If you live in the Northeast (my condolences), you probably need a good book to keep you company indoors, as you wait out what will hopefully be the final snowstorm of the season. If you live basically anywhere else (my congratulations), you probably need a good book to keep you company in the park, as you enjoy the extra hours of sunshine that Daylight Savings Time affords. Either way, you need a good novel or short story collection to enjoy, and this week four new book releases fit the bill.
If you're a fiction lover, there are plenty of riches out this week: Daniel Mallory Ortberg, whom you probably recognize as the co-founder of The Toast, has a collection of sinister fairy tales out that will satisfy your craving for incisive, feminist, and slightly twisted storytelling; acclaimed writer Lynne Tillman is back with her first novel in over a decade, and it's an inventive and timely examination of masculinity through the lens of images; Moth StorySLAM champion Kate Greathead is releasing her debut novel about the bonds between mothers and daughters, privilege and family; and finally, Jessica Spotswood is coming at you this week with an anthology of YA stories about rebellious girls who live on the margins of society.
All four books deserve a spot on your reading list this week, but take a peek below to decide which you want to pick up first:
'The Merry Spinster' by Daniel Mallory Ortberg
Beloved internet writer, The Toast co-founder, Texts from Jane Eyre author, and "Dear Prudence" columnist Daniel Mallory Ortberg (he announced his transition just before the book's release) is back this March with a weird, wonderful, wicked collection of sinister short stories based on beloved fairy tales.
'Laura & Emma' by Kate Greathead
The debut novel from nine-time Moth StorySLAM champion Kate Greathead, Laura & Emma is a smart novel both about the relationship between mother and daughter and the relationship between family and wealth. When Laura, a privileged young women from Manhattan's Upper East Side, unexpectedly becomes pregnant, she decides to keep the baby — and ultimately decides to raise the daughter in the same upper class environ where she grew up. But Emma questions her surroundings in a way her mother never did, which profoundly affect the nature of their bond.
'Men & Apparitions' by Lynne Tillman
American Genius author Lynne Tillman's first novel in 12 years, Men and Apparitions is a jolting, timely, and provocative book told through the eyes of cultural anthropologist Ezekiel "Zeke" Hooper Stark, a man with an obsession with images who, after a devastating breakup, begins a project to explore masculinity through the lens of photographs.
'The Radical Element: 12 Stories of Daredevils, Debutantes & Other Dauntless Girls' edited by Jessica Spotswood
An anthology of stories about the girls in history who kicked serious ass? Yes, please. Twelve YA authors — including Mackenzie Lee (A Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue), Meg Medina (Yaqui Delgado Wants To Kick Your Ass), and Dhonielle Clayton (The Belles) — each contributed a story to this unforgettable collection that celebrates the strength of women in marginalized communities.
