logo
13 new paperbacks for your reading list

13 new paperbacks for your reading list

Washington Post18-07-2025
In Whitaker's best-selling fourth novel, set in Missouri in 1975, a one-eyed boy named Patch saves the daughter of a wealthy family from the grasp of a serial killer. The bleak repercussions of that incident reverberate for decades, threatening to upend the lives of everyone involved.
In Whitaker's best-selling fourth novel, set in Missouri in 1975, a one-eyed boy named Patch saves the daughter of a wealthy family from the grasp of a serial killer. The bleak repercussions of that incident reverberate for decades, threatening to upend the lives of everyone involved.
The latest by Moriarty (author of 'Big Little Lies,' 'Nine Perfect Strangers' and other bestsellers) opens onboard a delayed flight from Tasmania to Sydney. Suddenly, an unremarkable woman stands up and begins methodically telling each passenger and crew member when and how they will die. 'In the end, the puzzle — will the predictions come true or won't they? — becomes less interesting than the myriad ways people react when confronted with their ephemerality,' Stephanie Merry wrote in Book World.
The latest by Moriarty (author of 'Big Little Lies,' 'Nine Perfect Strangers' and other bestsellers) opens onboard a delayed flight from Tasmania to Sydney. Suddenly, an unremarkable woman stands up and begins methodically telling each passenger and crew member when and how they will die. 'In the end, the puzzle — will the predictions come true or won't they? — becomes less interesting than the myriad ways people react when confronted with their ephemerality,' Stephanie Merry wrote in Book World.
Senna's shrewd comic novel, named one of The Washington Post's 10 Best Books of 2024, is about a biracial woman named Jane Gibson who is working on a second novel that has grown a bit too epic for its own good. So she swallows her pride and approaches Hollywood, pitching a sitcom about a mixed-race family. 'What's most rewarding' about the novel, Ron Charles wrote in Book World, 'is how effortlessly Senna keeps the wings of this plot from getting clotted with bits of didactic wisdom or social reproof. … The way Senna keeps this wry story aloft may be the closest paper can come to levitation.'
Senna's shrewd comic novel, named one of The Washington Post's 10 Best Books of 2024, is about a biracial woman named Jane Gibson who is working on a second novel that has grown a bit too epic for its own good. So she swallows her pride and approaches Hollywood, pitching a sitcom about a mixed-race family. 'What's most rewarding' about the novel, Ron Charles wrote in Book World, 'is how effortlessly Senna keeps the wings of this plot from getting clotted with bits of didactic wisdom or social reproof. … The way Senna keeps this wry story aloft may be the closest paper can come to levitation.'
The latest from one of America's most intellectually curious novelists was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. Sadie, a former U.S. intelligence agent, is now a freelancer in southwest France, where powerful agricultural corporations are buying up land and marring the environment. She's tasked with infiltrating a group of radical activists suspected of planning an ecoterrorist attack. Ron Charles wrote: 'The real covert operative here is Kushner, who's never felt more cunning.'
The latest from one of America's most intellectually curious novelists was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. Sadie, a former U.S. intelligence agent, is now a freelancer in southwest France, where powerful agricultural corporations are buying up land and marring the environment. She's tasked with infiltrating a group of radical activists suspected of planning an ecoterrorist attack. Ron Charles wrote: 'The real covert operative here is Kushner, who's never felt more cunning.'
McBride's novel takes place before and during the Depression, in a ramshackle Pennsylvania neighborhood called Chicken Hill, where Jewish immigrants and African Americans cling to the deferred dream of equality in the United States. Moshe Ludlow, a wannabe impresario from Romania, is married to Chona, a polio survivor with a pronounced limp. Moshe has the radical idea to open his All-American Dance Hall and Theater to Black patrons. At the center of the novel is a sweet 12-year-old orphan nicknamed Dodo. For childless Chona, he is an answer to a prayer. In Book World, Ron Charles wrote: 'We all need — we all deserve — this vibrant, love-affirming novel that bounds over any difference that claims to separate us.'
McBride's novel takes place before and during the Depression, in a ramshackle Pennsylvania neighborhood called Chicken Hill, where Jewish immigrants and African Americans cling to the deferred dream of equality in the United States. Moshe Ludlow, a wannabe impresario from Romania, is married to Chona, a polio survivor with a pronounced limp. Moshe has the radical idea to open his All-American Dance Hall and Theater to Black patrons. At the center of the novel is a sweet 12-year-old orphan nicknamed Dodo. For childless Chona, he is an answer to a prayer. In Book World, Ron Charles wrote: 'We all need — we all deserve — this vibrant, love-affirming novel that bounds over any difference that claims to separate us.'
Reid follows up her hit debut, 'Such a Fun Age' (2019), with this novel set at the University of Arkansas, where a visiting professor named Agatha Paul enlists three female students to answer questions for her new work of cultural criticism about weddings. Some of the talk turns to sex, but the real complications and most intimate details involve money and the way unequal economic positions create clashing sets of values. Reid is a master plotter who has engineered a spectacular intersection of class, racism, academic politics and journalistic ethics.
Reid follows up her hit debut, 'Such a Fun Age' (2019), with this novel set at the University of Arkansas, where a visiting professor named Agatha Paul enlists three female students to answer questions for her new work of cultural criticism about weddings. Some of the talk turns to sex, but the real complications and most intimate details involve money and the way unequal economic positions create clashing sets of values. Reid is a master plotter who has engineered a spectacular intersection of class, racism, academic politics and journalistic ethics.
Vlautin's novel tells the tale of Al Ward, a grizzled guitarist and recovering alcoholic in his 60s looking back on his life, and of his encounter in the present day with a dying horse on an isolated mining claim in the Nevada desert. In Book World, Hamilton Cain wrote, ''The Horse' taps a wealth of influences — Hemingway, Johnny Cash, John Huston's film 'The Misfits' — but Vlautin's cadences and wit are his alone, sharp and bracing, like shots of whiskey.'
Vlautin's novel tells the tale of Al Ward, a grizzled guitarist and recovering alcoholic in his 60s looking back on his life, and of his encounter in the present day with a dying horse on an isolated mining claim in the Nevada desert. In Book World, Hamilton Cain wrote, ''The Horse' taps a wealth of influences — Hemingway, Johnny Cash, John Huston's film 'The Misfits' — but Vlautin's cadences and wit are his alone, sharp and bracing, like shots of whiskey.'
Over the course of Savas's novel, a married couple attempt to find an apartment in an unidentified foreign city, with the plot structured around their visits to different places that could be home. 'The Anthropologists' has received widespread praise since it was published, landing on Barack Obama's list of his favorite books of 2024 and the National Book Critics Circle's fiction longlist. Savas also has a new collection of short stories, 'Long Distance,' out in hardcover this month.
Over the course of Savas's novel, a married couple attempt to find an apartment in an unidentified foreign city, with the plot structured around their visits to different places that could be home. 'The Anthropologists' has received widespread praise since it was published, landing on Barack Obama's list of his favorite books of 2024 and the National Book Critics Circle's fiction longlist. Savas also has a new collection of short stories, 'Long Distance,' out in hardcover this month.
'The summer Momma and I share pregnancies, the cottonmouths come crawling out of the marshes.' This opening sentence from one story captures much that is remarkable about Moore's book: intense focus on family ties, vivid Southern setting and confident narrative voice. A reviewer in Kirkus wrote, 'It's likely you'd have to go all the way back to 'Hue and Cry' by James Alan McPherson (1968) to find a debut collection of short stories by a young Black writer as prodigiously humane and finely wrought as this.'
'The summer Momma and I share pregnancies, the cottonmouths come crawling out of the marshes.' This opening sentence from one story captures much that is remarkable about Moore's book: intense focus on family ties, vivid Southern setting and confident narrative voice. A reviewer in Kirkus wrote, 'It's likely you'd have to go all the way back to 'Hue and Cry' by James Alan McPherson (1968) to find a debut collection of short stories by a young Black writer as prodigiously humane and finely wrought as this.'
Grossman, best-selling author of the Magicians Trilogy, takes up the Arthurian legend in his marvelous new fantasy. 'Grossman affects a breezy 21st-century style that still allows plenty of room for magic,' Elizabeth Hand wrote in Book World. 'He excels at colorful characterizations and vibrant action scenes, which are legion.'
Grossman, best-selling author of the Magicians Trilogy, takes up the Arthurian legend in his marvelous new fantasy. 'Grossman affects a breezy 21st-century style that still allows plenty of room for magic,' Elizabeth Hand wrote in Book World. 'He excels at colorful characterizations and vibrant action scenes, which are legion.'
In this history of reality television, Nussbaum shines a light on the people who have made some of the most beloved and most controversial shows, from the executives who green-lit (and turned down) 'Survivor' to the field producers and editors who questioned and defended the ethics of their jobs. Along the way, Maura Judkis wrote in Book World, the book captures some of the interplay of naiveté and sadism that has long characterized reality programming.
In this history of reality television, Nussbaum shines a light on the people who have made some of the most beloved and most controversial shows, from the executives who green-lit (and turned down) 'Survivor' to the field producers and editors who questioned and defended the ethics of their jobs. Along the way, Maura Judkis wrote in Book World, the book captures some of the interplay of naiveté and sadism that has long characterized reality programming.
In her assiduously researched and impeccably constructed book, Cook grapples with the personal ramifications of the QAnon conspiracy theory for many of its devotees and the people who care about them. 'Cook contributes a vital piece to the vexing QAnon puzzle, chronicling the profound effects on those otherwise average people who have fallen into its grasp and the collateral damage done to those around them,' Jonathan Russell Clark wrote in Book World.
In her assiduously researched and impeccably constructed book, Cook grapples with the personal ramifications of the QAnon conspiracy theory for many of its devotees and the people who care about them. 'Cook contributes a vital piece to the vexing QAnon puzzle, chronicling the profound effects on those otherwise average people who have fallen into its grasp and the collateral damage done to those around them,' Jonathan Russell Clark wrote in Book World.
In 1985, two White police officers in San Diego pulled over a pickup truck carrying Black men whom the officers wrongly suspected of gang affiliation. The driver of the truck, Sagon Penn, was an expert martial artist who, after a confrontation that quickly escalated, ended up shooting the officers, killing one of them. The ensuing trial and Penn's acquittal exposed — and changed — the police department's relationship with communities of color.
In 1985, two White police officers in San Diego pulled over a pickup truck carrying Black men whom the officers wrongly suspected of gang affiliation. The driver of the truck, Sagon Penn, was an expert martial artist who, after a confrontation that quickly escalated, ended up shooting the officers, killing one of them. The ensuing trial and Penn's acquittal exposed — and changed — the police department's relationship with communities of color.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Beyoncé reunites Destiny's Child at final Cowboy Carter show
Beyoncé reunites Destiny's Child at final Cowboy Carter show

Yahoo

time5 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

Beyoncé reunites Destiny's Child at final Cowboy Carter show

Destiny's Child have reunited for the first time in seven years for the grand finale of Beyoncé's Cowboy Carter tour in Las Vegas. The trio surprised fans with a medley of some of their best-loved songs, including Lose My Breath and Bootylicious. Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams also joined Beyoncé for a rendition of her 2022 hit, Energy. The chart-topping group went their separate ways in 2006, but have previously reunited during Beyoncé's half-time performance at the Super Bowl in 2013 and at her Coachella headline slot in 2018. After the show on Saturday, Beyoncé shared a photo of the trio, dressed in gold jumpsuits, on her Instagram without a caption. Fans were treated to several guest performances throughout the Vegas show, with Beyoncé bringing out her husband Jay-Z and country singer Shaboozey for brief cameos. Blue Ivy, Beyoncé's daughter, also made an appearance. The 13-year-old has been a fixture of her mother's shows throughout the tour. The performance in Las Vegas was the 32nd and final of her Cowboy Carter tour, which also saw her perform in her hometown of Houston, Texas in June. The three-hour rodeo extravaganza has been praised for its high energy and artistry. It takes its name from Beyoncé's 2024 album Cowboy Carter, which was met with critical acclaim, including taking the top album prize at this year's Grammy Awards. The show has broken ticket records at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London and Stade De France in Paris. More in Culture How much is too much to pay for Beyoncé? Drake cancels Manchester gig due to 'travel issues' Does this look like a real woman? AI Vogue model raises concerns about beauty standards

'Fantastic Four' wins battle of heroes at N. America box office
'Fantastic Four' wins battle of heroes at N. America box office

Yahoo

time5 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

'Fantastic Four' wins battle of heroes at N. America box office

"The Fantastic Four: First Steps," Disney's hotly anticipated reboot of the Marvel Comics superhero franchise, conquered the North American weekend box office, earning $118 million and sidelining "Superman," industry estimates showed Sunday. "Fantastic Four" -- starring actor-of-the-moment Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Emmy winner Ebon Moss-Bachrach and Joseph Quinn ("Stranger Things') -- tells the story of a team of heroes trying to save a retro-futuristic world from the evil Galactus. "This is an outstanding opening," said David A. Gross of Franchise Entertainment Research. "'Fantastic Four' was a modest and struggling superhero series; it just caught up with the biggest and the best." "Superman," the latest big-budget action film featuring the iconic superhero from Warner Bros. and DC Studios, slipped to second place at $24.9 million, Exhibitor Relations said. That puts the global take of the film, starring David Corenswet as the Man of Steel, over the $500 million mark. "Jurassic World: Rebirth" -- the latest installment in the blockbuster dinosaur saga -- finished in third place at $13 million. Its worldwide total stands at $672.5 million. The Universal film, starring Scarlett Johansson, Jonathan Bailey and Mahershala Ali, takes viewers to an abandoned island research facility, where secrets -- and genetically mutated dinosaurs -- are lurking. "F1: The Movie," the Apple and Warner Bros. flick starring Brad Pitt as a washed-up Formula One driver who gets one last shot at redemption, moved up to fourth place at $6.2 million. "Smurfs," the latest film featuring the adorable blue creatures and starring Rihanna as Smurfette, slipped to fifth place in only its second week in theaters with $5.4 million in North American ticket sales. "The box office is on an excellent run that started two weeks ago," Gross said. "These are not the good old days, but 'Fantastic Four' and 'Superman' are performing extremely well. Superheroes are showing some swagger, and it's good news for the industry." Rounding out the top 10 were: "I Know What You Did Last Summer" ($5.1 million) "How to Train Your Dragon" ($2.8 million) "Eddington" ($1.7 million) "Saiyaara" ($1.3 million) "Oh, Hi!" ($1.1 million) bur-sst/ksb Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data

Teens increasingly turning to AI for friendship as national loneliness crisis deepens
Teens increasingly turning to AI for friendship as national loneliness crisis deepens

Fox News

time7 minutes ago

  • Fox News

Teens increasingly turning to AI for friendship as national loneliness crisis deepens

A new study shows that a third of American teenagers prefer chatting with artificial intelligence companions over having real friends. Common Sense Media's report, titled "Talk, Trust, and Trade-Offs: How and Why Teens Use AI Companions," revealed that the most widespread uses of AI are aged 13-17. The report explained further that the "use of AI companions is not a niche interest, but rather mainstream teen behavior" and that teens "find conversations with AI companions to be as satisfying or more satisfying than those with real-life friends." "AI companions are emerging at a time when kids and teens have never felt more alone," Common Sense Media Founder and CEO James P. Steyer said in the press release. "This isn't just about a new technology — it's about a generation that's replacing human connection with machines, outsourcing empathy to algorithms, and sharing intimate details with companies that don't have kids' best interests at heart. Our research shows that AI companions are far more commonplace than people may have assumed — and that we have a narrow window to educate kids and families about the well-documented dangers of these products." Although nearly half of teens used AI companions as a tool, the report also stated that 33% of teens use AI companions for social interactions and emotional support. For example, teens would use them for living out relationships, emotional support, role-playing, romantic interactions and friendship. A writer at Daze who cited the study raised awareness about the loneliness epidemic among young people and that it could lead to an invasion of privacy. "Some teenagers are telling AI their most intimate problems and secrets, which poses another problem – it's not a good idea to entrust this information to tech companies, some of whom have an extremely lax approach to data privacy. Would you really want Sam Altman or Elon Musk to have access to the contents of your teenage diary?" James Greig wrote in Daze. He added that it underscores a "larger crisis of youth loneliness" as teenagers stopped hanging out at malls and going to the movies, "which has corresponded with rising rates of depression and anxiety." "Being able to speak to an AI companion might alleviate the feeling of loneliness, and some people may find it helpful, but if it's becoming a replacement for socializing in the real world, then it risks entrenching the problem," Greig added.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store