Alligator Tears: A Memoir in Essays by Edgar Gomez
When: February 11
What It Is: In this book of memoir in essay form, Gomez chronicles his disillusionment with the American Dream and rollercoaster experiences with poverty and marginalization in Florida, from his mother's stroke to finding community at Pulse nightclub. Like the survival strategy taught to Florida children for evading alligators—running in zigzags—Alligator Tears maps Gomez's seat-of-the-pants journey toward a life molded on his own terms.
Why It's Worth a Read: In Gomez's previous book High-Risk Homosexual, which explored his experiences as a gay Latinx man and his complex relationship with cultural identity, he balanced sincerity with humor. This new work promise to deliver the same compelling mix.
How to be Avant-Garde: Modern Artists and the Quest to End Art by Morgan Falconer
When: February 18
What It Is: Sometimes you have to tear something to pieces in order to build it back better—that’s what the last century's avant-gardists believed at least. Theo van Doesburg, the Dutch artist and De Stijl cofounder, once claimed, “Art has poisoned our life.” Falconer's book charts the history of the avant-garde sensibility from the early 20th-century, into mid-century student protests in Paris, and beyond.
Why It's Worth a Read: The author's past work includes the comprehensive account of American and European painting from the mid-century onwards, Painting Beyond Pollock.
Lorne: The Man Who Invented Saturday Night by Susan Morrison
When: February 18
What It Is: Has there ever been a showrunner with more name recognition than Lorne Michaels? Here, Morrison has penned the most comprehensive biography ever written about the renowned SNL creator. It draws attention to the fact that although we all know Michaels, do any of us really know him?
Why It's Worth a Read: The book comes at a moment where SNL is as much in the spotlight as ever: The show celebrates its 50th anniversary season this month, and last year saw the release of the film Saturday Night, which chronicled the show's first episode. No matter the existing exposure, Lorne touts “unprecedented access to Michaels and the entire SNL apparatus.”
One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This by Omar El Akkad
When: February 25
What It Is: On October 25, 2023, shortly after Israel began its bombardment of Gaza, journalist and writer Omar El Akkad sent a tweet that has since been viewed over 10 million times: “One day, when it’s safe, when there’s no personal downside to calling a thing what it is, when it’s too late to hold anyone accountable, everyone will have always been against this.” This book is an expansion on that sentiment.
Why It's Worth a Read: El Akkad’s debut nonfiction book reflects a mood permeating much of the country: the sinking feeling that American promises of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are only getting further away. The writer—who has lived in Egypt, Qatar, and Canada—takes a look at the Black Lives Matter movement, climate change debates, decades of conflict in the Middle East, and more in this essential piece of reporting.
The Talent: A Novel by Daniel D’Addario
When: February 25
What It Is: There’s been a lot said in recent years about the divide in Hollywood between the Great Dames and fresh faces. Once you hit 40, is there anything to do but slither away into sexless, matron status? Recent projects like Babygirl and The Substance suggest there might be, and this fictional account of five actors battling for an award gets into the thorniest bits of being a woman on screen.
Why It's Worth a Read: Daniel D'Addario is a particularly prescient voice to share Hollywood's inner workings, given his roles as Variety's chief correspondent and moderator of the “Actors on Actors” series.
Fail Better: Reckonings with Artists and Critics by Hal Foster
When: February 25
What It Is: There are 40 texts in this collection—including reviews, criticisms, and essays about significant 21st-century figures, from Susan Sontag to Ed Ruscha—which is as much a look at critic and historian Hal Foster’s incredible influence as it is an examination of the artists held within.
Why It's Worth a Read: Named after Samuel Beckett's quote "try again, fail again, fail better," the book explores the capacity of criticism and how it often falls short of fully capturing any given work. “Serious art anticipates the future as much as it reflects the present,” Foster told an interviewer in 2015. “By the same token serious art history is driven by the present as much as it is informed by the past.”
Death Takes Me by Cristina Rivera Garza
When: February 25
What It Is: Herein lies a murder mystery that follows a professor, who shares the author's name, after she discovers a corpse in a dark alley. Upon examining the crime scene photo, she notices a poem written on a brick wall. What follows is a journey that challenges traditional notions of gendered violence in classic crime narratives.
Why It's Worth a Read: Rivera Garza received a Pulitzer and was a finalist for the National Book Award with Liliana's Invincible Summer, a memoir about her sister's unsolved murder. Death Takes Me furthers her exploration of gendered violence and was originally written in Spanish, where the word "victim" is always feminine.
Dream Count: A Novel by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
When: March 4
What It Is: Set during the pandemic, the book is a meditation on love and the myriad ways it comes to us. Ngozi Adichie follows Chiamaka, a Nigerian travel writer in the States, along with her best friend, cousin, and housekeeper. The narrative explores not only the relationships between these women but also the choices they make, and their inevitable impacts.
Why It's Worth a Read: The author's past works, including Americanah and Half of a Yellow Sun, have been translated into 55 languages. Dream Count marks her much-anticipated return to fiction after more than a decade.
Stag Dance: A Novel & Stories by Torrey Peters
When: March 11
What It Is: In Stag Dance, a group of lumberjacks working in an illegal winter logging outfit are looking for entertainment and plan a dance, which several volunteer to attend as women. Surrounding this central narrative of gender exploration are three short stories: an account of a gender apocalypse, a secret romance at a Quaker school, and a young crossdresser's winding weekend in Las Vegas.
Why It's Worth a Read: Peters's previous novel, Detransition, Baby, won the PEN/Hemingway Award for Debut Novel in 2021. Stag Dance is her highly anticipated return to the printed page.
