Gary Shteyngart is not afraid to get satirical when the situation calls for it. An American writer born in Leningrad, Shteyngart’s prose is filled with blistering humor and sharp societal observations powered by masterful storytelling. His work is acclaimed and awarded, best-selling and blurbed, read and translated into twenty-six languages. Shteyngart’s fifth book, Lake Success, described as “a stylish and big-hearted novel” by Publisher’s Weekly, takes on a character who abandons his life in the one percent to learn about the “real America.” We can’t wait to take his take to heart.

Comedian Hari Kondabolu is probably the smartest person you’ll laugh at this year. Why? Because he earned a Masters in Human Rights from the London School of Economics and worked as an immigrant rights organizer in Seattle. Thanks to that, his comedy is a complex blend of social commentary, honest personal experience, and trenchant political wit. His new Netflix standup special Warn Your Relatives came out this year, he was named one of Variety’s “Top 10 Comics to Watch,” and his critically-acclaimed documentary The Problem with Apu has been making waves since 2017. Sit down and get ready to be taken to school by the brainiest comedian around.

The Portland-based folk group Lenore rose up from the rock bottom of its two creators. Following a period of personal problems, Rebecca Marie Miller and Joy Pearson found solace in songwriting and the immediate connection they felt with each other after a chance meeting. Two years after that fateful night, Lenore has performed at a plethora of legendary Pacific Northwest venues, opened for acts like Blitzen Trapper, Laura Gibson, and Gomez, and brought on full-time musical collaborators to help develop their signature sound. Their self-titled debut album showcases their dreamy, melancholic blend of harmony-driven folk – and appropriately, given how they met, an ever-present sense of hope.