In Katie Goh’s nimble hybrid memoir "Foreign Fruit", the unfolding history of the orange is paralleled with family migrations and anti-Asian racism. The inciting incident dates to the COVID-19 lockdowns: “The morning after a white... Read More

In his fascinating travelogue "The Wild Dark", Craig Childs goes on a quest to reclaim dark nights. Childs remembers the mixture of awe and fear he felt under a Colorado night sky when he was five years old. Since then, he’s taken... Read More

Daniel Tammet’s "Nine Minds" is a biographical mosaic of neurodivergence built of stories of individuals whose struggles and achievements defy the clichés surrounding autism. The book presents autism not as a “disorder” but as a... Read More

The incisive autobiographical essays of Amy Lee Scott’s "When the World Explodes" ponder private tragedies and global threats. Eleven inquisitive pieces consider personal crises alongside natural disasters and gun violence. One links... Read More

Set in a postapocalyptic world, Ingvild Bjerkeland’s chilling novel "Beasts" is about children who hope to reunite with their father. Thirteen-year-old Abdi is the guardian of his five-year-old sister, Alva, since a beast killed their... Read More

Lida Maxwell’s enthusiastic academic study reappraises scientist Rachel Carson’s motivations in light of ecological crisis and queer studies. Although Carson grew up in Pennsylvania, her affinity for the ocean became paramount. On... Read More

In her outstanding book-length essay "Immemorial", Lauren Markham compares language, memorials, and rituals as strategies for coping with climate anxiety and grief. Monuments to famous men are passé, the work insists; instead, it is... Read More

Set in the 1960s and 1970s in a city where World War II still reverberates, Robert Seethaler’s tender novel "The Café with No Name" is about a Viennese restaurateur’s interactions with his acquaintances and customers. Robert,... Read More