Unsurprisingly, that soon leads to his paying for their more conventional services, too. Despite the cutesy title, the lives of sex workers here are examined with empathy and a lack of sensation or condescension. Some tell Gil lies; some challenge his assumptions; some reveal heartbreaking lives. Elsewhere, Beck pens sharp comic scenes of floundering grad students, a shady dentist who purports to offer psychological evaluations, and Gil’s conflicts with an ex and the authorities at his job. Dialogue is sharp and slicing throughout, the students’ chatter as preening as the sex workers’ is reluctant.
Eventually Gil endeavors to enlist his subjects in a big-idea (but somewhat vague) scheme—getting them to approve his posting of their photos and contact info on a newfangled “website” that he conceives of as vital to completing his research while also helping them drum up business.Gil’s website plan is, like all of Gil’s plans, half-baked. Since the protagonist is forever uncertain, the novel, despite polished prose and strong scenecraft, often lacks narrative momentum, with scant rising or falling action. Gil calls himself a “slug” early on, and he mostly stays just that as his life lurches toward minor, inevitable comic scandal.
Takeaway: Humane academic satire finds an anthropology student investigating sex work.
Comparable Titles: Julie Schumacher’s Dear Committee Members, John Williams’s Stoner.
Production grades
Cover: B+
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A-
Marketing copy: A-
Her story evokes an awareness of how the disarray in the way she manages her life is nothing but a reflection of the inner workings of her mind. Moreover, it shows how that reflection goes a long way back, to being a neglected child with undiagnosed ADHD, and the impact of this—shame, doubt—on her self perception. As a child, she once wondered if something was wrong with her brain. Now, as a mother of three neurodiverse children, two of whom share in her diagnosis, she dares to seek unconventional ways for herself and her family to learn to live with ADHD while also living the best life. Her accounts of this are moving.
While this memoir navigates the complexities of ADHD, including the challenges it brings to relationships, Livingston demonstrates throughout the urgency of having a support system whose members both passively understand the situation and actively participate in seeking help and spreading awareness. Her story, told with incisive scenecraft and an eye for the affecting detail, calls for empathy and action, all stirring hope that peace and understanding are possible, even for people who have spent years believing entropy and chaos to be innate to their identity.
Takeaway: Hopeful memoir of living with ADHD and finding and creating support.
Comparable Titles: Tom Nardone's Chasing Kites, Rebecca Schiller's A Thousand Ways to Pay Attention.
Production grades
Cover: A
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A-
Marketing copy: A
Chip the Monk: Be Kind to Your Mind
Despite being a chosen one, Chip experiences relatable moments of self-doubt over what he must do, lamenting the dangers of the journey itself and that he’s not strong enough to defeat Pea Brain. Ultimately Chip embraces his inner power, and in a clever touch literally pops his own negative thought bubbles with the tip of his finger. By drawing attention to the dishonest origins of such harmful inner messages, Chip is able to help others turn away from fear and stay “calm and peaceful and centered.” For most kids, feelings of uncertainty and inadequacy start shockingly young, so this message of mindfulness will help them recognize and overcome these destructive lies.
Wendy Lorenzana’s beautiful, zen-like illustrations seem to glow from within, radiating a sense of possibility and magic. The Harmony Animals’ eyes are wide and expressive and their faces appealingly calm and friendly as they frolic on grassy hillsides and commune with the Wise One, a tree person adorned with leaves and feathery moss. By contrast, Pea Brain’s dark world is filled with people frowning, yelling, and crying. This stark contrast in moods makes it all the more rewarding when the characters’ focus shifts back to spreading love—to others and themselves.
Takeaway: A chipmunk helps people overcome negative thoughts and learn to spread love.
Comparable Titles: Bonnie Clark’s Catching Thoughts, Jennifer A. Swenson’s Chirp!: Chipmunk Sings for a Friend.
Production grades
Cover: A
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A
A vital and inspiring heroine, Anjolie vows not to let Clive maintain control over her home—not the house in which she was raised, nor India itself. Bose twines the story of both her years in France, where she’s warned by the former Governor-General of French possessions in India that Clive will “rape and pillage” all he can, with that of Clive himself, a detestable cuckold eager to force local farmers to abandon food crops for profitable opium. “She had never seen anyone so white and whalelike,” Bose writes, of a 15-year-old virgin forced to bed Clive.
Anjolie will have her revenge, an act that will shake both her century and ours. Bose includes chapters set in the Trump era, as an American of Indian descent visits an ancestral home in France, contemplates complex legacies of colonialism and racism, and discovers the story of Anjolie. This is rich material with moral weight, though it diminishes narrative momentum in a book that’s notably long. The prose at times is wordy, and some 18th century dialogue feels quite contemporary, but historical and cultural detail is convincing and the scenecraft is often strong.
Takeaway: Epic historical novel of revenge, love, and Britain’s seizing of India.
Comparable Titles: Sangeeta Bhargava’s The World Beyond, Amitav Ghosh’s Sea of Poppies.
Production grades
Cover: B+
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A-
Marketing copy: A
