7 13 Books: 7 books

In the smallish American city of Grand River, things are not so grand. The river is hopelessly polluted. City officials are in the pockets of oligarchs. And its best hope for meaningful change is a platitude-spouting eight-foot giant named Reason Wilder running for mayor. Gray Davenport, a...

A teen who can teleport just wants to make his mom happy. A midget working as an elf in a year-round Christmas-themed amusement park battles his archrival: a condescending Santa. You’ve heard of Fight Club, but have you been to the Underground Punch Market? Like the work of George Saunders crossed...

A woman muses on the influential men in her life, and the enduring significance of white pants. A grisly trial for a murder in which a son witnessed his mother’s stabbing forces a juror to come to terms with the absence of her missionary son. A young father tries to resist lusting after his adoptive...

Reluctant fashion journalist Henry Folsom is in love with Her, a deer-hued snake-taut beauty whose smile is an Event. The only problem is Her fiancé in New Orleans. And She’s going to see him for twelve days, while Henry smolders in The Glamshack, his borrowed Silicon Valley poolhouse and site...

“It started with a miracle. It was a useless miracle, but it still counted as a jaw-dropper, a total malfunction of reason and time… I can burn my own bushes, so I have no patience for miracles.” Introducing the inimitable Milo Byers, a seventeen-year-old dropout whose brother is missing...

Sebastian Khan is 380 days away from the end of college. An art history major with a fondness for the Pre-Raphaelites and a dislike of long-term commitments (romantic and otherwise), Sebastian starts dating Fatima, who’s determined to transition smoothly from campus life to a stable white-collar...

In eighteen stories that shine a light on people who are far from champions, Like a Champion is an ode to underdogs and long shots, sad office parties and one-sided basketball games, disappointed worker bees and hopeful lovers. A lonely businessman on a cruise finds comfort in an unlikely companion....