Let’s Get Lit: What We’re Reading Now

Three books for the season — one luminous, one with teeth, one pure pleasure.
01
On Witness and Respair by Jesmyn Ward
On Witness and Respair Jesmyn Ward · Nonfiction · Scribner

The two-time National Book Award winner’s first essay collection — grief, race, motherhood, and survival, including the searing piece written after her husband’s sudden death. Private loss made communal: how you keep hoping after the worst has happened.

02
The Take by Kelly Yang
The Take Kelly Yang · Fiction · Berkley

Yang’s adult debut: a deal between a young Asian American writer and a powerful older white producer, both tired of being judged by their age, upends both their lives. A propulsive read on power, privilege, and race — with teeth.

03
The Missed Connection by Tia Williams
The Missed Connection Tia Williams · Romance · Grand Central · June 9

A casting agent shares an electric six-hour flight with a stranger — then lands without his number. Refusing to let “Seat F” stay a what-if, she hires a private detective who knows her past all too well. From the author of Seven Days in June, witty and swoony with real undertow.

Cover images courtesy of the respective publishers.