Margaret Atwood’s poems! Spamalot! Marie Curie! 25 new books out today.
October is moving briskly along. If it’s all moving a bit too quickly, and you need to slow down for a bit with a brilliant new book, you’re in luck. Below, you’ll find twenty-five exciting, distinctive works out today in fiction, poetry, and nonfiction.
There’s anticipated new fiction from John Edgar Wideman, Mark Haber, Maame Blue, GauZ’, Camilla Grudova, and more; poetic experiments by Margaret Atwood, Jenny George, and Pam Rehm; nonfiction exploring the legacies of Marie Curie, John Lewis, Shirley Chisholm, and others; and books taking a deep dive into essential short nonfiction, the design history of the car, the making of Spamalot, Yellowstone’s paradigm-shifting designation as a then-new idea, a national park; and more.
It’s an excellent day for new things to read. I hope you’ll add some, or many, of these to your lists and piles!
*
John Edgar Wideman, Slaveroad
(Scribner)
“Long heralded as one of literature’s preeminent voices….His latest blends memoir, fiction, and history to describe what he calls the ‘slaveroad,’ a psychological and geographical artery that extends from Africa to the Global North; from the sixteenth century to the present day; and from his own family’s travails to a wider consideration of the African American experience…offers a fresh perspective of slavery’s impact and a confirmation of Wideman’s exalted status in American letters.”
–New York Magazine
Alan Hollinghurst, Our Evenings
(Random House)
“This is an extraordinary novel from Booker Prize winner Hollinghurst, memorably conceived, beautifully executed, and a gift to lovers of serious literary fiction. Every aspect is flawless: complex, multidimensional characters, subtle treatment of emotions, beautiful writing, a vividly realized theatrical setting, and more.”
–Booklist
Maame Blue, The Rest of You
(Amistad Press)
“Blue’s evocative prose and keen insights make for a compelling read, inviting reflection on the nature of trauma and the quest for identity. This powerful story affirms Blue’s place as a significant voice in contemporary literature.”
–Booklist
Kenneth C. Davis, The World in Books: 52 Works of Great Short Nonfiction
(Scribner)
“In his accessible, well-written, and unanticipatedly humorous The World in Books, Kenneth C. Davis takes readers on a journey that highlights fifty-two short yet provocative works of non-fiction. Highlight[s] both traditional favorites and contemporary classics….His poignant ‘Introduction’ sets the stage for…why books like these matter in contemporary times, which makes this collection all the more relevant. Highly recommended for every person who treasures the freedom to read.”
–J. Michael Butler
Witold Rybczynski, The Driving Machine: A Design History of the Car
(Norton)
“With exuberant insight, Rybczynski offers an intriguing, cross-continental history of the evolution of automobile design over a hundred and fifty years….The lively charm of this accessible, enjoyably mapped-out narrative is further enriched by [his] well-crafted drawings of referenced cars….Automotive enthusiasts and general readers alike will be equally enthralled.”
–Shelf Awareness
Randy Rainbow, Low-Hanging Fruit: Sparkling Whines, Champagne Problems, and Pressing Issues from My Gay Agenda
(St. Martin’s Press)
“Side-splitting….Rainbow’s saucy takes on the maladies of modern life position him as a kind of millennial Larry David, and the wry humor lives up to that comparison. This will leave readers with a smile.”
–Publishers Weekly
Margaret Atwood, Paper Boat: New and Selected Poems: 1961 – 2023
(Knopf)
“Tracing the legacy of Margaret Atwood…Paper Boat: New and Selected Poems, 1961–2023 assembles Atwood’s most vital poems in one essential volume. In pieces that are at once brilliant, beautiful, and hyper-imagined, Atwood gives voice to remarkably drawn characters—mythological figures, animals, and everyday people—all of whom have something to say about what it means to live in a world as strange as our own.”
–CBC
Jenny George, After Image
(Copper Canyon Press)
“George’s debut collection, The Dream of Reason, remains one of the more overlooked poetry projects of the past decade, a gently arcadian head nod toward Louise Glück….This sophomore effort is a more resolutely gutting affair, its title referring to the grief that clouds every experience in the aftermath of loss, the collection rife with any number of absolutely pummeling expressions of how such pain manifests….emotionally devastating and formally dynamic.”
–Library Journal
Pam Rehm, Inner Verses
(Wave Books)
“Pam Rehm…mysteriously resets the balance between outer and inner weather, the abstract and the concrete. Her poetry saints may include both the William Carlos Williams of Spring and All and Robert Creeley, whose off-kilter lines keep us surprised. In her matter-of-fact meditativeness she has something in common with James Schuyler.”
–Angela Ball
Mark Haber, Lesser Ruins
(Coffee House Press)
“In Lesser Ruins, Haber transforms the private idiosyncrasies of grief into a novel of great vitality. Haber has a tremendous talent for revealing the forms of self-sabotage particular to academia but also forms of it found everywhere, the lesser ruins that humans have been making for themselves and others for millennia. I relished the complexity and understated humor of this impeccably constructed and wondrous novel.”
–Idra Novey
GauZ’, Comrade Papa (trans. Frank Wynne)
(Biblioasis)
“A funny, ebullient, often chaotic tale of French colonial exploitation of Ivory Coast…author GauZ’ was shortlisted for the International Booker prize for his [first] novel Standing Heavy. Comrade Papa is even better.”
–John Self
Luis Jaramillo, The Witches of El Paso
(Atria/Primera Sueno Press)
“Jaramillo’s debut novel strikingly portrays a family’s unrelenting love and survival across borders, generations, and adversity with vivid descriptions of El Paso, Juarez, and the supernatural. Fans of Isabel Cañas, Zoraida Córdova, and Silvia Moreno-Garcia who enjoy historical fiction and subtle fantasy will devour this book.”
–Booklist
Rae Garringer, Country Queers: A Love Letter
(Haymarket)
“For over eleven years, writer and oral historian Rae Garringer has been thoughtfully listening to and documenting the experiences of queer people living in rural America, and now they have gathered these remarkable stories….Country Queers is a tender, fierce, and inspiring love letter to a population that is too often made invisible. Garringer serves as a generous and attentive guide, shining a light on stories of queer joy, courage, and fierce resistance. An important and necessary book.”
–Carter Sickels
Eric Idle, The Spamalot Diaries
(Crown Publishing Group)
“Idle provides a rollicking account of the making of his Broadway musical Spamalot…[and] an irresistible and unfiltered ode to the art of live theater. Fans will love this tantalizing glimpse behind the curtain.”
–Publishers Weekly
Dava Sobel, The Elements of Marie Curie: How the Glow of Radium Lit a Path for Women in Science
(Atlantic Monthly Press)
“Paints a human portrait not of an isolated genius, but of a woman who existed in and built scientific community…Sobel analyzes her subject with care and through detailed historical and personal accounts….An essential read for anyone who values works that highlight women in the sciences.”
–Shelf Awareness
Johannes Anyuru, Ixelles (trans. Nichola Smalley)
(Two Lines Press)
“A multilayered novel blending mystery, SF, and politics in an uneasily multicultural Europe…part Borges, part Stieg Larsson, and part the P.D. James of The Children of Men….Memorably inventive: the work of a writer, well established in Sweden, whom American readers will want to know.”
–Kirkus Reviews
Camilla Grudova, The Coiled Serpent
(Unnamed Press)
“Grudova’s stories are dark, creepy and strange, each a little off-kilter in a world where mental anxiety and fleshy reality are twisted into surreal scenarios by her fertile but festering imagination…for those with a penchant for gothic-tinged body horror, these are the business.”
–Eithne Farry
Cherry Lou Sy, Love Can’t Feed You
(Dutton)
“Cherry Lou Sy brings her expert playwriting gifts into the realm of Filipina coming-of-age novel….I was struck by our storyteller’s stunning precision….[I]n Cherry Lou Sy’s moving novel the skill is sourced from much warmth and tenderness. Plus, the unwillingness to simplify and spoon-feed identity is key to why Love Can’t Feed You works so well; this novel is an intensely engrossing master-class in a most real all-encompassing humanity!”
–Porochista Khakpour
Kate Greathead, The Book of George
(Holt)
“This book is a knockout. Mesmerizing from page one, it’s Stoner meets Mrs. Bridge meets George, the millennial male we can’t look away from. Kate Greathead has gifted us with a character for the ages and a novel that is sure to be swooned over and endlessly discussed.”
–Maria Semple
Shirley Chisholm, Zinga A. Fraser (editor), Shirley Chisholm in Her Own Words: Speeches and Writings
(University of California Press)
“A compendium of works by the first Black woman elected to the U.S. Congress….This collection of her writings is divided thematically into eight sections, including education, criminal justice, racism and civil rights, and women’s rights and leadership. The preface provides a sweeping introduction by Fraser, director of the Shirley Chisholm Project on Brooklyn Women’s Activism at Brooklyn College….Potent and relevant pieces by a groundbreaking Black politician.
–Kirkus Reviews
David Greenberg, John Lewis: A Life
(Simon & Schuster)
“Behold an American life like no other—lived from outsider protest activist to insider savvy politician with epic, spiritual consequences. From hundreds of revealing interviews and exhaustive documentary research, Greenberg captures Lewis’s poetic life in lyrical prose. How dearly we need this model right now of both unsurpassed moral leadership and of the craft of biography.”
–David W. Blight
Richard Bernstein, Only in America: Al Jolson and The Jazz Singer
(Knopf)
“The story of Al Jolson and The Jazz Singer is, in Richard Bernstein’s capable hands, the story of a generation of Jews in the entertainment industry. It serves as a timely reminder of what America meant to successful immigrants and their children. Replete with insights concerning sensitive issues like assimilation, intermarriage, the generational divide, and Black-Jewish relations, Only in America deserves a wide readership.”
–Jonathan D. Sarna
Randall K. Wilson, A Place Called Yellowstone: The Epic History of the World’s First National Park
(Counterpoint)
“In this fascinating account of America’s most famous landscape, Randall Wilson tells the history of Yellowstone Park and how it relates to the larger story of the American West. In vivid detail, Wilson weaves a compelling tale about a then-revolutionary concept—preserve a spectacular wilderness from commercial exploitation while opening it to the public…a must read for anyone who cares about Americans’ relationship to the natural world and the nation’s legacy of public lands.”
–Peter Stark
Atossa Araxia Abrahamian, The Hidden Globe: How Wealth Hacks the World
(Riverhead)
“Although we imagine the world as divided neatly into nation-states, it is in fact strewn with loopholes, islands, freeports, and zones where the usual laws don’t apply. Such places don’t draw attention, but they matter enormously. Atossa Abrahamian is the ideal guide—fluid, sharp-eyed, and thoughtful—to this hidden landscape.”
–Daniel Immerwahr
Jeff Jarvis, The Web We Weave: Why We Must Reclaim the Internet from Moguls, Misanthropes, and Moral Panic
(Basic Books)
“It’s fashionable these days to blame the Internet for many of society’s woes, but as Jeff Jarvis points out in this fascinating book, the Internet is merely a mirror of everything we are, good and bad, fractious and collegial, angry, sad, and joyful. One of humanity’s greatest inventions deserves to be protected and nurtured, so that it can continue to nourish us….He is the champion the Internet—and all of its users—deserve.”
–Leo Laporte
