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Akiko Busch sets out to argue against visibility, "the common currency of our time." But she neglects to expose why she dislikes social media and networked culture.

Christian Wiman's new essay collection, My Bright Abyss, explores his ideas about faith and life during a time of intense crisis — in Wiman's case, a rare and painful cancer. Reviewer Walton Muyumba says Wiman's "intense questioning and dense resolutions are challenging," but ultimately rewarding.

Writer and psychoanalyst Adam Phillips explores the paradox of dissatisfaction: Although not getting what we want may cause us pain, Phillips concedes, we should think of frustration as a natural part of existence, and one that can provide us pleasure if we let it.

Jennifer Lin-Liu's On the Noodle Road takes readers on a journey along the former Silk Road, looking for the origins of the noodle. But reviewer T. Susan Chang says that the book gets tied into knots when the quest turns cold.

Reporter-turned-novelist Gene Kerrigan sets his story in Ireland after the 2008 financial crisis. The Rage is a boundlessly readable portrait of a country in which ordinary citizens have been hit the hardest and all the old certainties have vanished.

Jasmine Warga's debut young adult novel My Heart and Other Black Holes follows two teens who make a suicide pact, in a carefully layered character study that sometimes stumbles on the details.

NPR's Backseat Book Club takes the yellow brick road back to its origins with L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, published in 1900.

Philipp Meyer (American Rust) has crafted a multigenerational epic that captures the Lone Star State's contradictions and vast sweep. Critic Michael Schaub calls The Son "one of the most solid, unsparing pieces of American historical fiction to come out this century."

Margaret Atwood's new MaddAddam completes the post-apocalyptic science fiction trilogy she began with 2003's Oryx and Crake. Reviewer Annalee Newitz says MaddAddam is a "snarky but soulful peek at what happens to the world after a mad scientist decimates humanity with a designer disease."

Emily Croy Barker's debut novel follows a struggling grad student into an otherworldly adventure pitting fairies against magicians. Reviewer Genevieve Valentine says The Thinking Woman's Guide to Real Magic is a classic portal fantasy with occasional stumbles in characterization