Afterglow by Eileen Myles: “Starting from the emptiness following Rosie’s death, Afterglow (a dog memoir) launches a heartfelt and fabulist investigation into the true nature of the bond between pet and pet-owner. Through this lens, we witness Myles’s experiences with intimacy and spirituality, celebrity and politics, alcoholism and recovery, fathers and family history, as well as the fantastical myths we spin to get to the heart of grief.”

An Odyssey by Daniel Mendelsohn: “When eighty-one-year-old Jay Mendelsohn decides to enroll in the undergraduate Odyssey seminar his son teaches at Bard College, the two find themselves on an adventure as profoundly emotional as it is intellectual.”

The Origin of Others by Toni Morrison: “America’s foremost novelist reflects on the themes that preoccupy her work and increasingly dominate national and world politics: race, fear, borders, the mass movement of peoples, the desire for belonging.”

Also this month: We’ll interview Samantha Irby and Megan Stielstra, review Some Bright Morning I’ll Fly Away by Alice Anderson, and hear from author Tara Jepsen about Like a Dog. Oh, and we’ll be rocking out to a new #gods playlist by author Matthew Gallaway.