14 New March Books
Here are works on and of the West that we’re excited to see published this month.
THE DISAPPOINTMENT, BY SCOTT BROKER
Jack and Randy’s romantic vacation on the Oregon coast goes south when Randy packs his mother’s ashes for the weekend. A series of trippy events occur as the husbands attempt to reconnect but instead strain their bond even more. Odd encounters with a cast of locals—actors, meditators, environmentalists, and more—ratchet up the surrealist quality of this narrative as the spouses lose their hold on each other and their real lives. Catapult, March 3
THE VALLEY OF VENGEFUL GHOSTS, BY KIM FU
When Eleanor’s mother dies, she believes that she’s hit the depth of her grief. Then the rain begins, and her home starts literally falling apart. Navigating life and logistics on her own for the first time, Eleanor desperately tries to keep her flooded house together—she bought the house to fulfill her dying mother's wish—as she untethers from reality. Grief merges with guilt; dark stories merge with the stream of workers visiting her damp home. The result is a reflection on what we’re able to hold on to and what eludes us. Tin House, March 3
WHERE THE GIRLS WERE, BY KATE SCHATZ
In the summer of 1968, Elizabeth “Baker” Phillips is preparing to go to college at Stanford when she falls in love with a free-spirited hippie in San Francisco, opening her life to some joy and mystery for the first time. But when she gets pregnant, her family ships her off to a home for similarly situated women. The group, forgotten by society, forms tight bonds and finds resilience in being with one another, even as its members deal with the social consequences of living in a time that doesn’t accept them. The Dial Press, March 3
THE BEGINNING COMES AFTER THE END: NOTES ON A WORLD OF CHANGE, BY REBECCA SOLNIT
Past California Book Club author Solnit returns with The Beginning Comes After the End, a sequel to her widely read Hope in the Dark. In this collection of essays, Solnit reflects on the past six decades of social change and traces the persistence of anti-racism, feminism, environmentalism, and non-Western ideas in the face of rising white nationalism and authoritarianism. A timely meditation on hope and resistance. Haymarket Books, March 3
THIS STORY MIGHT SAVE YOUR LIFE, BY TIFFANY CRUM
Best friends Benny Abbott and Joy Moore share a seemingly perfect friendship—and an even more perfect podcast about feel-good survival stories. The façade is shattered, however, when Joy and her husband, Xander, go missing and Benny becomes the prime suspect. Benny races against the clock to find his friend and uncover the truth as staggering secrets rise to the surface and threaten to expose how little they may have known each other. Flatiron Books: Pine & Cedar, March 10
I’LL TRY ANYTHING TWICE: MISADVENTURES OF A SELF-MEDICATED LIFE, BY CARLY SCHWARTZ
Schwartz, a successful writer and journalist who seems to have it all, opens up about her struggles with depression and addiction in this honest memoir. Balancing humor with hard truths, she describes her path toward sobriety and self-acceptance, offering a clear-eyed look at recovery without romanticizing it. Along the way, she takes readers on a jungle adventure with a stranger, an unexpected detour that reshapes her understanding of healing and how it can be gained. She Writes Press, March 10
MARRIAGE TO THE SEA: LINKED NOVELLAS, BY SARAH STONE
Meet the Zamarins, a Jewish family whose stories make up this linked collection of novellas. Katya, a sustainability activist, travels to Paris with her sister Arielle to fulfill their father’s ghost’s final wish. Their aunt, Julia, goes to Venice, swept into a reckless romance, and she is soon joined by her brother. Moving among Santa Cruz, Paris, Venice, and the underworld, Marriage to the Sea explores love, loyalty, family, and the long work of healing. Four Way Books, March 15
THE SPOIL, BY MAILE CHAPMAN
In a Las Vegas condo, Mandy is caring for her aging mother and cleaning out her house when she unleashes an evil spirit that hooks itself to one of her neighbors. She recalls her childhood in Tacoma decades before, when she connected with her new stepbrother over the presence of a demon in their home. Could this be the same spirit back to haunt her, and why has it been reawakened now? What will it reveal about her family and what has been left unsaid? Graywolf Press, March 17
THE END OF MY LIFE IS KILLING ME: THE UNEXPECTED JOYS OF A CANCER SLACKER, BY ANNABELLE GURWITCH
When Gurwitch is diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer, she resists the stereotypical “cancer warrior” script (no ribbons, no runs, no suddenly finding religion). Instead, she charts her own path. She enters a friends-with-benefits situationship, experiments with ketamine therapy, tours with a heavy metal band, and more. This candid memoir is an inspiring read from a self-described “cancer slacker.” Zibby Publishing, March 17
THE POWER OF LIFE: THE INVENTION OF BIOLOGY & THE REVOLUTIONARY SCIENCE OF JEAN-BAPTISTE LAMARCK, BY JESSICA RISKIN
More than two centuries after one of his most significant contributions to science was ridiculed, Jean-Baptiste Lamarck receives renewed attention in The Power of Life. Riskin revisits the French naturalist’s theory that living beings actively guide their own development across generations; she argues that the dismissal of that idea over the years has come to justify harm to the planet and its inhabitants. With this book, she chronicles Lamarck’s role as a scientific thinker and elucidates how his revolutionary ideas continue to shape a more inclusive view of science today. Riverhead Books, March 24
UPWARD BOUND, BY WOODY BROWN
At an adult day care center for disabled adults in Los Angeles, a diverse cast of characters comes into focus: director Dave, aides Carlos and Mariana, and participants Jorge and Tom, among others. Connecting all the stories is Walter, a community college graduate who returns to the center after a tragedy. Written by an autistic and nonverbal writer, this story sheds light on the complexity of a community too often overlooked. Hogarth, March 31
A GOOD PERSON, BY KIRSTEN KING
Situationships will drive anyone to desperation. That’s why Lillian, after being blindsided by a breakup from Henry, decides to put a hex on him. But when Henry is promptly found dead, Lillian’s name is at the top of the list of suspects. In the wake of his murder, she poses as his devoted girlfriend, attacking his actual longterm girlfriend online, and outwardly mourns, even as she wonders if she really may have had something to do with his death. G.P. Putnam’s Sons, March 31
AMERICAN HAN, BY LISA LEE
In the 1980s, a Korean American family strives to fit a perfect model of the American dream. Jane and Kevin Kim, the children, grow up disciplined and nearly grasp professional success, but distance and disappointment cause them to struggle and fall short. Meanwhile, their parents refuse to recognize that their children are faltering. A rift between the family members drives Kevin out until he goes missing altogether. In the aftermath, the family must decide how to accept their history and future together. Algonquin Books, March 31
INCIDENTALS, BY SHEILA YASMIN MARIKAR
In this black comedy, when Sarah and Sam sense their marriage nearing its end, they make one last attempt to rekindle what they once had with a trip to the Maldives. There, they meet an older couple who seems to embody the future they want for themselves: still together, still in love. When a body turns up at the resort, Sarah questions what she actually knows about their new friends, and the answers she finds are very unsettling. Little A, March 31
Jessica Blough is a freelance writer. A former associate editor at Alta Journal, Blough is a graduate of Tufts University where she was editor in chief of the Tufts Daily.
Elizabeth Casillas is an assistant editor at Alta Journal. A graduate of California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, she has previously written for the Poly Post and Enspire Magazine.
