Michael Schaub

The Pulitzer prize-winning author draws from history and psychology, theorizing that nations in crisis can learn from the experiences of people in crisis — and looks for a path forward for the U.S.

Like David McCullough's other books, this one succeeds because of the author's strength as a storyteller; it reads like a novel and is packed with information drawn from painstaking research.

Philippe Besson's novel — ably translated from the French by Molly Ringwald — chronicles a painful teenaged heartbreak, followed by grown-up ennui. It's a well-worn but very well-told tale.

Most of the people Michael Croley's debut story collection feel like they don't belong, even in the places they call home — and Croley conjures that unsettled feeling in understated, beautiful prose.

Marcia Butler's new novel centers on a drunken, bickering couple whose lives are turned upside down after a car crash. It's a deeply weird book that succeeds because of Butler's considerable charisma.

Journalist Charles Lane's account is endlessly gripping — and he does an excellent job of placing the operation in historical context, chronicling racism and resentment in the South post-Civil War.

Ann Beattie strikes out in her new novel about a disaffected young man who drifts through an unsatisfying series of jobs and relationships until his life is upended by a revelation from the past.

In his new book, the literary scholar presents an absorbing, necessary look at the "Redemption" era, in which the hard-fought gains of African-Americans were rolled back by embittered Southern whites.

Amy Hempel's first book of new material in 14 years showcases her immense talents as a fiction writer. It's a powerful collection of stories about uneasy, unmoored, even desperate people.

Bryan Washington's debut story collection brings the Texas city to life in all its struggle and imperfect glory.

German author Takis Würger's debut novel, a thriller about a secret society at Cambridge University, also tackles hot-button issues of privilege and toxic masculinity. It's now out in English.

Helen Oyeyemi played with fairy tale ideas in the past; her new novel takes off from "Hansel and Gretel" for the story of a mother, a daughter and a mysteriously powerful family gingerbread recipe.

Jen Beagin is a wonderfully funny writer with a knack for serious subjects. Her exuberant new novel follows a young house cleaner who grew up too fast and is trying to reinvent herself.

Han Kang's new novel isn't quite a novel — it's a gorgeous, hard-to-categorize series of reflections, themed around the color white, on grief, mourning and what it means to remember those we've lost.

Pitchaya Sudbanthad's novel follows a broad cast of characters who gradually come together in and around a condominium tower in Bangkok. It's a promising debut that expertly evokes a sense of place.

Lauren Wilkinson's debut novel follows the life and career of an African American FBI agent who's recruited by the CIA to aid in the overthrow of a charismatic African leader.

Yiyun Li wrote her devastating, brilliant new novel after the suicide of her son — in it, the unnamed narrator confronts the same situation, holding an extended conversation with her own dead son.

Maurice Carlos Ruffin's razor-sharp new novel is set in a dystopian near future where race relations have deteriorated further and scientists have developed a procedure to "demelanize" black people.

Niviaq Korneliussen's new novel follows five people in Greenland's capital Nuuk; it's a heartbreaking yet hopeful look at young, queer life in one of the most isolated places in the world.

Samanta Schweblin has a gift for treating the otherworldly with a matter-of-fact attitude; her new story collection proves that she's a master of elegant, uncanny fiction.