Spring is a time for reinvention. You know all those New Year's resolutions you let fall to the wayside? Well, the days are longer and warmer and sunnier, and it's the perfect time to make a plan and put it into action. If you resolved to read more books in 2018, this spring's new book releases make it ridiculously easy to do so.
If you're a fiction lover, this week's new releases will certainly light your fire: in I Have Lost My Way, beloved YA author Gayle Forman beautifully examines the nature of fate and friendship through the story of three strangers whose lives intersect in profound ways; in Emergency Contact, Mary H.K. Choi weaves together the story of two aimless teenagers who find the bond they're looking for in unexpected places; in Aru Shah and the End of Time, Roshani Chokshi spins a modern day fairy tale that adults and children will love; and in The Italian Party, Christina Lynch delivers a sweltering thriller set against the backdrop of what is probably your dream getaway destination: Tuscany.
And if you prefer nonfiction, this week's new books also deserve a spot on your TBR: Mari Andrew illustrates the perils and pleasures of young adulthood in whimsical guide to life, Am I There Yet?; in Dress Like a Woman, the editors of Abrams Books (with assistance from Vanessa Friedman and Roxane Gay) chart the history of what it means to "dress like a woman" through essays and photographs; in Murder on Shade Mountain, activist and author Melanie S. Morrison examines a little-known wrongful conviction case from 1931 to discuss the racist history — and present — of America's criminal justice system; In The Sun Does Shine, Anthony Ray Hinton, a victim of that racist criminal justice system, writes about the 30 years he spent behind bars for a crime he didn't commit; and finally in Searching for Stars on an Island in Maine, physicist Alan Lightman ponders the nature of the universe and how it relates to the nature of his very being.
Here are the new books to read this week:
'Emergency Contact' by Mary H.K. Choi
Penny Lee was a non-event in high school: she had OK grades, OK friends, and an OK boyfriend. So when she moves to Austin for college, she's more than ready to not be... just OK. Sam is stuck, too: he works at a café, sleeps in the storage room at the same café, and dreams about becoming a famous director. After a not-quite-meet-cute, Penny and Sam swap numbers — and end up becoming each other's digital lifeline.
'Am I There Yet?' by Mari Andrew
You probably recognize Mari Andrew's distinctive illustrative style from her Instagram page, where she's racked up a devoted following of over 700,000 people. In her first book, she beautifully captures early adulthood in all its complexities through a series of drawings about heartbreak, illness, homesickness, love, loss, friendship, and finding one self in the midst of it all.
'Dress Like a Woman: Working Women and What They Wore' with an introduction by Vanessa Friedman and foreword by Roxane Gay
Through 240 photographs and essays by fashion writer Vanessa Friedman and author Roxane Gay, Dress Like a Woman deconstructs — and reinvents — what it means to "dress like a woman."
'The Italian Party' by Christina Lynch
Scottie and Michael are newly married and just as enamored with 1950s Tuscany as they are with each other. But these two have secrets bubbling under the surface of their seemingly perfect relationship, and Michael's dangerous, controversial political agenda might just force them to question everything about their future — and past.
'Aru Shah and the End of Time' by Roshani Chokshi
This middle grade novel is a magical trip through time, as told through the eyes of a precocious 12-year-old girl with a lot to prove. Aru Shah is spending her autumn break at home, in the Museum of Ancient Indian Art and Culture, but she told her classmates she'd be traveling to exotic locales around world, just like them. But when three of her classmates catch her in the lie, she tries to prove to them that the museum's Lamp of Bharata is cursed — and unintentionally releases a demon that freezes her classmates and her mother in time.
'I Have Lost My Way' by Gayle Forman
Freya, Harun, and Nathaniel are perfect strangers with their own problems: Freya has lost her voice while recording her debut album, Nathaniel has just arrived in New York City with nothing but a backpack and a plan, and Harun has this idea that he's about to run away from everyone he's ever loved. When an accident brings these three people together, they find comfort — and solutions — in each other.
'The Sun Does Shine: How I Found Life and Freedom on Death Row' by Anthony Ray Hinton, with Lara Love Hardin
Anthony Ray Hinton spent 30 years on death row for a crime he didn't commit. In 2015, he won his release from prison with the help of Just Mercy author and civil rights attorney Bryan Stevenson. In his memoir, Hinton walks readers through his decades behind bars, dissects the criminal justice system that wrongfully put him there, and examines what it means to discover the true power of hope in seemingly hopeless circumstances.
'Searching for Stars on an Island in Maine' by Alan Lightman
A theoretical physicist's meditation on the universe and humanity? Yeah, you really need to add this one on your reading list. In Searching for Stars on an Island in Maine, Alan Lightman examines the contradictory beliefs that have guided his life: that logic and science governs everything, and all things are impermanent; and that each and every one of us is permanent and absolute and an eternal part of the entire universe.
'Murder on Shades Mountain: The Legal Lynching of Willie Peterson and the Struggle for Justice in Jim Crow Birmingham' by Melanie S. Morrison
Through the true story of the little discussed wrongful conviction of Willie Peterson, Melanie S. Morrison examines the legal structures that allowed the American judicial system to function as a "lynch mob" in the Jim Crow South.
