These are the fiction titles our reviewers liked best this month.
The Eights, by Joanna Miller
In 1920, four young women make history – and waves – as part of Oxford University’s first female class. In the novel, the quartet becomes friends as they navigate belittling skepticism, overbearing rules, family stressors, and the ruinous reach of World War I. “Persistence is the key to change,” one character affirms. “Persistence and ingenuity.” – Erin Douglass
Why We Wrote This
Our reviewers’ picks this month include novels about a Canadian hockey team trying for a comeback and a Scottish family’s quest to save Earth. Among the nonfiction titles are an immersive history of Russian spy networks and a reappraisal of the American Revolution tied to the 250th anniversary of its first battle.
Atavists, by Lydia Millet
Each story in this stellar collection comes with a label – therapist, artist, optimist – and a perspective from a linked cast of Los Angeles-area characters. From a floundering Stanford grad to a gap-year teen to an obsession-driven husband, Lydia Millet explores the habits, worries, and hopes of her flock of “atavists”: individuals grappling with ancient yearnings in newfound ways. – Erin Douglass
Fifteen Wild Decembers, by Karen Powell
In her atmospheric novel, Karen Powell breathes new life into the story of how the Brontës, growing up in the Haworth parish house on the windswept, isolated West Yorkshire moors, came to write such classics as “Jane Eyre” and “Wuthering Heights.” – Heller McAlpin
Full review here.
Small Ceremonies, by Kyle Edwards
Struggling to shake a losing streak, the St. Croix Tigers, Winnipeg’s North End hockey team, faces an uncertain future in Kyle Edwards’ pulsing, thoughtful novel. As the team’s First Nations players, fans, and also-rans shape their lives beyond the ice, generational trauma, addiction, and a paucity of choices loom large. Expansive as the prairie, it’s a forceful, lingering read. – Erin Douglass
Happy Land, by Dolen Perkins-Valdez
When Nikki visits her grandmother in North Carolina, she stumbles on the Kingdom of the Happy Land. Established in the 1870s by her Black ancestors, the kingdom offered home and possibility to once-enslaved people willing to make the trek. The tale of self-
determination and memory is a winner. – Erin Douglass
Terrestrial History, by Joe Mungo Reed
This imaginative climate-change tale captures a Scottish family’s quest to save the Earth. Reading Joe Mungo Reed’s time-traveling love letter to the planet is time well spent. – Stefanie Milligan
The Book Club for Troublesome Women, by Marie Bostwick
Four women calling themselves “The Bettys” read and discuss Betty Friedan’s “The Feminine Mystique” in 1960s northern Virginia. They juggle marriage and motherhood while dreaming of careers. Their friendship serves as a galvanizing force for breaking boundaries and becoming their true selves. – Stefanie Milligan
These are the nonfiction titles our reviewers liked best this month.
The Once and Future World Order, by Amitav Acharya
In global politics, some leaders see the West as integral to the international order. Others view Western hegemony as transitory by nature and as the source of many ills. Amitav Acharya’s book unfolds examples of non-Western societies across history that expressed democracy as filtered through their own cultures and values, demonstrating that the West holds no monopoly on democratic ideals. – Abhijnan Rej
The Illegals, by Shaun Walker
Guardian correspondent Shaun Walker’s lively history immerses readers in the fascinating world of “the illegals,” Russian spies who spend years undergoing arduous training before infiltrating Western countries. Walker begins with the program’s roots in the Bolshevik Revolution and traces it through the Soviet era and up to its revival under President Vladimir Putin. – Barbara Spindel
Shots Heard Round the World, by John Ferling
John Ferling, author of many books on the Revolutionary War, has written an “international history” of the conflict just in time for America’s semiquincentennial. His masterful account dramatically conveys the global significance of America’s long fight for independence while also illuminating the experiences of the war’s commanders and everyday soldiers. – Barbara Spindel
