She skillfully provides enough context for readers outside of the culture while also writing for Nigerian readers who will see themselves, their mothers, and their aunties in the three protagonists. The three women are complex characters with satisfying arcs, and each displays a different aspect of the diverse groups that make up Nigerian society. But the beauty of the novel lies in their friendship and the complexities of the mother-daughter relationships. A perfect choice for fans of Tayari Jones and Bernardine Evaristo.” Knopf will publish the novel on June 28, 2022.

Lucy Corin's THE SWANK HOTEL received a rave review from The Millions. They write: “[I]f Corin’s early books are high-concept experiments (or collections of high-concept experiments) that transcend their concepts, her latest, THE SWANK HOTEL is—in scope, formal ambition, and linguistic sorcery—something else entirely…It’s monumental in the way of fractals: inward looking, but infinite. And in addition to being a scathing, often hilarious critique of consumerism, SWANK might also be the most precise and illuminating novel about psychosis and (attempted) suicide since Mrs. Dalloway…Corin toggles amongst psyches with Woolfian delicacy, complexity, and dexterity.” Graywolf Press published the novel on October 5, 2021.

James Spooner’s THE HIGH DESERT received a starred review from Publishers Weekly. The reviewer raves: “Spooner, the filmmaker behind the Afro-Punk documentary and festivals, debuts with a graphic memoir as abrasive and revelatory as his chosen music…[T]his grabbing, angsty coming-of-age tale offers a sidewalk view of a creative subculture. It’s also a poignant ode to the power of music to fill voids left by family and circumstance, with provocations thrumming on race and identity that sound out like a smashed guitar.” Harper will publish the book on May 17, 2022.

FRUIT PUNCH, the forthcoming memoir by COLLECTION PLATE author Kendra Allen, earned strong praise from Kirkus. They write: “Throughout, the author uses prose inventively, employing vernacular language, nontraditional line breaks, nonlinear chronology, and deliberate obfuscation about her age…Allen’s rendering of the material is visceral and unique, and her insights are powerful…A piercing coming-of-age narrative from an original voice.” Ecco will publish the memoir on August 9, 2022.

Antonia Angress’ forthcoming novel SIRENS & MUSES was featured on Library Journal’s list of “Top Spring/Summer Debuts: 39 Titles to Know,” where they praise: “Art and politics here enhance each other in liquid, luminous language.” SIRENS & MUSES has also received stunning blurbs from a rarified group of authors, including THE FINAL REVIVAL OF OPAL & NEV author Dawnie Walton (“SIRENS & MUSES features characters as flawed as they are talented—full of desire, ambition, and aching regret. Their journeys engrossed me till the very last page”), THE REVISIONERS author Margaret Wilkerson Sexton (“Powerful, elegant, and mesmerizing, SIRENS & MUSES reimagines ambition, passion, identity, and the intricate bonds between women. Antonia Angress is a writer to watch”), and THE SUN COLLECTIVE author Charles Baxter (“Brilliant…This narrative is intricate, moving, and often funny, and its scenes are beautifully crafted…A wonderful book”). Ballantine Books will publish the novel on July 12, 2022.

Kirkus Reviews reviewed Rebecca Rukeyser’s anticipated debut novel THE SEAPLANE ON FINAL APPROACH. They praise: “It is a testament to the power and subtlety of Rukeyser’s writing that the novel’s violent climax, though preceded largely by a sense of quietude throughout, does not feel surprising or out of place; it is simply the result of the building social tensions and sense of desperation among the group and of a particular landscape whose compelling beauty—the author shows us—conceals dangerous potential. The obviously talented Rukeyser has crafted a vividly beautiful and odd world…[with] descriptive and imagistic prose. This darkly compelling novel promises more interesting writing to come from Rukeyser.” Doubleday will publish the novel on June 7, 2022.

Kirkus awarded Ed Yong’s forthcoming AN IMMENSE WORLD a starred review. They rave: “An ingenious account of how living organisms perceive the world... Building on Aristotle’s traditional five senses, Yong adds expert accounts of 20th-century discoveries of senses for echoes, electricity, and magnetism as well as perceptions we take for granted, including color, pain, and temperature. One of the year’s best popular natural histories.” Random House will publish the book on July 12, 2022.

The New York Review of Books wrote a rave review for Sarah Manguso’s fiction debut VERY COLD PEOPLE. Reviewer Nicole Rudick writes: “It is difficult to do a lot with a little, and Manguso, a poet as well as an essayist and memoirist, covers quite a bit of distance with a minimum of means…The very forms of Manguso’s books—fragmentary, aphoristic, discrete, or however one chooses to characterize them—resist clear narrative paths, and in doing so they can invite new possibilities...Manguso is wonderful at the slow fade of this blissful innocence, the way it is supplanted by dangers that infiltrate at the fringes of awareness.” Hogarth published the novel on February 8, 2022.

Booklist reviewed Cleyvis Natera’s highly anticipated debut NERUDA ON THE PARK. Reviewer Lindsay Harmon praises: “Natera's sensitive portrayal of the tensions between immigrant parents and children will appeal to fans of THE BOOK OF UNKNOWN AMERICANS (2014) and TRANSCENDENT KINGDOM (2020).” Ballantine Books will publish the novel on May 17, 2022.

Booklist shared a growing review of Las Horn’s debut essay collection, VOICE OF THE FISH. Reviewer Michael Cart calls the book “profound,” adding: “[T]he author’s experiences are uniformly interesting and the essays about them [are] well written…[T]hose who enjoy the offbeat will be right at home.” Graywolf Press will publish the book on June 7, 2022.