A round-up of recent books from authors with Washtenaw County connections, past and present. We've also highlighted Ann Arbor-area readings and signings when available.

Gina Brandolino and Joe Carlough
Queer Horror: Fun and Freaky Perspectives on Macabre Media
Genre: Nonfiction
Synopsis: "Don’t be scared straight! Curl up on the couch with Joe and Gina for a romp through their favorite horror movies, TV shows, and books from the 1930s to today, exploring their messages, meaning, and enduring appeal for queer audiences. From The Thing to vampire porn, The Exorcist to paranormal television, Goblin Market to Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, these thoughtful, conversational essays will make you think, laugh, shiver, and see your favorite media in a new light (even if you have to cover your eyes for the scary parts). // Horror buffs and queer media mavens alike will enjoy this wide-ranging journey through a genre often derided, dismissed, and misunderstood, but which offers rich opportunities to explore our culture’s ideas about gender, sexuality, and desire. Whether you relate to the monster or the final girl, enjoy sleuthing hidden queer themes, or just want recommendations for obscure, low-budget ghost movies, this book’ll be a scream."
Notes: Brandolino is a lecturer in the Department of English at the University of Michigan. Literati Bookstore reading on October 17, 2025, 6:30 pm.
Links: courseofhorror.wordpress.com | microcosmpublishing.com
AADL: aadl.org/catalog/record/10739233
 

Kyle Miller
The Idiot’s Garden
Genre: Fiction
Synopsis: "A jungle has overgrown the toxic remnants of a far-gone world, leaving the mysteries of the reviving Earth to those transmuted by time. A boy named Seed overcomes a terminal illness after eating a fish infested with forever chemicals. His friend Bike struggles to reconcile the present with the fragmented memories of his seemingly endless past. And Peloria, a double-minded hybrid who speaks a language of her own, searches for the meaning of her singular existence. Together, they navigate the frontier of a post-apocalyptic world and the strange power that threatens to eliminate the last humans. In this work of experimental fiction, the line between poetry and prose is as blurred as that between human and non-human, vine and power line, leaf and data chip. The only way to survive in this new world is not only to overcome one’s past, but to dissolve the boundaries of flesh itself."
Notes: Debut novel by the Ypsilanti-based writer. Book-release event at Wyrd Byrd in Ypsi on October 19 as part of a multi-author reading.
Links: dumbopress.com | facebook.com/kyle.miller.1422 | Reading at Dreamland Theatre (July 27, 2024)
AADL: aadl.org/catalog/record/10739233

Richard Primus
The Oldest Constitutional Question
Genre: Nonfiction
Synopsis: "A groundbreaking challenge to a core principle of constitutional law, arguing that congressional action is not limited by the legislative branch’s textually enumerated powers. // Every law student learns that the federal government is constrained to act only according to its enumerated powers, meaning that Congress can do what the Constitution expressly authorizes it to and nothing more. Yet Richard Primus contends that this longstanding orthodoxy—allegedly required by the text of the Constitution, the Framers’ vision, and the logic of federalism—is fundamentally flawed. // Through careful analysis of constitutional text and history, and of the structure of American federalism, The Oldest Constitutional Question builds a powerful argument for broad congressional authority. In particular, Primus shows that the primary function of enumeration is to rule listed powers in, not to rule other powers out. The Framers were more worried that the federal government might be fragile and anemic than that it would be overwhelmingly strong. Enumerating congressional powers is thus best understood as a way of ensuring that the federal legislature has an incontestable warrant to exercise the powers specified there, not as an exhaustive description of all that Congress can do."
Notes: Professor at the University of Michigan Law School. Literati reading on October 28, 2025, 6:30 pm.
Links: "5Qs: Richard Primus’s New Book Asks the Oldest Constitutional Question" [Michigan Law School, June 3, 2025] | hup.harvard.edu

Christopher Cosmos
Island of Ghosts and Dreams
Genre: Fiction
Synopsis: "Chania, Crete; 1941. // When mainland Greece falls to the Germans after incredible and heroic resistance, the Greek government flees south to Crete: an ancient island of Gods and Kings, and Myths and Minotaurs. // Maria is a villager whose husband has been away fighting with the Greek army, and after she finds a British soldier who washes up on a secluded beach near her home, and helps nurse him back to health, the Germans then turn south and invade Crete, too. // Occupation, tragedy, and betrayal follow. The lives of Maria and her family change in an instant, and she finds herself in a role she never thought she'd have to play—and one that generations of Cretans have had to assume before her. // Steeped in history and filled with unforgettable characters, Island of Ghosts and Dreams is a profoundly moving and decades-spanning tale of passion, honor, family, the great and enduring sacrifices all generations must make for freedom, and our sacred and immortal obligation to follow the strength and power of our heart, no matter where it might lead us.
Notes: University of Michigan grad
Links: "Author, Screenwriter, and U-M Alum Christopher Cosmos' Debut Novel Covers Characters Caught Up in Greece’s WWII Fight" [Pulp, October 26, 2021] | "Love As Catalyst: Christopher Cosmos conveys the connection between Alexandros and Hephaestion in his new novel, 'Young Conquerors'" [Pulp, October 17, 2024] | simonandschuster.com

Lynn Baldwin (author)
and Megan Elizabeth Baratta (illustrator)
My Backyard Used to Be
Genre: Children's picture book
Synopsis: "My backyard is where we play and learn, but it wasn’t always my backyard . . . Hit rewind on the view out your back door as this story zips back in time, showing readers how people, lifestyles, and land have changed over time. My Backyard Used To Be makes history feel current and accessible to young readers—and encourages them to discover what their own backyard used to be."
Notes: Baldwin is based in Ann Arbor. Published by Ann Arbor's Tilbury House, an imprint of Sleeping Bear Press
Links: tilburyhouse.com

Kateryna Sylvanova and Elena Malisova
translated by Anne O. Fisher
Pioneer Summer
Genre: Fiction
Synopsis: "This star-crossed gay romance is a #1 bestselling TikTok sensation that took readers by storm, made international news, and catalyzed one of Russia’s largest-ever crackdowns on LGBTQ representation. // Cowritten by a Ukrainian–Russian duo, Pioneer Summer reached such heights of popularity that Putin stepped in to ban it. Now this swoony romance will transport American readers to another place and time and introduce them to one of the most memorable relationships of their lives. // The year is 1986, and Yurka Konev, 16, has been sent off for another summer at Pioneer Camp. Impulsive, forthright, and unfairly branded as a troublemaker, he anticipates the weeks ahead of him with boredom and dread. // But when he’s pushed into working on the camp’s theater production, he meets serious, thoughtful troop leader Volodya. Yurka finds himself drawn to the slightly older boy, and, surprisingly, Volodya seems to like him, too. The two boys grow closer and closer, and though both fear the consequences of their illegal attraction, its gravity pulls them together. // Now, 20 years later, Yury returns to the abandoned camp to reminisce on the relationship that changed his life forever—and discovers that not all history is destined to remain in the past."
Notes: Fisher has a Ph.D. in Slavic Languages and Literatures from the University of Michigan
Links: anneofisher.com | abramsbooks.com
AADL: aadl.org/catalog/record/10743440

E.Y. Zhao
Underspin
Genre: Fiction
Synopsis: "Stay True meets Headshot in this intimate, bruising coming-of-age novel about the short and tumultuous life of a charismatic and enigmatic table tennis prodigy, as seen through the eyes of those pulled into his orbit. // Ryan Lo begins playing table tennis at age eight, under the tutelage of his brilliant but ruthless coach Kristian, who sees talent in him that might be nurtured into greatness. Throughout an adolescence circumscribed by Kristian’s demanding behavior, Ryan forms jealousy-fueled and mutually adoring friendships with his teammates and competitors, falls in love with fellow table tennis star Anabel Yu, and above all, wins championships. // By twenty-one, Ryan ascends all the way to the German Bundesliga, the highest echelon of international table tennis, just as he was supposed to, but he doesn’t stay there. It is clear to all that Ryan Lo was meant to be the greatest in the world. Instead, he abandons competition and is dead before his twenty-fifth birthday. What happened? // In crisp, evocative prose, Underspin masterfully delves beneath the relentless pressure that forges a champion, considering adolescence, estrangement, and the great injustices committed within our closest relationships. A love letter to an underdog sports circuit and a tender exploration of love, loss, and abuse, Underspin is a bildungsroman and literary puzzle for readers of Rita Bullwinkel, Hua Hsu, Susan Choi, and Brandon Taylor."
Notes: Debut novel by U-M grad
Links: eyzhaowriter.com | penguinrandomhouse.com

Janis M. Falk
Not Yet Lost
Genre: Historical fiction
Synopsis: "For fans of Kristin Hannah and Jennifer Chiaverini, a novel about a Polish immigrant woman who fights against worker oppression in Depression-era Detroit despite opposition by many—even her own husband. // In this gritty, cinematic story, hardworking Florence and her best friend, Basia, are enraged by the poor treatment, low wages, and unsafe working conditions they endure in the factory where they hand-roll cigars. Florence is as reserved and compliant as Basia is fiery and forthright. // During a time when their choices were between bad and worse, this is an underdog story of a woman who must search for her voice in order to lead a labor movement against her husband’s violent efforts to silence her. // Set in turbulent 1937 Detroit, this novel portrays the Eastern European immigrant struggle when difficult economic times, xenophobia, “Fordism,” secret societies, and Communist-led labor organizations buffeted the demographic. // Will Florence and her husband resolve their conflicts both inside and outside the home? At what cost?"
Notes: U-M grad. Literati Bookstore reading on October 23, 2025, 6:30 pm.
Links: janisfalk.com | shewritespress.com

Hakem Amer Al-Rustom
Enduring Erasures: Afterlives of the Armenian Genocide
Genre: Nonfiction
Synopsis: "During World War I, the Ottoman Armenian population was subjected to genocidal violence. The survivors largely fled Anatolia, forming diasporic communities around the world. Some Armenians, however, remained in what became the Republic of Turkey, and descendants of survivors still live there today as citizens of the state that once sought their annihilation. Despite their continued presence, Armenians in Turkey face ongoing exclusion and erasure from public life and collective memory. // Enduring Erasures is a historical ethnography of survival in the aftermath of catastrophe, examining how the specter of genocide still looms over the lives of the survivors’ descendants and the social fabric of Turkey. Drawing on fieldwork conducted in Istanbul and Paris, Hakem Amer Al-Rustom offers a nuanced account of the daily existence of Armenians in Turkey and the broader Armenian experience in the diaspora. He develops the concept of “denativization” to analyze how Armenians were rendered into foreigners in their ancestral lands before, during, and after the genocide, showing how the erasure of Armenian presence and identity continues to this day both in Turkey and among the diaspora in France. Interdisciplinary and meticulously researched, Enduring Erasures challenges deeply ingrained nationalist histories and provides a powerful testament to the indelible mark that dispossession has left on Armenian lives. Emphasizing the human stories and personal narratives that anchor its historical analysis, this book is an essential read for those interested in the intersections of memory, identity, and political violence."
Notes:  Assistant professor of history and assistant professor of anthropology at the University of Michigan. Literati Bookstore reading on October 29, 2025, 6:30 pm.
Links: lsa.umich.edu | cup.columbia.edu

Donald S. Lopez Jr.
The Buddha: Biography of a Myth
Genre: Nonfiction
Synopsis: "Like Jesus and Muhammad, the Buddha is one of the most significant figures in history. But is he a historical figure? In this revelatory book, Donald S. Lopez Jr. explores this question and considers what is at stake in the answer. Using stories of the Buddha’s life—drawn from the earliest biographies, the work of other scholars, and his own research—Lopez traces a single narrative from the Buddha’s birth to his enlightenment to his passage into nirvana. // Unlike those who transformed the Buddha into a rationalist philosopher, Lopez seeks to “remythologize” the Buddha, restoring the rainbow that encircled the Buddha for centuries, radiating his teachings around the world. Complementing traditional Buddhist sources with insights from Gustave Flaubert, Oscar Wilde, George Eliot, and others, Lopez produces a rich, accessible, and unprecedented portrait of one of the world’s most important religious figures."
Notes: Lopez is a professor of Buddhist and Tibetan Studies at the University of Michigan. Literati Bookstore reading on November 4, 2025, 6:30 pm.
Links: lsa.umich.edu | yalebooks.yale.edu
AADL: aadl.org/catalog/record/10745202

Editors: Michael Atzmon, John Cheyney-Lippold, Gary Krenz, and Melanie Schulze Tanelian
In the Spirit of H. Chandler Davis: Activism and the Struggle for Academic Freedom
Genre: Nonfiction
Synopsis: "The essays collected in this book honor H. Chandler Davis (1926-2022), a University of Michigan faculty member who became a symbol of principled dissent when suspended and fired in 1954 for refusing to testify about his political affiliations to the House Un-American Activities Committee. Invoking academic freedom and First Amendment protection, Davis was convicted of contempt of Congress. He served six months in prison before moving to Canada, where he established himself as a brilliant mathematician, prolific writer, and ardent and much beloved advocate for justice. // At a time when a new McCarthyism has come roaring back to threaten free inquiry everywhere, the 12 contributors to this book argue against censorship, the suppression of protest, the policed and surveilled campus, the self-silencing of “institutional neutrality,” and other enemies of academic freedom. Also included in this volume is posthumously published work by Davis and by his late wife, the historian Natalie Zemon Davis, which reflects on the importance of facing, and not accepting, authoritarian threats. // Inspired by Chandler Davis’ courage, integrity, and devotion to the struggle against oppression, injustice, and the persecution of speech, these essays offer crucial insights into the importance of defending intellectual independence, institutional autonomy, and the right to free expression."
Notes: Cheyney-Lippold, Krenz, and Schulze Tanelian are U-M professors. Literati Bookstore reading on November 13, 2025, 6:30 pm.
Links: disobediencepress.com

John U. Bacon
The Gales of November: The Untold Story of the Edmund Fitzgerald
Genre: Nonfiction
Synopsis: "For three decades following World War II, the Great Lakes overtook Europe as the epicenter of global economic strength. The region was the beating heart of the world economy, possessing all the power and prestige Silicon Valley does today. And no ship represented the apex of the American Century better than the 729-foot-long Edmund Fitzgerald—the biggest, best, and most profitable ship on the Lakes. // But on November 10, 1975, as the “storm of the century” threw 100 mile-per-hour winds and 50-foot waves on Lake Superior, the Mighty Fitz found itself at the worst possible place, at the worst possible time. When she sank, she took all 29 men onboard down with her, leaving the tragedy shrouded in mystery for a half century. // In The Gales of November, award-winning journalist John U. Bacon presents the definitive account of the disaster, drawing on more than 100 interviews with the families, friends, and former crewmates of those lost. Bacon explores the vital role Great Lakes shipping played in America’s economic boom, the uncommon lives the sailors led, the sinking’s most likely causes, and the heartbreaking aftermath for those left behind—"the wives, the sons, and the daughters,” as Gordon Lightfoot sang in his unforgettable ballad. // Focused on those directly affected by the tragedy, The Gales of November is both an emotional tribute to the lives lost and a propulsive, page-turning narrative history of America’s most-mourned maritime disaster."
Notes: Popular and prolific Ann Arbor author with his latest book on a Michigan topic.
Links: johnubacon.com | wwnorton.com
AADL: aadl.org/catalog/record/10740159

Jeffrey Seller
Theater Kid: A Broadway Memoir
Genre: Autobiography
Synopsis: "A coming-of-age tale from one of the most successful American producers of our time, Jeffrey Seller, who is the only producer to have mounted two Pulitzer Prize–winning musicals—Hamilton and Rent. // Before he was producing the musical hits of our generation, Jeffrey was just a kid coming to terms with his adoption, trying to understand his sexuality, and determined to escape his dysfunctional household in a poor neighborhood just outside Detroit. We see him find his voice through musical theater and move to New York, where he is determined to shed his past and make a name for himself on Broadway. // But moving to the big city is never easy—especially not at the height of the HIV/AIDS crisis—and Jeffrey learns to survive and thrive in the colorful and cutthroat world of commercial theatre. From his early days as an office assistant, to meeting Jonathan Larson and experiencing the triumph and tragedy of Rent, to working with Lin-Manuel Miranda on In the Heights and Hamilton, Jeffrey completely pulls back the curtain on the joyous and gut-wrenching process of making new musicals, finding new audiences, and winning a Tony Award—all the while finding himself. // Told with Jeffrey’s candid and captivating voice, Theater Kid is a gripping memoir about fighting through a hardscrabble childhood to make art on one’s own terms, chasing a dream against many odds, and finding acceptance and community."
Notes: U-M grad and Michigan native. Event at AADL on November 20, 2025, 6:30 pm.
Links: jeffreyseller.com | simonandschuster.com
AADL: aadl.org/search/catalog/Jeffrey%20Seller%20Theater%20Kid

Cary Gitter
Cammy Sitting Shiva
Genre: Fiction
Synopsis: "This stirring debut novel is an unflinching, darkly funny look at loss, family, and coming home—perfect for fans of This Is Where I Leave You and Competitive Grieving. // When Cy Adler dies, it’s a shock to everyone, especially his daughter, Cammy. Almost thirty, slightly aimless, and stuck in a basement apartment in Queens, she’s forced to return to River Hill, her one-square-mile New Jersey hometown, to sit shiva. Cammy’s fraught relationship with her mother, Beth, has never been easy. And now, with her beloved father gone, she would rather be anywhere but back in her childhood room, in a house filled with guests noshing on snacks and offering their condolences. So Cammy does whatever she can to make it through seven turbulent days of mourning. // Amid getting stoned, reconnecting with her best friend and her high school crush, evading the rabbi, and spending a debauched night in Atlantic City, Cammy must reckon with her roots—with the place she fled for the glamour of New York, where she thought she belonged. But is she really any better off than those she left behind? While navigating the swirl of emotions that accompany grief, Cammy also uncovers hidden truths about her father, which lead her to doubt how well she knew the man she adored. Then again, does she even know herself? // Fueled by wry, lively prose, Cammy Sitting Shiva is a deeply relatable fish-out-of-water story, grappling with how it feels to be adrift and to find that a hard trip home may be what it takes to anchor you."
Notes: Ann Arbor playwright and lyricist with his debut novel.
Links: carygitter.com | penguinrandomhouse.com
AADL: aadl.org/catalog/record/10739520

Beth Hollar Gier
It’s Like We Touched the Moon
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
Synopsis: "It's 1969, school's out, and 13-year-old, NASA-obsessed Grace Kelly Donovan is already uneasy about the long summer ahead. Her dad is in Vietnam, her mom is distracted by the news, and all her long-time best friend wants to do is hang out at Lake Michigan with the popular kids. When Grace finds out that the local space camp has been designated "boys only," she is devastated. The one thing she thought might save her summer in the end—meeting an actual NASA scientist and hearing him speak—now seems out of reach. But Grace gets to work, engineering a plan that may bring her closer to her dreams—and show everyone that girls can break barriers."
Notes: U-M music grad and Michigan-based author.
Links: bethgier.com | west44books.com
AADL: aadl.org/catalog/record/10739495

William Stroebel
Literature's Refuge: Rewriting the Mediterranean Borderscape
Genre: Nonfiction
Synopsis: "In 1923, the Greco-Turkish Population Exchange uprooted and swapped nearly two million Christians and Muslims, “pacifying” the so-called Near East through ethnic partition and refugeehood. This imposition of borders not only uprooted peoples from their place in the world; it also displaced many of their stories from a place in world literature. // In Literature’s Refuge, William Stroebel recovers and weaves together work by fugitive writers, oral storytellers, readers, copyists, editors, and translators dispersed by this massive “unmixing” of populations and the broader border logic that it set in motion. Stroebel argues that two complementary forces emerged as a template for the Eastern Mediterranean’s cultural landscape: the modern border, which reshuffled people through a system of filters and checkpoints; and modern philology, which similarly reshuffled their words and works. Philologists and publishers defined modern literature by picking apart, extracting, reformatting, or dispossessing refugee and diasporic texts across a racialized borderscape—a gray zone of semi-inclusion and semi-exclusion, semimobility and immobility. // Stroebel reaches into the chinks and crannies of this borderscape to reconstitute the rich textual geography between Greek Orthodoxy and Sunni Islam, between Greek-script, Arabic-script, and Latin-script literary traditions at the edges of Europe and the Middle East. Doing so, he offers a new methodological toolkit for rewriting the modern borderscapes of world literature."
Notes: Stroebel is an assistant professor of modern Greek and comparative literature at the University of Michigan.
Links: lsa.umich.edu | press.princeton.edu

George Gershwin
edited by Mark Clague
An American in Paris: Tone poem for orchestra (Final Version)
Genre: Sheet music
Synopsis: "George Gershwin's An American in Paris is published in a new critical edition that faithfully reconstructs the composer's original sound. This edition is based on Gershwin's handwritten scores, on the basis of which interventions from the revised version by F. Campbell-Watson have been corrected. Thus, among other things, it was possible to restore the originally intended instrumentation - including the iconic Parisian cab horns. Another special feature of this edition is the addition of playing techniques that correspond to the practical performance conventions of the time of composition and were extracted from historical recordings. In this way, Gershwin's musical portrait of an American in Paris gains new authenticity—between wanderlust, homesickness, and the flair of urban modernity."
Notes: Music and analysis for the complete version of "An American in Paris" by U-M music professor and head of the U-M Arts Initiative.
Links: arts.umich.edu | schott-music.com

Patrick Dunn
White Noise
Our House
Genre: Horror comics
Synopsis: White Noise: "It’s about a white noise machine that starts to make some decidedly less-than-relaxing sounds, and it’s very much based on a true story that happened to me one paranoid night."
Our House: "[A] short horror comic about what happens when a couple comes home to find another family living in their house."
Notes: The editor of Concentrate wrote, drew, and published two short horror comics this year. Hear Dunn discuss White Noise on the locally produced podcast Reads and Weeds.
Links: graphicnightmares.art

For more coverage of local authors and events, visit the Written Word section of Pulp. Additionally, the 2025 A2 Community Book Fest happens on Sunday, November 9, at the Ann Arbor District Library's Downtown location, 10 am to 5 pm.