Happy Belated #BookBday (3/16/16 Edition)

Fun fact: all four of these new literary books have *starred* reviews!

SHELTER by Jung Yun
An April 2016 Indie Next pick & a BN Discover Great New Writers selection! Yun’s intense debut novel weaves a bloody mystery with domestic drama into a layered portrait of race, class, money, marriage and more. “Like Celeste Ng’s superlauded best seller, EVERYTHING YOU NEVER TOLD ME, also about a dysfunctional mixed-race family’s tragedy, this work should find itself on best-of lists, among major award nominations, and in eager readers’ hands everywhere.” — Library Journal, starred review

AN UNRESTORED WOMAN by Shobha Rao
Two stars for Talia & Anne’s favorite debut short story collection about women during the Partition of India and Pakistan in 1947. “Raw and breathtaking… Exquisite turns of phrase and editing with a fine-edged scalpel only add to an outstanding and memorable debut.” — Booklist, starred review

STORK MOUNTAIN by Miroslav Penkov
A Bulgarian-American college student stars in this mashup of myth, folk tales, and modern love story. “[A] searing, heartfelt novel. This book is rich, enmeshing the personal with the political and historical, told in strange and vertiginous language that seems fitting for a tale of such passion.” — Publishers Weekly, starred review

THE NORTH WATER by Ian McGuire
A nineteenth-century whaling ship sets sail for the Arctic with a killer aboard in this dark, sharp, and highly original tale that’s “an amazing journey.” (Publishers Weekly, starred review) “McGuire’s tale is every bit as raw, suspenseful, and brutal as befits a Victorian whaling expedition with a psychopathic killer. But like Stef Penney’s THE TENDERNESS OF WOLVES and Dan Simmons’ DROOD, there is plenty of literary heft in this novel’s thoughtfully developed characters, absorbing period details, and detailed renderings of dangerously beautiful settings. This deserves attention beyond readers of crime and historical fiction, especially from those stalking provocative book-group fare.” — Booklist, starred review