SIX PACK

Inventive novels explore love and loss—without clichés

THE FUTURE

Doomsday preppers, one-upping tech scions, fake news, and environmental activists collide in Naomi Alderman's apocalyptic pandemic-ridden page-turner. (Simon & Schuster)

BAUMGARTNER

From Paul Auster, a day of ominous signs leaves a lasting impression on a widowed professor; some months later, a dreamed visitation from his late wife changes his romantic trajectory. (Grove Atlantic)

SAME BED DIFFERENT DREAMS

Ed Park's blisteringly entertaining newest entangles a mythic manuscript, a sprawling Korean Provisional Government, and a veteran-cum-sci-fi novelist to brilliant effect. (Random House)

THE NEW NATURALS

In Gabriel Bump's melodic story of attempting to heal, following the death of their newborn daughter, a pair of married academics builds an underground utopia. (Algonquin)

THE HAPPY COUPLE

Naoise Dolan's droll exploration of the lead-up to a London wedding peers into the entwining life of a young couple, from her beautiful ex to his initial reluctance to wed. (Ecco)

FAMILY MEAL

In Houston, a pair of complicated childhood friends reconnect—one has lost a boyfriend and spirals into addiction—in this evocative study of food and love from Bryan Washington. (Riverhead)

KEZIAH WEIR