It’s the eve of Valentine’s Day and my inbox is flooded with invites to merry Galentine’s and Palentine’s Day parties. But it’s also Friday the 13th, and my colleagues in the reviews department have come up with a list of recent books that feel just right for the calendrical confluence of bad luck and love, offering a delicious blend of horror and romance.
And if that’s not enough, we also hear from Claire Oshetsky on their novel about an unhappily married woman’s wild and dangerous fantasy life, and historian Shelley Puhak talks about busting the Blood Countess myth of a Hungarian noblewoman.
Happy reading, and happy Valentine’s Day, however you may celebrate it.
Starred Reviews Releasing Next WeekCheck out all the books to receive starred PW reviews that are hitting shelves next week.
‘It Takes a Really Long Time to Get Over Things’: PW Talks with Claire OshetskyEvil Genius, the novelist’s propulsive latest, chronicles a young woman’s awakening to the destructive forces of her own desire. more
How Do You Get Rid of a Political Woman?: PW Talks with Shelley PuhakThe author argues in The Blood Countess that notorious 17th-century Hungarian noblewoman Elizabeth Bathory was wrongly accused of killing 650 women and girls. more
13 Spooky and Thrilling RomancesTrue horromances, paranormal rom-coms, and supernatural love stories—including a collaboration between Nicholas Sparks and M. Night Shyamalan—round out this list of tantalizing novels. more
What Is Love?: PW Talks with Paul EastwickIn Bonded by Evolution: The New Science of Love and Connection, the UC Davis psychology professor dispels popular theories about what makes relationships work and why. more
How This Book Made Me Think of You by Libby Page Got MadeAn inside look at the publication process for the bestselling author’s story of love and loss. more
'American Peril: The Violent History of Anti-Asian Racism'
Kick off Winter Institute at the IGNITE Author & Editor reception. Meet award-winning author Scott Kurashige and discover American Peril, a probing history of anti-Asian violence and a powerful call to build lasting multiracial solidarity—shaped by 35 years of scholarship and grassroots activism.
The Disappearing ActBy Maria Stepanova, trans. from the Russian by Sasha Dugdale (New Directions)
There’s a great deal going on in this slim novel of metamorphosis, about a writer named M who’s living in exile from her home country during war and has lost touch with herself. Things change during a train trip, when M makes an unexpected stop in a coastal town, joins a magic show, and regains her vitality under a new name, A. From the opening line, describing how the “grass carried on growing as if nothing at all was wrong,” the novel is restorative in the face of disaster. —David Varno, literary fiction reviews editor
Nonviolent: A Memoir of Resistance, Agitation, and LoveBy Rev. James Lawson, Jr. (Random House)
I can’t wait to crack open this sprawling posthumous memoir from civil rights leader Lawson, which digs into his studies of nonviolent resistance abroad and his leadership at major American protests, including the efforts of the Little Rock Nine and the 1968 Memphis sanitation workers’ strike. It’s not every day that we get to hear directly from someone with so much firsthand knowledge of effecting social change. Feels like we could use it right now. —Conner Reed, mystery and memoir reviews editor
TraversalBy Maria Popova (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
I’m still working my way through the colossal latest work from Popova, creator of The Marginalian blog, but let me tell you, I haven’t read anything like it. She tackles life’s biggest questions (“What makes a planet a world?” and “What makes a body a person?”) by weaving together the stories of visionaries like Mary Shelley and Frederick Douglass and fascinating discussions of science and art. It is singular and masterful. —Marisa Charpentier, science and pop culture reviews editor
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Theo of Golden
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Little Blue Truck's Valentine
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Heated Rivalry: Now Streaming on Crave and HBO Max (First Time Trade)
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Llama Llama I Love You
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Stolen in Death
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Stop, in the Name of God: Why Honoring the Sabbath Will Transform Your Life
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For more PW bestsellers lists, click here.
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