Fans of Liz Moore’s “The God of the Woods” will love this novel, which is another literary mystery-thriller that keeps you wondering and guessing until its final pages. With ultra-short chapters and well-timed cliffhangers, Sabit paints a portrait of an immigrant family dealing with the pressures of preserving their culture while also trying to fit in. It is a master study in how the same collection of facts can be interpreted in vastly different — and even opposite — ways.

Suzanne Perez, KMUW

Joe Bond’s excellent debut novel Hope House tells the story of a residential treatment home for wayward teenagers in 1980s Kentucky. The boys who inhabit the home are depicted lovingly, yet unflinchingly; there’s no denying their capacity for good or for ill. From an ensemble cast, it’s our evasive narrator AWOL (so named for his frequent, abortive escapes from Hope House) whose voice makes this work so memorable. Alongside steadfast staff member Mr. Watts, AWOL’s persistent presence unites these sparkling short chapters, welding vignettes together to form a dazzling coming of age story.

Adam Straus, Southern Review of Books

Acclaimed poet and essayist Amy Pence has released a new speculative fiction novel that blends science fiction, Southern gothic storytelling and a coming-of-age story set across decades of change in the American South. “Yellow,” follows a Louisiana girl named Z who discovers a mysterious slime mold in her backyard during the summer of 1973 — the era of the Watergate hearings and the Skylab space mission. Z forms a deep bond with the organism, known as “Yellow,” before a traumatic event changes the course of her life.

Jim Burress, WABE

This novel is promoted partly as social satire, but while the names are humorous, these rich people are not ridiculous: they are hard, cruel, ruthless, amoral, selfish, snobbish.

Carpenter has created memorable characters and some surprising twists in a lively, entertaining page turner.

Don Noble, Alabama Public Radio

In 2009, Irani and her husband Meherwan left their jobs to start an Indian street food restaurant, building the business from scratch. Through candid vignettes, Irani discusses the challenges she faced along the way, what it’s like to build a business with a partner, and how she incorporates parts of her own culture and traditions into her work.

Service Ready is a helpful peek behind the scenes for anyone in the industry charting a similar path.

Mary Anne Porto, Eater

Twelve years ago, a Georgia company called Phoenix Air said yes to a request from the federal government no one had said yes to before: Can you get two Americans, sick with Ebola, out of Liberia and back to the United States for treatment?

Atlanta journalist Kevin Hazzard’s new book, “No One’s Coming,” describes the ensuing frantic week-and-a-half as the company figured out how to do it — and do it safely.

Molly Samuel, WABE

In Aimee Nezhukumatathil’s Night Owl, divine darkness, graceful lyric, and a bounty of poetic forms retrain and finetune our senses to attend to the joys and lessons of the natural world. Crystalline images buttress deep reflections on motherhood, the porous boundary between the human and natural world, and love as our antidote for climate crisis, across nocturnes, zuihitsu, invectives, summer songs, and more.

Nathan Xavier Osorio, The Rumpus

Although he grew up Chinese-American and Southern in metro Atlanta, Chef Ron Hsu said he never felt different or alienated as a child. It’s a product of growing up in a multicultural city, he said, but also reflects the diverse environment Hsu’s parents, both restaurateurs, created for him and his siblings.

Like Lazy Betty, “Down South + East,” which Hsu wrote with Chef Hugh Amano, is an extension of his collective experience with hospitality and food throughout his life and career.

Sarra Sedghi, Rough Draft