September 30, 2025, 4:35am
With the world as we know it seemingly caving in around us, never has there been a better time to orient ourselves around what truly matters. Our loved ones. Our activism. Our small kindnesses to each other. Our devotion to weighty, real things that give life meaning. I’m currently reading George Saunders’s A Swim in the Pond in the Rain, belatedly, and am struck by the certainty Saunders has in the relationship between caring about stories, and caring about life:
The part of the mind that reads a story is also the part that reads the world; it can deceive us, but it can also be trained to accuracy; it can fall into disuse and make us more susceptible to lazy, violent, materialistic forces, but it can also be urged back to life, transforming us into more active, curious, alert readers of reality.
To that end, let us be urged back to life, let us read so that we may continue parsing and understanding reality. This week, Lily King releases a sister-novel to Writers and Lovers (gorgeous, stirring, heartbreaking) and Richard Osman continues his beloved Thursday Murder Club series (cozy, funny, delicious). We have poetry by Ada Limón and Patricia Smith, and nonfiction works about topics such as the war over TikTok, a diary from Gaza, and a survey on horror movies and feminism. Me, I’ll be rereading Lily King over and over again, as well as Jade Chang and Olga Ravn. Enjoy!
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Lily King, Heart the Lover
(Grove)
“King’s swoony story of love and literature, of paths taken and not taken, of the past selves we never truly leave behind, is quietly robust and nearly impossible to put down.”
–Booklist
Richard Osman, The Impossible Fortune
(Pamela Dorman)
“The Thursday Murder Club is back and better than ever … You’ll be happy just to have spent some time in Osman’s delightful world.”
–Kirkus
Souvankham Thammavongsa, Pick a Color
(Little Brown)
“One of the greatest novels I have ever read … Love, death, joy, abandonment, deception and lust are all at stake in Susan’s Nail Salon. The world of Pick a Color is shockingly intimate.”
–Rita Bullwinkel
Jade Chang, What a Time to Be Alive
(Ecco)
“Chang delivers a moving novel about grief, fame, and what it means to be seen.”
–Alta
Hooman Majd, Minister Without Portfolio: Memoir of a Reluctant Exile
(ZE Books)
“Majd [is] a gifted storyteller.”
–Jon Lee Anderson
Olga Ravn, trans. by Martin Aitken, The Wax Child
(New Directions)
“A magnificent book. A true masterpiece of both substance and style.”
–Kirkus
Mariana Enriquez, trans. by Megan McDowell, Somebody is Walking on Your Grave
(Hogarth)
“Quietly, hypnotically amusing.”
–Kirkus
James D. Tabor, The Lost Mary
(Knopf)
“A fresh perspective on a figure who continues to fascinate … Tabor makes a strong case for a Mary who was not a bystander but an integral part of a messianic movement.”
–Booklist
Werner Herzog, trans. by Michael Hofmann, The Future of Truth
(Penguin Press)
“Herzog is an erudite and elegant writer seeking to understand what he considers the simulacrum of truth.”
–Library Journal
Mia Couto, trans. by David Brookshaw, The Cartographer of Absences
(FSG)
“Couto’s storytelling is rich … A contemplative study of colonialism’s collapse, and its enduring legacy.”
–Kirkus
Yume Kitasei, Saltcrop
(Flatiron)
“A moving testament to the distant places we’ll sail to in order to salvage the Earth and our families. Part eco-thriller, part sisterhood epic, Kitasei has written an unforgettable novel that teems with big ideas and abundant heart.”
–Michelle Min Sterling
Lionel Richie, Truly
(HarperOne)
“Richie is refreshingly open in the book … There’s an abundance of love and gratitude in this wildly entertaining, utterly charming memoir.”
–Kirkus
Elena Sheppard, The Eternal Forest: A Memoir of the Cuban Diaspora
(St. Martin’s Press)
“Sheppard explores it all—the dark histories, the hidden heartbreaks, the boats lost at sea—with generous curiosity and love. She has made her Cuban ancestors proud with this detailed, unflinching link in the diasporic chain.”
–Emma Straub
Bora Chung, trans. by Anton Hur, Midnight Timetable
(Algonquin)
“Part fable, part ghost story, and part social commentary, this is a beautiful and devastating excavation of how people make sense of the world’s violence and tragedies.”
–Publishers Weekly
Lisa Graves, Without Precedent: How Chief Justice Roberts and His Accomplices Rewrote the Constitution and Dismantled Our Rights
(Bold Type Books)
“A well-researched, cogently analyzed, and eye-opening chronicle of Roberts and his seemingly compromised Supreme Court.”
–Booklist
David McCloskey, The Persian
(W. W. Norton)
“In probing the deep moral and practical complexities of this shadow war, McCloskey’s novel could not be more timely or unsettling.”
–Kirkus
Plestia Alaqad, The Eyes of Gaza: A Diary of Resilience
(Little Brown)
“Transforms pain into poetry, offering readers an unfiltered glimpse into the depths of loss, hope and survival.”
–Rupi Kuar
Patricia Smith, The Intentions of Thunder
(Scribner)
“[Smith’s] uncanny ear and powerfully empathic imagination bring to life Black figures … Readers will find themselves forever changed by Smith’s spirited voice.”
–Publishers Weekly
Eleanor Johnson, Scream With Me: Horror Movies and the Rise of American Feminism (1968-1980)
(Atria)
“Riveting, enlightening, and occasionally scream-inducing … This deep excavation of art imitating life is more than positive affirmation for horror fans; it is a call—or scream—to action.”
–Shelf Awareness
Emily Baker-White, Every Screen on the Planet: The War Over TikTok
(W. W. Norton)
“An in-depth account of the struggle between the U.S. and China to control TikTok … Readers will be riveted.”
–Publishers Weekly
Victoria Redel, I Am You
(SJP Lit)
“A lush, sexy, absorbing novel that brings to life two artists who are inextricably linked in passion and competition. Redel is a master storyteller whose exquisite prose held me rapt. A profound achievement.”
–Melissa Febos
Ada Limon, Startlement: New and Selected Poems
(Milkweed)
“Startlement is a book of rare treasures. With lyrical mastery and intimate storytelling, Limón’s poetry reveals new ways of paying attention. This powerful collection is a gift.”
–Amy Tan
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