'Life & Death & Giants' explores human weakness and kindness

Beth Macy's new nonfiction narrative, "Paper Girl," is part memoir, part reportage, part oral history, and the result is a comprehensive look at a microcosm of modern America.

Ron Rindo's new novel, "Life & Death & Giants," tells the story of a modern-day giant who is raised in an Amish community in Wisconsin.

Author Addie E. Citchens was born in Clarksdale, Mississippi, and raised as a church kid, and that background breathes life into her debut novel, "Dominion."

Angela Flournoy's sophomore novel, "The Wilderness," follows five Black women over the course of a 20-year friendship, from young adulthood into middle age. It recently made the longlist for the National Book Award for Fiction.

"All the Way to the River" is an impressive mashup of Elizabeth Gilbert’s candid storytelling, along with poems, drawings, prayers and doodles that she crafted during her partner's death and her own recovery from sex and love addiction.

Beatriz Serrano's new novel, "Discontent," follows the life of a mid-level marketing executive who reflects the ennui of so many disillusioned millennials.

"The Hounding" by Xenobe Purvis is a debut novel set in 18th-century England that explores themes of misinformation, toxic masculinity and mob mentality.

Book critic Suzanne Perez says Lisa Ridzen's debut novel, "When the Cranes Fly South," which was Sweden's Book of the Year in 2024, is a poignant study on aging and end-of-life issues.

Book critic Suzanne Perez says Nick Fuller Googins's sophomore novel, "The Frequency of Living Things," is a well-written exploration of parenting, sisterhood and forgiveness.

KMUW's Suzanne Perez says the new novel by Daniel Kraus, "Angel Down," is a brutal descent onto a World War I battleground.