The Manor of Dreams marks author Christina Li’s first foray into the world of adult fiction, after a young adult novel and two well-revered children’s books. It follows the family of Vivian Yin, the first Chinese actress to win an Academy Award, in the aftermath of her death as they read her will and move into her haunted mansion. Li, a recent Stanford alumna, will appear in conversation with Betty Shamieh at Book Passage in San Francisco on Wednesday, May 14.
‘The Girls Who Grew Big’
By Leila Mottley
Expected Release: June 24, 2025
Oakland’s own Leila Mottley burst into the literary world in 2022 with her highly-acclaimed debut novel Nightcrawling. For her second novel, Mottley takes readers on a journey to small-town Florida, where a group of ostracized teenage mothers raise their children together while navigating the intensities of friendship, love and betrayal. Mottley will sign books and discuss The Girls Who Grew Big in conversation with author Ingrid Rojas Contreras at Mrs. Dalloway’s bookstore in Berkeley on Tuesday, June 24.
‘The Hollow Half: A Memoir of Bodies and Borders’
By Sarah Aziza
Released: April 22, 2025
Sarah Aziza’s memoir finds the author struggling with an eating disorder that nearly kills her. Written in beautiful-yet-harrowing prose, The Hollow Half links the Palestinian American author’s trauma with that of her ancestors as she’s haunted by ghostly dreams and the voice of her deceased grandmother. Aziza will appear in conversation with Sam Sax and Zeina Hashem Beck at Kearny Street Workshop in San Francisco on Saturday, May 17.
‘The Emperor of Gladness’
By Ocean Vuong
Released: May 13, 2025
Poet and author Ocean Vuong’s debut novel On Earth We’re Briefly Goergous was an instant success, becoming one of those books you’ll have to wait five months to check out from your library — even now, six years after its release. Vuong’s follow-up is an equally sentimental story of hope, empathy and life-saving friendship. Vuong is scheduled to appear in San Francisco as part of Litquake on May 30, and at Book Passage in Corte Madera on May 31.
‘Deep Cuts’
By Holly Brickley
Released: Feb. 25, 2025
UC Berkeley alumna Holly Brickley’s buzzy debut novel chronicles a partnership between two students — a musician and a music lover — that blossoms at a campus bar in 2000. Academy Award nominees Saoirse Ronan and Austin Butler have already been cast as the duo in A24’s upcoming feature film adaptation; here’s your chance to get a head start on the movie.
‘No Body No Crime’
By Tess Sharpe
Expected Release: July 15, 2025
The newest novel from Northern California-raised author Tess Sharpe is an action-packed thriller that centers Chloe and Mel, two women who share a dark secret. When Chloe goes missing, Mel welcomes the challenge to locate her ex-girlfriend. When she finds her, it becomes apparent that Chloe is running away from something far more complicated than her ex. This Love Lies Bleeding-style queer story will make a gripping addition to your summer reading list.
‘Atmosphere’
By Taylor Jenkins Reid
Expected Release: June 3, 2025
We all know someone who got sucked into The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and finished it in a day or two. Los Angeles author Taylor Jenkins Reid’s new novel, Atmosphere, promises to be just as binge-worthy. It’s the 1980s, and protagonist Joan Goodwin answers an advertisement seeking the first women scientists to join NASA’s space shuttle program — fortunately beating Jeff Bezos’ fiancé and Katy Perry to space.
‘Katabasis’
By R.F. Kuang
Expected Release: Aug. 26, 2025
Babel and Yellowface author R.F. Kuang returns to her fantasy roots with this highly-anticipated new novel, defined as “the story of a hero’s descent to the underworld” in Ancient Greek. With that in mind, it is not surprising that Katabasis tells the story of two rival students who set their differences aside to save their professor from, well, the pits of Hell.
