The best new books out this week 📚
  Hello, book lovers! Each week, dozens of new releases hit the shelves. Here are our favorites. ❤️📚 –The BuzzFeed Books team
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 Credit: Bloomsbury, Tin House, Coffee House Press, Catapult Fight Night by Miriam Toews
Like the best of Toews' novels, Fight Night deals with weighty subjects — suicide, aging, illness, and mortality — with a keen sense of humor. Swiv, a spunky 9-year-old who has been suspended from school, writes letters to her absent father. The letters are mostly about her grandma, a chronically ill firecracker who loves to rile her daughter, Swiv's mother, who is a struggling actor pregnant with a baby they've all dubbed Gord. When Swiv and her grandmother leave their Toronto apartment to visit relatives in Fresno, California, Swiv learns more about her family's true fighting spirit. Like Toews herself, Swiv comes from a family of Mennonites, a minority Christian sect with strict gender roles for its dwindling populace. Her aunt and grandfather killed themselves and the shadow of that loss haunts both her grandmother and her mother, but they both cope, or fight as Swiv puts it, in different ways. As a narrator, Swiv is charming and hilarious, her grandmother even moreso. I laughed and cried reading this book; I can't think of a higher endorsement. —Tomi Obaro
Get it from Bookshop or from your local indie at Indiebound here.
What Storm, What Thunder by Myriam J.A. Chancy
How the lives of disparate people are affected by the 2010 Haitian earthquake is the focus of this poignant novel by a Haitian-Canadian-American academic. There's Ma Lou, a market woman and neighborhood fixture, whose son, Richard, a rich businessman who lives in Paris, returns to Haiti unbeknownst to her; Sara, a young mother mourning the loss of her children and missing husband; Sonia, a high-class escort with aspirations of owning her own home with her best friend, Dieudonné; Leopold, a Trinidadian drug dealer who adopts Haiti as his hometown; Sonia's younger sister, Taffia; and Didier, a cab driver living in Boston and aching for home, among other characters all connected to each other in various ways. Each chapter centers on a different character; some of them survive the earthquake and recount the grim aftermath, living in tent cities built by foreign aid; others reminisce about their lives before "Douze" (Kreyòl for 12; the earthquake hit Haiti on Jan. 12, 2010), lives that weren't necessarily easy in a country plagued by income inequality and the insidious aftereffects of U.S. and French occupation. This book is a difficult but incredibly powerful read. —Tomi Obaro
Get it from Bookshop or from your local indie at Indiebound here.
Search History by Eugene Lim
Known for his absurdist fiction, Lim continues that streak here with this experimental, freewheeling exploration of grief and capitalism. Characters morph from college professors to robots and factory workers. Existential conversations about identity and self take place between a person and a dog. Fans of Lim's previous novels and Borges' obvious influence won't be disappointed here. —Tomi Obaro
Get it from Bookshop or from your local indie at Indiebound here.
Sankofa by Chibundu Onuzo
Losing a person we love leaves us with a sense of instability, muddying a self that might have previously seemed clear. Discoveries can do the same. In Chibundu Onuzo's third novel, Sankofa, fiftysomething Anna Bain is mourning her quiet, unassuming mother when she discovers her father's old diary. Having only known the merest outline of his life — his name, Francis Aggrey, and the fact that he was a Black student in London who once lodged with her maternal family — she relishes the confidence and intimacy of his words. But the diary also reveals his true identity: He went on to become the president of Bamana, a small (fictional) West African country. Subtly infused with Anna's self-protective guardedness, Sankofa tracks her journey to her father's homeland in search of family and identity. Some may balk at the invented geography and the straightforward way Anna's past unfolds (though it's not without conflict). But Onuzo's clean prose highlights the novel's hopeful contours. The title, Sankofa, is an Akan word denoting a mythical bird that "flies forwards with its head facing back." That is, if you study your past, you can move on with your future. Wouldn't it be good if that were true? —Estelle Tang
Get it from Bookshop or from your local indie at Indiebound here.
 Credit: Berkley, St. Martin's Griffin Payback's a Witch by Lana Harper
Like many people, Emmy Harlow moved away from her family and small hometown for the big city to gain independence and forge her own path. Unlike many people, she also happens to be a witch. When her family guilt trips into coming home for a spellcasting tournament, Emmy finds herself back in her small town of Thistle Grove, where people like Gareth Blackmoore are running around being powerful and gorgeous. Except Gareth isn't as charming as he seems — in fact, he's been cheating on Emmy's best friend, Linden Thorn, with Talia Avramov, a badass known for her skills in the dark arts. Linden, Talia, and Emmy decide to get revenge, but soon, Emmy finds herself more interested in getting to know Talia than getting payback. —Shyla Watson
Get it from Bookshop or from your local indie at Indiebound here.
A Holly Jolly Diwali by Sonya Lalli
Data analyst Niki Randhawa has always made the practical decision. She got a steady job, instead of pursuing her love of art and music. She stayed close to home to support her family, and she always dated "the right guy" — but never "The One." When she learns she's been fired, she realizes that practicality isn't all it's cracked up to be and for the first time, she does something spontaneous. She hops on a flight and travels to Mumbai to attend a friend's wedding. At a Diwali celebration Niki meets London musician Sameer Mukherji and the attraction is instantaneous. And when the two join Niki's recently-married friends on a group honeymoon, their connection only grows deeper. Sam teaches her to let go and get in touch with her creative side, not to mention her Indian heritage. But when Niki is offered a job back home, she must decide if she goes back to playing it safe, or if she takes a risk for a life of love. —Shyla Watson
Get it from Bookshop or from your local indie at Indiebound here.
Not Your Average Hot Guy by Gwenda Bond
A regular day working at her family's escape room business turns hellish for Callie when a Satanic cult shows up, claiming the prop spell book in one of the rooms is real...and that they need it to summon the right hand of the devil. Callie and her best friend Mag get wrapped up in the shenanigans, but when a hot guy in a leather jacket named Luke shows up, things get serious real quick. Luke actually happens to be Luke Morningstar, the Prince of Hell, and he teams up with Callie and Mag to help them stop the cult from bringing about the apocalypse. Callie finds herself drawn to Luke, but they'll never have a future if they don't save the world. —Shyla Watson
Get it from Bookshop or from your local indie at Indiebound here.
 Credit: Balzer + Bray Black Birds in the Sky: The Story and Legacy of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre by Brandy Colbert
Brandy Colbert's searing nonfiction debut covers the Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921. Discussing the lead up to the event, seen through the history and development of the area and the attitudes of the people, as well as how and what happened and the legacy it left, Colbert chronicles one of the most devastating acts of racial violence in US history. —Rachel Strolle
Get it from Bookshop or from your local indie at Indiebound here.
 Credit: Tordotcom, Macmillan, Andrews McMeel Publishing A Spindle Splintered by Alix E. Harrow
This playful feminist novella retells Sleeping Beauty. Zinnia Gray is a contemporary Sleeping Beauty who has a rare, fatal disease. No one with it lives longer than 21. On Zinnia's 21st birthday, her friend Charm throws her a Sleeping Beauty surprise party, but when Zinnia touches the spinning wheel, she's thrust into another dimension and another Sleeping Beauty story. Zinnia doesn't know how to get back to her world, so she decides to help this Sleeping Beauty break the curse. As the two work together, Zinnia finds herself attracted to the other Sleeping Beauty. Accompanied by Arthur Rackham's original illustrations, this quick read is a must for fairy tale readers. —Margaret Kingsbury
Get it from Bookshop or a local indie via Indiebound here. Sistersong by Lucy Holland
In ancient Britain, a priest has decided to convert the kingdom of Dumnonia to Christianity. Siblings Riva, Keyne, and Sinne, children of King Cador, resist the priest's influence. For Riva, Christianity means denying her healing gifts and losing her connection to the goddess Brigid. For Keyne, a transgender man in a time when there were no words for being transgender, converting means being forced into an identity that is not his own. For Sinne, still young, it means missing out on the freedom of play. Unfortunately, their mother has welcomed the priest in, and both the king and queen now bow to his desires. Meanwhile, the Saxons are coming, and the fortress may be the sibling's only protection. A retelling of the British folk ballad "The Twa Sisters," this lyrical and riveting historical fantasy presents a complex and magical portrayal of Anglo-Saxon England. —Margaret Kingsbury
Get it from Bookshop or a local indie via Indiebound here.
The Fox's Tower and Other Tales by Yoon Ha Lee
Originally self-published in 2015, this collection of 25 magical microfictions is being rereleased by Andrews McMeel and includes five new stories. Since 2015, Yoon Ha Lee has published several popular SFF novels, including the award-winning Ninefox Gambit and the middle-grade sci-fi Dragon Pearl. Readers of Lee's previous sci-fi novels may be surprised by these brief, lyrical fairy tales. Shapeshifting foxes, tiger wives, and dormouse paladins all make appearances. Many of the pieces present queer animal wives or normalize nonbinary characters. Taken as a whole, these mesmerizing fables present a beautiful, mythic world populated by animal characters. —Margaret Kingsbury
 Credit: Hyperion Avenue The Throwback List by Lily Anderson
Jo, Autumn, and Bianca have returned to Sandy Point, Oregon, the sleepy beach town they all thought they left behind after high school. Bianca, the prom queen and valedictorian, manages the family tattoo parlor, former actress Autumn teaches drama at Sandy Point High, and Jo just got fired from her Silicon Valley job and ended up back at home. And when Jo finds an old bucket list, the three will be brought closer together with each item they check off. —Rachel Strolle
Get it from Bookshop or your local indie through Indiebound here.
 Credit: Inkyard Press, Carolrhoda Lab, HarperTeen The City Beautiful by Aden Polydoros
This chilling historical thriller set at the Chicago World's Fair in 1893 sees Romanian Jewish immigrant Alter dreaming of bringing his mother and sisters to join him, only to find his American dream shattered when his roommate is murdered, the latest in a line of Jewish male victims. Even if Alter had no vested interest in finding the killer, he has no choice; he's been possessed by Yakov's dybbuk, and the spirit won't leave him until the case is solved. Together with the dangerous boy from the past who has his heart, Alter must find answers before he's the next victim...if his possession doesn't destroy him first. —Dahlia Adler
Get it from Bookshop or your local indie through Indiebound here.
Just Ash by Sol Santana
Ash knows he was born intersex, but while he may not look like every
Get it from Bookshop or your local indie through Indiebound here.
Everything Within and In Between by Nikki Barthelmess
When Ri finds a secret letter from her mother, who disappeared when she was younger, she decides to go against her strict Mexican grandma in the hopes of reclaiming a relationship. But her mom doesn't match the expectations in Ri's head, and Ri will have to learn to navigate her mixed heritage and family bonds to discover who she is. —Rachel Strolle
Get it from Bookshop or your local indie through Indiebound here.
 Credit: Viking The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles
It's 1954, and 18-year-old Emmett Watson is being driven home to Nebraska by the warden of the work farm where he just spent a year working off an involuntary manslaughter charge. With his parents dead and the family farm foreclosed upon, Emmett just wants to pick up his young brother and head west for a new life. But it turns out two of Emmett's friends have stowed away in the warden's trunk and have hatched a very different plan for Emmett's future. With multiple POVs only taking place over the course of 10 days, this novel is a wild ride through Americana land. —Kirby Beaton
Get it from Bookshop or through your local indie through Indiebound here.
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