18 new books to kick your November reading into gear.
We’re starting the month off strong, with new books from Katherine Dunn, N.K. Jemisin, Franny Choi, Dorthe Nors, and more. Not to mention the celebrity book component: Bono, Bob Dylan, and Matthew Perry (whose memoir we might be looking forward to, but whose stance on Keanu Reeves we simply cannot condone).
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Katherine Dunn, Toad
(MCD)
“A gentle, funny, heartbreaking indictment of the naïve excesses of the 1960s and the testament of a woman who survived them.”
–Kirkus
N.K. Jemisin, The World We Make
(Orbit)
“This riveting and powerful urban fantasy duology is masterfully written.”
–Buzzfeed
Ken Burns, Our America
(Knopf)
“Burns’s distinctive photographic history, replete with illuminating backstories for every image, encompasses America’s multitudinous beauty and dynamism as well as its tragic failures to realize its ideals.”
–Booklist
Franny Choi, The World Keeps Ending, and the World Goes On
(Ecco)
“Franny’s full-length collection is so special, so thoughtful, and so exciting to read … An exquisite collection.”
–Book Riot
Joy Harjo, Weaving Sundown in a Scarlet Light
(W. W. Norton)
“[Harjo’s] poetry is light and elixir, the very best prescription for us in wounded times.”
–The Millions
Blair Braverman, Small Game
(Ecco)
“Propulsive and twisty, Small Game is a gripping thrill ride about human nature at its best and its worst.”
–Esquire
Percival Everett, Dr. No
(Graywolf Press)
“A good place to begin finding out why Everett has such a devoted cult.”
–Kirkus
Jerry Saltz, Art Is Life
(Riverhead)
“There’s no one quite like Saltz … He’s the best art critic working today.”
–Shelf Awareness
Dorthe Nors, A Line in the World
(Graywolf Press)
“An intricate reckoning with a world that, despite our best attempts to tame it, remains elemental and wild.”
–Kirkus
Claire Keegan, Foster
(Grove Press)
“A thing of finely honed beauty and cumulative power, a story that deals in suggestion, exactitude and telling detail.”
–The Observer
Matthew Perry, Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing
(Flatiron)
“Perry opens a window into the mind of an addict, a place in which the struggle to get sober is a civil war and many battles are lost to relapse … candid.”
–Los Angeles Times
Baek Sehee, tr. Anton Hur, I Want to Die But I Want to Eat Tteokbokki
(Bloomsbury)
“Honest and authentic throughout … A sincere attempt at self-discovery that will resonate with young people who suffer from similar forms of depression and anxiety.”
–Library Journal
Dionne Irving, The Islands
(Catapult)
“An expansive collection of stories chronicling the Jamaican diaspora … Irving is at her best in odd, harsh moments.”
–Kirkus
Malcolm Gaskill, The Ruin of All Witches
(Knopf)
“A brilliant, unforgettable portrait of a small, beleaguered community in New England.”
–The Times
Graeme McRae Burnet, Case Study
(Biblioasis)
“If Burnet’s aim in writing Case Study was to force us up against the contradictions of our conflicted selves, he has surely succeeded. This is a novel that is entertaining and mindfully engrossing in equal measure.”
–The Guardian
Bono, Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story
(Knopf)
“He writes wittily about meeting future band mates (and wife) in school in Dublin … Chatty and self-regarding but pleasantly free of outright narcissism. A no-brainer for U2’s legions of fans.”
–Kirkus
Zosia Mamet, My First Popsicle
(Penguin)
“In this nourishing collection, Girls star and Glamour columnist Mamet gathers food stories and recipes from an A-list cast of actors, comedians, musicians, and other celebrities … delectable.”
–Publishers Weekly
Bob Dylan, The Philosophy of Modern Song
(Simon & Schuster)
“It’s part music-appreciation class, part podcast-style rant, and as unpredictable, cranky and largely engrossing as the man himself.”
–The Rolling Stone
