Off with Her Head is a cathartic release for any feminist reader. Smart, well researched, and just plain funny, Herman lays bare the way rampant misogyny has cut down women’s power from the time of Cleopatra to Kamala Harris. The whole book is a delicious eyeroll at the most blatant aspects of the patriarchy that still impact modern women, giving us insight in their origins. It’s like reading history from your favorite feminist stand-up comedian. ~Cappy

Currently a staff writer for the New Yorker and previously a music critic for the New York Times, Kelefa Sanneh exhibits in this book an amazingly broad and deep knowledge of popular music across an astoundingly wide range of genres. Sanneh shares his sophisticated sense of the role of music in popular American culture during the past five decades. The author also discusses how musical genres (and their myriad sub-genres) both draw listeners together and sometimes divide them into opposing clans. What is more, he treats diverse musicians and their songs with care and respect, inspiring his readers to explore music that they have previously ignored, disdained, or simply been unaware of. ~David

Somewhere far north of the Scottish coast is an unnamed island made mostly of rocks and shadows. The island and its people are bound by grief (and the attendant rituals), as are the novel’s protagonists, Leigh Welles and Iain MacTavish. Nobody is untouched by the harrowing of World War II, and everyone is stuck in the past. But even more dreadful is the island’s curse – the yearly arrival of the vicious not-quite-birds known in Celtic mythology as the Sluagh. The Sluagh have come again for the islanders’ souls, and it is in the chaos they create that Leigh and Iain must come together to find a missing boy – if it’s not too late. Emma Seckel’s debut is eerie, haunting, and genuinely spooky. I probably should have read it in the height of summer! ~Rafe

Nina Totenberg's Supreme Court and legal coverage has won her every major journalism award in broadcasting. She has been celebrated by the American Bar Association and awarded countless honorary degrees for her exceptional body of work. Along the way she forged an enduring friendship with Ruth Bader Ginsburg. As both carved careers in male dominated fields, their friendship served as a sounding board for efforts to strengthen the rights of women. And as each suffered the pain of widowhood, their friendship gave them an anchor. More than simply the genial memoir of a titan of journalism, Totenberg's

book is a unique view of American jurisprudence at the highest level and an homage to the exceptional friendship of two fierce and brilliant women. ~Susan

This book is hilarious, horrifying, and surprisingly important while simultaneously fun reading. It is not straight humor or an opinion piece as much as straight up documented history (albeit wildly funny and entertaining) on a series of our highest government leaders and their astonishing ignorance, lack of curiosity, and intellectual laziness over the last 50 years. I consider this a must read for anyone concerned about the character and direction of our country, our government, and our history. ~McNevin 

What happens when the organization of assassins you’ve worked with the past 40 years turns against you? That’s exactly what this group of newly retired women face when their former coworkers start coming after them. It is as if the Golden Girls met James Bond and Criminal Minds. You’ll fall in love with this quartet of women and be fascinated by all the secrets they’ve kept for the past four decades. If you are looking for a group of some not-so-retired middle-aged women who kick ass and take names, then this is the book for you. Also…you’ll definitely know how to murder someone and get away with it after this read! ~Lily

Yes, this is in fact a slasher horror novel. It is about an Indigenous teenage girl named Jade, traumatized and alienated from her community and herself, who keeps the world at bay via her loving obsession with slasher movies. When she sees signs of a coming slasher bloodbath, she is torn between her fears of it and an ecstatic anticipation for the coming carnage. Can she, the “horror chick,” connect with her schoolmate whom she sees as the Final Girl, the hero of what is to come, to help her survive? For all the horror and accompanying tropes, the unexpectedly moving sensitivity and warmth in the portrait of Jade is what truly lingers. ~McNevin

Journalist and science historian Elena Conis presents a sweeping history of the chemical compound DDT. Conis places the history of DDT in the context of American industry and health regulation, building on the revelatory work of Rachael Carson’s Silent Spring. She takes us to the floors of Congress where the health impacts of chemical spraying were debated and argues that the history of DDT did not stop after being banned in 1972. She follows small towns in rural America where generations of people felt (and still feel) the physical toll of spraying. Conis makes you wonder whether the history of DDT is behind us and ask, what’s inside our bodies right now? ~Zac

Realistic fantasy meets thriller in a surreal version of New York, where maps may hold the key to unraveling a century old secret. Nell Young is in her mid-30s and struggling to maintain her passion for her chosen profession, cartography, after being unceremoniously ejected from her dream job at the New York Public Library. She has lost connection with her father after he implicated her in the scandal that got her fired. When he unexpectedly dies at his desk, and surveillance footage from the night goes missing, Nell suspects something unusual might be afoot. She has no idea how right she is. Her father’s death sets her on the path to discovering the true power of maps. ~Aran

This debut novel is set in a near-dystopian future based on Chinese history. Combining sci-fi and fantasy in equal measure, the plot revolves around main character Wu Zetain (named after the real-life empress) seeking vengeance for the ceremonial killing of her sister, who was sent to be a concubine to one of the nation’s greatest warriors. Zetain proves in battle to have a remarkably strong psychic power and becomes an iron widow - a woman of remarkable strength – which leads to ever greater obstacles for her to overcome. ~Aran

Erdrich's novel weaves together two narratives unfolding in rural 1950s North Dakota. One follows Thomas Wazhashk (based on Erdrich’s grandfather), the night watchman at a local factory and a Chippewa Council member. Another follows Pixie ‘Patrice’ Paranteau, a young adult who works at the factory, doing everything she can to support her family. Erdrich follows their two journeys in alternating chapters – Thomas Wazhashk is fighting federal policy threatening the rights/identities of Native Americans, while Paranteau is holding her family together while searching for her lost sister. Erdrich intertwines history with a story of love and survival -- a masterclass in using narrative to shine a light on the untold stories of our past. ~Zac