First movie credit is as Sgt. Botha in the 1992 adaptation of Bryce Courtenay’s The Power of One.

He was in a Zorro television series in 1995 and a television miniseries of Moll Flanders the following year.

I first remember seeing him in an adaptation of The Ice House by Minette Walters in 1997.

He’s Connor Rooney in the 2002 adaptation of Road to Perdition, the graphic novel of gangsters during the Great Depression by Max Allan Collins.

He played poet Ted Hughes in 2003’s Sylvia and Perry Smith, one of the convicted killers in 2006’s Infamous, about Truman Capote and In Cold Blood.

His most famous literary role is probably as James Bond. He first played Bond in Casino Royale (2006), and then four more films.

He’s Lord Asriel in the 2007 film adaptation of The Golden Compass, which did not do nearly as well as its television series adaptation.

He starred alongside Harrison Ford in Cowboys & Aliens (2011), based on the comic by Scott Mitchell Rosenberg 

He was journalist Mikael Blomkvist in the U.S. adaptation of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larrson (2011).

Upcoming: He has a role in the adaptation of Purity by Jonathan Franzen.

Monáe’s acting career is smaller, but still at its beginnings. They starred as Mary Jackson in Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race by Margot Lee Shetterly (2011).

Monáe appeared in an episode of Electric Dreams in 2018, based on the work of Philip K. Dick.

And they portrayed Dorothy Pitman Hughes in 2020’s The Glorias, based on the memoir My Life on the Road by Gloria Steinem.

They also have their own book, The Memory Librarian: And Other Stories of Dirty Computer.

In his second-ever film, he played alter boy Aaron in 1997’s Primal Fear, based on the novel by William Diehl, and for which he was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor in a Supporting Role.

His first big role was as Narrator in Chuck Palahniuk’s Fight Club in 1999.

He was Will Graham in the remake of Red Dragon by Thomas Harris (2002).

He starred as Monty Brogan in 25th Hour by David Benioff (2002).

He’s Eisenheim in The Illusionist, based on Steven Millhauser’s short story “Eisenheim the Illusionist” (2006).

He portrayed Walter Fane in The Painted Veil by W. Somerset Maugham (2006).

After Eric Bana but before Mark Ruffalo, he was Bruce Banner in The Incredible Hulk (2008).

He makes an appearance in The Bourne Legacy by Robert Ludlum (2012)

And most recently, starred in an adaptation of Motherless Brooklyn by Jonathan Lethem (2019).

Her first adaptation role was in Ricochet River, based on the novel by Robin Cody (2001).

She starred alongside Naomi Watts in James Ivory’s adaptation of Le Divorce by Diane Johnson (2003).

She was in The Killer Inside Me by Jim Thompson (2010), in which nothing good happens to anyone, because Jim Thompson.

Moving on to happier fare, she was in the adaptation of Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin (2011).

She had a role in The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid (2012).

And one in Good People by Marcus Sakey (2014).

And she starred with Octavia Spencer, no stranger to adaptations herself, in the second season of Truth Be Told, based on the novel Are You Sleeping? by Kathleen Barber (2019).

If you didn’t follow Bautista’s wrestling career, then the first time you noticed him was probably in Guardians of the Galaxy, based on the Marvel comics, in 2014.

He appeared with his Glass Onion costar Daniel Craig in the James Bond film Spectre in 2015.

He was in the Blade Runner sequel Blade Runner 2049 (2017), inspired by the novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick.

He appeared as Glossu Rabban Harkonnen in the 2021 adaptation of Frank Hebert’s Dune, and will reprise his role in Dune Part 2, which is coming in the next year or so.

But before that, he’ll star in Knock at the Cabin, based on The Cabin at the End of the World by Paul Tremblay.

She was in Revolutionary Road with Kate and Leo, based on the novel by Richard Yates (2008).

She starred alongside Ben Stiller in The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013), based on a short story by James Thurber.

She has been in several things with Jason Bateman! The first of two on this list is This Is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper (2014).

And the second is the adaptation of The Family Fang by Kevin Wilson (2015).

She starred with Kevin Bacon in the short-lived series I Love Dick, based on the novel by Chris Kraus (2016).

And in the Mrs. Fletcher miniseries (2019) based on the novel by Tom Perotta (who has had almost every work made into a film or show.)

She was in the I Know This Much Is True miniseries, based on the novel by Wally Lamb (2020).

She stole the show in Wandavision (2021) the series based on the Marvel comics. (And she’s getting her own spinoff.)

And coming up: She stars in Tiny Beautiful Things, the show based on the book by Cheryl Strayed.

He appeared in an episode of Gotham in 2014, based on Batman lore.

He became a household name as Aaron Burr in the original Broadway run of Hamilton (2016), influenced by the Ron Chernow biography.

He had a role in Kenneth Branagh’s remake of Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express (2017).

And next he’ll be starring in a sequel to The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty. 

Henwick’s most famous literary role is probably her turn as Nymeria Sand in the Game of Thrones show (2015-2017).

She appeared as Colleen Wing on an episode of Luke Cage in 2018 and in several episodes of Iron Fist (2017–2018), both based on comics.

She voices a character in the Blade Runner: Black Lotus animated series (2021).

And she has a role in The Gray Man, based on the series by Mark Greaney (2022).

Madeline Cline does not have many book adaptation roles under her belt, but she’s just getting started. She did have a role in Boy Erased, based on the memoir by Garrard Conley (2018).

White Fang (1991); A Midnight Clear (1992); Waterland (1992); Alive (1993); Great Expectations (1998); Snow Falling on Cedars (1999); Hamlet (2000); The Hottest State (2006); Moby Dick (2011); Ten Thousand Saints (2015); Juliet, Naked (2018); The Good Lord Bird (2020); Waiting for Godot (2021); The Black Phone (2021); Moon Knight (2022); Leave the World Behind (Upcoming).

Maurice (1987); The Lair of the White Worm (1987); The Remains of the Day (1993); An Awfully Big Adventure (1995); Sense and Sensibility (1995); Restoration (1995); Extreme Measures (1996); Bridget Jones’s Diary (2001); About a Boy (2002); Cloud Atlas (2012); Paddington 2 (2017); A Very English Scandal (2018); The Undoing (2020).

National Velvet (1945); The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945); The Three Musketeers (1948); The Long, Hot Summer (1958); The Manchurian Candidate (1962); Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971); Death on the Nile (1978); The Mirror Crack’d (1980); The Last Unicorn (1982); Lace (1984); The Shell Seekers (1989); Beauty and the Beast (1991); The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax (1999); The Blackwater Lightship (2004); Nanny McPhee (2005); Mr. Popper’s Penguins (2011); Little Women (2017); Mary Poppins Returns (2018).

Heartburn (1986); Party Monster (2003); Orange Is the New Black (2013–2019).

Aziza, Nour, and Shokry each buy a wish in Cairo, but it’s not as simple as it seems. Despite the magic that surrounds the characters and infuses the world they live in with exciting whimsy, the wishes aren’t as easy to execute. The wish is a magical solution, but all the characters have very relatable and real issues they have to grapple with.

Riad Sattouf has been writing comic strips about his friend’s daughter Esther and her life in Paris. They talked every week, and Sattouf made it into an equal parts funny and hopeful story about growing up in Paris. Esther’s life as the daughter of immigrants, and her discovery of the weirder parts of growing up, recalls for me the many joys of reading Calvin & Hobbes as a young girl.

My beloved Gene Luen Yang (of Avatar comics and American Born Chinese) is writing the latest Chinese American DC superhero. This volume collects #1–6 of Monkey Prince, wherein our hero Marcus Sun starts at Gotham City High School and unlocks his true powers and his superhero self.

If you’re like me and ingest every Carmilla-adjacent piece of media released, you’ll be super excited about this comic. The 19th century original vampire finds herself in New York City in the 1990s. A young woman tries to solve a series of murders targeting homeless queer women that no one else seems to care about, and she gets drawn into Carmilla’s world. Instead of a gothic castle, Carmilla owns a nightclub with dark secrets. This is the perfect retelling for fans of all things queer vampire.

The epic quests of the Norse Gods continue on in this new collection, which involves a bunch of great new artists. For fans of the series, this is an exciting addition to the bookshelf. Casual readers who love epic action will also find a lot to love in here, from Thor’s adventures with a giantess to the epic story of Ragnarok.

Ponijirou is an actor and trying to make it in an industry notorious for discriminating against people based on their size. Konnosuke is a pastry chef, and he sends Ponijirou sweets. The anonymous care package invigorates Ponijirou to follow his dreams in this sweet story about love.

The unhappy marriage between Claire and Mark is the starting point for a science fiction story about the roles we’re forced into in life. Neither Claire nor Mark is entirely sure why they’re in their marriage or what to do about their sadness, and they get a look into an alternate reality where they were free to make different choices. It’s a thoughtful story that blends sci-fi and reality extremely well.

This graphic novel takes on the major discomfort of puberty in middle school with sweetness and comedy. Toshihiko is a boy who has not developed any body hair yet, while Ayako is a girl who feels like she can’t pursue her swimming talent because of an excess of body hair. The setup of lack and abundance leads to an unlikely friendship.

Health is not the same for everyone and Lipman understands that. Through easy-to-follow recipes, breathing techniques, and insights into emotional wellness, How to Be Well takes a holistic approach to improving your health and happiness. No dieting, no drastic measures, and you can take everything inside at your own pace. A great starter to thinking about health in the bigger picture.

This is not a guide to running, but a book to turn to to remind you of how running can change your life. Murakami’s gives insights into the way running helps him mentally, what he loves about it, how it works in tandem to improve his writing life. Runners just getting started and those preparing for their 100th marathon will love this reminder of why they’re doing what they do.

Sleep is so much more important than many of us realize. Your immune system, mental health, and brain function are impacted by getting some shut eye every night. If you’re having trouble regulating your sleep schedule or need some suggestions for improving it, this science-backed book is a great place to start.

With case studies and research galore, working on your mental health has never seemed so important! Leaf offers practical exercises you can include in your day-to-day routines and a five-step plan to reduce your stress and get you thinking a little clearer.

We’ve been raised to think of love within certain parameters, but hooks’s deep dive into what love means challenges these societal perceptions. It’s not all about romance, but about community and compassion. While some of the perspectives have become outdated since its 1999 publication, the concepts will make you think about what your definition of love is so you can set out to find it.

It can be hard to say no to people, to disagree with those you love, to put yourself out there. That’s why a lot of people turn to people-pleasing to get by. If you’re looking to shake that habit and set up boundaries for yourself, this is a great start with modern exercises and advice for all kinds of different situations.

A lot of us just aren’t having enough fun, and Downs is looking to change that by reminding us of all the reasons to put it higher on our prioritization list. With research to back up how beneficial fun is, you’ll leave this book motivated to find what you enjoy and then go and do it already.

Cooking can be intimidating, but fear not! Salt Fat Acid Heat is great at breaking down the seemingly complicated science of cooking into easy-to-understand rules for even the least experienced. Funny prose, gorgeous drawings, and a pure joy for cooking make this an absolute delight.

There’s a reason your phone is so addictive: it’s literally designed that way. Price breaks down the science of what keeps you going back to it, what it’s doing to our brains, and practical ways to make your phone less reach-for-able. You’re stuck with your phone in the modern age, but that doesn’t mean you have to be stuck to it!

Do you know the signs of a digital addiction? You might just be in the middle of it without realizing. Doomscrolling, late-night shopping, and comparison culture are all part of unhealthy relationships with technology. Goodin will teach you what to look for and what to do about it.

When Lyndsay Murray opens Spice Isle Bakery in the Little Caribbean neighborhood of Brooklyn, she’s finally fulfilled her dream. But local bakery owner Claudio Fabrizi sees Lyndsay and her family as a threat to his business.

And what’s worse, shortly after she and Claudio are seen fighting in her shop, Claudio is found dead under suspicious circumstances. If Lyndsay wants to clear her name and keep Spice Isle Bakery running, she’ll need to catch the killer herself.

After pastry chef Chloe Barns returns home to California following a breakup, she’s in need of a change. Her eccentric Aunt Dawn has just the thing in mind: opening up a cannabis cafe.

No such business currently exists in her hometown and, motivated by the way THC helps her grandmother manage pain, Chloe sets up shop. But when Aunt Dawn is implicated in the death of a creepy man from Chloe’s past, she must navigate opening her new business while proving her aunt’s innocence at the same time.

On your marks, get set…sleuth! Daisy Ellery often uses her magical pies to bring abusive men to justice. But when she’s invited to compete on a televised baking show, she hopes she’ll have no need to create deadly pastries.

When she discovers that one of the judges is someone she’s slated to deliver a pie to — and he is murdered before said pie reaches him — she must uncover what’s going on behind the scenes of this charming-turned-sinister show.

Running the family farm keeps Shiloh Bellamy busy — even in winter, there’s much to plan for spring. But Shiloh also has a talent for sleuthing, one that comes in handy when the local Ice Fishing Derby turns deadly.

Fields Brewery owner Wallace is found dead shortly after the competition, and the police suspect Shiloh’s friend despite evidence that someone else is responsible for the murder. It’s up to Shiloh to solve the crime and prevent an innocent person from being charged.

Married couple Margery and Clementine Butcher-Baker work at a local school during the day, but they’ve built a reputation for themselves in their English village as amateur sleuths. Summertime, they hope, will allow them time for a needed rest.

But their break is cut short as soon as it starts when a mayor is poisoned and suspicions fall to Margery and Clementine. And with more people falling sick, the two must prove their innocence by catching the real culprit.

I don’t know that I’ve ever seen a better premise than “sapphic Sherlockian mystery set in space.” Investigator Mossa takes on a missing person case that leads her to a university in Valdegeld, a colony on Jupiter. Here she’s reunited with Pleiti, an Earth scholar and Mossa’s ex-girlfriend. When Mossa asks for Pleiti’s help in solving the case, old feelings resurface.

I can’t even put into words how excited I am for this book. It looks like a lot of fun! Vera Wong is an elderly tea shop owner who, when not keeping tabs on her son, feels like her life is missing something.

Enter a dead body, found by Vera in her shop. When she notices the corpse has a flash drive in his hand, she decides to solve his murder for herself. But who among her customers committed the crime? The only way to find out is to get to know them.

Stage magician Tempest Raj works for her family’s Secret Staircase Construction, where they build hidden pathways and nooks within their customers’ homes. When their client invites them to a mock séance to ward off all feelings of her ex-husband from her home, the guests are shocked to discover her ex’s corpse.

When suspicions fall on Tempest’s Grandpa Ash, she must investigate which of the eight party guests actually killed their client’s ex.

While investigating what was supposed to be a minor crime, Kaveri Murthy discovers a dead body during a blood moon eclipse. To protect herself from rising danger as she works to catch the killer, she must bring the Bangalore Detectives Club together to solve the crime amidst rising city tensions.

Food critic Tiffany Austin is one of two people in the running for a full-time position at Southern Style magazine. Unfortunately, the other person is her rival Jenny Lee Plumm. And so, when Jenny is discovered dead several days later, it’s only natural that Tiffany is a primary suspect.

But Tiffany didn’t kill Jenny. If she wants to save her reputation, she’ll have to find out who did herself.

When a hotel guest blames her missing necklace on Nonna Maria’s goddaughter who works on the cleaning crew, she refuses to believe the young woman really stole it. And after a body is discovered not far away, Nonna Maria believes the two incidences are connected. But how, and why did the culprit frame her goddaughter?

When costume designer Joey Jessop is hired to work on a blockbuster superhero movie, she’s thrilled to get started, even if her ex-boyfriend Eli is the first assistant director.

But filming takes an alarming turn when the body of Courtney, Eli’s new girlfriend and the second assistant director, is discovered on set. Because of their history, Joey is considered the main suspect. To prove her innocence and protect her reputation, she must solve the crime herself.

Cousins Yale and Celine Yee run a food stall together at an L.A. night market. As their popularity gains momentum, they’re invited to a dinner held by the local restaurant owners association.

But the event turns from exciting to deadly when association president Jeffrey Vue is electrocuted during the meal. Yale and Celine are no strangers to amateur sleuthing, however, and they’re determined to discover who among the guests killed Jeffrey.

After receiving an unexpected inheritance from her Great Aunt Octavia, influencer Maddy Montgomery reopens Baby Cakes bakery in New Bison, Michigan. But as the local Spring Baking Festival approaches, Maddy discovers that she has a new rival: investor CJ Davenport, who is opening up a second bakery in town.

Until, that is, CJ’s corpse is discovered with a knife in his back. Now it’s up to Maddy and the local group of Baker Street Irregulars to catch the killer before they come after her, too.

Once a celebrated teen detective, 25-year-old Charlotte Illes struggles to find purpose. When she’s called in to help with one more case, she jumps at the opportunity.

But this investigation is more serious than the ones she would solve as a child. There’s a dead body, and a killer on the loose who may well strike again. Not only does she struggle to dust off her old crime-solving skills, but she fears she may be the murderer’s next target.

A literary historian and Professor of American Literature and African American Studies and History at Penn State, Foreman’s work focuses on recovering early traditions of African American activism. She wrote Activist Sentiments: Reading Black Women in the Nineteenth Century.

Book Riot favorite Kimmerer is an enrolled member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, a SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor of Environmental Biology, and the founder and director of the Center for Native Peoples and the Environment. She’s also the author of Braiding Sweetgrass.

Ornithologist and naturalist Lanham is in the Forestry and Environmental Conservation Department at Clemson University in South Carolina, his work focuses primarily on “combining conservation science with personal, historical, and cultural narratives of nature.” He wrote The Home Place.

Laymon is a Black, Southern writer and professor of English and Creative Writing at Rice University in Mississippi.

His memoir Heavy speaks to his experiences of sexual violence, eating disorders, familial relationships, and more. He also wrote How to Slowly Kill Yourself and Others in America and the novel Long Division.

Alarcón is a Peruvian-American journalist and novelist, the host of NPR’s Radio Ambulante, and an assistant professor of broadcast journalism at the Columbia University Journalism School. His New Yorker story “City of Clowns” was made into a short film in Peru.

Poet and essayist Abdurraqib has written about everything from Columbus, Ohio, to A Tribe Called Quest. A five-year anniversary edition of his essay collection They Can’t Kill Us Until They Kill Us was released in November 2022 with additional material and an audiobook version recorded by Abdurraqib.

Betts spent nine years in prison for a carjacking he participated in as a teenager; while incarcerated, he read The Black Poets by Dudley Randall and began writing his own poetry. After his release, he earned an MFA in creative writing from Warren Wilson Collage and a JD from Yale. He was on President Obama’s Coordinating Council of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention and founded Freedom Reads, bringing books to prison populations. He has published several collections of poetry and a memoir, A Question of Freedom. He relayed the story of getting the call from the MacArthur foundation in The Washington Post.

Choi is a Korean American poet and translator of other Korean women’s poetry. She lives in Germany and her most recent book is DMZ Colony.

A historian of race and discriminatory policy in America, Kendi is the director of the Center for Antiracist Research at Boston University. Previously, he was a professor of history and international relations at American University in Washington, D.C., an assistant professor in the University of Florida history department’s African American Studies program, a visiting scholar in the department of Africana Studies at Brown University, an assistant professor of Africana Studies at SUNY Albany, and an assistant professor of history in the department of Africana and Latino Studies at SUNY Oneonta. His books How to Be an Antiracist and Stamped From the Beginning have been adapted for all ages.

Historian Taylor is is a professor of African American Studies at Northwestern University. She is the author of From #BlackLivesMatter to Black Liberation.

As kids, Emily and Chess were inseparable. But by their 30s, their bond has been strained by the demands of their adult lives. So when Chess suggests a girls trip to Italy, Emily jumps at the chance to reconnect with her best friend.

Villa Aestas in Orvieto is a high-end holiday home now, but in 1974, it was known as Villa Rosato, and rented for the summer by a notorious rock star, Noel Gordon. In an attempt to reignite his creative spark, Noel invites up-and-coming musician, Pierce Sheldon to join him, as well as Pierce’s girlfriend, Mari, and her stepsister, Lara. But he also sets in motion a chain of events that leads to Mari writing one of the greatest horror novels of all time, Lara composing a platinum album — and ends in Pierce’s brutal murder.

As Emily digs into the villa’s complicated history, she begins to think there might be more to the story of that fateful summer in 1974. That perhaps Pierce’s murder wasn’t just a tale of sex, drugs, and rock & roll gone wrong, but that something more sinister might have occurred — and that there might be clues hidden in the now-iconic works that Mari and Lara left behind.

Yet the closer that Emily gets to the truth, the more tension she feels developing between her and Chess. As secrets from the past come to light, equally dangerous betrayals from the present also emerge — and it begins to look like the villa will claim another victim before the summer ends.

Inspired by Fleetwood Mac, the Manson murders, and the infamous summer Percy and Mary Shelley spent with Lord Byron at a Lake Geneva castle — the birthplace of Frankenstein — The Villa welcomes you into its deadly legacy.

Reasons to read it: An inspired-by list that places the good sis Stevie Nicks next to the Manson Murders and Mary Shelley’s creation is…unexpected to say the least. But how Hawkins weaves together that combination, plus the gothic aspect, make this an intriguing thriller to pick up. And folksx who like reading about words will appreciate the importance placed on writing in this book. If you’ve liked other Hawkins books, you’re bound to like this one.

From The New York Times best-selling author of the Brown Sisters trilogy, comes a laugh-out-loud story about a quirky content creator and a clean-cut athlete testing their abilities to survive the great outdoors — and each other.

Bradley Graeme is pretty much perfect. He’s a star football player, manages his OCD well (enough), and comes out on top in all his classes…except the ones he shares with his ex-best friend, Celine.

Celine Bangura is conspiracy-theory-obsessed. Social media followers eat up her takes on everything from UFOs to holiday overconsumption — yet, she’s still not cool enough for the popular kids’ table. Which is why Brad abandoned her for the in-crowd years ago. (At least, that’s how Celine sees it.)

These days, there’s nothing between them other than petty insults and academic rivalry. So when Celine signs up for a survival course in the woods, she’s surprised to find Brad right beside her.

Forced to work as a team for the chance to win a grand prize, these two teens must trudge through not just mud and dirt but their messy past. And as this adventure brings them closer together, they begin to remember the good bits of their history. But has too much time passed…or just enough to spark a whole new kind of relationship?

Reasons to read it: I loved, loved, loved Hibbert’s Brown Sisters trilogy, and have been anxiously awaiting their YA debut. This book, as is the case with Hibbert’s other books, is refreshing in its portrayal of mental health struggles, body diversity, and interesting main characters. Not to mention the *growth*! Their characters always experience personal growth that feels fitting for them. Between the banter, fun characters, and their chemistry, I’m sure this will convert you into a Hibbert-lover forever.

A gripping, radically intimate debut novel about a group of enslaved women staging a covert rebellion against their owners.

On a struggling Texas plantation, six enslaved women slip from their sleeping quarters and gather in the woods under the cover of night. The Lucys — as they call the plantation owners, after Lucifer himself — have decided to turn around the farm’s bleak financial prospects by making the women bear children. They have hired a “stockman” to impregnate them. But the women are determined to protect themselves.

Now each of the six faces a choice. Nan, the doctoring woman, has brought a sack of cotton root clippings that can stave off children when chewed daily. If they all take part, the Lucys may give up and send the stockman away. But a pregnancy for any of them will only encourage the Lucys further. And should their plan be discovered, the consequences will be severe.

Visceral and arresting, Night Wherever We Go illuminates each woman’s individual trials and desires while painting a subversive portrait of collective defiance. Unflinching in her portrayal of America’s gravest injustices, while also deeply attentive to the transcendence, love, and solidarity of women whose interior lives have been underexplored, Tracey Rose Peyton creates a story of unforgettable power.

Reasons to read it: The last paragraph of the official book blurb encapsulates what attracted me to this book. It takes a lot for me to want to read about slavery, as I prefer my books to have more Black joy in them, but Night Wherever We Go shows the joy Black women experienced. It shows the pain and struggle, too, of course, but a lot of the story is focused on the bonds formed between the main characters and how enriching they were. We need more stories that show the inner lives of Black Americans of the past.

A widower grieving for his young wife. A piano tuner concealing a lifetime of secrets. An out-of-tune Steinway piano. A journey of self-discovery across time and continents, from a dark apartment in Taipei’s red-light district to snow-clad New York.

At the heart of the story is the nameless narrator, the piano tuner. In his forties, he is balding and ugly, a loser by any standard. But he was once a musical prodigy. What betrayal and what heartbreak made him walk away from greatness?

Long hailed in Taiwan as a “writer’s writer,” Chiang-Sheng Kuo delivers a stunningly powerful, compact novel in The Piano Tuner. It’s a book of sounds: both of music and of the heart, from Rachmaninoff to Schubert, from Glenn Gould to Sviatoslav Richter, from untapped potential to unrequited love. With a cadence and precision that bring to mind Thomas Mann’s Death in Venice, Kazuo Ishiguro’s Nocturnes, and Yasunari Kawabata’s Snow Country, this short novel may be a portrait of the artist as a “failure,” but it also describes a pursuit of the ultimate beauty in music and in love.

Reasons to read it: I came across an explanation of how some of the title’s original meaning got lost in translation: the original Chinese title is “Seeker of Pianos,” with the second character having the double meaning of “piano”/”love.” The potential Seeker of Pianos/Seeker of Love double meaning sets up a story in which lyrical depictions of music are interwoven with how love shapes us.

A remote village. A deadly secret. An outsider who knows the truth.

Robert Reid moved his family to Scotland’s Outer Hebrides in the 1990s, driven by hope, craving safety and community, and hiding a terrible secret. But despite his best efforts to fit in, Robert is always seen as an outsider. And as the legendary and violent Hebridean storms rage around him, he begins to unravel, believing his fate on the remote island of Kilmeray cannot be escaped.

For her entire life, Maggie MacKay has sensed something was wrong with her. When Maggie was five years old, she announced that a man on Kilmeray — a place she’d never visited — had been murdered. Her unfounded claim drew media attention and turned the locals against each other, creating rifts that never mended.

Nearly 20 years later, Maggie is determined to find out what really happened, and what the islanders are hiding. But when she begins to receive ominous threats, Maggie is forced to consider how much she is willing to risk to discover the horrifying truth.

Unnerving, enthralling, and filled with gothic suspense, The Blackhouse is a spectacularly sinister tale readers won’t soon forget.

Reasons to read it: This slow-burning story features a host of characters within an atmospheric setting, which — from the raging sea to the blackhouse — feels like a living character itself. Altogether, this is a uniquely claustrophobic and disconcerting tale with notes of otherworldliness.

A young Indian woman finds the false rumors that she killed her husband surprisingly useful — until other women in the village start asking for her help getting rid of their own husbands — in this razor-sharp debut.

“Shroff captures the complexity of female friendship with acuity, wit, and a certain kind of magic irreverence. . . . The Bandit Queens is tender, unpredictable, and brimming with laugh-out-loud moments.” — Téa Obreht, The New York Times best-selling author of The Tiger’s Wife

Five years ago, Geeta lost her no-good husband. As in, she actually lost him — he walked out on her and she has no idea where he is. But in her remote village in India, rumor has it that Geeta killed him. And it’s a rumor that just won’t die.

It turns out that being known as a “self-made” widow comes with some perks. No one messes with her, harasses her, or tries to control (ahem, marry) her. It’s even been good for business; no one dares to not buy her jewelry.

Freedom must look good on Geeta, because now other women are asking for her“expertise,” making her an unwitting consultant for husband disposal.

And not all of them are asking nicely.

With Geeta’s dangerous reputation becoming a double-edged sword, she has to find a way to protect the life she’s built — but even the best-laid plans of would-be widows tend to go awry. What happens next sets in motion a chain of events that will change everything, not just for Geeta, but for all the women in their village.

Filled with clever criminals, second chances, and wry and witty women, Parini Shroff’s The Bandit Queens is a razor-sharp debut of humor and heart that readers won’t soon forget.

Reasons to read it: This book is expectantly funny, but it also tackles things like the pursuit of freedom from abuse. The characters are well thought out, and there’s great female friendship, but don’t get it twisted, this book is definitely for when you’re in an extra kind of mood, which, I’m obviously usually in.

This standalone follow-up to The Proudest Blue is a lovely story about kindness, friendship, and family. Two big things are happening at school today: it’s picture day, and Ms. Ramirez wants the students to create their own worlds and draw pictures about their worlds. Faizah wears a special red dress passed down from her mother and sister for school pictures. For the school assignment, she draws a world full of kindness, where everyone is a friend and helps those around them. When Faizah realizes she and her sister aren’t matching for their school pictures, her imaginary world of kindness inspires her friends at school to help out.

Best-selling novelist Emma Straub makes her picture book debut in this adorable and funny read-aloud about hats. Hats can be many things: the roof of houses, leaves that fall just the right way on top of heads, perfectly balanced books, ice cream bowls. All it takes is a little imagination for a whole new world of hats to open up. Gómez’s delightfully cute illustrations are a perfect companion for Straub’s simple and funny prose. This picture book is sure to inspire a lot of hat play for kids.

This is a super sweet intergenerational picture book centering an Indigenous grandmother and granddaughter with warm and tender illustrations from one of my all-time favorite illustrators, Julie Flett. Becca wants to be just like her grandma, whether she’s watching her grandma dance in a powwow, bead moccasins, or play basketball. With Grandma’s help, Becca learns how to do these activities and more, and in the process, finds out some things she never knew about her grandma. Kim Rogers, Wichita, writes a lyrical and playful homage to the special relationship between grandmothers and granddaughters in this picture book.

This heartwarming picture book reminds me of my own quiet, shy childhood. Stanley dreams of tap dancing in front of an audience, but he’s too shy to tell anyone about his dreams beyond his two pet mice. Instead, he practices tap dancing after school in empty classrooms and hallways as he helps the janitor clean. However, his secret is discovered when the school installs security cameras. The principal thinks he should participate in the school talent show, but how could he share his dancing with the world? Accompanied by energetic, retro-style illustrations, this picture book encourages readers to express themselves and share their talents.

Author Anne Wynter bases this gorgeous, intergenerational picture book on her childhood experiences growing pecan trees. Wynter seamlessly integrates two parallel timelines: that of the grandmother as a child planting a seed and a future where grandchildren gather around and in the pecan tree that seed becomes, watching birds hatch and having picnics in its shade. It’s a lovely, poetic read that feels like a classic. Daniel Miyares’ illustrations are warm and rich.

7th-grader Henrietta Weldon, or Henri for short, has dyscalculia, a learning disability that makes math especially hard. Previously, Henri attended a private school to get more one-on-one tutoring for her disability. However, her mom is starting a PhD program, and with the family strapped for cash, Henri will now attend public school, where her older brother and sister also attended. She’s excited about going to a new school and soon makes friends. However, Henri’s sister Kat hates her new friends for good reasons, and Henri is finding her new schedule — which includes soccer and poetry — overwhelming. How can Henri balance new friendships, her passions, school, and a sister she fights with constantly? Her mom thinks she should concentrate on school and drop everything else, but Henri disagrees. This is a fantastic new middle grade novel that is funny and super relatable.

This wrenching and beautifully written middle grade novel entwines two timelines. In the present, 13-year-old Matthew begrudgingly moves in with his 100-year-old great-grandmother to ride out the Covid-19 pandemic while his journalist father works in France. While helping his great-grandmother, he discovers more about her past, and the novel switches to the perspectives of three Ukrainian cousins during the 1930s, revealing devastating details about the Holodomor — a Soviet government-created famine that killed millions of Ukrainians. While it sounds like a complicated narrative — with multiple points of view and timelines — Marsh seamlessly integrates the alternating viewpoints and timelines. It’s a moving, relevant story about an important historical event largely unknown in the U.S., inspired by Marsh’s family history.

12-year-old Trevor, or Trev for short, is a talented artist. However, when his stepdad is imprisoned for hitting his mom, Trev decides he needs to be able to use his hands for a different purpose — to protect his mother and sisters. Trev begins taking boxing lessons, but with his emotions spiraling with all the stress he’s under, the physicality of the sport has him reacting in too-violent ways. Maybe he should return to art and help his family and community that way, but how will art protect his loved ones? This brief but packed novel explores toxic masculinity and Blackness in a nuanced, moving way and packs both a literal and metaphorical punch.

This fantasy retelling of “Sleeping Beauty” is perfect for kids who love the movie Brave. When Princess Harbor Rose was born, one of her fairy aunts cursed her. To keep her safe from the prophesied war and death that she’s been cursed with, Harbor’s mother whisks her away to a remote island where more of Harbor’s magical aunts live. No children live on the island, and Harbor has both a magical and lonely childhood. When the prophecy’s time arrives, and the boy Peter — the prophesied hero — arrives, Harbor realizes that to save her people and her family, she’ll need to love herself, curse and all, and become her own hero.

After a school shooting leaves Simon as the only surviving member of his classroom, his family decides to move to a place where no one knows him and where he can have some peace and quiet — the National Quiet Zone in Grin and Bear It, Nebraska. The internet is banned in Grin and Bear It so scientists can better study space, and Simon can return to a somewhat anonymous childhood. Simon wants to start a new life and leave the past behind him, but, of course, there’s no way to leave that kind of trauma behind. His friends Kevin, who is Filipino American, and Agate, who is autistic, try to help Simon. But the three get into mischief when they fake alien signals to fool the scientists. Bow tackles really tough topics in this novel with grace and empathy while also threading in laugh-out-loud humor throughout.

What do you get when you put together magic, academia, map-making, and a fun mystery? Why, The Cartographers of course! The story follows Nell Young, who lost everything years ago because of a disagreement over a gas station map. Now, her father is found dead. And in his desk, lo and behold, the same map. Turns out, the map is rare and very valuable — and a collector has been destroying every copy of it and everyone who gets in the way. But why? Where does this map really lead? In order to learn the truth, Nell embarks on the greatest and most dangerous quest of her life.

Now, Shutter is a very special book because it’s actually a mystery/thriller full of ghosts that also borders into horror territory. But the ghosts are very important in the story, and so is the investigation. Hence its place on this list! The story follows a forensic photographer named Rita. She can see ghosts, which makes her unusually good at her job because they point her towards the most important clues of their murders. In her latest case, the ghost of a woman latches on to Rita. The woman insists she was murdered, and forces our protagonist to find out the truth — which might just get her killed.

Set in a fantasy world, The Helm of Midnight is a darker kind of mystery full of twists and turns! The story begins when a legendary serial killer’s death mask is stolen. His name was Chabron, and he terrorized the city before his death. Now, a team of thieves have the mask and someone is channeling Chabron’s spirit — which has resulted in a new string of murders. Only Krona Hirvath and her group of Regulators can solve the case and stop the new murderer before he takes more lives.

Children keep vanishing from the streets of Edinburgh in this suspenseful urban fantasy! The Library of the Dead follows Ropa, a ghostalker that can communicate with the city’s ghosts. One day, Ropa catches whispers from the dead — talking about the missing children. Someone is bewitching them, turning them into empty husks. This is her turf, so Ropa feels honor-bound to investigate. Little does she know, her journey will take her to Edinburgh’s darkest corners, which are full of dark magic and even an occult library!

As soon as I read A Master of Djinn, I knew it belonged on this list. The story follows our beloved Agent Fatma from Clark’s short stories. She’s an agent of the Ministry of Alchemy, which is in charge of investigating all kinds of supernatural and magical cases in the city of Cairo. Her new case involves the murder of the entire secret brotherhood dedicated to Al-Jahiz — the man who brought magic into this world. To complicate things further, the murderer claims to be Al-Jahiz himself. Can Fatma learn the truth and unmask this imposter before the whole city descends into chaos? You’ll have to read it to find out!

Once again, we’re pushing the line into horror territory with River Woman, River Demon! This magical mystery novel follows Eva Santos, a Chicana artist who practices brujería and curanderismo. She’s basically a witch, even if lately she’s feeling disconnected from her magick. Her whole life is turned upside down when her beloved husband is arrested for murder. Eva is a potential suspect, and even she can’t trust herself thanks to the weird blackouts she’s been experiencing. To make things worse, this case eerily resembles one from her childhood. Was she involved in not one, but two murders? Only by reckoning with her past can Eva find out the truth.

Last but not least, China Miéville blends weird fiction, fantasy, and a murder mystery in this epic and unique story! The whole thing is set in two fantastical cities that occupy the same space simultaneously: Beszel and Ul Qoma. It all begins when a woman is found dead in Beszel, and Inspector Tyador Borlú is assigned to the case. All evidence leads to the twin city of Ul Qoma, so Borlú heads there and teams up with its own detective named Qussim Dhatt. Working together, the two start to unearth the dead woman’s secrets. But the truth is far more complicated and deadlier than they ever imagined.