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The Best New Book Releases Out March 12, 2024

Erica Ezeifedi

Erica Ezeifedi, Associate Editor, is a transplant from Nashville, TN that has settled in the North East. In addition to being a writer, she has worked as a victim advocate and in public libraries, where she has focused on creating safe spaces for queer teens, mentorship, and providing test prep instruction free to students. Outside of work, much of her free time is spent looking for her next great read and planning her next snack. Find her on Twitter at @Erica_Eze_ .

View All posts by Erica Ezeifedi

There’s a random trend I noticed with the new books out today: “doll.” There are a couple of books with “doll” in the title — the Anna May Wong biography Not Your China Doll by Katie Gee Salisbury and the fictional account of generational trauma Mother Doll by Katya Apekina. There’s also a story with talking dolls in Gina Chung’s Green Frog , which I discuss a little more later.

For the holy rollers, the chain-smoking queer nun Sister Holiday is back in Blessed Water by Margot Douaihy. Another sequel finds an enforcer searching for the reason mangled bodies keep showing up in a pre-apocalyptic town in Micaiah Johnson’s Those Beyond the Wall . In a similarly dystopian vein, there’s Premee Mohamed’s The Siege of Burning Grass , which looks at the ramifications of war in a speculative world.

If you want your heart tugged a little (a lot), Musih Tedji Xaviere writes about the dangers of queer existence in Cameroon in These Letters End in Tears . Poet Morgan Parker gives us a personal look at American culture, history, and its relationship with Black Americans with the essays in You Get What You Pay For .

The books below are by greats — like Gabriel García Márquez and Marilynne Robinson — and newcomers alike. With them, we explore the misadventures of trifling wives, the book of creation, and the tiny seeds that make their way in the world.

Until August by Gabriel García Márquez, translated by Anne McLean

Ana Magdalena Bach has been happily married for 27 years, and yet, every August, she takes a ferry to the island that holds her mother’s grave and finds a new lover for one night. Each year, she gets closer to the thing driving her away from her safe life with her husband and children, and further into the arms of conmen and lechers.

Interestingly, this novella almost didn’t exist. García Márquez never wanted it to be published, but his sons eventually decided that it would be. You can read more about that here .

Reading Genesis by Marilynne Robinson

This one’s a little different. It’s a reinterpretation of the book of Genesis by someone whose highly acclaimed work has been greatly influenced by it. But before you start thinking it’ll be overly academic and dense, well, it is somewhat dense — it’s based on Genesis after all — but it is written through a more artistic lens.

Great Expectations by Vinson Cunningham

Great Expectations takes us back a few years. Obama is just starting to ramp up his bid for presidency when another young Black American man takes notice. David is intrigued by the Illinois senator’s promises, but is ultimately doubtful. Then he goes to work for his presidential campaign, where he meets all manner of people who make him question everything, including the nature of art, history, and race.

Dispersals: On Plants, Borders, and Belonging by Jessica J. Lee

I love books that remove that boundary humans have placed between us and the rest of nature. Here, in 14 essays, Lee hones in specifically on the parallels shared by plants and people when it comes to belonging and adapting to new home environments. All of the plants she mentions don’t belong where they’ve wound up…at least, not at first. With research, history, and personal experiences, Lee explores how plants and people come to belong.

Green Frog by Gina Chung–a fictional short story collection–is another book out today that ties the natural world more closely to humanity, if not women more specifically.

Happily Never After by Lynn Painter

Okay, so the premise of this latest romance by the bestselling Painter hinges on what has to be the most hater job ever: professional wedding objector. Max is the first objector we meet in the story. He’s the one who Sophie hires to object to her marrying her fiancé, since she’s too scared to break it off. On the one hand, a wedding objector may be helping to stop someone from wasting years of their life being married to the wrong person; but it appears the reason Max does it is that he is cynical when it comes to love — i.e., he is a hater. But when he and Sophie start working together as professional objectors, they grow closer. Then his ex’s current fiancé hires them to object to her wedding and Max starts to have reservations.

Just Another Epic Love Poem by Parisa Akhbari

Starting when they were 13, besties Mitra Esfahani and Bea Ortega have kept The Book — a worn moleskine notebook that holds stanzas on stanzas of an epic, never-ending poem. The Book has always been a place where either girl can fully express herself and work through her issues — from Mitra’s feelings surrounding her absentee mother, to Bea’s breakup. Except this one thing. Mitra is in love with Bea and that could change everything. I haven’t finished this one yet, but the way it uses form — stanzas of poetry, texts, and journal prompts dispersed amongst prose — makes me all the more immersed in the girls’ story.

Other Book Riot New Releases Resources:

• All the Books , our weekly new book releases podcast, where Liberty and a cast of co-hosts talk about eight books out that week that we’ve read and loved.
• The New Books Newsletter , where we send you an email of the books out this week that are getting buzz.
• Finally, if you want the real inside scoop on new releases, you have to check out Book Riot’s New Release Index! That’s where I find 90% of new releases, and you can filter by trending books, Rioters’ picks, and even LGBTQ new releases!

You Might Also Like

New Releases

Release Date: September 5th, 2023

When Penny Dahl calls the Finders Keepers detective agency hoping for help locating her missing daughter, Holly is reluctant to accept the case. Her partner, Pete, has Covid. Her (very complicated) mother has just died. And Holly is meant to be on leave. But something in Penny Dahl’s desperate voice makes it impossible for Holly to turn her down. Mere blocks from where Bonnie Dahl disappeared live Professors Rodney and Emily Harris. They are the picture of bourgeois respectability: married octogenarians, devoted to each other, and semi-retired lifelong academics. But they are harboring an unholy secret in the basement of their well-kept, book-lined home, one that may be related to Bonnie’s disappearance. And it will prove nearly impossible to discover what they are up to: they are savvy, they are patient, and they are ruthless. Holly must summon all her formidable talents to outthink and outmaneuver the shockingly twisted professors in this chilling new masterwork from Stephen King.

Collections

You Like It Darker

Release Date: May 21st, 2024

From legendary storyteller and master of short fiction Stephen King comes an extraordinary new collection of twelve short stories, many never-before-published, and some of his best EVER. “You like it darker? Fine, so do I,”  writes Stephen King in the afterword to this magnificent new collection of twelve stories that delve into the darker part of life—both metaphorical and literal. King has, for half a century, been a master of the form, and these stories, about fate, mortality, luck, and the folds in reality where anything can happen, are as rich and riveting as his novels, both weighty in theme and a huge pleasure to read. King writes to feel “the exhilaration of leaving ordinary day-to-day life behind,” and in  You Like It Darker , readers will feel that exhilaration too, again and again. “Two Talented Bastids” explores the long-hidden secret of how the eponymous gentlemen got their skills. In “Danny Coughlin’s Bad Dream,” a brief and unprecedented psychic flash upends dozens of lives, Danny’s most catastrophically. In “Rattlesnakes,” a sequel to  Cujo , a grieving widower travels to Florida for respite and instead receives an unexpected inheritance—with major strings attached. In “The Dreamers,” a taciturn Vietnam vet answers a job ad and learns that there are some corners of the universe best left unexplored. “The Answer Man” asks if prescience is good luck or bad and reminds us that a life marked by unbearable tragedy can still be meaningful. King’s ability to surprise, amaze, and bring us both terror and solace remains unsurpassed. Each of these stories holds its own thrills, joys, and mysteries; each feels iconic. You like it darker? You got it.

The Boogeyman

Release Date: June 2nd, 2023

“The Boogeyman,” a horror-thriller from the mind of best-selling author Stephen King, opens June 2, 2023, in theaters nationwide. High school student Sadie Harper and her younger sister Sawyer are reeling from the recent death of their mother and aren’t getting much support from their father, Will, a therapist who is dealing with his own pain. When a desperate patient unexpectedly shows up at their home seeking help, he leaves behind a terrifying supernatural entity that preys on families and feeds on the suffering of its victims. “The Boogeyman,” directed by Rob Savage (“Host”) with a screenplay by Scott Beck & Bryan Woods (“A Quiet Place”) and Mark Heyman (“Black Swan”) and a screen story by Scott Beck & Bryan Woods based upon the short story by Stephen King, stars Sophie Thatcher (“Yellowjackets”), Chris Messina (“Birds of Prey”), Vivien Lyra Blair (“Obi-Wan Kenobi”), Marin Ireland (“The Umbrella Academy”), Madison Hu (“Bizaardvark”), LisaGay Hamilton (“Vice”), and David Dastmalchian (“Dune”). The producers are Shawn Levy (“Stranger Things”), Dan Levine (“Arrival”), and Dan Cohen (“The Adam Project”), with John H. Starke (“Sicario”), Emily Morris (“Rosaline”), Scott Beck, Bryan Woods, Ryan Cunningham, Adam Kolbrenner (“The Tomorrow War”), and Robin Meisinger serving as executive producers. Trailer 1 Trailer 2

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Books We Love

20 new books hitting shelves this summer that our critics can't wait to read.

Meghan Collins Sullivan

June is around the corner, meaning summer is almost here! As we look forward to travel and staycations, plane rides and trips to the beach, we've asked our book critics for some advice: What upcoming fiction and nonfiction are they most looking forward to reading?

Their picks range from memoirs to sci-fi and fantasy to translations, love stories and everything in between. Here's a look:

Daughter of the Merciful Deep by Leslye Penelope

I was hooked when I first saw the gorgeous cover for Daughter of the Merciful Deep by Leslye Penelope. But the novel's premise put it at the top of my summer reading list. Penelope is known for unforgettable characters, world-building, beautiful writing and robust storytelling. Her latest work, inspired by actual events — the drowned Black towns of the American South — promises a magical, mythical and powerful tale of a young woman's quest to save her town. A historical fantasy must-read. (June 4) — Denny Bryce

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The Future Was Color by Patrick Nathan

The Future Was Color by Patrick Nathan has everything I look for in a book: a unique and startling voice, a queer protagonist and a deep understanding of a particular time and place. George — once György — is a gay Hungarian immigrant working as a screenwriter in McCarthy-era Hollywood, occasionally fantasizing about his officemate, Jack. When a once-famous actress named Madeline invites George to stay and write at her spacious Malibu house, she won't take no for an answer — and so George finds himself in a hedonistic milieu where pleasure, politics and strong personalities intermingle. (June 4) — Ilana Masad

Mirrored Heavens: Between Earth & Sky, Book 3 by Rebecca Roanhorse

Rebecca Roanhorse is one of my auto-read authors — and one major reason is because of her fire Between Earth and Sky series. That trilogy comes to a stunning, fevered conclusion with Mirrored Heavens . All of the characters you love, hate and love to hate will converge on the city of Tova. Get ready for an epic battle between ancient gods, their human avatars and the mortals caught in between. (June 4) — Alex Brown

Sing Like Fish: How Sound Rules Life Under Water by Amorina Kingdon

You may know about 52 Blue , whose vocalizations likely go unheard by some other whales; it captured worldwide sympathy and became a pop-culture metaphor. But did you know all whale song is critically disrupted by ships? If that gets you wondering, keep an eye out for Sing Like Fish , which promises to illuminate the fragile symphony of the deep. (June 4) — Genevieve Valentine

Consent: A Memoir by Jill Ciment

I look forward to reading Jill Ciment's Consent and to the discussions it's sure to provoke. In this follow-up memoir to Half a Life, Ciment reconsiders what she wrote 25 years ago about her teenage affair and marriage to her art teacher, 30 years her senior. Half a Life was written before the #MeToo movement, and before her husband died at the age of 93 after 45 years of marriage. Consent promises a fuller picture. (June 11) — Heller McAlpin

Do What Godmother Says by L.S. Stratton

As we continue to experience the frenzy of Harlem Renaissance celebrations, commemorations and historical resonance, Do What Godmother Says by L.S. Stratton is the perfect addition to the litany of works set in this artistic period this year. It examines the intense and frequently degenerating relationship between patrons and artists during this intellectual and cultural movement. In this dual-timeline gothic thriller, a modern writer discovers a family heirloom painting by a Harlem Renaissance artist, which connects her family to a mysterious past. This historical novel is one I'm eager to read because it deftly exposes the layers of creative ownership, especially when race and wealth are involved. (June 11) — Keishel Williams

Horror Movie: A Novel by Paul Tremblay

Paul Tremblay is one of the most entertaining and innovative voices in contemporary fiction regardless of genre. Horror Movie , a story about a cursed movie that never came out and is about to get a remake, is a love letter to horror novels and horror movies, as well as a tense narrative that will redefine the cursed film subgenre. Tremblay is one of the modern masters of horror, and this new novel promises to be packed with the author's distinctive voice, knack for ambiguity and intrigue, and superb atmosphere. (June 11) — Gabino Iglesias

Cue The Sun! The Invention of Reality TV by Emily Nussbaum

Every so often there's a nonfiction title I covet like it's the next installment in my favorite mystery series. This summer it's Cue the Sun! Based on in-depth interviews with more than 300 sources from every aspect of the production process, this book is a cultural history of the genre that ate American entertainment, from New Yorker critic Emily Nussbaum. It combines the appeal of a page-turning thriller and the heft of serious scholarship. Juicy and thoughtful, it's a must-read for anyone interested in television or popular culture. (June 25) — Carole V. Bell

The Undermining of Twyla and Frank by Megan Bannen

In this return to the delightfully wacky world established in one of my personal top-five romance novels of all time, The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy , Megan Bannen takes on the friends to lovers trope with a combination of madcap joie de vivre and the exhausted practicality of a mom who's had enough. Also, there are dragons! (July 2) — Caitlyn Paxson

The Anthropologists by Ayşegül Savaş

I am eagerly awaiting Ayşegül Savaş' The Anthropologists . Born in Istanbul, Savaş has lived in England, Denmark and the U.S. also and now resides in France; in this novel she takes up themes of cultural migration through focus on a young couple seeking an apartment in a foreign city. I'm intrigued to discover how Savaş gifts her characters with an anthropological lens of exploration. (July 9) — Barbara J. King

Elevator in Saigon by Thuân, translated by Nguyen An Lý

Elevator in Saigon is a literal and structural exquisite corpse , capturing Vietnam's eventful period from 1954 to 2004. Mimicking an elevator's movement, the novel heightens our yearning for romance and mystery, while unflinchingly exposing such narrative shaft. Channeling Marguerite Duras and Patrick Modiano, the book also offers a dead-on tour of a society cunningly leaping from one ideological mode to the next. As if challenging Rick's parting words to Ilsa in Casablanca , Thuận's sophomore novel in English implies that geopolitical debacles might have been mitigated if personal relations were held in more elevated regard than "a hill of beans." (July 9) — Thúy Đinh

Goodnight Tokyo by Atsuhiro Yoshida, translated by Haydn Trowell

Atsuhiro Yoshida's Goodnight Tokyo begins with a film company procurer who's tasked with finding fresh kumquats for a production. From there, interlinked tales of Tokyo residents unspool in unpredictable directions. Characters range from a cabdriver to a star of a detective TV series who might be an actual detective. Readers will be reminded of Jim Jarmusch's 1991 movie Night on Earth , which also takes place in the wee hours of the morning and threads together the stories of strangers. (July 9) — Leland Cheuk

Navola: A novel by Paolo Bacigalupi

I love when a beloved author — especially one known mostly for a certain type of book — throws us a daring curveball. Navola is exactly such a pitch. Paolo Bacigalupi, who has won pretty much every major award in the science-fiction field with his climate-conscious dystopianism, is veering hard left with his new novel. It doesn't take place in the future, and it isn't a cautionary tale. Instead, it's a hefty tome of high fantasy set in a dreamed-up world akin to Renaissance Florence. Only with, you guessed it, dragons. But also high finance, political intrigue, and de' Medici-esque opulence. Bacigalupi is one of today's most gripping spinners of speculative fiction, and I can't wait to dive into this surprising magical foray. (July 9) — Jason Heller

The Lucky Ones: A Memoir by Zara Chowdhary

In 2002, two train carriages were set on fire in Gujarat, India. Within three weeks, more than 2,000 Muslims were murdered in response by Hindu mobs. By the end of the year, more than 50,000 Muslims became refugees in their own country. The Lucky Ones is a unique memoir in English of this largest-ever massacre in independent India . It is also about a communal crisis bringing a fractured family together. A must-read in our warring world today. (July 16) — Jenny Bhatt

Sharks Don't Sink: Adventures of a Rogue Shark Scientist by Jasmin Graham

Author Jasmin Graham is a marine biologist specializing in smalltooth sawfish and hammerhead sharks. Who are the real sharks in this story? Graham had to face the sharp-teethed truths of academia, while creating a world of curiosity and discovery around the complex lives of sharks. To combat the racism she encountered in academia, Graham created an "ocean of her own" to become an independent scientist and a champion of social justice, a journey she unspools in this new memoir. (July 16) — Martha Ann Toll

Liars by Sarah Manguso

I have long been a fan of Sarah Manguso's crystalline prose, from her fragmented illness memoir The Two Kinds of Decay to her tightly constrained 2022 novel Very Cold People . Her second novel , Liars , marries restraint with rage — in it, Manguso traces the full arc of a 15-year relationship between Jane, a successful writer, and John, a dilettante artist-cum-techie, in aphoristic vignettes. The result is a furious, propulsive meditation on wifehood, motherhood and artistic ambition. (July 23) — Kristen Martin

The Horse: A Novel by Willy Vlautin

Musician and Lean on Pete author Willy Vlautin captures the American West like few other writers. His prose is always excellent, his characters always beautifully drawn, and that promises to be the case with his next novel, about an isolated Nevada man in his 60s who is visited by a blind horse that refuses to leave. (July 30) — Michael Schaub

Einstein in Kafkaland: How Albert Fell Down the Rabbit Hole and Came Up With the Universe by Ken Krimstein

Art and science collide in Ken Krimstein's new graphic biography . In this book, the author of the brilliant and whimsical The Three Escapes of Hannah Arendt similarly translates careful research into scenic, emotive comics — in this case tracking the potential effects of an adventitious meeting in Prague between two geniuses on the cusp of world-changing discoveries. (Aug. 20) — Tahneer Oksman

Survival Is a Promise: The Eternal Life of Audre Lorde by Alexis Pauline Gumbs

I'd probably be interested in a new biography of Audre Lorde if it focused on the eating habits of the brilliant thinker, poet, feminist and activist. But biographer Alexis Pauline Gumbs promises to more than exceed that bar. An award-winning poet, writer, feminist and activist in her own right, Gumbs is among the first researchers to delve into Lorde's manuscript archives. The resulting book highlights the late author's commitment to interrogating what it means to survive on this planet — and how Lorde's radical understanding of ecology can guide us today. (Aug. 20) — Ericka Taylor

Et Cetera: An Illustrated Guide to Latin Phrases by Maia Lee-Chin, illustrated by Marta Bertello

To those claiming Latin is dead, I say res ipsa loquitur — the thing speaks for itself — in children's cartoons , Hollywood cartoons and enduring epics . As a fan of both Mr. Peabody and the Muses, the idea of combining Maia Lee-Chin's thoughtful scholarship and Marta Bertello's dynamic artistry is captivating. Their new book reimagines the world of Latin's invention and tops my summer reading list. (Aug. 27) — Marcela Davison Avilés

• summer books

The week’s bestselling books, May 26

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Hardcover fiction

1. All Fours by Miranda July (Riverhead Books: $29) An irreverent and tender novel about a woman upending her life.

2. Funny Story by Emily Henry (Berkley: $29) Two opposites with the wrong thing in common connect.

3. James by Percival Everett (Doubleday: $28) An action-packed reimagining of “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.”

4. Table for Two by Amor Towles (Viking: $32) A collection of stories from the author of “The Lincoln Highway.”

5. The Women by Kristin Hannah (St. Martin’s Press: $30) An intimate portrait of coming of age in a dangerous time and an epic tale of a nation divided.

6. Long Island by Colm Tóibín (Scribner: $28) The story of a woman alone in a marriage and the bonds she rekindles on her return to the place and people she left behind.

7. Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar (Knopf: $28) An orphaned son of Iranian immigrants embarks on a search for a family secret.

8. The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo (Flatiron Books: $30) A magic-infused novel set in the Spanish Golden Age.

9. The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley (Avid Reader Press/Simon & Schuster: $28.99) A fusion of genres and ideas that’s part time-travel romance and part spy thriller.

10. The Paris Novel by Ruth Reichl (Random House: $29) An adventure through the food, art and fashion scenes of 1980s Paris.

Hardcover nonfiction

1. The Demon of Unrest by Erik Larson (Crown: $35) An exploration of the pivotal five months between Abraham Lincoln’s election and the start of the Civil War.

2. The Creative Act by Rick Rubin (Penguin: $32) The music producer’s guidance on how to be a creative person.

3. Rebel Girl by Kathleen Hanna (Ecco: $30) A memoir by the original rebel girl and legendary frontwoman of Bikini Kill and Le Tigre.

4. Fire in the Hole! by Bob Parsons (Forefront Books: $29) The GoDaddy founder shares his story of success as an entrepreneur.

5. Somehow by Anne Lamott (Riverhead Books: $22) A joyful celebration of love from the bestselling author.

6. The Wager by David Grann (Doubleday: $30) The story of the shipwreck of an 18th century British warship and a mutiny among the survivors. 54

7. The Situation Room by George Stephanopoulos, Lisa Dickey (Grand Central: $35) Inside the place where 12 presidential administrations grappled with history-making crises.

8. The Light Eaters by Zoë Schlanger (Harper: $30) An examination of the hidden world and astonishing capabilities of the plant kingdom.

9. The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt (Penguin Press: $30) An investigation into the collapse of youth mental health and a plan for a healthier, freer childhood.

10. Inspire Greatness by Matt Tenney (Matt Holt: $28) A four-step process on how to improve employee motivation, engagement and performance.

Paperback fiction

1. A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas (Bloomsbury: $19)

2. The Midnight Library by Matt Haig (Penguin: $18)

3. Rouge by Mona Awad (S&S/Marysue Rucci Books: $19)

4. The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu, Ken Liu (Transl.) (Tor: $19)

5. Happy Place by Emily Henry (Berkley: $19)

6. The Guest by Emma Cline (Random House: $18)

7. Just for the Summer by Abby Jimenez (Forever: $18)

8. Trust by Hernan Diaz (Riverhead Books: $17)

9. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho (HarperOne: $18)

10. It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover (Atria: $17)

Paperback nonfiction

1. An Immense World by Ed Yong (Random House: $20)

2. The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine by Rashid Khalidi (Metropolitan Books: $20)

3. All About Love by bell hooks (Morrow: $17)

4. The Backyard Bird Chronicles by Amy Tan (Knopf: $35)

5. Everything Now by Rosecrans Baldwin (Picador: $19)

6. Everything I Know About Love by Dolly Alderton (Harper Perennial: $19)

7. Dinners With Ruth by Nina Totenberg (Simon & Schuster: $19)

8. Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner (Vintage: $17)

9. The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron (TarcherPerigee: $19)

10. Liliana’s Invincible Summer by Cristina Rivera Garza (Hogarth: $18)

More to Read

The week’s bestselling books, May 19

May 15, 2024

The week’s bestselling books, May 12

May 8, 2024

10 books to add to your reading list in May

May 1, 2024

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The Los Angeles Times bestsellers list comes courtesy of the California Independent Booksellers Alliance (CALIBA). Established in 1981, CALIBA is a mutual benefit 501c(6) nonprofit corporation dedicated to supporting, nurturing and promoting independent retail bookselling in California.

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Walter Mosley again shows why he is a master of crime fiction

In Mosley’s new Easy Rawlins novel, “Farewell, Amethystine,” his hero is pulled into a missing-persons case that turns into much more.

A crop of new, talented crime-fiction writers has begun to make its mark — appearing on bestseller lists, earning award nominations and filling spots at respected book festivals. This is encouraging, even as the genre’s lodestars remain. Smoothly gliding through this chorus of hungry voices is Walter Mosley. His latest Easy Rawlins mystery, “ Farewell, Amethystine ,” shows that he is still at the top of a genre he helped to pioneer.

Here we find Rawlins observing America as the country roughly turns the corner into the 1970s. Rawlins is now 50, and much of his life is going well. The novel opens with a comfortable scene of him and his friends discussing current events. Despite their ruminations on the social unrest of that time — “the world was changing in increments so small,” Rawlins later says, “you’d have had to be a victim to feel it” — the reader has the sense that Mosley’s longtime protagonist has, temporarily, found peace. But that respite is upended by the appearance of a mysterious and alluring woman named Amethystine Stoller. Her husband is missing, and she hires Rawlins to find him.

Amethystine bears a resemblance to a woman from Rawlins’s past who took hold of his psyche. That dormant obsession returns, in the form of flashbacks that leave Rawlins stunned and force him to face the trauma of his impoverished youth and brutal days fighting in World War II. “I was asleep, and not asleep,” he recalls, “a state that being a participant in war had imparted to me.”

His struggles are also fueled by the bitter racism he encounters. Mosley has long used Easy Rawlins to both celebrate and redefine the conventions of the classic hard-boiled detective novel. Rawlins bears similarities to his golden-age noir predecessors — clouded morality, swift intelligence, a simple willingness to employ violence, fighting forces larger than himself. But what distinguishes Rawlins is his understanding that the corrupt societal forces he battles are rooted in bigotry. He is cast further from society than his White counterparts, who rarely face the scathing levels of hate Rawlins does, the kind of contempt so outlandish and transparent that many simply refuse to believe it exists.

When a cop attempts to arrest him for a crime he didn’t commit, and openly explains that police often falsely tie men to random offenses, Rawlins notes: “Seven out of ten of the city’s White residents would have said it couldn’t happen — not in America. Out of the remaining three, two would have said that I could have beaten the false charges in court. Eleven out of nine Black Angelenos would have known that I was destined for a lifetime behind bars or a seat in the gas chamber.” At another point, Rawlins and his goddaughter speak frankly about her father, who was killed by police. “The police murdered my father,” she says. Rawlins replies simply: “That they did.” His three words speak volumes and reflect his understanding that racism informed the actions of a state designed to trample the rights of non-White people.

But while Mosley never shies away from the persistence of racism, he does not let it overwhelm his story. When Amethystine’s husband is found dead and enemies emerge from the shadows, Rawlins realizes that the case extends far beyond the confines of a marriage. And Mosley’s beloved protagonist, dealing with the recurrent visions of his past and the complications of trust in his present, is credibly faced with losing the identity he’s carefully constructed.

As always with Mosley, the prose is succinct, nearly mathematical in its precise balance, with sudden moments of restless beauty. A woman’s eyes are “the color of melted butter that was just turning dark over a high flame.” Another character is a “a great novel — just one read-through was not enough to understand what it means.” Deep fear is described as a voyage back to “a time before machines or even written language.” But within that studied, memorable prose, there’s an underlying loneliness. Rawlins has his companions, but much of his torment is designed to be dealt with alone. As “Farewell, Amethystine” winds to its conclusion, that solitude is devastating.

Like Easy Rawlins, Walter Mosley has long stood apart from his contemporaries — because of both his skill and his identity. While race isn’t an unexplored topic in crime fiction, writers of color in the genre have been rare. That’s been changing, albeit slowly, and many of those changes stem from Mosley’s success, as well as his efforts in creating organizations like Crime Writers of Color (in partnership with noted writers Kellye Garrett and Gigi Pandian). The space that Mosley occupies in literature is distinctly his own, but his efforts and immense talent have afforded others the chance to join him.

E.A. Aymar’s most recent novel is “When She Left.”

Farewell, Amethystine

An Easy Rawlins Mystery

By Walter Mosley

Mulholland. 336 pp. $30

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Check out our coverage of this year’s Pulitzer winners: Jayne Anne Phillips won the fiction prize for her novel “ Night Watch .” The nonfiction prize went to Nathan Thrall, for “ A Day in the Life of Abed Salama .” Cristina Rivera Garza received the memoir prize for “ Liliana’s Invincible Summer .” And Jonathan Eig received the biography prize for his “ King: A Life .”

Best books of 2023: See our picks for the 10 best books of 2023 or dive into the staff picks that Book World writers and editors treasured in 2023. Check out the complete lists of 50 notable works for fiction and the top 50 nonfiction books of last year.

Find your favorite genre: Three new memoirs tell stories of struggle and resilience, while five recent historical novels offer a window into other times. Audiobooks more your thing? We’ve got you covered there, too . If you’re looking for what’s new, we have a list of our most anticipated books of 2024 . And here are 10 noteworthy new titles that you might want to consider picking up this April.

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What Book Should You Read Next?

Finding a book you’ll love can be daunting. Let us help.

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By The New York Times Books Staff

• Published April 16, 2023 Updated May 21, 2024

Fiction | Nonfiction

For more recommendations, subscribe to our Read Like the Wind newsletter, check out our romance columnist’s favorite books of the year so far or visit our What to Read page.

At The New York Times Book Review, we write about thousands of books every year. Many of them are good. Some are even great. But we get that sometimes you just want to know, “What should I read that is good or great for me ? Well, here you go — a running list of some of the year’s best, most interesting, most talked-about books. Check back next month to see what we’ve added.

We chose the 10 best books of 2023. See the full list .

Give me a thrilling new take on an American masterpiece

James , by Percival Everett

In this reworking of the “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” Jim, the enslaved man who accompanies Huck down the Mississippi River, is the narrator, and he recounts the classic tale in a language that is his own and with surprising details that reveal a far more resourceful, cunning and powerful character than we knew.

Local bookstores | Barnes and Noble | Amazon

I want a great American book full of humanity

The heaven & earth grocery store , by james mcbride.

McBride’s latest opens with a human skeleton found in a well in the 1970s, and then flashes back to the past, to the ’20s and ’30s, to explore the remains’ connection to one town’s Black, Jewish and immigrant history. But rather than a straightforward whodunit, McBride weaves an intimate tale of community.

I’d like an intricate, immersive fantasy

The book of love , by kelly link.

Link, a Pulitzer finalist and master of short stories, pushes our understanding of what a fantasy novel can be. Here, she follows three teenagers who return from the dead and compete for the chance to remain alive in a series of magical challenges, spinning a rich tale full of secrets and the supernatural.

Local booksellers | Barnes and Noble | Amazon

I want to read a book everyone is (still) talking about

Demon copperhead , by barbara kingsolver.

Kingsolver’s powerful novel, published in 2022, is a close retelling of Charles Dickens’s “David Copperfield” set in contemporary Appalachia. The story gallops through issues including childhood poverty, opioid addiction and rural dispossession even as its larger focus remains squarely on the question of how an artist’s consciousness is formed. Like Dickens, Kingsolver is unblushingly political and works on a sprawling scale, animating her pages with an abundance of charm and the presence of seemingly every creeping thing that has ever crept upon the earth.

Introduce me to a family I’ll love (even if they break my heart)

The bee sting , by paul murray.

This tragicomic novel follows a once wealthy, now ailing Irish family, the Barneses, as they struggle with both the aftermath of the 2008 financial crash and their own inner demons.

How about a wrenching story that puts heroic women at the center?

The women , by kristin hannah.

The best-selling author of “The Nightingale” follows a San Diego debutante who works as an Army nurse during the Vietnam War. “Hannah’s real superpower is her ability to hook you along from catastrophe to catastrophe, sometimes peering between your fingers, because you simply cannot give up on her characters,” our reviewer wrote.

I’d like a moody, mesmerizing crime novel from a master

The hunter , by tana french.

For Tana French fans, every one of the thriller writer’s twisty, ingenious books is an event. This one, a sequel to “The Searcher,” once again sees the retired Chicago cop Cal Hooper, a perennial outsider in the Irish west-country hamlet of Ardnakelty, caught up in the crimes — seen and unseen — that eat at the seemingly picturesque village.

I’d like a smart romantic comedy that avoids cliché

Good material , by dolly alderton.

Alderton’s novel, about a 35-year-old man struggling to make sense of a breakup, delivers the most delightful aspects of romantic comedy — snappy dialogue, realistic relationship dynamics, funny meet-cutes and misunderstandings — and leaves behind clichéd gender roles and the traditional marriage plot.

How about a heartwarming novel to suit any mood?

Remarkably bright creatures , by shelby van pelt.

This debut novel, a runaway best seller, follows a widow named Tova who starts working overnight shifts at a nearby aquarium, where she forms a bond with an octopus named Marcellus. As they grow closer, it turns out that Marcellus holds the key to one of her most painful episodes: the disappearance, decades ago, of her son.

I’d like a nuanced look at the U.S.-Mexico border crisis

Everyone who is gone is here , by jonathan blitzer.

This timely and instructive history, from a New Yorker staff writer, situates the immigration crisis as the outcome of a long and vexed entanglement between the United States and its southern neighbors.

I’m ready to hear about one of the most shocking moments in recent literary history

Knife , by salman rushdie.

In his candid, plain-spoken and gripping new memoir, Rushdie recalls the attempted assassination he survived in 2022 during a presentation about keeping the world’s writers safe from harm. His attacker had piranhic energy. He also had a knife. Rushdie lost an eye, but he has slowly recovered thanks to the attentive care of doctors and the wife he celebrates here.

I want a dramatic, Pulitzer-winning history that reads like a novel

Master slave husband wife: an epic journey from slavery to freedom , by ilyon woo.

Woo’s book recounts a daring feat: the successful flight north from Georgia in 1848 by an enslaved couple disguised as a sickly young white planter and his male slave. But her meticulous retelling is equally a feat — of research, storytelling, sympathy and insight.

Teach me about a forgotten chapter of American history

Madness , by antonia hylton.

Hylton investigates the hidden history of Crownsville Hospital, a segregated asylum on 1,500 acres in Anne Arundel County, Md., that operated for over 90 years. The story has resonance today — particularly regarding America’s continuing failure to care for Black minds.

I want an unflinching account of motherhood from one of our best personal essayists

Splinters: another kind of love story , by leslie jamison.

Jamison, who has previously written stylishly about her experiences with addiction, abortion and more, here delivers a searing account of divorce and the bewildering joys of new motherhood, cementing her status as one of America’s most talented self-chroniclers.

I can’t learn enough about World War II

Judgment at tokyo , by gary j. bass.

Written by a veteran journalist and Princeton professor, this immersive look at the prosecution of Japanese war crimes offers an elegant account of a moment that shaped the politics of the region and of the Cold War to come.

I want a revelatory biography of someone I thought I knew everything about

King: a life , by jonathan eig.

The first comprehensive biography of Martin Luther King Jr. in decades, Eig’s book draws on a landslide of recently released government documents as well as letters and interviews. This is a book worthy of its subject: both an intimate study of a complex and flawed human being and a journalistic account of a civil rights titan.

I need something to help me through a hard time (and that might even make me laugh)

Grief is for people , by sloane crosley.

This memoir follows Crosley, who is known for her humor as she works to process the loss of her friend, mentor and former boss, Russell Perreault, who died by suicide.

I’d like a moving memoir about friendship and mental illness

The best minds: a story of friendship, madness, and the tragedy of good intentions , by jonathan rosen.

In his engrossing new memoir, Rosen pieces together how he and his brilliant childhood friend, Michael Laudor, ended up taking sharply divergent paths. (Laudor came to prominence as a Yale Law School graduate working to destigmatize schizophrenia, but later killed his pregnant girlfriend.) Rosen brings plenty of compassion to this gripping reconstruction of Laudor’s life and their friendship.

Honestly, I really like reading about animals

What an owl knows: the new science of the world’s most enigmatic birds , by jennifer ackerman.

There are some 260 species of owls spread across every continent except Antarctica, and in this fascinating book, Ackerman explains why the birds are both naturally wondrous and culturally significant.

Explore More in Books

Want to know about the best books to read and the latest news start here..

An assault led to Chanel Miller’s best seller, “Know My Name,” but she had wanted to write children’s books since the second grade. She’s done that now  with “Magnolia Wu Unfolds It All.”

When Reese Witherspoon is making selections for her book club , she wants books by women, with women at the center of the action who save themselves.

The Nobel Prize-winning author Alice Munro, who died on May 14 , specialized in exacting short stories that were novelistic in scope , spanning decades with intimacy and precision.

“The Light Eaters,” a new book by Zoë Schlanger, looks at how plants sense the world  and the agency they have in their own lives.

Each week, top authors and critics join the Book Review’s podcast to talk about the latest news in the literary world. Listen here .

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