Ottessa Moshfegh's dark 'Lapvona,' Riley Sager thriller: 5 must-read new books this week

In search of something good to read? USA TODAY's Barbara VanDenburgh scopes out the shelves for this week’s hottest new book releases. All books are on sale Tuesday.

'Lapvona'

By Ottessa Moshfegh (Penguin Press, fiction)

What it's about: Little Marek, an abused and motherless shepherd boy in a village beset by disasters, is put through a spiritual test in this grotesque medieval tale from the unsparing author of “My Year of Rest and Relaxation.”

The buzz: "It’s a triumph," says a starred review from Publishers Weekly.

'A complete joy to read': Ruth Ozeki wins Women's Prize for 'Book of Form and Emptiness'

'An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us'

By Ed Yong (Random House, nonfiction)

What it's about: How do animals sense our immense world? Pulitzer Prize-winning science journalist Yong goes deep into the animal world to show readers how beetles, turtles, bees, fish and giant squids experience Earth.

The buzz: "One of the year’s best popular natural histories," says a starred review from Kirkus Review.

'The House Across the Lake'

By Riley Sager (Dutton, fiction)

What it's about: Alfred Hitchcock's "Rear Window" serves as inspiration for Sager's latest thriller. Trying to escape bad press, recently widowed actor Casey Fletcher retreats to her family's Vermont lake house with a pair of binoculars. But she soon discovers the couple across the lake isn't as glamorous as they first appear.

The buzz: A starred review from Publishers Weekly calls it an "outstanding novel of suspense."

'Learning to Talk: Stories'

By Hilary Mantel (Henry Holt and Co., fiction)

What it's about: The Booker Prize-winning author of the Wolf Hall trilogy pens a new collection of poignant, loosely autobiographical stories reflecting on her childhood in an insular English village.

The buzz: Kirkus Reviews praises these "sharp, unsentimental tales from a writer haunted by her past" in a starred review.

'The Mirror & the Light': Hilary Mantel brings Cromwell trilogy to a brilliant end

'On Rotation'

By Shirlene Obuobi (Avon, fiction)

What it's about: Ghanaian American Angela Appiah is a model immigrant daughter, with a spot in an elite medical school and an enviable boyfriend. But when she bombs a test, gets dumped and starts to fall for the wrong guy, will she lose her strict parents’ approval?

The buzz: "This effervescent story is a treat," says Publishers Weekly.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Ottessa Moshfegh's 'Lapvona,' Riley Sager, Ed Yong among 5 new books