Penguin

Jacqueline Woodson is a national treasure. Her books make an impact, not only through her characters but because the act of reading her work is transformative. Her latest adult novel, Red at the Bone, is no exception. Woodson charts the history of one Brooklyn family as they grapple with an unplanned teen pregnancy and the decisions made that impact generations to come. Their family story—how much they are there for each other and for themselves—is a universal story about how we give and receive love. It is beautiful and honest, heartbreaking and poetic, and one of my favorite books of the year. - Casey

Violet is considered a surplus woman, stuck in limbo as a spinster who lost her fiancé in the Great War. In order to find some meaning, she starts a new life in Winchester, living as a single woman. Through a chance encounter, she falls in with a group of broderers, women who embroider kneeling pads for worshippers at Winchester Cathedral, and finds herself joined together with an amazing group of women. This beautiful book resonated with me on a deep level. - Ivy

A collection of short stories written throughout Smith’s career, file Grand Union under Reasons We Revere Zadie Smith, Volume I. She is a master storyteller, and all of her skills are on display in these tales that take on love, immigration, motherhood, and racial identity. Each story contains a whole world of characters and places, and your heart will squeeze with the last line of each one. - Jess

The Giver of Stars is one of the most satisfying stories I’ve yet read. What more could you ask for: remarkable women during the Great Depression, overcoming personal and social obstacles to deliver library books on pack horses for miles throughout the Kentucky mountains! I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough in my effort to save these beloved characters from their many perils and challenges. To know that this is based on a true story and to think how the impact of their efforts are still felt today is inspirational. - Jenny

Spies, treason, double crossing, triple crossing, and British manners: Who can give us all of this with such edge-of-your-seat excitement the way John le Carré can? Nobody, that’s who. This new novel by the master of espionage stars a British agent examining his loyalties in this confusing time of Brexit, Putin, and Trump. An engrossing read, with mordant, extremely English humor (or, should I say, humour) and a memorable cast of characters. - Jess

Framed as a counternarrative to Dee Brown’s famous Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, David Treuer’s book sets out to dispel a common myth that indigenous civilization effectively ended in 1890, when more than 300 Lakota men, women, and children were massacred by the U.S. Army. Treuer engages with the transformation and ongoing rebirth of Native identity and culture. This is a deeply personal work that is equal parts history and memoir, and if you loved Tommy Orange’s There, There, it will be right up your alley. It may well be the most important book you read all year. - Travis

This delightful book is hard to categorize. Written by Sasha Sagan, the daughter of astronomer Carl Sagan and writer-producer Ann Druyan, For Small Creatures is part memoir, part history, part science, and all heart. Raised by her famous parents as ethnically Jewish but not religious, Sasha Sagan was taught from a young age to find the miracle in the natural world that surrounded her. When her own daughter was born, Sagan was committed to continuing this way of upbringing but wanted to make sure that her daughter also had a sense of ritual and meaning that Sagan herself felt so deeply inside but had a hard time naming. Reflecting on nature, history, science, art, and literature, Sagan tells the story of how across eons and cultures, humans have always developed a way to mark the nature of time’s passing, of life, of death, and of the phenomenon of feeling. In charming prose, she offers a wonderful way to find meaning in everyday life.  - S.M.C.

Pema Chödrön is not afraid of difficult emotions and she wants you not to be, either. In Welcoming the Unwelcome, Chödrön offers an array of insights that blend beautifully with contemporary reality and help us to deepen the experience of living by cultivating regard for those around us and practicing acceptance for things just as they are. This is complex and surprising work, yet at its heart it actually is fresh and simple. You won’t know until you try it, so go ahead—start today, and make the world a better place. - Chorel

Though less known in the United States, Magnusson has contributed to National Geographic and is an award-winning photographer in Sweden. In his latest book, he uses his prodigious skills (and a huge amount of patience) to capture absolutely stunning images of birds both rare and common. The photos are so perfectly crisp, so intimate, that you get a sense of each bird’s personality and mood. With over 200 terrific images and thoughtful commentary from naturalists Mats and Asa Ottosson, this is the perfect gift for the bird lover in your life. - RIco