These new works by local authors are either on the shelves now or will be soon. Take note.
Madeline Miller
These days, the shelves are well-stocked with myth-mining romantasies filled with fates, fights and fornication, but let it be known that Madeline Miller is on a Mount Olympus all her own. In her spellbinding and best-selling novels The Song of Achilles (2011) and Circe (2018) she employed gorgeous and grounded prose to pull Greek mythology into a world that could pass for our own. Illness has hindered Miller’s output in recent years, but let us take this new standalone short story as an auspicious omen. Mestra explores the lesser known tale of Erysichthon, a brazen king cursed with insatiable hunger after pissing off Demeter.
The Night Parade and Other Stories
Stephanie Feldman
Feldman, who made this city her chessboard in the supernatural suspense novel Saturnalia (2022), returns with a collection of doomy folk horror and mood-altering mini-thrillers that feel fresh and ferocious. CW: Jersey Devil.
Sarah J. Maas
Yup, the NYC-born author of the wildly popular ACOTAR fantasy series lives somewhere near Philly these days, and every time she drops a new one, independent bookstores go ham with pre-orders, launch parties and such. Which is why it surprised me when a few indie booksellers showed up on my feed wondering aloud why they had to wait until the official October 27th pub date to start selling A Court of Splintered Harmony, while Walmarts and Targets and such already had them on the shelves. Perhaps it’ll be explained in Maas’s next title, A Court of Corporate Bulk Orders. (JK; but when it comes to books, try to buy from the small guy.) Anyway. The next and penultimate installment in the series is A Court of Forgotten Melody and it’s coming out January 12, 2027.
Jason Rekulak
Billed as “Garfield meets Rosemary’s Baby” by Publisher’s Weekly, Jason Rekulak’s latest supernatural novel stars a young Philly cartoonist about to take the cat-sitting job from hell. It sounds like Rekulak’s wheelhouse: funny, dark, and stuffed with illustrations. After serving 16 years at Philly’s Quirk Books as publisher and ghostwriter, the man has a sharp eye for creepy crowd-pleasers that both respect and upend the horror genre.
The Seer: Toni Morrison Among the Ruins
Farah Jasmine Griffin
Philadelphia-born author, scholar and Columbia professor Farah Jasmine Griffin explores the life and works of the great Toni Morrison in an important new tome billed as biography, literary criticism and memoir. The Seer isn’t due out till January 12th, which gives you time to cross off some titles from your Toni checklist. Don’t sleep on Sula.
Nick Paumgarten
The New Yorker staff writer isn’t from Philly, but he’s a Flyers fan because his parents raised him right. In his new memoir, Paumgarten contemplates the intersection of masculinity and hockey through the lens of the players he knows best: his beer league teammates and the Broad Street Bullies. Due out November 10th.
Katie Bennett
Perhaps best known (to indie music nerds, anyway) as the singer-songwriter at the front of bygone Philly band Free Cake for Every Creature, Bennett makes her literary debut with this “hybrid memoir” in which her own life story is interwoven with that of tragic Beat Generation figure Joan Vollmer. L.A. Review of Books calls She Was Wild Grass “haunting, compelling [and] thought-provoking.”
Rachel Calnek-Sugin
On a visit to the zoo, a jaguar locks eyes with a six-year-old girl from Mayfair and informs her that she’s not she’s not exactly human. So begins this disarming and peregrine debut novel about finding your place in an increasingly confusing world. Universe of Grace is a delightfully eccentric coming of age story; here’s hoping finds its people. Publishes November 17th.
Tara Badstubner
Dubbed “a ghost story for the living,” Tara Badstubner’s debut novel follows a young interior designer who struggles to navigate her grief after the sudden death of her husband — who is apparently watching over her from beyond the grave. In a good way.
Michael Connelly
You probably know Michael Connelly’s work — Blood Work, The Lincoln Lawyer, and several other screen-adaptable crime novels — but did you know he was from Philly? What a world. The Hollow has ex-LAPD detective Harry Bosch hunting down a crumb bum from his childhood. The Real Book Spy calls it “Dark, haunting, and deeply personal.”
WTF is a Podcast with Marc Maron
Brian “Box” Brown
We already did a whole thing on this documentary-style graphic novel by the prolific graphic novelist, but it bears repeating. Fast-paced and funny, WTF is a Podcast with Marc Maron uses fresh interviews with the titular comedian and his producer Brendan McDonald — plus 16 years of archives — to detail the rise and graceful exit of a little show that started in a garage and became a national sensation. Publishes November 3rd.
Daisy Fried
In her fifth collection, longtime Philly poet Daisy Fried (now based in San Francisco) pulls at the seams of heavy topics like motherhood and childhood, grief and death. Says Litstack: “Fried is a master at engaging, challenging the reader as a participant in the painful lived experience of loss.” True, but this line cracked me up: “You made your students write stories about happiness and they were, you said, the worst.”
Kate McGrath
A contemplative debut novel about characters who make daily visits to a quiet cemetery just west of Philly. “For weeks, they pass one another. They nod. They do not stop. Then one night in late autumn, something happens that none of them can walk away from.” I am intrigued. McGrath will appear at Bookish Notions in Media on November 9th.
Multitudes: The Multiracial Experience and How to Forge a Culture of Absolute Belonging
Karabi Acharya
With multiracial identities on the rise in the U.S., the esteemed public health advocate argues for better understanding and inclusion of people who don’t fit neatly into census categories. The topic is personal for Dr. Acharya whose English-German-Bengali heritage meant she often felt out of place growing up, whether she was in India with her father’s side of the family or in the Midwest with her white relatives. Publishes November 10th; Acharya will be at Celia Bookshop in Swarthmore on November 15th.