Book Reviews

Jennifer Hayden's graphic novel is, on the surface, the story of losing her breasts to cancer. But she sets that narrative within a host of other life experiences, making room for joy, hope and humor.

Colum McCann's new story collection plays with images of surveillance — traffic cams, nanny cams — to capture a complex picture of love, loss, pain and the way our lives so swiftly pass away.

James Tynion's zombie horror comic has an inspired idea at its core: The infection comes from an Internet meme, a cartoon of a cute sloth that turns all who see it into brainless, ravenous beasts.

Garth Risk Hallberg's massive debut novel is a headlong rush through New York in the 1970s; critic Jason Sheehan says Hallberg writes "like he's not sure anyone will ever give him a second chance."

Patrick Ness' wry new young adult novel wonders what happens to the normal kids who have to make their lives in the margins of the explosive adventures depicted in mainstream young adult fantasy.

The musician's new autobiography doesn't follow the conventions of memoir — it jumps around in time from his childhood to his days in the pop-rock trenches, and it doesn't shy away from ugly moments.

Matthew Kressel kicks off an Old Testament-flavored fantasy trilogy with this story of a man, abducted by a demon, who learns he's one of 36 hidden saints whose existence preserves the Earth.

Sloane Crosley's new novel, The Clasp, follows a group of disaffected 30-somethings who gather for a classmate's posh wedding — but the casual misanthropy of the characters dims the book's pleasures.

Bonnie Jo Campbell's confessional, unforgettable new story collection gives a voice to mothers and daughters, struggling to get by, desperate to be heard, but despairing of an audience.