Alex Pheby’s Waterblack is a “sprawling Dickensian tale of gods, monsters, and the dystopian cities where they reside.”

International Booker Prize winner Heart Lamp, by Banu Mushtaq, “captures the hardships of Muslim women living in southern India.”

In Once Upon a Time in Gaza, the Israeli occupation simmers in the background rather than taking center stage, Cairo Scene wrote.

Questions Without Answers, by Sarah Manguso and Liana Finck, compiles fascinating questions asked by children, such as “When you die, can I come with you?”

Istanbul’s Siirt Şeref Büryan specializes in Büryan kebabı, a dish that “always leaves you thinking about how soon you can have it again.”