The best new books out this week 📚

Hello, book lovers! Each week, dozens of new releases hit the shelves. Here are our favorites.

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Illustrated graphic with two book covers, text reads ''Literary Fiction''

Credit: Two Lines Press, FSG

Slipping by Mohamed Kheir, translated by Robin Moger (Two Lines Press)

This is the first work of celebrated and prolific Egyptian writer Mohamed Kheir to be translated into English, and despite its brevity, it packs a big punch. The novel follows a struggling journalist named Seif, whose editor introduces him to a strange source with vast knowledge of magical places in Egypt. The two set off to explore these places together, and the (super) natural world they discover spurs Seif into ever more intense reckoning with his past trauma and the loss of his lover, Alya, who could sing in any sound, including waves and wings. Slipping centers the magic of the Earth — the blurred lines between "real" and "unreal" — and the descriptions are stunning. —Sarah Neilson

Find it at Bookshop, Target, Amazon, or your local library.

Everyone Knows Your Mother Is a Witch by Rivka Galchen (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)

The maddeningly brilliant Rivka Galchen returns with a painstakingly researched fictionalization of the witch trial against 17th-century German astronomer Johannes Kepler's mother, Katharina. Galchen strikes the perfect balance between historical accuracy and modern humor to render Katharina vividly — a strong-willed, big-hearted healer and mother whose punchiness becomes her liability when she's accused of poisoning a neighbor and finds most of the town quick to condemn her. Katharina's story is told as related to her neighbor turned legal guardian, Simon, whose own account is woven throughout; Galchen also includes court transcripts and letters written from Johannes to the governor — some word-for-word translations of original documents. It's at once an illuminating account of history and a timely, provocative study of weaponized morality, group hysteria, and the villainization of powerful women. —Arianna Rebolini

Find it at Bookshop, Target, Amazon, or your local library.

Illustrated graphic with two book covers, text reads ''Sci-fi & Fantasy''

Credit: Harper, Orbit

The Hidden Palace by Helene Wecker (Harper)

This follow-up to the much-loved The Golem and the Jinni is as richly nuanced and beautiful as the first. It has a broader scope than the first book, spanning multiple continents and a large cast of characters. Chava and Ahmad have reunited in early 1900s New York City but are still at odds with who they are and their place in the world. They take comfort in their friendship as something that might be deeper begins to form between them. After her encounter with Ahmad, the heir Sophia is plagued by illnesses and an unquenchable cold. No longer comfortable with her role as a socialite, she abandons New York City to go on adventures in the Middle East, where she finds a rebellious jinni who's been outcast from the jinn for holding a secret — a secret that could change Ahmad's life. Meanwhile, a little girl named Kreindel helps her rabbi father create a golem named Yossele, who later becomes her protector after a tragic accident. Wecker skillfully draws together these disparate lives and characters in an immersive and magical tale of loneliness, love, and finding hope. —Margaret Kingsbury

Find it at Bookshop, Target, Amazon, or your local library.

The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri (Orbit)

The Jasmine Throne begins a new epic fantasy trilogy by Tasha Suri, whose writing here is just as lush and stunning as in her first fantasy series, The Books of Ambha. Priya is a priest turned maidservant with a magical secret, driven to help save poor, dying children stricken by a persistent disease. Princess Malini's tyrannical brother has imprisoned her in a derelict temple for much of her life, and she craves vengeance against him. When Malini witnesses Priya's secret, their goals become entwined. Inspired by Indian epics, this sapphic fantasy will rip your heart out. —Margaret Kingsbury

Find it at Bookshop, Target, Amazon, or your local library.

Illustrated graphic with two book covers, text reads ''nonfiction''

Credit: Harperalley

Dear Senthuran: A Black Spirit Memoir by Akwaeke Emezi (Riverhead)

Intimidatingly prolific, Akwaeke Emezi, who has published four books in four years, starting with their stunningly original debut novel Freshwater, turns to nonfiction with this "black spirit" memoir, which takes the form of letters addressed to various friends, exes, acquaintances, family, and Toni Morrison. In Freshwater, a young woman named Ada, born of a Tamil mother and Igbo father, realizes she is an ogbanje, a spirit in Igbo ontology, who inhabits a human body. Freshwater is fiction, but in Dear Senthuran, we learn that the experiences of Ada are essentially Emezi's own. Dear Senthuran, then, is in many ways a sequel. With each letter, Emezi touches on various themes: their dogged belief in their divinity (Emezi dismissively mentions the critics who called Freshwater a metaphor for mental illness); the jarring depressive effects of Freshwater's rapturous reception, which sparked a suicide attempt; their literary ambitions; their relationship to gender and their body; their loneliness; their desire for an abiding romantic love. The writing is gorgeous and evocative, but it's their unwavering self-belief that really inspires. Are they a god? Emezi tells us our opinions on that subject don't matter. One thing is certain though: Their talent is clearly divine. —Tomi Obaro

Find it at Bookshop, Target, Amazon, or your local library.

Diary of a Young Naturalist by Dara McAnulty (Milkweed Editions)

Fifteen-year-old Dara McAnulty and most of his North Irish family — all but his dad — are autistic. Through a year of lyrical and profound diary entries, McAnulty describes his unique way of perceiving the world around him and his connection to nature. "Lying below the oak," he writes, "I can feel it surging below the ground, the roots curling around me, a restless energy feeding me strength." The natural world is intimately entwined with both his inner and outer life; he and his family share a deep respect for nature and encourage outdoor exploration as part of their children's education. McAnulty finds joy in the smallest stone to animal scat. —Margaret Kingsbury

Find it at Bookshop, Target, Amazon, or your local library.

Illustrated graphic with book covers, text reads ''Young Adult''

Credit: Simon & Schuster, Razorbill, Harperteen

We Can't Keep Meeting Like This by Rachel Lynn Solomon (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers)

Quinn Berkowitz's family are wedding planners. Tarek Mansour's family are caterers. It makes sense they've been in business together for the last several years. At the end of last summer, Quinn confessed her love to Tarek — lover of grand, romantic gestures — in the form of a rambling email, but he never replied. Now, it's a new summer. Quinn isn't sure she wants to be part of her family's business anymore, but with her sister getting married and Tarek returning to work, her problems are piling high. Quinn may have a realist's perspective when it comes to love, but the more she and Tarek hang out, the more she discovers she's fighting uncertain feelings. Solomon returns with another sweet YA romance full of fun banter, layered family dynamics, and characters you can't help love. —Farrah Penn

Find it at Bookshop, Target, Amazon, or your local library.

Heartbreakers and Fakers by Cameron Lund (Razorbill)

This incredibly charming enemies-to-lovers rom-com was such a delight to read, filled with witty dialogue and amusing antics. Penny Harris has done everything in her power in order to achieve "perfection" — she's fallen in with the right crowd, is dating a popular boy, and puts time and effort into her looks. But she deeply messes up when she's found kissing her best friend's boyfriend — her best friend's annoying boyfriend — at a party. And in order for Penny and Kai to win their significant others back, they plan to fake date in order to make them jealous. —Farrah Penn

Find it at Bookshop, Target, Amazon, or your local library.

Love and Other Natural Disasters by Misa Sugiura (Harperteen)

In this totally twisty fauxmantic delight, Nozomi is spending the summer with her uncles in San Francisco, hoping against hope to leave a brutal rejection behind her and finally find love. And she does, sort of, with the gorgeous Willow — who begs her to fake it in order to make her own ex jealous and get her back. Nozomi's happy to play along, because surely she can turn it into something real, especially since Willow's ex has clearly moved on. But when absolutely nothing goes according to plan, Nozomi must follow her heart on a most unexpected path. —Dahlia Adler

Find it at Bookshop, Target, Amazon, or your local library.

Now in paperback:

Luster by Raven Leilani: "No book I read in 2020 made me laugh, cringe, and marvel in equal measure more than this debut by the extremely talented Raven Leilani. Edie, a Black millennial toiling at a dead-end publishing job with aspirations to paint professionally, finds herself in a complicated living arrangement with Eric, a married white man she's dating; Rebecca, his grimly determined coroner wife; and their adopted Black daughter, Akila. It's Leilani's writing that's the real treat here, though — her prose is exacting, hilarious, and heartbreaking all at once. I can't recommend Luster enough." —Tomi Obaro (from Best Books of 2020)

I Killed Zoe Spanos by Kit Frick: "YA thriller veteran Frick is back with her strongest yet, a Hamptons-set take on Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca that'll have your mind reeling with possibilities until the very end. Told in a mashup of alternating timelines and podcast extracts that call to mind Courtney Summers' Sadie meets Abigail Haas's I'll Never Tell, it follows Anna Cicconi's first summer in the Hamptons as a nanny — and how her sudden appearance unsettles an entire village of people who swear she looks like a local girl who disappeared months earlier. When Zoe's body is found, Anna is charged with manslaughter, and eerie visions make even her worry that she might have more to do with the girl's death than she remembers, especially as a podcast dedicated to the case continues to dredge up the past. The truth is out there, but will it be revealed in time for Anna's sentencing?" —Dahlia Adler (from 17 YA Thrillers You Won't Want To Put Down

Fifty Words for Rain by Asha Lemmie: "In 1948 Japan, Nori is unwelcome just for who she is — the daughter of an elite Japanese woman and an African American soldier. Abandoned with her grandparents, Nori is hidden away and taught to be silent and obedient. When Nori's half-brother comes back to claim his estate, they surprisingly form a bond that their grandparents can't tolerate. But as Nori learns to finally fight for herself, she also learns that breaking free could cost her everything." —Kirby Beaton (from 19 Historical Fiction Books You Won't Be Able To Put Down)