For your literary little sister:

Damnation Spring By Ash Davidson AUGUST | SCRIBNER | $28

This extraordinary novel is one of the best we’ve read this year. Set in a Pacific Northwest town, it grapples with what it means to be part of a community and part of a family. When a young scientist comes asking questions about a string of tragedies in a tight-knit logging town, residents must reckon with the way they have made their livelihood for generations. Davidson’s debut is full of searing, poetic prose, deeply moving to the very last page.

Crossroads By Jonathan Franzen OCTOBER | FARRAR, STRAUS & GIROUX | $30

Powerhouse Franzen has released his first new novel in many years and the first in a much anticipated trilogy—entitled A Key to All Mythologies. Taking place primarily over a single day in December of 1971, the Hildenbrandt family of suburban Chicago is at the center of a story that reckons with family and religion, and Franzen does what he does best with brilliantly imagined characters.