Book Reviews

Adoption is a metaphor for cultural dislocation in Boris Fishman's new novel, which follows an immigrant Jewish couple in New Jersey who adopt a baby from Minnesota — and set out to find his roots.

Charlie Chan Hock Chye is one of Singapore's great unsung cartoonists. He's also imaginary — the virtuosic invention of comic artist Sonny Liew, who's created a realistic mix of comics and history.

Paul Goldberg's audacious new novel trades in rumor and anecdote, conjuring a time of anti-Semitism and violence in 1950s Moscow.

Mishell Baker's new fantasy novel follows filmmaker Millie Roper as she manages her mental and physical issues while hunting down a missing fairy nobleman — and trying to make a career in Hollywood.

Olivia Laing surveys the landscape of urban alienation in her new book, a work that is part-memoir and part-criticism. Critic Maureen Corrigan says The Lonely City is "absolutely one of a kind."

Writer Olivia Laing recalls her days as an expatriate Brit in New York in her new book, a meditation on modern life and loneliness. It's a lonely read, too, but full of heart-piercing wisdom.

In A Doubter's Almanac, Ethan Canin tells the story of a book-smart man — "a topologist, who can map the world but not the heart."

Don't call it a time machine! Dexter Palmer's new novel follows a professor who's invented what he calls a "causality violation device" — and his wife, who suspects her world is going strange.

The books published by Salaam Reads will appeal to Muslim and non-Muslim readers alike, executive editor Zareej Jaffery says — and will represent a wide range of cultural traditions within Islam.

V.E. Schwab's follow-up to A Darker Shade of Magic picks up with heroes Kell and Delilah adventuring (and sometimes agonizing) in a magical alternate London while danger lurks in the titular shadows.