STRANGERS TO OURSELVES by Rachel Aviv was selected as a finalist for the 2023 National Book Critics Circle Award in Criticism. Winners will be announced at a ceremony at the New School in New York City on March 23. Farrar, Straus and Giroux published the book on September 13, 2022.

HOUSE OF COTTON by Monica Brashears received a wonderful review from Publishers Weekly. They rave: "[A] haunting and macabre debut...Magnolia is a wonderfully complex character...Brashears skillfully portrays the ease with which Magnolia pivots from her interventions in the spirit world to her interactions with Cotton and Eden’s paying customers. This is a fine testament to resilience.” Flatiron Books will publish HOUSE OF COTTON on April 4, 2023.

The New York Times included Joseph Earl Thomas' SINK in their roundup of “13 New Books Coming in February,” praising the memoir as “a brilliant coming-of-age story.” The Washington Post also featured the book on its list of “10 Noteworthy Books for February,” praising: “For the reader, third-person narration creates a buffer to a brutal coming of age, and perhaps allows Thomas enough distance from his trauma to bravely expose the vulnerability and resilience of his youth.” Grand Central Publishing will publish the book on February 21, 2023.

THE FURROWS by Namwali Serpell was selected as a finalist for the 2023 National Book Critics Circle Award in Fiction. Winners will be announced at a ceremony at the New School in New York City on March 23. It was published by Hogarth on September 27, 2022.

David Graeber’s PIRATE ENLIGHTENMENT, OR THE REAL LIBERTALIA, the final posthumous work by the co-author of THE DAWN OF EVERYTHING, published this week to critical acclaim. Peter Frankopan calls it a “slim, feisty book,” in his review for The New York Times, adding: “Graeber’s challenge is to try to make sense of a set of sources that are unreliable or obtuse, and often written either many decades after events they describe or many thousands of miles away — or both…[He] is heroic to try to square a series of circles…David Graeber was a highly original thinker and a wonderful writer. Most of all he was someone who sought out challenging problems and set about trying to solve them.” Meanwhile, a review from Jatin Dua for Science/AAAS praises the book as an “elegantly breezy treatise [that] takes readers on a journey to the monsoonal waters of the Indian Ocean and the verdant landscape of Madagascar,” adding: “In his academic writing and political commitments, David Graeber exemplified an ethos of action and conversation. There is a certain bittersweetness to this text, one that ends with an exhortation toward the arts of speaking and conversation. Graeber himself is no longer around to speak, to debate, or to inspire protest and action. As anthropologists have noted, gifts are inalienable—they contain within them something of the giver. Graeber’s final book is certainly such a gift.” Farrar, Straus and Giroux published PIRATE ENLIGHTMENT, OR THE REAL LIBERTALIA on January 24, 2023.

De'Shawn Charles Winslow's DECENT PEOPLE has had a cascade of fantastic media attention. The book received a rave review from The Washington Post, where reviewer Ron Charles praises Winslow as a “talented young author,” adding: “Watching Winslow subvert the conventions of an old literary form is half the thrill of this novel. After all, the shelf of mystery detectives is hardly crowded with 60-year-old Black women. And that’s not the only cozy convention Winslow toys with…The larger social context that Winslow explores is what moves this story beyond one crime into a reflection on the myriad unacknowledged crimes committed across decades.” A review from Joseph P. Williams Jr. for the Minneapolis Star Tribune calls the book “an entertaining, relatable story, and Winslow an engaging storyteller,” while a review from Leah Tyler for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution calls the book “an introspective and big-hearted examination of small-town Southern life,” adding: “On the surface DECENT PEOPLE is a cozy, homespun mystery…But Winslow has tucked a sophisticated story full of entwined relationships and crackling social commentary inside this small-town tale.” Meanwhile a review from “Bookworm Sez” Terri Schlichenmeyer, which ran in dozens of regional papers around the country, raves: “And that’s also where the fun lies: watching the small-town mechanics unfold with a bit of dark humor kind of almost makes you wish the book wasn’t going to end. Running out of pages in DECENT PEOPLE and having to leave West Mills feels like a letdown after immersing yourself in this wonderful small world.” Winslow was interviewed by Diane Marie Brown for Bomb magazine, who writes: “Many writers have bemoaned the dreaded sophomore novel, and with good reason. For a first book, typically there’s no external pressure or expectations…Imagine those expectations when the author’s first novel is universally loved and celebrated, such as the case with De’Shawn Charles Winslow, whose book IN WEST MILLS won the Center for Fiction’s First Novel Prize in 2019. With his newest book DECENT PEOPLE (Bloomsbury), not only did Winslow expand into new territory, giving readers a murder-mystery, he also blessed his fans with a return to the fictional small town of West Mills and brings back a few beloved characters from his debut.” Lastly, the book was featured on the New York Post’s list of best new releases of this week. Bloomsbury Publishing published DECENT PEOPLE on January 17, 2023.

Boygenius mentioned Rebecca Rukeyser’s THE SEAPLANE ON FINAL APPROACH in their Rolling Stone cover interview. Angie Martoccio writes: "Boygenius like to read, and I do not mean that in a casual sense. A majority of our lunch is spent discussing literary fiction, where they ping-pong across the table with their recent reads. Rachel Yoder’s NIGHTBITCH. C.S. Lewis’ THE GREAT DIVORCE. Jenny Offill’s WEATHER. Leslie Feinberg’s STONE BUTCH BLUES. And Rebecca Rukeyser’s THE SEAPLANE ON FINAL APPROACH, which [Phoebe] Bridgers gives me a copy of the following day." Doubleday published the book on June 7, 2022.

Monica Heisey’s REALLY GOOD, ACTUALLY published this week to an outstanding abundance of praise and attention. The book was featured on must-read and most-anticipated lists from Entertainment Weekly, the New York Post, GQ, Good Morning America, Elle, E! News Online, Shondaland, PopSugar, The Washington Post, The Week, Goodreads, PureWow, Sunset, and many more. A rave review from Sarah Stiefvater of PureWow praises: “[A]mid the dark and dry humor, REALLY GOOD, ACTUALLY is often deeply relatable and sneakily poignant. Heisey dives into the complexities of healing after the end of a relationship you thought would last forever, the messy chaos of your late 20s and what happens when it feels like all of your friends are moving forward and you’re stuck in the same place…[T]his debut novel is better than really good…actually.” The Los Angeles Times ran a feature on Heisey; Bethanne Patrick writes: “Having herself navigated some unsteady personal terrain, Heisey is making a career out of guiding characters through the kinds of crises we can laugh at and sympathize with all at once, while upending enough rom-com tropes to keep things interesting. All of which is to say that you’re going to get to know Monica Heisey a lot better, in one medium or another, and you’re likely to come out of the experience knowing yourself a little better too.” Lastly, Heisey appeared on Good Morning America to discuss the real-life inspirations for her novel. William Morrow published the book on January 17, 2023.

DECENT PEOPLE by De'Shawn Charles Winslow published this week to a wealth of critical acclaim. The book received a fantastic review from the Los Angeles Times, where reviewer Chris Vognar raves: “[A] propulsive second novel, a murder mystery that doubles as a savvy examination of race and class...[Winslow] has crafted a nonstop narrative that picks at the scabs barely concealing the wounds of American race relations…DECENT PEOPLE practically turns its own pages, creating in the reader an insatiable curiosity that matches Jo’s own. Winslow proves able to simultaneously drill down and step back, letting the details add up and weaving the grievances of one character into the next until you don’t know whom to trust. They’re all caught in the same web, and try as they might, they can’t talk their way out of it. But it sure is fun to watch them try.” The book was featured on The New York Times' "Newly Published" Column, as well as must-read round-ups from The Southern Review, USA Today, The Millions, Lit Hub, Book Page, and Vol. 1 Brooklyn. Lastly, Winslow was interviewed by Writer’s Digest, KMUW’s Marginalia podcast, and NPR’s Scott Simon for Weekend Edition Saturday. Bloomsbury Publishing published the book on January 17, 2023.

VERY COLD PEOPLE author Sarah Manguso appeared on the Write-minded podcast. The episode description reads: “Guest Sarah Manguso has been called a virtuoso, and her takes on the literary world and writing in her compelling, spare style remind us why we love a meaty interview. Brooke and Grant revel in Sarah’s responses and candor this week—and know listeners will too.” Hogarth published the book on February 8, 2022.