News - Literary News

News - Literary News

James Spooner's and Chris L. Terry's BLACK PUNK NOW is one of Nylon's most-anticipated books of 2023, praised as a “comprehensive anthology of contemporary nonfiction, fiction, illustrations, and comics [that] encompass[es] what Black punk’s past, present, and future is.” Soft Skull Press will publish the book on October 31, 2023.

TODAY selected Idra Novey’s TAKE WHAT YOU NEED as a most-anticipated book of 2023. Viking will publish the novel on March 14, 2023.

SINK by Joseph Earl Thomas was selected as a most-anticipated book of 2023 by Yahoo News, Goodreads (“So-called geek culture has saved a lot of lives over the years by providing a home for those who were denied a place elsewhere. Author Joseph Earl Thomas makes a strong case for just how literally this life-saving aspect can be. Abused and neglected as a child, Thomas tells his story in this highly acclaimed memoir, which won the 2020 Chautauqua Janus Prize. Geek love is strong”), SheReads (“[SINK] explores poverty, loneliness, toxic masculinity and much more. Kiese Laymon calls Sink ‘brilliant and brilliantly different,’ which is enough for me”), and Debutiful (“A fearless debut that will change your life. I read this in one sitting and it moved me in ways I couldn’t imagine. Thomas moves through brutal moments and uplifting ones with grace. It is a memoir that should be taught in writing classes from now until the end of time”). Grand Central Publishing will publish the memoir on February 21, 2023.

AN IMMENSE WORLD by Ed Yong continues to receive praise and accolades. The book was included in the Readers Digest Best Books of 2022 (“The deeply researched book immerses readers in the animal kingdom. Even the proudest pet owner or animal lover will learn something new…Page by page, Yong shines a new light on animal experiences in this dazzling narrative nonfiction book”) and was named a Time Magazine Top 10 Best Nonfiction Book of 2022 (“Yong’s absorbing book is a joyful blend of scientific study and elegant prose that transforms textbook fodder into something much more exciting and accessible"). Random House published the book on June 21, 2022.

Lit Hub included STRANGERS TO OURSELVES by Rachel Aviv in its roundup of the Best Book Covers of 2022. Alison Forner calls it “[s]uch a simple design, yet so incredibly unnerving – it’s a design you can almost hear,” Mark Abrams praises it as “elegant,” and Jamie Stafford-Hill calls it “[d]eceptively simple, really effective.” STRANGERS TO OURSELVES was also named a best book of the year by Bookforum, where Lynne Tillman raves: "STRANGERS TO OURSELVES is an important contribution to contemporary thought about mental illness and the psychiatrization of everyday life. Through the stories, case histories, of others, Aviv examines how they came to be identified by their 'illnesses,' and how their illnesses told their stories and not them. The book asks readers to be skeptical of professional 'mind-readers' and diagnoses that threaten to control a person’s life.” Farrar, Straus and Giroux published the book on September 13, 2022.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF SKIN by Lakiesha Carr received a starred Publishers Weekly Review: "By tracing the characters’ complex bonds, Carr underscores the power of community and kinship among Black women who find a way to be vulnerable and joyful in a world that too often charges them with the role of caretakers. This exploration of love, courage, and desire is not to be missed." The novel also received a fabulous review from Kirkus: “Whether seen as a novel or three novellas linked by overlapping characters, Carr’s debut is by turns eloquent and raw, fantastical and realistic…With vivid writing and characters, Carr's debut is sometimes brutal or sentimental, always passionate, never boring.” Pantheon will publish the novel on February 28, 2023.

THE FURROWS by Namwali Serpell was recognized by Vox as one of the Best Books of 2022. Constance Grady calls the book a “haunting, elegiac sophomore novel,” adding: “Serpell remains committed to her dreamy, haunted atmosphere, in a narrative that evokes the way grief twists time into a knot and raises more questions than it ever plans to answer.” Hogarth published THE FURROWS on September 27, 2022.

Lit Hub included VERY COLD PEOPLE by Sarah Manguso in its roundup of the Best Book Covers of 2022. Colleen Reinhart writes: "The tactile, handmade quality of the cover and the domestic scene contrasts beautifully with the ‘cold people’ evoked in the title." Hogarth published the book on February 8, 2022.

Lit Hub included THE UNWRITTEN BOOK by Samantha Hunt in its roundup of the Best Book Covers of 2022. Anna Morrison writes: "When I first saw this cover it stopped me in my tracks—so intriguing. I love the textures, composition, colours; the eye just draws you in. The author line going up the side is genius, so unexpected. To create such an atmosphere within such a small space is a real gift." Farrar, Straus and Giroux published the book on April 5, 2022.

THE FURROWS by Namwali Serpell continues to receive incredible accolades. The book has been longlisted for The New Literary Projects’ Joyce Carol Oates Prize, which “annually honors a mid-career author of fiction in the midst of a burgeoning career.” Finalists will be announced in March 2023, and the winner will be announced in April 2023. The book was also featured on 2022 best-of lists from The Los Angeles Times (“Serpell’s delivery is truly innovative: Her shape-shifting approach to character and language captures the disassociation that often attends loss in brand-new ways”), Vulture (“At once heartfelt and dizzying, THE FURROWS is a powerful meditation on riding out the waves of grief”), and Oprah Daily (“Serpell, the author of the widely praised THE OLD DRIFT, spins a decades-long incantatory dream; the facts change, but the bewildering grief remains the same. She weaves influences from noir masters to canonical authors to visionary filmmakers, most conspicuously Alfred Hitchcock”). Hogarth published THE FURROWS on September 27, 2022.