well read

From fiction to non fiction, from adult titles to kids' picks, from hot new releases to under-the-radar gems, these are the 2023 books our nightstands right now!

Games and Rituals

By KATHERINE HEINY

The games and rituals performed by Katherine Heiny’s characters range from mischievous to tender: In “Bridesmaid, Revisited,” Marlee, suffering from a laundry and life crisis, wears a massive bridesmaid’s dress to work. In “Twist and Shout,” Erica’s elderly father mistakes his four-thousand-dollar hearing aid for a cashew and eats it. In “Turn Back, Turn Back,” a bedtime story coupled with a receipt for a Starbucks babyccino reveal a struggling actor’s deception.

$28.00 Knopf

Aphrodite's Breath

BY: SUSAN JOHNSON

In the vein of Tara Westover's Educated, Daniella Mestyanek's memoir is a searing and powerful testament to a woman's ability to transform the circumstances of her life through inner strength and resilience. Behind the tall, foreboding gates of a commune in Brazil, Daniella Mestyanek Young was raised in the religious cult the Children of God, also known as The Family. Beholden to The Family's strict rules, Daniella suffered physical, emotional, and sexual abuse-masked as godly discipline and divine love-and was forbidden from getting a traditional education.

$32.99 Allen And Unwin

The Guest

BY EMMA CLINE

Summer is coming to a close on Long Island, and Alex is no longer welcome...

One misstep at a dinner party and the older man she's been staying with dismisses her with a ride to the train station and a ticket back to the city. With few resources, but a gift for navigating the desires of others, Alex stays on the island. She drifts like a ghost through the gated driveways and sun-blasted dunes of a rarefied world, trailing destruction in her wake.

$46.99 Chatto & Windus