Ilana Masad

Ursula Villarreal-Moura's debut novel movingly portrays its protagonist coming to terms with an imbalanced, difficult, and sometimes harmful friendship that was also a key part of her life for years.

The novel is an ambitious project, written by 36 authors yet achieving a unified voice of sorts, as every character narrates their story simply, casually, allowing themselves digressions and asides.

Métis writer Michelle Porter has created beauty from the ugliness of colonization, loss, addiction, abandonment, and grief in her debut novel that finds motherhood at its heart.

Isle McElroy's novel covers a deep exploration of marriage, love, and the ways we know one another — while also touching on how so much of how we navigate the world depends on how it sees us.

Mai Nguyen's debut novel centers on the family of Tuyet and Xuan Tran, Vietnamese refugees who settle in Toronto. It simmers with questions about work, class and generational divides.

John Wray's latest novel is a powerful and juicy story about a particular time, subculture, and the ways people can find themselves in — or can deliberately disappear into — fandom.

A study finds that we are happier the more we talk with different categories of people — colleagues, family, strangers — and the more evenly our conversations are spread out among those groups.

Gabino Iglesias' barrio noir may not be a cheerful book, but it still allows glimpses of love, moments of connection, and glimmers of beauty to exist.

Though winding at times, Sam Knight's book is thought-provoking and deeply researched, presenting the oddity of realized premonitions while allowing readers to come to their own conclusions.

Sarah Weinman's book excels as an in-depth exploration of how outside influence and support can affect the criminal justice system — and as the narrative of a con artist who hurt a lot of people.