Sometimes all it takes to make your day a little brighter is to remind yourself just how dark life can get. Here are four dark novels and a true crime tale.
fiction
New books this week cover problematic parents, the ultrarich, and a year without sex
Publishing this week: new fiction from Susan Choi, essays from Evan Osnos and memoir from Molly Jong-Fast. Plus, Melissa Febos reflects on her year of abstinence.
Brand new books: Stephen King’s latest, plus tales of a tired mom and a scary stalker
Holly Gibney is back in King’s thriller, Never Flinch. The Stalker follows a manipulative man. Happily ever after is evasive in Consider Yourself Kissed. Plus, new work from Tash Aw and Etgar Keret.
‘Consider Yourself Kissed’ by this rich, relatable story of an overwhelmed mom
This novel stands apart from other tales of mothers stretched too thin. Jessica Stanley weaves family frustrations with British politics and global events because our life and our times are connected.
‘The Stalker’ is one of the most appalling characters in recent American fiction
Paula Bomer’s dizzying book is a fascinating look at an absurdly stupid young man in the early 1990s who manages to sustain himself despite having no evidence of a soul.
17 new books our critics can’t wait to read this summer
We asked some of our trusted critics which upcoming books they are most looking forward to. Here are the fiction and nonfiction titles they picked.
‘Heart Lamp’ wins International Booker, with stories of India’s Muslim women and girls
The major writing prize awards the best fiction translated into English. Judges called Banu Mushtaq’s short story collection “something genuinely new for English readers.”
5 new books this week spotlight Joe Biden, the WNBA, rivers, migrants and autofiction
New books out this week look at everything from pressing political concerns — Original Sin — to perspective-altering riddles about life itself, like in Is A River Alive? and The Book of Records.
‘The Emperor of Gladness’ is a beautiful novel about hard work and found family
Ocean Vuong’s sweeping new novel centers on a depressed 19-year-old college dropout who becomes the caregiver to a widow with dementia.
Newly published stories show a different side of Ian Fleming and Graham Greene
The latest issue of “The Strand Magazine” contains rare stories by the iconic midcentury writers Ian Fleming and Graham Greene.


