Article continues after advertisement<\/p>\n 1. Where Are You Really From<\/a> by Elaine Hsieh Chou 6 Rave \u2022 1 Positive<\/p>\n \u201cClever and beguiling \u2026 She flips stereotypes on their ears \u2026 Audacious \u2026 While humorously unpacking stereotypes about identity, Chou never condescends to her characters. The stories can become surprisingly tender or melancholic and wistful or even furious.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2013May-Lee Chai (The Star Tribune<\/a>)<\/p>\n 2. Ruth<\/a> by Kate Riley 4 Rave \u2022 3 Positive \u2022 1 Mixed Article continues after advertisement<\/p>\n \u201cIt would never work out, but I\u2019m in love with Ruth \u2026\u00a0Ruth doesn\u2019t speak to us directly, but Riley\u2019s narration is calibrated to reflect her protagonist\u2019s evolving mind. That dynamic fidelity is all the more impressive for being almost imperceptible. In the early sections, the author\u2019s wry voice never flattens the meringue tips of Ruth\u2019s childlike wonder. And later, as Ruth feels increasingly cramped in the little church, Riley maintains ironic distance, careful to avoid collapsing into the character inspired by her own experience. Her epigraphic style, informed by decades of sermons, aphorisms and comic retorts, ensures the novel\u2019s delightful buoyancy.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2013Ron Charles (The Washington Post<\/a>)<\/p>\n 3. Dominion<\/a> by Addie E. Citchens 4 Rave \u2022 1 Mixed<\/p>\n \u201cNothing in the book is sensationalized: Citchens treats the subject matter with the seriousness it requires, and she sensitively handles the trauma that some of her characters endure. This is an important novel that deftly tackles misogyny and hypocrisy. A stunning debut.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2013Kirkus<\/a><\/p>\n **<\/p>\n Nonfiction<\/a><\/p>\n 1. Baldwin: A Love Story<\/a> by Nicholas Boggs 8 Rave \u2022 1 Positive<\/p>\n \u201cSensational \u2026 Boggs handles all of this with a commanding, sure-footed authority and comprehensiveness, subtle and solemn at once, that dazzles and awes. The churn and swirl of Baldwin\u2019s life is rendered emotionally rational as Boggs expertly details how Baldwin\u2019s personal life pervades his work.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2013Charles M. Blow (The New York Times Book Review<\/a>)<\/p>\n 2. The Quiet Ear: An Investigation of Missing Sound<\/a> by\u00a0Raymond Antrobus 4 Rave \u2022 3 Positive \u201cAn insightful, bighearted memoir that skillfully interrogates his own experience\u2014and the experience of a multitude of others\u2014of being deaf in today\u2019s world. Both expansive and precise \u2026 Lucidly braids all of this into an effortless, often lyrical account \u2026 A transformative story for all readers, offering an opportunity to discover the missing sounds and misunderstandings of their own experience\u2014and begin to comprehend what it means to truly listen.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2013S Kirk Walsh (The New York Times Book Review<\/a>)<\/p>\n 3. Born in Flames: The Business of Arson and the Remaking of the American City<\/a> by Bench Ansfield 4 Rave \u2022 1 Positive<\/p>\n \u201cFormidable \u2026 When Ansfield filed their dissertation on this topic, in 2021, the response was rapturous. Prizes were heaped at their feet: best dissertation in American studies, in American history, at Yale (co-won), and so on. Reading their book, which is even sharper, you can see why. It\u2019s a deft, at times brilliant history \u2026 Ansfield\u2019s great achievement is following the money \u2026 Ansfield discusses these phenomena with admirable sensitivity.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2013Daniel Immerwahr (The New Yorker<\/a>)<\/p>\n Like this:<\/p>\n Like Loading…<\/p>\n![\"Where](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/9746546283c631c2780ab48d86c290a3-201x300.gif\")
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(Penguin Press)<\/p>\n![\"Ruth\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/a04625224ac41c98bbbbb7f997e5fc24-199x300.gif\")
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(Riverhead)<\/p>\n
Read an excerpt from Ruth here<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Dominion](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/c75cfaae37641224f9a8ae9c5e59e977-195x300.gif\")
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(Farrar, Straus and Giroux)<\/p>\n![\"Baldwin\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/9780374721343-220x300.jpeg\")
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(Farrar, Straus and Giroux)<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/316528cca2619d481e75143c2a5915a4-200x300.gif\")
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(Hogarth Press)<\/p>\n
Read an excerpt from The Quiet Ear here<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Born](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/ccbabe75ae8665ca01bcb51ddfb6f320-198x300.gif\")
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(W. W. Norton & Company)<\/p>\n