A baker’s dozen promising new titles.
Thousands of books are published each month. And much as we’d like to, we can’t read (or review) them all. But what we can do is point out a few we think you might enjoy. In that spirit, here’s a rundown of forthcoming titles that caught our eye and may catch yours, too.
Gouged: The End of a Fair Price — and What That Means for Your Wallet by Lindsay Owens (Sept. 29th, Viking, 256 pp.). Technology makes it all too easy for companies to know just how much they can get away with charging each of us for goods and services. This book offers consumers strategies for fighting back.
Ply: A Novel by Hernan Diaz (Sept. 29th, Riverhead Books, 464 pp.). The author of 2022’s Pulitzer Prize winner, Trust, an intriguing mélange of overlapping tales about the wealthy, returns with a story set in a future world where government has failed and survival depends on clever adaptation.
Serling: A Journey into the Twilight Zone with TV’s First Visionary by Alan Sepinwall (Oct. 13th, Grand Central Publishing, 400 pp.). Rod Serling used his writing and producing talents to ask controversial questions — and sometimes answer them, too — in an era when that wasn’t done. In the process, he taught us that (in one way or another) we’re all in the twilight zone.
Stickman: A Novel by Jihoon Park (Oct. 20th, 7.13 Books, 206 pp.). At 27, Juni is both a frustrated (and drunk) rideshare driver and an aspiring author writing about the former classmate who committed America’s deadliest school shooting. Increasingly obsessed by his work-in-progress, Juni soon finds his own life unraveling.
Employee No. 9 by Kim Hye-jin; translated by Jamie Chang (Oct. 20th, Restless Books, 192 pp.). A beleaguered everyman struggles to weather life’s blows while working for a corrupt company — one that seems shockingly committed to ruining him.
The Natural Order: A Novel by Matthew Aldrich (Oct. 27th, Atria Books, 352 pp.). What if you were filthy rich and clever enough to create technology that enabled you to live forever — but others (including your own child) didn’t want you to?
Almost True: Stories from Jerusalem by Tal Shalev (Nov. 1st, Soncata Press, 192 pp.). In these 22 short, wry tales, American Israeli debut author Tal Shalev brings to life the vibrant city — and its equally vibrant and complex inhabitants.
William Howard Taft: A Great American Life by Walter Stahr (Nov. 10th, Simon & Schuster, 688 pp.). A fresh look at a president who focused on reducing the federal deficit and keeping the country out of foreign wars, and then went on to become a consequential chief justice of the Supreme Court.
Revenge Plot: A Novel by Stephanie Wrobel (Nov. 10th, Berkley, 416 pp.). In this thriller, a wannabe author has written a book that’s sure to get the attention of the literary agent he’s pursuing — because it’s all about her.
The Last Leaf: Reflections on Late-Life Creativity — and My Longest Love Affair by Willie Nelson (Nov. 10th, Penguin, 208 pp.). Willie Nelson has been around forever (even longer than Keith Richards). He’s written countless classic songs and more than a few books in his inimitable and inspiring way. This one may be the 93-year-old’s swansong.
Camera Obscura: A Novel by Enrique Vila-Matas; translated by Valerie Miles (Nov. 17th, Yale University Press, 176 pp.). In a Barcelona populated by humans and androids, a widower attempts — over the course of 71 days — to reassemble a literary canon while simultaneously grappling with his own demons.
The Wrong One Died: Life and Death in America’s Collapsing ERs by Barbara Bond (Nov. 17th, Johns Hopkins University Press, 312 pp.). As much a memoir as a call-to-arms, this physician’s searing account of the nation’s grossly overstretched emergency departments should be a wakeup call for all of us.
One Step Away: My Story of The Andantes, Motown, and the Women Behind the Sound of Young America by Louvain Demps with Paul Milliken (Dec. 1st, Harper, 288 pp.). Maybe you’ve never heard of the Andantes, but you’ve definitely heard them: They were the female backup singers on dozens of classic Motown records, making the magic happen behind the Four Tops, the Supremes, the Temptations, and others. Now, a surviving member of the overlooked trio tells her tale.