Skin Contact (2026) Elisa Faison "Skin Contact is so much more than a sharply observed portrait of a marriage, though it is that too. This novel sharply observes us: our petty thoughts and hidden lusts, our late-night fantasies and deepest hopes, all on display, laid loving yet unflinchingly bare. Faison has created a vibrant cast of characters, with each point-of-view richly developed yet effortlessly engaging. This book is the party of the year and I wanted to join in, opening the next door and the next, getting a bit more gossip, sharing just one more story, stealing one more kiss. An absolute knockout of a debut."
Red Rabbit Ghost (2025) Jen Julian "Red Rabbit Ghost is a terrifying delight that deftly weaves together the ordinary and supernatural horrors of life in a small town. Sharply contemporary while remaining true to its Southern gothic roots, Red Rabbit Ghost is the perfect blend of WhatsApp and witchcraft, dive bars and haunted houses. Once I started reading, I couldn't put it down!"
Big Chief (2025) Jon Hickey "Big Chief is a marvel: unflinching yet nuanced, this story about power and politics on a reservation in Wisconsin shows the potential for corruption, and courage, in all of us. Hickey writes with precision and elegance, exploring what it means to belong to a family, a community, and a history. A family saga as well as a political drama, this book is a propulsive inquiry into how personal and cultural identity can be created and erased."
Awakened (2025) A E Osworth "Awakened is an absolute delight and a perfect read for the present moment. A beautiful blend of hope and pragmatism, beauty and pain, this novel enchants by delivering well-wrought characters who live bravely in extraordinary circumstances. As I read, I wanted nothing more than to sit down at Cowboy Jaqueline's bar, pick up a pint, and bask in conversations about magic and identity between members of a complicated found family. A joy from cover to cover."
Pearce Oysters (2024) Joselyn Takacs "Joselyn Takacs' Pearce Oysters is a beautiful, important debut that explores the impossibility and dignity of taking a stand, of small rebellions in the face of large upheavals. With lyrical prose, sly humor, and endless empathy, Takacs balances the intimate with the global, showing us the Pearce family in all of their flawed complexity as they attempt to control their own narratives in the face of catastrophic systemic failures. An essential novel for our time, Takacs captures a way of life on the Louisiana coast that, even as you turn the pages of the book, is moving further out of reach."
The House of Love and Prayer (2023) Tova Reich "Reich's stories have a density to them: long paragraphs weighted with rich description, bricks placed carefully to build constructions capable of supporting the weight of history. But they do not make for labored reading. Rather, they build worlds worth returning to."
Rosewater (2023) Liv Little "Sharply observed yet tender at the same time, Rosewater explores the meaning of home, exposing its fragility and its tenacity as Little's characters fight to find their place in the world."
How to Be Eaten (2022) Maria Adelmann "Maria Adelman does more than reinvent the fairytale, she brings it into the twenty-first century, frankenbites and all. From Bluebeard to The Bachelor, Adelmann spins 'familiar' tales together into gold. Funny, violent, cutting, and insightful, How to Be Eaten made me want to join this unlikely group of confidants and start confessing my own secrets, just to keep the conversation going."
