February 28, 2026
One does not have to write a long book to be worthy of acclaim. But readers increasingly seek out books of a certain length—whether an epic to lose themselves in or a quick read that satisfies. This week, we have three longer titles (350+ pages): an Australian family saga; an epic story about the U.S.-Mexico borderlands; and a novel about an orgasmic drug. And two shorter works (under 200 pages) that are structurally experimental: one set in a militaristic Hong Kong; another set after a coal mining accident, told in one long sentence.
Happy reading,
Melanie Fleishman
Buyer, The Center for Fiction Bookstore
Featured Books
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A Far-Flung Life
By M. L. STEDMAN
Published by SCRIBNER
As with a lot of good family epics, this book begins with a tragedy—one that echoes throughout the story. Stedman’s first novel in over a decade takes place in Western Australia—a vast, stunning setting for the story of the MacBrides who lease a million-acre sheep station that has been in the family for generations. A fatal accident involving father, son, and a kangaroo changes their lives into a before and after. There is much family sacrifice, for both love and duty, by the unforgettable characters who are doing their best. You will fall in love with this hard-working family and the way they cope with a changing landscape—for their livelihood and for those who come after.
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200 Monas
By JAN SAENZ
Published by LITTLE, BROWN
As Arvy Keening sits with the detritus of her dead mother’s belongings, she expects her spirit to reach out with a message from the beyond. “Mom was witchy. She sold herb-infused candles and crystal dildos.” The title refers to what Arvy discovers in a baggie in her mother’s closet, 200 Monas—drugs known for producing fantastic orgasms. The dealers want their money back and so Arvy begins a race against time to sell the pills within 48 hours, or else. It is a madcap, cheeky book to add to the growing genre of clever comic novels of ‘women in trouble.’ This one is about ghosts, grief (see the protagonist’s last name), and mind-blowing pharmaceuticals.
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Now I Surrender
By ÁLVARO ENRIGUE
Published by RIVERHEAD BOOKS
Translated by Natasha Wimmer
Enrigue’s rich saga is set on the Borderlands between the U.S. and Mexico. After a vivid opening in which a woman in the 1890s flees from Apaches through what is now Chihuahua, we meet a Comanche Lt. Colonel who hunts Apaches like sport and who is pursuing a kidnapping case. The story moves forward to the time of Geronimo, the fearless Apache leader, and arrives at the present day with a family travelling through the same region. As usual, Enrigue combines impeccable historical research with rich fictional characters. It is a powerful story of colonialism—one the author has said he was drawn to because of what it reveals about the way we live now.
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Mule Boy
By ANDREW KRIVAK
Published by BELLEVUE LITERARY PRESS
This compassionate meditation written as one flowing sentence follows a deadly accident in a Pennsylvania coal mine when Ondro, a mule guide for the company, was thirteen. The incident’s only survivor, he has lived with guilt and lifelong trauma. (His Slovakian father died in the mines some years before.) Miraculously, he falls in love with the daughter of one of the men killed, and their relationship, despite his stint in prison for being a pacifist in WWII, provides the healing that elevates this tragic fiction into hope. Krivak was a National Book Award finalist and continues to write about dark times with a celebration of the strength of the human spirit.
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City Like Water
By DOROTHY TSE
Published by GRAYWOLF PRESS
Translated by Natascha Bruce
Tse’s debut novel from 2023—a weird and wonderful political allegory about the state of Hong Kong which featured a lonely professor and a mechanical ballerina—brought her critical success. She has produced another dreamlike dystopian story, using a family in crisis to create a dark and playful investigation of an unnamed Hong Kong amid widespread protests. Like the “disappearing” city itself, the narrator explains, “my own memory is a mess, a never-tidied storeroom constantly in motion.” The nineteen brief chapters, which have names like “Toe Cleaning Sirens,” evince her ability to mix wildly inventive language and political messaging. The novel was finished in 2020, banned in Hong Kong, and is now in its first English translation.
