A.K. Blakemore’s Doom Painting is a novel that’s “dazzlingly rich in lexical glamour” when describing the everyday lives of commoners during England’s 1381 Peasants’ Revolt.

Recounting a deadly subway encounter, Anand Giridharadas’ Man in the Mirror is a rare “model of a kind of journalism… that shows compassion for everyone involved.”

Set in a dystopian New York City where companies have monopolized electricity, Hernan Diaz’s Ply is a “brainy, challenging, and engrossing trek into a battered but unbeaten future.”

New Story of the Stone by Wu Jianren combines “realism and science fiction,” exploring “dark thoughts about human nature” and philosophical musings on a utopian society.

The Great British Bake Off returns for its 17th season with new co-host Nigella Lawson, who is perfect “for this national treasure of a show.”

In Gershwin Variations, the young French pianist Lucas Debargue showcases his jazz chops in his reinterpretation of some of the renowned American composer’s most notable works.