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Access Our
Most Anticipated
Books of 2025!
Whether you’re looking for something funny, serious, or both, we have your March reading covered. We bring you an intriguing family drama from a Nobel laureate, a humorous character-driven debut set in a South Dakota town, a call to action on book bans from YA authors, and a new translation of a darkly comedic novel featuring a disabled woman’s exploration of pleasure that won Japan’s prestigious Akutagawa Prize. Watch out for coverage of these books in upcoming issues of our digital magazine.
Mar 18, 2025. 304 pages
Published by Riverhead Books
Gurnah won the Nobel Prize in 2021 for “his uncompromising and compassionate penetration of the effects of colonialism and the fate of the refugee in the gulf between cultures and continents.” Early reviews suggest that like Gurnah’s 2022 novel Afterlives, Theft presents a thoughtful and surprising narrative spanning years of modern history. Beginning in 1960s colonial Tanzania, the story follows two men abandoned in childhood whose lives become entangled in adulthood through family connections. Publishers Weekly comments, “Written in lucid prose, Gurnah’s tale is at once culturally specific and emotionally universal.”
Mar 4, 2025. 368 pages
Published by Zando
Set in 2016 South Dakota, this lively-looking comedic debut by St. James follows the friendship between an openly trans girl and her closeted trans high school teacher. According to Kirkus, “St. James’ plot moves like a Shakespeare comedy—some contrivances, yes, but all in the service of portraying the prismatic variations of the characters here, both cis and trans, who alternately fail themselves and each other, and work to rescue them back again.” Publishers Weekly writes, “St. James enthralls with her depiction of what it’s like to be trans in a conservative and insular community, and the courage it takes for people to openly be themselves. This engrossing drama is a must-read.”
Mar 4, 2025. 304 pages
Published by Holiday House
This YA compilation edited by author Ashley Hope Pérez combines various written forms (poetry, fiction, essays, comics) to explain the current atmosphere of book bans and challenges in schools and libraries, and how action against them can be taken. Contributors include Elana K. Arnold, Nikki Grimes, Brendan Kiely, Isabel Quintero, and more. This could be a great gift for a young reader or serve as a useful overview for anyone looking to support those most affected by ongoing bans in the United States. Author Malinda Lo says, "Banned Together is an insightful, moving, and important resource for teens and all readers who are fighting the alarming rise in censorship across the U.S."
Mar 18, 2025. 112 pages
Published by Hogarth Books
Now translated into English by Polly Barton, this novel by Ichikawa won Japan’s Akutagawa Prize in 2023. It follows a woman with a congenital muscle disorder who spends her time writing erotica, posting provocative messages on social media, and eventually pursuing her sexual fantasies in real life. Disability activist Alice Wong, author of Year of the Tiger, describes it as, “a personal exploration of pleasure and an indictment of the ableism and sexism embedded in society,” remarking, “Hunchback might be considered radical by nondisabled readers because it honestly depicts the innermost thoughts and desires of a disabled woman, which speaks to the lack of disability representation in publishing.” Kirkus calls it, “Audacious, insightful, bold, and—with its critique of ableism—necessary.”
