The Spectacular Life of Octavia E. ButlerThe story of the girl who grew up in Pasadena, took the bus, loved her mom and grandmother, and wrote herself into the world.
Hua Hsu Is True to the GameHis new memoir is both a coming-of-age story and an evolutionary step for Asian American literature.
ByRyu Spaeth
profile
Michelle Branch Has Some RegretsNamely about how she responded to her husband’s alleged affair. But at least now she can laugh about it.
ByKaitlin Menza
profile
‘I Need to Tell You This’Kate Beaton captured the aesthetic of a late-aughts internet. Her new memoir is a monumental synthesis of politics, history, and her own life.
Don’t Mess With MeganHotties, assemble. After a season of loss, pain, and personal evolution, the 27-year-old is back with her most vulnerable album to date.
ByAshley C. Ford
encounter
Everything’s Coming Up SchumerThe Senate majority leader has a “different way of getting things done” that saved Biden’s agenda and maybe their party.
Beeple’s Post-NFT ChapterThe digital artist made a pile of money on NFTs before the crypto market crashed. Now he has his eyes on the art world.
ByZachary Small
crime
The Criminologist on Trial for Serial ArsonProfessor Maynard taught students about life at the margins of society. Now he is charged with a crime his field is only beginning to understand.
Silly Little FreakoThe “Megan Stalter character” is its own comedy genre now. Where does the real person end and her personae begin?
ByRebecca Alter
profile
Hot Joel SummerJoel Kim Booster’s deliciously bawdy debut film, Fire Island, maps Pride and Prejudice’s class tensions onto the vacation hideaway for gay men.
ByE. Alex Jung
encounter
‘Have You Read Nevada?’Imogen Binnie’s first novel became a staple of trans literature. Nine years and one reissue later, how much has the culture changed?