Is it fall yet? Maybe? Does cozy reading sound appealing? Well then. This month’s new releases cover a wide range of modes and styles, from absorbing journeys into the self to sprawling novels of potential futures and hidden secrets. Perhaps something in here will be your next perfect read as the days get shorter and the temperature drops.
In our afternoon reading: excerpts from books by Cadwell Turnbull and Spencer Ackerman, an interview with Jaime Hernández, and more.
Cadwell Turnbull’s novel The Lesson is a solid entry in the reliable genre of novels telling the story of humanity’s first contact with extraterrestrials. What helps to make it stand out even more is its intense humanism: Turnbull’s characters fervently debate religion and philosophy even before the aliens show up, and there’s a generosity that he extends to nearly all of his characters that help accentuate his themes of community. Turnbull also benefits from the specificity of this narrative: there aren’t a whole lot of science fiction novels set in the U.S. Virgin Islands, but Turnbull uses the setting to his advantage, furthering his chosen themes as this novel’s plot deepens.
In our morning reading: a review of Cadwell Turnbull’s new novel, an interview with Gabriela Ybarra, and more.