What Should You Read Next? Here Are the Best Reviewed Books of the Week

Marlon James’ The Disappearers, Jon Ronson’s The Castle, Chloe Benjamin’s Under Story, and Emily Wilson’s Crossing the Wine Dark Sea all feature among the best reviewed books of the month. Brought to you by Book Marks, Lit Hub’s home for book reviews. * Fiction 1. The Disappearers by Marlon James (Riverhead) 13 Rave • 2 Positive • 2 Mixed Read a profile of Marlon James here “A harrowing, hilarious, magnificent novel that will stand the test of time … He invents his own literary language, horny yet tender, punctuated by puns and music and elegant flourishes. He jolts the narrative sideways and backwards, thumping his suspense line like an expert bassist … His defiant queer epic belongs to us all.” –Hamilton Cain (The Boston Globe) 2. Under Story by Chloe Benjamin (G.P. Putnam’s Sons) 6 Rave • 2 Positive • 1 Pan “The novel’s success hinges on your ability to suspend your disbelief as profoundly as you draw upon your capacity to love. With the portals and time travel, the story requires an open mind. Even with such a fantastical plot, Benjamin draws complex, deeply human characters … Benjamin could have written a far shorter novel. Some may say that less is more. But Under Story isn’t meant to be a minimalist work … Expands our expectations of living.” –Lauren LeBlanc (The New York Times Book Review) 3. Agrippa by Robert Harris (Doubleday) 5 Rave • 3 Positive • 2 Mixed • 1 Pan “Imaginative … Thrilling … A swift-paced romp through a few crucial decades of Roman history, breathing life into a figure who played a central role in the story of the late republic.” –Michael F. Bishop (The Wall Street Journal) 4. Asmodeus by Rita Indiana (Graywolf) 2 Rave • 2 Positive • 1 Mixed “[A] dark fantasy … The poetry and musical lyrics are all masterfully translated by Obejas, a respected novelist in her own right. Indiana presents music (and story) as a venue for addressing the problems that plague this viscerally squalid, gritty, and painful world.” –Sara Martínez (Booklist) 5. I Liked Rex by Diane Williams (NYRB Classics) 1 Rave • 1 Positive • 1 Mixed “Delightful characters, curious images, and love affairs gone awry animate this minimalist metafictional collection … These deceptively simple stories eschew linear plots to home in on arresting images and phrases that reveal their characters’ complex and resonant inner lives: ‘The loss of paradise keeps happening,’ reflects a recent divorcé. This is one to savor.” –Publishers Weekly ** Nonfiction 1. The Castle: Adventures in a World of Unraveling Men by Jon Ronson (Riverhead) 7 Rave • 3 Positive • 1 Mixed “This is his first book in 11 years and it’s as good a read as any of his previous big hits. A Jon Ronson book is never clear-cut, there are no neat finishes or satisfying conclusions. The Castle is no different. But like all of his writing, this book will open new insights for you, and it will linger long after you’ve closed the final chapter … A great attempt to unpick modern masculinity and to see what is prompting a real mental health crisis in men. Only when we understand it will we be able to address it.” –Sinead Gibney (The Irish Times) 2. American Scoundrel: Roy Cohn’s Dark Journey from Joe McCarthy to Donald Trump by Kai Bird (Scribner) 7 Rave • 2 Positive “I gobbled up every page … A bounteous cornucopia of midcentury sleaze and uneasily addictive for just that reason … As ugly and lurid as this saga is, American Scoundrel is consistently riveting, full of astonishing twists, ballsy plots, and eleventh-hour escapes from justice, like the legal version of the exploits of some Old West outlaw who is forever eluding the sheriffs by the skin of his teeth.” –Laura Miller (Slate) 3. Crossing the Wine-Dark Sea: Journeys Through Ancient Literature by Emily Wilson (Liveright) 6 Rave “Wonderfully spirited … An expert in the ancient world, she nevertheless draws constantly (and productively) from contemporary culture … Wilson elegantly braids together close, line-by-line readings with larger arguments about how much is often at stake … You don’t even have to be particularly interested in ancient literature to enjoy this book, though by the time you finish it you probably will be. Wilson’s excitement for her subject is irrepressibly moving.” –Jennifer Szalai (The New York Times) 4. The Bed Trick: Sex and Deception on Trial by Izabella Scott (FSG Originals) 2 Rave • 2 Positive • 1 Mixed “Scott is less interested in whether this was the correct verdict than she is in investigating the larger meanings of this strange, sad trial, which exposed the private lives of both participants to ridicule … Scott is a supremely good guide to this complex terrain, thoughtful, nuanced and agile.” –Olivia Laing (The Guardian) 5. 53 Days: How Hitler Dismantled a Democracy by Timothy W. Ryback (Atlantic Monthly Press) 2 Rave • 1 Positive • 1 Mixed “Step by step, the book recounts the process by which Hitler exploited his position in order to install autocracy. Ryback deftly manages what could have been an unwieldy narrative, allowing readers to draw their own conclusions about the book’s relevance to current events.” –Kirk Johnson (Booklist)