The It Girl’s summer listening list: Queer edition
Being authentic means living in your truth. These buzzy LGBTQIA+ books are some of the best guides to carving out life on your own terms.
Literary Fiction
Maggie Stiefvater wants to bring childlike wonder to adults with "The Listeners"
The author of beloved YA series like The Raven Cycle and The Shiver Trilogy turns her awe-inducing prose on an adult audience with a historical, magical story about a luxury West Virginia hotel.
Charmaine Wilkerson delivers another stunning family saga in “Good Dirt”
The bestselling author of “Black Cake” explores what we inherit from our ancestors and how the stories we tell ourselves shape who we are.
“Colored Television” is a razor-sharp take on race and Hollywood
Danzy Senna crafted an essential novel about mulatto identity and experience, the creative quest, and staying true to who you are.
In “Long Island,” Colm Tóibín gives a second act to characters from his beloved novel “Brooklyn”
The celebrated Irish author on his intimate approach to storytelling, why he keeps returning to his hometown setting of Enniscorthy, and his best advice for aspiring writers.
Familiar stories, new perspectives—15 classics refreshingly retold by side characters
These creative, compelling listens reimagine beloved stories from new points of view, offering fresh takes on old favorites.
The most anticipated debuts of 2024
Celebrate the freshest voices in fiction with our picks of the season's best and buzziest debut novels.
The 17 best debuts of 2023
From a heartwarming tale about the essential experience of death to a story told by an adorable baby bison, these breakout debut novels lend voice to fresh perspectives.
Jhumpa Lahiri denounces “being authentic”
In “Roman Stories,” which she translated from Italian, the writer challenges what it means to be authentically from any place.
Zadie Smith on the pride and pleasure of narrating "The Fraud"
The author worked with a voice coach to master the novel's dazzling array of accents, with one possible exception: “I'm sorry Scotland, but it could have been a lot worse.”
Teju Cole hopes listeners will take pleasure in slowing down and paying attention
With his latest, "Tremor," the author and photographer reveals that he doesn't find writing fiction gets any easier. "But when it works, it is as exciting as ever."
Ayana Mathis expands the notion of who is a "safe" person in "The Unsettled"
The author of The 12 Tribes of Hattie says she seeks to create characters who can survive the worst without being vectors of suffering.