Waxahatchee’s new record celebrates the artist’s roots—and exemplifies the perpetual cycle of trends in American music. Review by Joseph Collum

A career-spanning collection of Maggie Nelson’s essays on art is punctuated and enlivened with conversations between the author, artists, and friends. Review by Kathleen Hartsfield Spicer

Dr. Amy Marga turns to early Christian history to turn our facile notions of what it means to be a Christian mother on their heads. Review by Vienna Scott

Spufford’s latest alternative history creates a richly creative city ruled and peopled by the Native Americans our own history has so often abused and sidelined. Review by T. Wyatt Reynolds

This collection of short stories focuses on women who aren’t extraordinary—but who, it makes clear, still have stories to tell. Review by Whitney Rio-Ross

Marilynne Robinson’s book on Genesis starts simply, but delves into the thorny questions of the first book of the Bible with her characteristic flair. Review by Hayden Kvamme