News - Literary News

News - Literary News

EXHALATION by Ted Chiang

The New York Times included Ted Chiang’s EXHALATION in their list of 100 Notable Books of 2019. The bestselling book of short stories was also featured in NPR’s 2019 Book Concierge. In his write up, critic Jason Sheehan writes: “The stories in Ted Chiang’s newest short story collection are tightly focused dramas of individuals whom the future has struck like a wave, or a bomb.” Knopf published the book on May 7, 2019.

ON THE COME UP by Angie Thomas

Angie Thomas’s follow-up to her bestselling novel THE HATE U GIVE was featured in NPR’s 2019 Book Concierge. In her write up, Samantha Balaban writes: “I started reading this novel with some trepidation. Could Angie Thomas write a second book that I loved as much as I loved The Hate U Give? She could! She did!” Balzer + Bray published the book on February 5, 2019.

THE SHADOW KING by Maaza Mengiste

The New York Times included Maaza Mengiste’s latest novel in their list of 100 Notable Books of 2019. The book was also featured in NPR’s 2019 Book Concierge. In her write up, author Laila Lalami says THE SHADOW KING is “Epic in scope yet intimate in detail” and calls the novel a “gem.” W.W. Norton & Company published the book on September 24, 2019.

THE UNDYING by Anne Boyer

Anne Boyer’s acclaimed memoir was featured in NPR’s 2019 Book Concierge. In her write-up, critic Sascha Cohen praises the book’s “lyrical style.” Farrar, Straus and Giroux published the book on September 17, 2019.

BLACK CARD by Chris L. Terry

Chris Terry’s debut novel was featured in NPR’s 2019 Book Concierge. In his write-up, critic Jason Heller calls BLACK CARD a “wildly entertaining look at racism” that has “plenty of insight into all the ways America finds to divide itself.” Catapult published the book on August 13, 2019.

EXHALATION by Ted Chiang

Ted Chiang’s acclaimed book of short stories is regarded by both the New York Times and Esquire as one of the best books of 2019. Esquire writes: “Through lean, thought-provoking prose, Chiang manages to render stories about machines deeply felt—and deeply human." Knopf published the book on May 7, 2019.

FIND ME by Andre Aciman

Harper’s Bazaar featured Andre Aciman’s FIND ME on their list of the year’s most celebrated and most anticipated LGBTQ book releases. Farrar, Straus & Giroux published the book on October 29, 2019.

THE IMPEACHERS by Brenda Wineapple

New York Times critic Jennifer Szalai calls THE IMPEACHERS one of the best books of 2019. “Wineapple’s depiction of President Andrew Johnson is so vivid and perceptive that his standoff with Congress arrives with a doomed inevitability . . . The relevance of this riveting book is clear enough.” Random House published the book on May 21, 2019.

THE UNDYING by Anne Boyer

New York Times critic Jennifer Szalai calls THE UNDYING one of the best books of 2019. “Extraordinary and furious . . . Told with searing specificity . . . A book that reflects on the possibility — or necessity — of finding common cause in individual suffering.” Farrar, Straus & Giroux published the book on September 17, 2019.

THE OLD DRIFT by Namwali Serpell

New York Times critic Dwight Garner calls THE OLD DRIFT one of the best books of 2019. “An intimate, brainy, gleaming epic . . . The plot pivots gracefully from accounts of the region’s early white colonizers and despoilers through the worst years of the AIDS crisis. It pushes into the near future, proposing a world in which flocking bug-size microdrones are a) fantastically cool and b) put to chilling totalitarian purposes. Serpell seems to want to stuff the entire world into her novel — biology, race, subjugation, revolutionary politics, technology — but it retains a human scale.” Hogarth published the book on March 26, 2019.