bookshelf
Recent News & Features
Book List
APRIL 10, 2012
Even better than the bestselling Serena (2008), for here Rash has elevated melodrama to tragedy. Full review >
FEB. 1, 2012
His prose spare but spirited, Glynn (Winterland, 2011, etc.) spins an all-too-likely tale of secrets, lies and power... Full review >
FEB. 14, 2012
A romping good read that is character-driven yet intellectually provocative on issues of law, religion and... Full review >
JAN. 9, 2012
Engaging and accessible, thoughtful without being daunting: This may be the novel that brings Muslim-American fiction into... Full review >
MARCH 1, 2012
As a follow-up to Groff’s well-received debut (The Monsters of Templeton, 2008), this novel is a structural conundrum,... Full review >
APRIL 5, 2012
At every turn, James’ prose is crisp, observant and carefully controlled; unlike the narrator of “Escape Key,” who grows... Full review >
JAN. 3, 2012
A head-shakingly perfect blend of zombie schlock, deadpan wit, startling profanity, desperate improvisation and inventive... Full review >
MARCH 15, 2012
A charity sends Jonas to live with the Martins, an evangelical family in Pennsylvania. There he attends high school, an... Full review >
FEB. 7, 2012
Gallagher loves character development but respects plotting enough to give it full measure. The result is that rare beast, a... Full review >
MAY 22, 2012
At the start of the novel’s coda, when Dell explains that he teaches his students “books that to me seem secretly about my... Full review >
APRIL 3, 2012
An exceptionally fine study of love, war and the double-edged role of memory, which can both sustain and destroy.... Full review >
JUNE 26, 2012
Riveting, heartbreaking, profoundly moving. Full review >
APRIL 12, 2012
Complex in theme, complex in narrative, this is a masterful literary exploration of the specter of conscience and the... Full review >
MAY 1, 2012
War is hell in this novel of inspired absurdity. Full review >
APRIL 17, 2012
This is the first of Icelandic author Ómarsdóttir’s novels to appear in English, and it shouldn’t be the last. Somewhere in... Full review >
JUNE 12, 2012
A superb romp. Full review >
MAY 22, 2012
The inventiveness of Mantel’s language is the chief draw here; the plot, as such, will engage only the most determined of... Full review >
JULY 17, 2012
Grim indeed, yet eloquent and utterly compelling. Full review >
JUNE 1, 2012
Independently intelligible but best appreciated after volume one—and with a huge surprise twist in the last sentence. Full review >
MAY 22, 2012
As in Mulligan’s hard-nosed debut, the real star here is Providence, which the author knows intimately. Full review >
SEPT. 4, 2012
Stern weaves an intricate and clever web of stories steeped in both sacred and mundane Jewish culture. Full review >
JULY 3, 2012
Readers familiar with Stross' dazzling science fiction should relish this change of pace and direction. Full review >
AUG. 7, 2012
The blond beauty is Sigrid, a stenographer living alone with her unpleasant mother-in-law while her husband, Kaspar, serves... Full review >
SEPT. 15, 2012
An absorbing update of the classic film, D.O.A., that finds its author so completely in the zone that not a word is wasted,... Full review >
AUG. 7, 2012
A flawlessly assembled thriller. Full review >
SEPT. 11, 2012
A great cure for the blues, especially for anyone who might feel bad about growing older. Full review >
OCT. 2, 2012
A dazzling document, beautifully if most idiosyncratically drawn; in this iteration, sure to become a collector’s item,... Full review >
OCT. 2, 2012
Whether recent or from his earliest period, these pieces show Alexie at his best: as an interpreter and observer, always... Full review >
NOV. 20, 2012
Maron (Three-Day Town, 2011, etc.) adroitly melds ugly American (open) government secrets with classic whodunit intrigue and... Full review >
NOV. 6, 2012
A top-notch, edge-of-the-seat thriller in which there are no villains, only mysteries. Full review >
JAN. 12, 2012
Brutal, irreverent and very funny. An honest-to-goodness heir to Portnoy’s Complaint. Full review >
FEB. 1, 2012
Landay is yet another lawyer-turned-writer, and it’s inevitable that he’ll be compared to Scott Turow, but this novel... Full review >
JAN. 24, 2012
Enthralling, dizzying and as impressive as they come. Full review >
MARCH 25, 2012
The river, the raft, a stash of money coveted by bad guys, nonstop adventures that edify, terrify and deepen the bond... Full review >
APRIL 17, 2012
An evocative work about love, fate and redemption. Full review >
FEB. 14, 2012
Screwball romance with a likable and vulnerable heroine. Full review >
APRIL 12, 2012
Failed by the adults in her life and forced to be the grown-up when she should be experiencing first dates and football... Full review >
MARCH 13, 2012
With his third featuring brash, breezy, unflappable Carter (Eyes of the Innocent, 2011, etc.), Parks propels himself to a... Full review >
APRIL 10, 2012
An inventive, impressive and witty book. Full review >
MAY 1, 2012
Tends toward the claustrophobic at times, but superior and fulfilling. Full review >
MAY 7, 2012
Emotionally unflinching stories of considerable power, wonder and humor. Full review >
MARCH 5, 2012
Ballard writes brilliantly about the nightmarish underside of modern life, and this novel makes us poignantly aware of the... Full review >
APRIL 1, 2012
A veteran cop herself, Dial (The Broken Blue Line, 2010, etc.) does authenticity to the max, and readers will like that. But... Full review >
APRIL 10, 2012
Once again Stroby demonstrates how adept he is at making readers empathize with the essentially unworthy. Full review >
JULY 17, 2012
Castro’s first mystery is fierce and intense, with both harrowing depictions of New Orleans after Katrina and psychological... Full review >
MAY 29, 2012
With dialogue that can go off like gunfire and a streak of nostalgia that feels timeless, this book takes its place among... Full review >
JUNE 5, 2012
One of those rare thrillers whose revelations actually intensify its suspense instead of dissipating it. The final pages are... Full review >
JULY 10, 2012
A technocratic Kafka nightmare—heavy on surreal diagnosis of the world’s ills, light on the traditional rewards of... Full review >
JUNE 12, 2012
A dazzling novel of great intensity and power. Full review >
AUG. 24, 2012
Nobel Peace Prize winner Wiesel continues to remind us of the brilliant possibilities of the philosophical and political... Full review >
JUNE 19, 2012
A wonderfully executed debut novel, so rich as to inspire rereading, right down to its inevitable resolution, both ironic... Full review >
SEPT. 4, 2012
Grace and empathy infuse this melancholy landscape of complex loyalties enfolded by brutal history, creating a novel of... Full review >
AUG. 14, 2012
Although their fates are known, Gregory creates suspense by raising intriguing questions about whether her characters will... Full review >
JUNE 19, 2012
Even so, Eggers’ fiction has evolved in the past decade. This book is firm proof that social concerns can make for resonant... Full review >
OCT. 9, 2012
The ideal companion to the elevation of Hildegard by the pontiff who rebuked American nuns for their outspokenness, an irony... Full review >
JULY 10, 2012
Offers humor, heart and characters you’ll cheer for. Romantic women’s fiction at its best. Full review >
OCT. 9, 2012
Sheer delight. Full review >
JULY 17, 2012
It’s a grand entertainment to watch Silva putting Gabriel Allon’s skills to work, whether shedding blood or daubing varnish.... Full review >
DEC. 24, 2012
Astonishing stuff that leaves readers with plenty of work to do. Full review >
NOV. 13, 2012
The author knows what matters, and the stories pay attention to it. Full review >
MARCH 1, 2012
Jane has so little trouble breaking James Shelby, framed for murdering his wife, out of police custody at the Clara... Full review >
FEB. 28, 2012
A truly spellbinding work even audiences jaded by standard U.S./U.K. fantasy will devour. Kudos to the publishers for taking... Full review >
FEB. 28, 2012
Strengthened by characters with depth and something interesting to say, this winning first installment in a trilogy is sure... Full review >
MARCH 29, 2012
Let’s hope Laukkanen writes more thrillers like this one. Full review >
MARCH 27, 2012
Gripping, perfectly balanced and highly recommended. Full review >
MARCH 13, 2012
Good cops, bent cops, tormented and demented cops, cops of every description inhabit Rizzo’s world, all of them utterly... Full review >
OCT. 23, 2012
The setup is wonderfully engrossing; the denouement doesn’t deliver quite enough. But this is stylish work by an author of... Full review >
MAY 15, 2012
Immediate, poignant and rarely predictable, this searchingly observant work captures a huge terrain of personal aspiration... Full review >
MAY 15, 2012
It’s hard to do justice to the outré and eccentric but gorgeous quality of Pilch’s prose. Here he manages to pull off some... Full review >
JUNE 19, 2012
There is much to admire in this novel. The subtle insight on sibling rivalry and the examination of love make for a poignant... Full review >
MAY 1, 2012
Shepherd offers an intricate plot and a thousand details of the least-admirable side of Victorian life. A must-read. Full review >
JULY 17, 2012
A sweetheart of a novel, complete with a hazy ending. Full review >
JULY 17, 2012
A gruesome, unforgettable exposition of the still too-little-known facts of the Armenian genocide and its multigenerational... Full review >
JULY 31, 2012
Often lyrical, sometimes a bit ponderous: a painful, personal record of Cambodia’s holocaust. Full review >
AUG. 7, 2012
A compulsively readable novel about brothers on opposite sides of life. Full review >
SEPT. 11, 2012
The evocation of “Useless, by James Joyce” attests to the humor and ambition of the novel, as if this were a Joyce-an remix... Full review >
AUG. 21, 2012
George’s all-too-familiar story is so richly observed, subtly characterized, precisely written—her syncopated paragraphs are... Full review >
SEPT. 11, 2012
Not as ambitious as Díaz’s Pulitzer Prize winner, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (2007), but sharply observed and... Full review >
AUG. 7, 2012
Unrelenting in its anger, pain and sorrow, but hard to put down. Full review >
AUG. 21, 2012
Superb work from an abundantly gifted young writer. Full review >
AUG. 21, 2012
A fine thriller that succeeds on every level. How often do you read about a hero who just wants to die in peace? Full review >
SEPT. 18, 2012
A hauntingly affecting historical novel with a touch of magic. Full review >
OCT. 1, 2012
Guttridge’s third Brighton thriller is so well-written that it would be well worth your time even if it were not such a... Full review >
OCT. 2, 2012
Subtle, smart, compelling and blessed with both an intelligent storyline and top-notch writing, this book will grab readers... Full review >
OCT. 2, 2012
Where earlier novels provide a better introduction to Hole, this one best takes the full measure of the man. Full review >
OCT. 11, 2012
Short stories don’t get much better than this, and for once, the overarching framework strengthens rather than dissipates... Full review >
OCT. 2, 2012
A satirical masterpiece, very funny for all its footnotes. You can bet the authorities in Beijing are scratching their heads... Full review >
OCT. 2, 2012
All the more impressive for being a significant departure from previous entries. Full review >
SEPT. 25, 2012
Beard’s take on Lazarus is nothing less than astonishing—and he respects the reader by taking religion and religious... Full review >
APRIL 24, 2012
Romance star Higgins pens a near pitch-perfect blend of comedy and touching emotion with this delightful winner. Full review >
FEB. 15, 2012
The author at his best. Full review >
APRIL 17, 2012
Profound empathy and understated eloquence mark a novel so artfully nuanced that the last few pages send the reader back to... Full review >
APRIL 10, 2012
The third in Dean’s series is another delight, complete with perfect regency prose and an excellent mystery. Full review >
MAY 8, 2012
A gripping thrill ride that’s also a thoughtful coming-of-age story. Full review >
JULY 10, 2012
An excellent debut. Full review >
SEPT. 11, 2012
Powers writes with a rawness that brings the sights and smells as well as the trauma and decay of war home to the reader. Full review >
AUG. 14, 2012
For those who have an affinity for metaphysical fiction written with a surgeon’s precision, this collection will spur... Full review >
AUG. 14, 2012
Like Mary Cassatt, Lippman studies families with a different eye than her male contemporaries, showing the heartbreaking... Full review >
OCT. 16, 2012
Guy’s not a lucky guy, to be sure, but if there’s justice, Jacobson will enjoy best-sellerdom in his place with this latest... Full review >
NOV. 13, 2012
A Cold-War spy novel for the top shelf. Full review >
Recent News & Features
The Magazine: Kirkus Reviews
Featuring 346 industry-first reviews of fiction, nonfiction, children’s and YA books; also in this special Indie Issue: a celebration of the rich diversity of indie publishing, interviews with indie authors, and more
subscribe
The Kirkus Star
One of the most coveted designations in the book industry, the Kirkus Star marks books of exceptional merit.
The Kirkus Prize
The Kirkus Prize is among the richest literary awards in America, awarding $50,000 in three categories annually.
Be the first to read books news and see reviews, news and features in Kirkus Reviews. Get awesome content delivered to your inbox every week.
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
