The Heaven of Animals: Stories
by David James Poissant (S&S)
Poissant’s work has been compared to Anton Chekhov, Raymond Carver and George Saunders, so it goes without saying that his debut short-stories collection is something special. For fans of difficult men, Poissant delivers a wide range of Walter Whites — from a father who throws his son out of a window for being gay, to a guy who runs over his girlfriend’s dog. Yet all of his stories share a sense of hope, even for the most hopeless.
Inheritance: HowOur Genes Change Our Lives and Our Lives Change Our Genes
by Sharon Moalem, MD, Ph.D. (Grand Central)
One of Dr. Oz’s featured books in April, “Inheritance” by physician/scientist Moalem, disproves the axiom that biology is destiny. This fascinating and highly readable examination of genetics shows that experiences — from “bullies to crushes to sloppy joes” — have left a profound mark on our DNA. No, we are not slaves to our genetic destiny. The truth, as Moalem explains in his fourth science book, is more fluid than we think.
The Opposite of Loneliness
by Marina Keegan (Scribner)
This posthumous collection is bittersweet. Keegan, who passed away at only 22, shows a range and a natural talent in her nine essays and nine stories compiled by her mother — but you can’t help but think of what could have been. Before even graduating, she had landed a job at The New Yorker. Many of her essays had gone viral. Knowing all this makes reading her title essay, “The Opposite of Loneliness” all the more poignant: “We’re graduating college. We’re so young. We can’t, we MUST not lose this sense of possibility because in the end, it’s all we have.”
Fictitious Dishes: An Album of Literature’s Most Memorable Meals
by Dinah Fried (Ecco)
This pint-sized picture book chronicles the best meals that literature has dreamed up — from apple pie and ice cream in “On the Road” to grilled cheese and malted milkshakes in “The Catcher in the Rye” to gin and pineapple-juice cocktails in “Lolita.” Author and photographer Fried cooked and styled each scene herself, gathering materials from thrift stores and sketchy yard sales. Each photo is matched with a quote from the classic text. Our only gripe? No recipes. Otherwise, the perfect book for the foodie bookworm.
Casebook
by Mona Simpson (Knopf)
Simpson (author of “My Hollywood”) elevates the suburban divorce plot by reframing the story — her sixth book — as a detective tale. The novel’s narrator, Mile Adler-Hart, is a teenager from a well-to-do family in California who begins to spy on his mother after he learns that his parents are separating. But he learns a little more than he bargained for (especially with a walkie-talkie hidden under his parent’s bed). He is a unusual kind of a snoop: “I only discovered what I most didn’t want to know.”