The Fortune Tellers of Rue Daru: A Novel by Olesya Salnikova Gilmore (Berkley). Reviewed by Nicole Yurcaba. “In turn, Zina faces difficult choices, including about how best to use her gifts — which others don’t understand — and about how far she’ll go to find answers about her mother and, ultimately, herself. Thus, one of the novel’s many philosophical conceits is its discussion of the secrets families keep and the generational trauma that can result. Zina is a powerful representation of someone who — by acknowledging the past grief and violence in her family — wants to break the cycle.”

London Falling: A Mysterious Death in a Gilded City and a Family’s Search for Truth by Patrick Radden Keefe (Doubleday). Reviewed by Mariko Hewer. “Yet almost immediately, there were cracks in this story. Why, if Brettler was suicidal, had he texted his mother about an upcoming driver’s license exam for which he wanted to study? Why did Shamji tell a friend that he had ‘just been heating up knives and cleaning up blood’ shortly before Brettler’s fall? Why, after leaving Riverwalk on the fatal night, did Shamji make an abrupt return?”

Alaska Literary Field Guide: Art, Ecology, Poetry, edited by Marybeth Holleman, Nancy Lord, and Shaelene Grace Moler (Skipstone). Reviewed by Tara Campbell. “The most immediately striking feature of the guide is its full-color format, showing the artwork off to its greatest advantage. The imagery accompanying each entry is vibrant and precise in depicting the state’s diverse regions and lifeforms (except for a tiny blip in which a halibut is rendered with its eyes on the left instead of the right). The work of 20 different artists has been curated for an overall effect of warmth and fullness. The visuals alone are worth the price of the book.”

Sweetbitter Song: A Novel by Rosie Hewlett (Sourcebooks Landmark). Reviewed by Beth Kanell. “Readers familiar with the mythology of Ancient Greece will quickly realize that Rosie Hewlett’s Sweetbitter Song is an ambitious reimagining of the life of Odysseus’ wife, Penelope, who’s usually portrayed as loyal during her husband’s prolonged voyages, shrewdly stringing along the many suitors thronging her presumed widowhood. In this novel, however, Hewlett suggests that Penelope enjoys Odysseus’ absence. In fact — in a twist hinted at by the book’s opening quote from Sappho — she finds more than room to breathe; she finds herself drawn ever closer to Melantho.”

Roam: Wild Animals and the Race to Repair Our Fractured World by Hillary Rosner (Patagonia). Reviewed by Jennifer Bort Yacovissi. “On the other hand, Rosner’s foreword, written just ahead of the book’s publication, undercuts some of her optimism. Wherever she mentions a federal program in the U.S. that had been successfully maintaining corridors or addressing climate change, readers can safely assume it no longer exists under the current administration. In fact, the agencies involved are likely working to pollute and develop even more, all the better to own the Libs.”

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