This week’s best reviewed books include Yiyun Li’s *Music Against the Night*, Shawn Gude’s *American Socialist*, Bonnie Garmus’s *Peck & Peck*, and Lieke Marsman’s *On Another Planet They Can Save Me*.

Read More

**Fiction**

1. *Music Against the Night* by Yiyun Li (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)

6 rave reviews, 2 positive, 2 mixed

Cory Oldweiler of *The Boston Globe* describes the novel as “wonderful and bewitching” and asserts that Li is “in complete command” of her narrative.

2. *Peck & Peck* by Bonnie Garmus (Scribner)

4 rave reviews, 4 positive

Claire Clark from *The Guardian* praises Garmus for her humor and imaginative storytelling, noting the novel’s “laugh-out-loud jokes about typography” and its encouragement to “make words count.”

=3. *Solace House* by Will Maclean (Grove)

5 rave reviews, 2 positive

Julia Kelly of *The Irish Times* draws comparisons to Donna Tartt’s *The Secret History*, highlighting the novel’s unsettling atmosphere and exploration of reality's collapse.

=3. *Luna, Phoenix, Queen* by Julie Orringer (Knopf)

5 rave reviews, 2 positive

Meg Wolitzer in *The New York Times Book Review* describes the book as “astonishing,” emphasizing its portrayal of isolation and the importance of personal storytelling.

5. *The End of Everything* by M. John Harrison (Riverhead)

4 rave reviews, 1 positive

Dave Kim of *The New York Times Book Review* calls it “fascinating” and an exercise in “unsettling beauty” that explores the complexities of existence amidst crisis.

**Nonfiction**

1. *On Another Planet They Can Save Me* by Lieke Marsman (Catapult)

4 rave reviews, 1 positive

*Publishers Weekly* describes it as “cathartic and often wondrous,” praising Marsman’s ability to engage with profound human questions.

=2. *American Socialist: The Life and Legacy of Eugene V. Debs* by Shawn Gude (Simon & Schuster)

3 rave reviews, 2 positive

Matthew E. Stanley from *Jacobin* highlights Gude’s well-researched narrative as a delightful page-turner that challenges common assumptions.

=2. *Morbid: Debunking Modern Longevity Science* by Saul Justin Newman (MIT Press)

3 rave reviews, 2 positive

Rachel Clark of *The Guardian* describes the book as “intriguing” and simplistically argues that modern longevity science is often built on flawed data.

4. *The Best Kind of American: A True Story of Murder, War, and America’s Undoing in the Middle East* by Kim Ghattas (Henry Holt & Company)

4 rave reviews

Christopher de Bellaigue in *The New York Times Book Review* commends Ghattas for her exploration of ideology and the long-standing instability in Lebanon.

5. *Reds: A Global History of Communism* by Paul Mason (Scribner)

3 rave reviews, 1 mixed

*Kirkus* calls it a “deeply researched” essential history that critically examines the ideology of communism.