Literature writer Katherine Ouellette recommends nine books with New England ties to read this spring. (Courtesy the publishers)
This time last year, my reading list left me pondering whether history repeats itself or rhymes. So perhaps it’s poetic that I’m again reflecting on how the more things change, the more they stay the same. New horrific attacks keep happening at home and abroad, and I have to urge myself and others not to become desensitized to the onslaught of the chillingly, relentlessly similar news cycle. These nine New England books show with electric clarity how even stories inspired by popular folk tales, or characters trying to escape the vicious cycle of their personal histories, are still devastatingly beautiful portraits of humanity that deserve to be experienced in their own right. Whether it’s through second-chance romances, deeply unsettling psychological horrors or wondrous considerations of the cosmos, these local authors force you to confront the world in all its inconvenient, ugly and beautiful truths.
March 31
Delicious tension simmers between two chefs in Riss M. Neilson’s new second-chance romance. If Olivia’s friends wanted to jump off a bridge, it would have been her idea in the first place. No relationship or singular gig could overpower the enticing flavor of her admittedly impulsive, jetsetting lifestyle. That is, until she receives a call from her ex-boyfriend Carmello. Despite 10 years and countless miles since their breakup, Carmello’s late mother made them co-owners of her Providence restaurant. Now, Olivia finds she’s unwilling to walk away from the place — and people — she once called home. Can she withstand all the heat coming from Carmello’s kitchen? Neilson lives in Rhode Island and is a graduate of Rhode Island College.
Riss M. Neilson will be in conversation with online creator Azanta and author Shirlene Obuobi on April 1 at Lovestruck Books. Tickets for the event are $27.45, which includes a copy of the book.
March 31
Ten-year-old Lilian may have pushed a classmate into a gorilla pen, but she’s not a murderer. Melanie survived that Franklin Park Zoo encounter. And 29-year-old Lillian had nothing to do with the tragic death of Henry, her ex-situationship. Sure, she drunkenly tried to cast a YouTube hex on him after he assaulted her and subsequently broke up with her, but she didn’t actually wish harm on the man she was coaxing into a marriage endgame. Lillian is a good person — she didn’t post that Instagram black square in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement for nothing. Oh, Henry had a long-term girlfriend and Lillian was the other woman? Lillian had better find the best lawyer money can buy. Henry may have been stabbed, but Lillian is the real victim here. “A Good Person” is Kirsten King’s fascinating debut novel exploring how deplorable one unhinged woman can be while still earning genuine sympathy and understanding from the reader. King used to live in Boston before moving to Los Angeles.
Kirsten King will be in conversation with author Jane Roper on Apr. 3 at Harvard Book Store. The event is free.
April 7
If you’ve ever wanted to understand the mysteries of the universe, theoretical physicist Chanda Prescod-Weinstein wrote just the book for you. Her infectious passion and poetic explanations in “The Edge of Space-Time” make concepts ranging from microscopic particles to the big bang feel accessible. How? She illustrates how physics and art have more in common than you’d think. “Physics is a kind of poetry, a story about the cosmos that is made from metaphors,” Prescod-Weinstein writes. Think of all the physical descriptions scientists have coined for abstract concepts, like how electricity is a “field” and space-time is a “fabric.” At the end of the day, physicists and artists have the same goal: “a perspective on the world that provides insights not available elsewhere.” Readers will walk away from this book with a newfound wondrous appreciation for the universe, similar to the feelings evoked by a poignant film or provocative art piece. Prescod-Weinstein is an associate professor of physics at the University of New Hampshire.
Chanda Prescod-Weinstein will be in conversation with Harvard University professor Evelynn M. Hammonds on April 27 at the Harvard Science Center. Tickets for the event are free or $36.69 to get a copy of the book.
April 14
In 2026, Lee is on the run from the police after killing his college roommate for reasons he can’t remember. In 1877, Sen is hiding from the imperial army, which will slaughter her whole family for her father’s refusal to relinquish his samurai title. Both find refuge in a secluded Japanese house between the forest and the sea. But which is more gruesome: literal demons or insidious truths? The ghost of Lee’s missing mother screams through his perpetual sedative-induced haze. Sen, delirious with hunger, trains to face gunned soldiers wielding only a katana, while the monster wearing her father’s face lurks in striking distance of her oblivious mother and brothers. Blending unsettling suspense, atmospheric storytelling and unreliable narrators, Kylie Lee Baker’s “Japanese Gothic” is as irresistible as it is haunting. Baker grew up in Boston and received her master’s from Simmons University.
Kylie Lee Baker will be in conversation with author Eric LaRocca on April 24 at Brookline Booksmith. Tickets for the event are free or $35.97 to get a copy of the book.
April 14
When a woman reaches a certain age, she craves one thing with single-minded intensity: kids, a.k.a. baby goats. Prodigal daughter Lucy Richards heeds the calling of her family farm in western Massachusetts after spending decades in New York City for an uninspiring PR career. Lucy expects blissful years ahead in her hometown of Edin alongside her husband Michael, who is 30 years her senior, as she slowly hones her long-forgotten farming skills. But Michael’s health and the couple’s finances unexpectedly and swiftly decline. Meanwhile, Lucy’s childhood best friend Sandy reenters her life with the same romantic charge they never explored while they were teens. Now the caretaker for an ailing spouse and more goats than reasonable for one person to care for, Lucy must decide if and how she’s going to grasp life by the horns for herself. Drawing from her own upbringing on a Maine farm, Jennifer Acker is currently editor-in-chief of The Common, a literary magazine based at Amherst College.
Jennifer Acker will be in conversation with writer and art historian Teju Cole on May 1 at Harvard Bookstore. The event is free.
April 28
One tragic love story. Endless interpretations. After hearing Korea’s classic “Tale of Chunhyang” from their grandfather, cousins Dahee and Channing internalize different takeaways they carry into adulthood. Channing romanticizes having a connection strong enough to defy strict social classes, years of separation and imprisonment. Practical Dahee doesn’t envy that relationship, especially when she later discovers the real Chunhyang and Mongryong didn’t actually get a happily ever after. But when 30-year-old Dahee notices Channing falling in the familiar footsteps of the doomed folktale (with a coastal New England spin), can Dahee protect her cousin from her own tragic end? Despite the foreboding presence of a stalker politician who won’t take “no” for an answer to his romantic overtures, this contemplative novel offers the comfort of a timeless story and the serenity of endless summers by the sea. Jimin Han grew up in Providence, Rhode Island.
Jimin Han will be in conversation with author Lara Ehrlich on May 14 at Bank Square Books in Mystic, Connecticut.
May 5
How would you react if you received a text alert saying a missile was heading straight for your small Massachusetts town? How would you deal with the fallout if that message was a false alarm? “Seek Immediate Shelter” is a series of interconnected short stories, portraying intimate portraits across a community at its most vulnerable. David flees to spend his final moments with his parents, abandoning his wife and baby in his impatience. Now the young couple must square the fact that David is too cowardly to be trusted during an emergency — or to own up to his grievous mistake. Nina tells her adult daughter she loves her via text, but also breaks the cardinal rule of parenting and puts her own feelings first when she succumbs to the dark impulse to send a hurtful follow-up. Achingly tender, invoking sympathy for even the most selfish of characters, Vincent Yu’s triumphant debut asks can any of us really know who we are and what we truly value until it’s a matter of life or death?
Vincent Yu will discuss “Seek Immediate Shelter” on May 6 at Odyssey Bookshop in South Hadley, Massachusetts.
May 26
In a picturesque New England town, two murder victims are found with tubes sticking out of their corpses, holding exotic animals. The CCTV footage during times of death reveals feats that should only be possible by FX special effects. However, the death of the rich, internet-famous Charlize catches the attention of the cops and the public in a way that the demise of Melody, a mouthy waitress, does not. With the killer likely lurking amongst her grieving neighbors, 41-year-old cleaner Paula decides to follow leads that the police won’t. She enlists the help of Oona, the St. Berdoodle dog who found Charlize’s body, and An’qwenique, writer, podcaster and fellow believer in the mystical. Paula suspects that Oona’s uncanny knack for finding people might actually be alien superpowers that allow her to traverse different maps across the multiverse. Can these amateur sleuths unmask the murderer before he strikes again? Smith College professor Andrea Hairston offers a delightful cozy mystery that blurs the lines of sci-fi and reality with “The Redemption Center is Closed on Sundays.”
June 16
After winning the 2025 Massachusetts Book Award for fiction with his literary speculative novel “The Naming Song,” western Massachusetts-based Jedediah Berry is taking an entertaining left turn with the Dungeons & Dragons-style romp “Kill All Wizards.” When wizard deaths start piling up, Gotchimus is suspected from the beginning, of course. It’s not like the barbarian didn’t try doing things the proper way, the “civilized” way. But Gotchimus’ efforts were doomed to fail between countless forms and countless microaggressions — he had no family name, no permanent address or consistent employment. “In other words, a barbarian through and through.” After his most recent attempts at bureaucracy end with him seemingly drugged and abandoned in the path of an angry god, Gotchimus decides he’ll handle things the barbarian way, thanks. Just don’t tell the wizards. He has tea scheduled with them later. Author Berry lives in western Massachusetts and runs Ninepin Press, an indie publisher of fiction, poetry and games.
