Everything Beautiful Began After By Simon Van Booy, out now Three young and lost people arrive separately in Athens, but come together in their searching for a summer that will change their lives forever. more

Elliot Allagash By Simon Rich, out now In this novel from humor writer Rich, a one-time New York Press coverboy, a Manhattan prep school outcast named Seymour gets a makeover from Elliot Allagash, a wealthy and brash transfer student. To Sound in the Know: When hired by Saturday Night Live at the age of 24, Rich became the youngest writer in the shows history. more

The Lake By Banana Yoshimoto, out now After her mother dies, a young woman moves home to Tokyo, where she meets a young man who has been the victim of childhood trauma. more

The Free World By David Bezmogis, out now A family of immigrants fleeing Soviet Latvia in the 1970s hashes out intergenerational conflicts as they wait to leave Rome for the West in this debut novel. To Sound in the Know: Bezmogis is himself an immigrant from Latvia. He arrived in Toronto in 1980 and now lives in New York. So he's actually a double immigrant, if coming to the U.S. from Canada counts. Does it? more

The Evolution of Bruno Littlemore By Benjamin Hale, Out February The memoirs of a chimp who can speak and who has also committed murder, falls in love with his doctor at a research institute, runs away to New York, performs Shakespeare, etc. To Sound in the Know: Hales also a trompe loeil. more

Whiskey: A Global History By Kevin R. Koar, out now A look at the lineage of whiskey, from the origins of distillation in Egypt (the Sphinx loved those Sazeracs) to its evolution in Ireland, Scotland and the U.S., including a breakdown of whiskey types, cocktail recipes and stories about the water of life. more

Killer Colt By Harold Schechter, out now A history of the Colt brothers, one who invented the famous handgun and the other who went on trial for gruesomely murdering a man in New York. To Sound in the Know: This 1840s O.J. trial is known for its gruesome details and for elevating the prominence (but not the standards) of tabloid journalism. more

Our Tragic Universe By Scarlett Thomas, out now In this novel, a struggling writer gets by, penning Ya thrillers, book reviews and science fiction while never able to put together her real work, a literary novel. add a dash of lazy boyfriend and screwy family and youve got a meta-romp through the life of a writer. more

Everything is Going to be Great: An Underfunded and Overexposed European Grand Tour By Rachel Shukert, out now This memoir of a young actress’ romp across Europe as part of a traveling playgroup has sex, humor, misadventures—everything a good read (and a good trip) needs. To Sound in the Know: Read an excerpt from Shukert’s book on page 22 and tell all of your friends how hilarious she is. more

Termite Parade By Joshua Mohr, out now Three narrators combine to tell the story of how one violent incident, as well as love and passion and all that, affected their lives. To Sound in the Know: Mohr also sings in a band called Damn Handsome the Birthday Suits. more