Solace House’s Unsettling Tale of Coming-of-Age in Liminal Spaces
The horror in Will Maclean’s Solace House is informed by preoccupations as diverse as Usborne Books’ Mysteries of the Unknowm, The Backrooms, Shirley Jackson, and Donna Tartt.
fiction
‘Murder Bimbo’ Tries an Unusual Twist to Storytelling
The narration in Murder Bimbo is whip-smart, clever, and satirical, but the novel’s unusual structure confuses.
‘Slow Stories’ Combines Brian Eno’s Music with Bette A.’s Ambient Fiction
Brian Eno and Bette A. are on the same aesthetic page with Slow Stories, wherein the two form a kind of high-concept ASMR experience.
10 Writers Remaking African Literature in 2026
The writers demanding our attention in 2026 interrogate power, dissect masculinity, and insist on joy in their works of satire, sorcery, and secrets from Africa and the Diaspora.
‘The Summer We Ate Off the China’ Is a Buffet of Varied Stories
Devin Jacobsen’s The Summer We Ate Off the China is a varied collection of emotional stories that will leave one feeling satisfied.
Mule Boy’s Paratactic Storytelling Method Carries Weight
Like Cormac McCarthy, Andrew Krivak breaks complex actions, narrated in strings of independent clauses, into their elemental parts in Mule Boy.
The Best Books of 2025
Our Best Books of 2025 draws from inventive authors and scrappy publishers. Has there ever been a better time to be a reader than these tumultuous times?
Thomas Pynchon’s ‘Shadow Ticket’ Knocks Readers Sideways
Thomas Pynchon’s Shadow Ticket, should it be his last, showcases that even when he’s not at his very best, the man can pack an artful wallop.
‘Calls May Be Recorded’ Intentionally Disconnects
Katharina Volckmer’s tale of an isolated soul’s yearning for connection, Calls May Be Recorded intentionally disconnects with its readers in that funny/not funny way.
‘Great Black Hope’ Prods Black Affluence
In Great Black Hope, Rob Franklin’s debut novel, we have a Black protagonist able to hide behind his finances, even when he slips.
Sayaka Murata’s Spectacularly Strange ‘Vanishing World’
In Sayaka Murata’s eagerly awaited novel Vanishing World, our conventional understanding of love and sex has all but disappeared.
Sameer Pandya’s ‘Our Beautiful Boys’ Is Vulnerable and Powerful
Sameer Pandya mines the pain of immigrant parents wrestling with America’s existential crises in Our Beautiful Boys .