Interior Chinatown

By Charles Yu (Pantheon)

Willis Wu perceives himself as merely Generic Asian man. Every day he heads to the Golden Palace restaurant, where Black and White, a cop show, is in perpetual production. He’s a bit player but he dreams of being Kung Fu Guy—the most respected role that anyone who looks like him can attain. His mother, though, says, “Be more.”

Minor Dramas & Other Catastrophes

By Kathleen West (Berkley)

Teacher Isobel Johnson is thrust in the spotlight when she receives a threatening voicemail. Meanwhile, Julia Abbott makes an error casting the winter musical that has far-reaching consequences. Brought together by the sting of public humiliation, the two learn how entitlement and competition can go too far.

The Adventurer’s Son

By Roman Dial (Harper Collins)

When Cody Roman, the son of preeminent scientist and explorer Roman Dial, did not return from his Costa Rican trek, his father went in search of him. Roman had raised his son to be fearless—was he responsible for his son’s fate? Part detective story, this memoir is a journey to understand the truth about those we love the most.

The Splendid and the Vile

By Eric Larson (Crown)

Drawing on diaries and once-secret intelligence reports, Larson provides a new lens on London’s darkest year through the experiences of Churchill and his family: his wife, Clementine; their daughter, Mary; their son, Randolph, and his unhappy wife, Pamela; Pamela’s illicit lover; and Churchill’s advisers, to whom he turns in the hardest moment.