It’s more than fitting that this witty, off-beat, and entertaining ride of a novel begins in–and sets more than a few scenes in–a bar. As the protagonist, Charley Hull, tells the often-hilarious, sometimes downhearted, always adventurous tale of searching for his next act in life, it’s like being seated next to the best storyteller at the local pub.

As a former journalist, and as a citizen who is deeply concerned about the multiple threats facing the news media today, I was heartened and moved by Sunshine Girl, which can be seen as an extended tribute to the reporters and editors who devote long hours to shedding light on issues that would otherwise be overlooked, or actively hidden from view. With depth and feeling, the novel also explores the struggles of a family with close ties to the news business.

The stories in Alternative Facts feature notable real-world figures (for example, political consultant Kellyanne Conway, psychologist B. F. Skinner, photojournalist Burhand Ozbilici, novelist Thomas Pynchon, and media personality Paris Hilton). But because they are works of fiction, the stories take us where no journalist could ever tread: deep into the psyches of these figures, in ways that are, by turns, insightful, heartbreaking, and entertainingly absurd.

For some time, I’d been looking forward to reading this forthcoming collection of stories, which were co-authored by Kim Magowan and Michelle Ross. Having finished an advance copy of the collection, I’m delighted to highly recommend it. With dark humor, wit, and a sharp eye for human foibles, the stories explore what makes every kind of human relationship–from the ones we don’t choose to those with siblings, romantic partners, and children–challenging. It also considers why we seek connections nonetheless, and how we try to make meaning from even the messiest and most complicated entanglements.

This wonderfully strange, thought-provoking, and hilarious novel defies simple categorization. Is it a study of the soulless mining of personal data for the greediest of ends? Is it a suspenseful tale of a battle of the wills–one Apollonian, the other Dionysian? Is it an artful melding of poetry and prose? Yes and yes and yes. As disparate as these elements may seem, in the end they add up to an entertaining, enlightening whole.

With scope, depth, and feeling, The Book of Jeremiah, Julie Zuckerman’s debut novel in stories, examines pivotal experiences in the long life of a single character, exploring how these experiences shape him, change his perceptions of himself and others, and reverberate across time. The result is a moving, multifaceted portrait of a life, in all its dimensions.