Annie Lord's debut novel, "The Project," follows two friends in their mid-20s navigating the bleak modern dating market. The book explores the challenges intelligent women face in finding compatible partners, drawing on Lord's own experiences and observations of millennial and Gen Z dating culture.
Jennette McCurdy's debut novel "Half His Age" explores the unconventional relationship between a student and her teacher, following the success of her memoir. The story centers on Waldo, a 17-year-old from a difficult background, who finds herself drawn to her married creative writing teacher, Mr. Korgy.
Bobuq Sayed's debut novel, "No God But Us," follows Afghan-American Delbar from Washington DC to Istanbul, exploring themes of identity, diaspora, and political awakening through his drag persona and a romance with a queer Afghan asylum seeker, Mansur. The review praises its opening but finds the later plot conventional.
Australia's native birds, including black swans, face a "very high risk" of extinction from bird flu. Meanwhile, Europe experiences record heatwaves with 40 drownings in France, and the US Secretary of State addresses shipping tolls in the Strait of Hormuz.
Candice Carty-Williams discusses the sequel to her bestselling novel 'Queenie,' exploring the character's life in her early 30s and tackling themes of Black maternal healthcare. She also reflects on her challenging experience adapting the novel for television.
Sufiyaan Salam's debut novel, 'Wimmy Road Boyz,' follows three British Pakistani friends on a transformative night in Manchester. The novel uses multilingual prose and diverse references to explore themes of identity, loneliness, and the pressures of the 'good immigrant' narrative within the British Asian male experience.
Lukas Mi-Sa Nguyen Egger's debut novel, 'Vielleicht im Sommer,' presents a coming-of-age road trip where two boys, Kian and Marco, form a fragile friendship. The story explores themes of precarity, belonging, and the search for identity, drawing from the author's experiences.
Sufiyaan Salam's debut novel, 'Wimmy Road Boyz,' chronicles a chaotic night out for three British-Pakistani friends on Manchester's Curry Mile. The book, praised for its inventive prose and blend of humor and serious themes, won the #Merky Books New Writers' Prize.
Jem Calder's debut novel, "I Want You to Be Happy," explores modern relationships with a factual, affectless prose. It details a couple's interactions, highlighting their digital lives and the environmental specifics of contemporary dating, while also delving into their inner lives and artistic aspirations.
