Book Reviews

You might be forgiven for knowing only one Brazilian author — Paulo Coelho dominates the charts. But we've got five more great, overlooked Brazilian reads for you to kick off the Rio Games with.

Nadja Spiegelman is insightful about the power and malleability of memory in her new memoir, but the book is weighed down by an aggressively artificial poignancy, all ashtrays and meaningful silences.

Nick Mamatas takes on the legacy of H.P. Lovecraft — both Lovecraft's notorious racism and sexism, and the zealous fandom that's sprung up around him — with scathing humor in his latest novel.

Gaudy beauty and extravagant horror twine around each other in Marjorie Liu's new graphic novel Monstress. It's the story of a girl caught up in a war of magic in which neither side comes off well.

Blake Crouch's new book — about a mild-mannered professor who's conked on the head and wakes up in another universe — doesn't make much sense, but it's a fast, tasty read with a killer twist.

Graphic artist, fortuneteller, musician and mischief maker Dame Darcy published the comic Meat Cake from 1993 to 2008. This new compilation is packed full of all the things that obsessed her.

Megan Abbott's novel about a talented young gymnast and her mother starts with a mysterious death, but the real mysteries are the characters themselves: You never really know the people close to you.

Minicomics are kind of a relic — few artists now want to go to the trouble of printing and distributing paper comics. But there are still a few out there that are worth the trouble of hunting down.

Jenni Fagan's latest follows a transgender girl and her mother in a near-future world that's slowly freezing to death. Fagan makes potent but subtle links between climate change and personal change.