Tehran-born Dina Nayeri knows all about being split between two worlds—her family immigrated to Oklahoma when she was ten. In A Teaspoon of Earth and Sea, Nayeri returns to 1980s Iran to tell the story of twins Saba and Mahtab, who are obsessed with American culture. After Mahtab and her mother mysteriously disappear, 11-year-old Saba is convinced that they have moved to America without her. As she grows up, Saba imagines ... Read More

A bored teenager starting a garage band isn’t exactly novel. What’s fascinating is what happens after, according to British Indie Rock Star Tracey Thorn’s new memoir, Bedsit Disco Queen. While Thorn has sold nine million records as one half of the band Everything But the Girl, she started as a humble, self-trained punk guitarist, eventually making a name for herself with her stunning vocals and songwriting ... Read More

In ten clever and engaging short stories, Canadian author Zsuzsi Gartner explores trials of modern life imbued with the fantastical. Shortlisted for the 2011 Giller Prize, Better Living Through Plastic Explosives consists largely of characters that come from places of relative privilege. Gartner often skewers the ridiculousness of that privilege, but always manages to take her characters and their dissatisfactions seriously.  In ... Read More

  Ever since her adolescence, Rosie Schaap, who writes the “Drink” column for The New York Times, has felt an attraction to bars. As a teenager, her obsession begins when she starts giving tarot card readings in exchange for beer in the bar car of the Metro North commuter train. When she attends college in a small town where the local bar is the only means of entertainment, drinking in bars becomes Schaap’s devoted ... Read More

  Charming. Candid. Compelling. All of these words describe Beth Ditto—and all of them equally sum up her new memoir. Chronicling Ditto’s rise to international fame, the book starts with her humble beginnings in her conservative, tiny Arkansas hometown. While struggling to survive amidst crippling poverty, young Ditto endures sexual abuse early at the hands of a family friend, and learns that this has been the norm for many ... Read More