Fiction

The Italian Teacher

by Tom Rachman
Told through the eyes of the son of a great painter, and full of humor and humanity, Rachman’s novel illustrates a life lived in the shadow of greatness.
Viking

Tangerine

by Christine Mangan
Set against the backdrop of Tangier, Morocco, two former college roommates are reconnected in a debut novel that will remind readers of Paul Bowles’ masterpiece The Sheltering Sky.
Ecco

You Think It, I’ll Say It

by Curtis Sittenfeld
An incisive collection of short stories from the beloved and bestselling author of Prep, American Wife, and Eligible.
Random House

The Only Story

by Julian Barnes
A man recounts his first true love—when he was 19 and his lover 48. This novel, set in London, is an exploration of devotion, time, and the human heart by a Man Booker Prize–winning author.
Knopf

Varina

by Charles Frazier
Frazier returns to the setting of his breakout Cold Mountain in this epic tale of a woman who marries Jefferson Davis only to flee as the Confederacy and her marriage turn to tatters.
Ecco

Enlightenment Now

by Steven Pinker
Following up on his best-seller The Better Angels of Our Nature, Pinker illustrates how the architecture of the Enlightenment is making the world a better place, even as we worry it’s all falling apart.
Viking

God Save Texas

by Lawrence Wright
A famed historian and long-time Texas resident, Wright explores the history, culture, and politics of Texas while holding all the stereotypes up to a lens.
Knopf

Rocket Men

by Robert Kurson
Having written a best-seller set under the ocean (Shadow Divers), Kurson moves into space in an intimate, deeply researched study of Apollo 8 and man’s first trip to the moon.
Random House

I’ll Be Gone in the Dark

by Michelle McNamara
McNamara was a gifted journalist who died tragically while investigating the Golden State Killer. This true-crime book will likely escape its genre and find itself in the mainstream.
Harper

The Best Cook in the World

by Rick Bragg
The beloved author of All Over but the Shoutin’ has written a food-based memoir — a loving tribute to his mother, the South, stories, tradition, and a disappearing way of life.
Knopf