With a compelling, original depiction of inherited magic, I Am the Swarm is sure to resonate with those seeking thoughtful speculative fiction. ... Read full Story
With a top-notch blend of gritty mystery and bighearted drama, Ron Currie’s The Savage, Noble Death of Babs Dionne is Dennis Lehane meets Ann Patchett. ... Read full Story
Twelve million Americans work multiple jobs and are still unhoused. Brian Goldstone reveals the complicated reality of homelessness in his incredible There Is No Place for Us. ... Read full Story
Bob Shea understands the power of subversive humor and honest truth. Combining the two, Bearsuit Turtle Makes a Friend is a laugh-out-loud romp that won’t just have kids giggling: It will have them begging for a reread. ... Read full Story
Still stuck on the severed floor of Lumon Industries? These books about dystopias, cults and the elusive work-life balance will keep you speculating about the Apple TV+ hit. ... Read full Story
Emma Pattee brings her expertise as a climate journalist to this fascinating, haunting debut about a pregnant woman’s journey across earthquake-ravaged Portland. ... Read full Story
Like Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, Twist comments on predatory colonialism in a story of an enigmatic engineer tasked with repairing the underwater fiber-optic cables that carry our internet. ... Read full Story
Containing slice-of-life snapshots, photojournalism and portraits, Picturing Black History is the definitive photographic account of the Civil Rights Movement. ... Read full Story
Phil Hanley’s frank, vulnerable, funny memoir recounts his journey from struggling student to successful comedian who wears his dyslexia “like a badge of honor.” ... Read full Story
The hilarious, plucky titular character of Bellamy Rose’s Pomona Afton Can So Solve a Murder will win readers’ hearts while making them laugh out loud. ... Read full Story
Stalactite & Stalagmite is filled with opportunities for readers to ponder the wonder and beauty of our world—and the loveliness of having a trusted companion through it all. ... Read full Story
The House No One Sees offers a guiding light to readers through its depiction of a young person who has built a labyrinth of trauma and grief. ... Read full Story
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 30, 2025 is:
insouciance \in-SOO-see-unss\ noun
Insouciance is a formal word that refers to a feeling of carefree unconcern. It can also be understood as a word for the relaxed and calm state of a person who is not worried about anything.
// The young actor charmed interviewers with his easy smile and devil-may-care insouciance.
“Gladiator II is OK when Denzel’s off-screen, but sensational when he’s on it. ... What makes the performance great is its insouciance; it’s both precise and feather-light. And it’s what a great actor can do when he’s set free to have fun, to laugh at himself a little bit. ... Denzel’s Macrinus is gravitas and comic relief in one package.” — Stephanie Zacharek, Time, 22 Nov. 2024
Did you know?
If you were alive and of whistling age in the late 1980s or early 1990s, chances are you whistled (and snapped your fingers, and tapped your toes) to a little ditty called “Don’t Worry, Be Happy” by Bobby McFerrin, an a cappella reggae-jazz-pop tune that took the charts by surprise and by storm. An ode to cheerful insouciance if ever there was one, its lyrics are entirely concerned with being entirely unconcerned, remaining trouble-free in the face of life’s various stressors and calamities. Such carefree nonchalance is at the heart of insouciance, which arrived in English (along with the adjective insouciant), from French, in the 1800s. The French word comes from a combining of the negative prefix in- with the verb soucier, meaning “to trouble or disturb.” The easiness and breeziness of insouciance isn’t always considered beautiful, however. Insouciance may also be used when someone’s lack of concern for serious matters is seen as more careless than carefree.