Check out these highly anticipated new releases featuring fiction and nonfiction titles. Click on the title to request a copy or get your name on the waitlist. Don’t forget to watch for more featured releases next month!
FICTION
The Original Daughter by Jemimah Wei. California-based Singaporean writer Wei, a Pushcart Prize nominee, brings to readers a family tale set in working-class Singapore and New Zealand and centered on 27-year-old Genevieve. In her childhood, her grandfather's secret family came to light with the arrival of his newly discovered descendant Arin, who is a year younger than Gen. Gen's parents took Arin in as a daughter, since she was seemingly abandoned by her birth family, and Gen has resented her ever since. Gen narrates a lifetime of strife with Arin, who later becomes a famous actress, and also deals with her mother's breast cancer and her father's emotional infidelity. Wei's multilayered writing sweeps readers up to carry them alongside Gen through her emotional and financial struggles and lifelong conflict with Arin as they both vie for their mother's love and attention. . . VERDICT This novel should appeal to readers who appreciate relationship-based stories within families; also a good candidate for book clubs.—Shirley Quan. Copyright 2025 Library Journal.
Old School Indian by Aaron John Curtis. A Native American man returns home to heal wounds both literal and metaphorical. Abe Jacobs, the hero of Curtis’ finely tuned debut, is 43 and seriously ill. He’s taken a break from his job as a bookseller in Miami (and from his wife, Alexandria East), to visit family on a Mohawk reservation in upstate New York. . . while he waits for a formal diagnosis, he skeptically but desperately accepts some folk treatment from a great-uncle. Otherwise, he spends his stay reconnecting with friends and family, attempting to make sense of his various past struggles: a depression that led to a suicide attempt, a difficult open relationship with Alex, and a stalled career as a poet. That last challenge gives the novel a poignant, lyrical lift: An alter ego of Abe’s, Dominick Deer Woods, regularly intrudes on the narrative, sharing excerpts of Abe’s poetry and generally serving as his snarkier, more confident self. . . Some of those sidebars deal with Native American life, from food to tribal relationships, to the bigotry that informs Abe’s skepticism of traditional medicine, to forced sterilizations, and more. . . An affecting tale of loss and healing that thrives through its seriocomic style. Copyright Kirkus 2025.
Anima Rising by Christopher Moore. Moore (
Shakespeare for Squirrels) offers an absurdist and sardonic sequel, of sorts, to Frankenstein. It begins in early-1900s Vienna and is populated with historical figures like Egon Schiele, Gustav Klimt, Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung, and a young Hitler. Readers meet painter Klimt when he is out early one morning and finds the body of a young woman who appears to have drowned in the river. He is struck by the unique tint of her skin and is compelled to sketch her. When it seems she's not dead yet, he brings her back to his studio, but the woman, whom he names Judith, cannot remember who she is. Klimt calls upon Freud for assistance, and he eventually calls upon his protégé Jung for help with this unique case. These sessions reveal hidden memories about her creation and bizarre history, which include Victor Frankenstein and a trip to the underworld. VERDICT This is a wild adventure through history, art, and literature for Moore's many fans and those who enjoy historical fiction with a side of fantasy and wry humor. Highly recommended.—Kristen Stewart. Copyright 2025 Library Journal.
NONFICTION
Life and Art by Richard Russo. Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Russo's (
Somebody's Fool) second essay collection focuses on writing and his life. He has written screenplays for a number of his books, including an HBO miniseries for Empire Falls. Reading about his childhood, youth, and early adulthood, growing up in a Rustbelt town in upstate New York as the son of an often-absent father and an ambitious mother, helps readers understand the source of his books' settings, their characters, and his (and their) outlooks on life. Thirteen essays (some of which originally appeared in
The Atlantic,
Harper's, and the
Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association) reveal even more of Russo's background and interests—studying for his Ph.D. in literature at the University of Arizona, teaching English at Colby and other colleges, traveling across the country on book tours, screenwriting and adapting his own work. Russo also writes of his interest in Kingsley Amis's novel
Lucky Jim, the 1969 film
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (and one of its stars, Paul Newman), and Townes Van Zandt's song "Pancho and Lefty." VERDICT A welcome visit with a major contemporary writer.—Marcia Welsh Copyright 2025 LJExpress.
The Art Spy by Michelle Young. Young chronicles the vividly atmospheric saga of Rose Valland, a French art historian who risked everything to spy on the Nazis during World War II, as a key Resistance spy in the heart of the Nazis' art-looting headquarters. While Hitler was amassing stolen art for his future Führermuseum, Valland was secretly working to stop him from looting paintings by Picasso, Monet, Cézanne, Gauguin, Braque, Degas, Modigliani, and Toulouse-Lautrec. Based on previously undiscovered historical documents, this extensively detailed portrait of Valland's bravery and strategic intelligence makes for exciting reading. The fascinating book offers insights into the Nazi's art looting operations and Valland's crucial role in preserving France's cultural heritage. The story of Valland's courage and dedication to art and justice is compelling and inspiring. VERDICT This book should have broad appeal, thanks to its previously unsung World War II Resistance spy heroine and the rich details of her exploits, making it ideal for fans of espionage and strong narrative nonfiction that reads like a compelling novel.—Lawrence Mello Copyright 2025 LJExpress.
They Poisoned the World: Life and Death in the Age of Forever Chemicals by Mariah Blake. Investigative journalist Blake tells the story of her investigation into the lives and workings of the people in a small town in upstate New York who had grown suspicious of the local industrial plant after there had been an inordinate amount of health problems and cancer deaths among the small population. This industrial plant employed most townspeople and made food-preserving products, including Teflon. Obtaining her information through personal interviews with the local people and through numerous public documents, Blake discovered that this plant was dumping waste into the local water supply. All the while, the chemical industry at large was aware of the deadly and long-term effects of these "forever chemicals." The company running the plant in New York had gone to extreme lengths to cover it up, including manufacturing false research studies. Ultimately, the chemicals were banned, yet long-term health issues and environmental problems persist. Blake tells this heartbreaking and horrifying story in a manner that should motivate and outrage readers. VERDICT A powerfully written narrative that needs to be shared widely.—Steve Dixon Copyright 2025 LJExpress.
