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What to read this Halloween, based on your ideal spooky activity

Whether you’re a homebody or a thrill-hunter, we’ve got a seasonal, spine-tingling read for you.
Whether you’re a homebody or a thrill-hunter, we’ve got a seasonal, spine-tingling read for you.
NonfictionLifestylesCookbooks

Bodega Bakes

In the personable Bodega Bakes, pastry chef Paola Velez presents just that: sweets that can be made solely from the ingredients found at a corner store.
In the personable Bodega Bakes, pastry chef Paola Velez presents just that: sweets that can be made solely from the ingredients found at a corner store.
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The Hold List: Books that reward a committed reader

Feature by the editors of BookPage

As autumn approaches, we’re up for the challenge of books that ask a lot from their readers—mentally and emotionally.

Wolf Hall

As a young, impossibly nerdy child, one of my very first obsessions was Tudor England. (Why, yes, I had a lot of friends, why do you ask?) So I thought I’d take to Wolf Hall, Hilary Mantel’s acclaimed novel based on the life of Thomas Cromwell, like a duck to water. Reader, I was wrong. Mantel plunges into the 16th century with a gusto that is as impressive as it is disorienting. Can’t keep track of all the men named Thomas? Pay closer attention! Unsure about the novel’s timeline, as often your only markers are religious holidays mostly unobserved these days? Look them up! But stick with it, and you’ll find yourself adjusting to the simmering chaos of Henry VIII’s reign and increasingly in awe of Cromwell’s ability to navigate this complicated and mercenary world. And by the novel’s end, you’ll be utterly astonished by Mantel’s ability to transport you there.

—Savanna, Associate Editor

The Bluest Eye

I read The Bluest Eye for the first time this spring, as part of an assignment for a class I was taking. What a dissonant reading experience—at once intensely pleasurable and supremely painful. I marveled at Toni Morrison’s word-perfect style in every sentence; her ability to find the exact right turn of phrase again and again is nothing short of genius, and the effect is sublime. Without these little bursts of delight at Morrison’s writing, it would have been impossible to follow 9-year-old Pecola Breedlove as she navigates self-loathing, rejection, isolation, sexual abuse and delusion in a white supremacist culture. Even with Morrison’s voice to guide the way, the temptation to look away was nearly constant. Reading this book will push you to your emotional limit, but, as with all of Morrison’s works, the reward for staying the course is transcendence.

—Christy, Associate Editor

Her Body and Other Parties

The opening story of Carmen Maria Machado’s debut collection is the key to why this book is such a challenge: A woman with a green ribbon around her neck tells a frightful fairy tale of wifehood and motherhood, and as dread builds, she frequently stops the telling to instruct the reader in ways that supplement the story, from emitting sounds to committing small acts of betrayal and even violence. These demands steadily intensify the relationship between reader and narrator, and the reading experience becomes almost unbearably intimate the more she insists that you know what this fairy tale means. From this opening salvo, we are complicit in all the later stories, each one fantastical and horrifying in its exploration of the cruelties leveraged against women’s bodies. There are few books more emotionally demanding. I am undoubtedly changed by it.

—Cat, Deputy Editor

Jellicoe Road

Melina Marchetta’s 2009 Michael L. Printz Award winner is not the kind of novel in which you will find explanations of character history, setting and premise carefully integrated into opening scenes, patiently establishing the story’s stakes. Instead, the opening third of the book is more like stepping into what you think is the shallow end of a swimming pool, only to find yourself dropping down, down, down, nothing but cold water above you and no sense of which way to swim to regain the surface. Names, places, the past, the present, some kind of conflict all swirl around you like so many chaotic bubbles. Not to be all Finding Nemo about this, but you just have to keep swimming, because if you do, I promise you that Jellicoe Road’s payoff is among the most cathartic and stunningly plotted you’ll ever encounter. I’m in awe every time I read it.

—Stephanie, Associate Editor

Far From the Tree

Any book that closes in on 1,000 pages poses an obvious challenge, but Andrew Solomon’s National Book Award-winning study of parent-child relationships levels up by encouraging readers to examine a well-worn concept in a new light. Solomon spent 10 years interviewing hundreds of families to pull together the case studies featured here, all of which involve children whose identities do not match those of their parents. Inspired by his experience as a gay child of straight parents, Solomon compassionately lays bare the tension between a parent’s instinct to encourage children to reach their full potential and a child’s need to be accepted for who they are. Far From the Tree: Parents, Children, and the Search for Identity is a celebration of difference, even as it acknowledges the difficulties. It is impossible to finish this book without reconsidering your own family dynamics.

—Trisha, Publisher

As autumn approaches, we’re up for the challenge of books that ask a lot from their readers—mentally and emotionally.
RomanceNonfictionFictionAudioSocial Science

Audio: September 2020

Feature by Anna Zeitlin

Find romance, intrigue and insight into human nature in three new audiobooks.

★ Humankind

In Humankind: A Hopeful History (11.5 hours), Dutch historian Rutger Bregman posits that people are basically good and that our assumptions about humankind’s tendencies toward violence and selfishness are wrong. Bregman supports his theory of humanity’s innate kindness with tangible proof. He tracks down the real-life kids from Lord of the Flies, teenagers who were marooned in the 1960s and worked together to form a just society. Bregman also shares studies that disprove Philip Zimbardo’s famed Stanford Prison Experiment and the “broken windows” theory of policing, which asserts that visible signs of petty crime encourage more serious criminal activity. He makes some bold claims, but if we listen, his theories just might make the world a better place. Bregman narrates the book’s introduction, but as a non-native English speaker, he hands the bulk of the book over to Thomas Judd, who clearly finds joy in Bregman’s revelations, making the audiobook a pleasure to listen to.

Devolution

Come for the horror and survival story, stay for the incredible voice cast. Max Brooks’ latest speculative thriller, Devolution (10 hours), is narrated by the author as well as by Judy Greer, Jeff Daniels, Nathan Fillion, Mira Furlan, Terry Gross, Kimberly Guerrero, Kate Mulgrew, Kai Ryssdal and Steven Weber. When the idyllic community of Greenloop is cut off from society after the eruption of Mount Rainier, the residents are on their own as they struggle to defend themselves against a clan of sasquatch. In the aftermath, Kate Holland’s journal, voiced by Greer, aids investigators as they put the pieces together. As Kate goes from worrying about her marriage to struggling to survive, Greer’s performance becomes more urgent, capturing Kate’s devolution from perky California girl to bloodthirsty warrior.

Take a Hint, Dani Brown 

In Take a Hint, Dani Brown (10 hours), written by Talia Hibbert and narrated by Ione Butler, Dani Brown is a witchy Ph.D. student who dreams of the perfect friend with benefits. Her incantation points her toward Zaf, the flirty Pakistani British security guard at her university. After Zaf carries Dani out of the building during a fire drill, a picture of the rescue goes viral, and Zaf asks Dani to help him use their fame to raise awareness for his nonprofit. As one of the few Black women in her field, Dani is very work-focused, but her no-strings-attached policy may not be able to withstand her smoking-hot chemistry with Zaf. Butler does a wonderful job narrating Dani’s brash quirkiness and Zaf’s lovestruck sweetness.

This autumn, find romance, intrigue and insight into human nature in three new audiobooks.
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Audio: October 2020

Feature by Anna Zeitlin

A hilarious memoir of single motherhood, a workplace romance and a spooky small-town thriller—what more could you want for this month’s best audiobooks?

★ The Hungover Games

Listening to The Hungover Games: A True Story, written and read by Sophie Heawood, is like having a gossipy brunch with your wittiest friend. British entertainment journalist Heawood takes us on a journey of unexpected single motherhood while living in Los Angeles, from her affair with an immature rocker to her attempts at dating with a baby at home. She takes life advice from the celebrities she profiles and sometimes gets a little too personal with them. Heawood’s narration makes the book even funnier and her experiences even more charming. In particular, her stories from the OB-GYN’s office and some remarkably bad dates left me cackling.

Attachments

Great news for Rainbow Rowell fans: Her charming 2011 novel, Attachments, has finally been released on audio, narrated by Rebecca Lowman. Just before the beginning of the new millennium, Lincoln is hired as an IT guy for a small city paper, where part of his job is to read any internal emails that get flagged by the new security system. He spends most days reading exchanges between Beth and Jennifer, two co-workers he’s never met but feels like he knows. Can there be love before first sight? For a book that mainly follows a man’s perspective, it’s surprising that a woman narrates the audiobook, but it somehow totally works. Lowman makes the email exchanges come alive with humor, and her performance has a down-to-earth quality that’s perfect for the more somber parts of the book.

The Bright Lands

John Fram’s suspenseful debut, The Bright Lands, narrated by Luis Selgas, is a spooky, queer thriller set in a small Texas town ruled by high school football. After a decade in New York, Joel returns to his conservative hometown to help his younger brother, Dylan, a football star who seems to be in trouble. Shortly after Joel arrives, Dylan turns up dead, and Joel’s visit becomes a murder investigation. Selgas is the perfect narrator for a mystery, as it feels like he’s always holding a little something back. He also performs a solid mix of Western accents for the side characters, adding to the book’s overall sense of place.

A hilarious memoir of single motherhood, a workplace romance and a spooky small-town thriller—what more could you want for this month’s best audiobooks?
NonfictionFictionChildren's & YASatireMiddle GradeMemoir

The Hold List: Books that legitimately made us laugh out loud

Feature by the editors of BookPage

They say it’s harder to make people laugh than it is to make them cry. Maybe this is why finding a book that makes you laugh—and we’re talking full-on guffaw here—is so difficult. We’ve done the hard work for you, so sit back and get ready to chuckle.

Priestdaddy

Usually when a poet pens a memoir, I buckle up for lyrical vignettes, a loose, dreamy structure and descriptions of open fields. But Patricia Lockwood isn’t your average poet, and Priestdaddy isn’t your average memoir. It’s as dense with bizarre observations about her father’s underwear as it is with beautiful turns of phrase about her father’s underwear. When Lockwood’s husband needed unexpected eye surgery, the pair returned to the Midwest to live with Lockwood’s parents in their rectory. Her father, you see, is a Catholic priest, despite his wife and five children. The rest of the book zigzags between this weird family reunion and Lockwood’s even weirder Catholic upbringing, filtered through the mind of someone who is herself breathtakingly weird. The resulting memoir is at once brilliant, irreverent, extraordinarily observed and precisely rendered.

—Christy, Associate Editor

The Wednesday Wars

I’ve never laughed harder at a book than I did at The Wednesday Wars, Gary D. Schmidt’s 2008 Newbery Honor-winning tale of seventh grader Holling Hoodhood, set in the late 1960s. In one chapter, Holling’s teacher, Mrs. Baker, assigns The Tempest. Holling is so impressed by Caliban’s “cuss words” that he decides to memorize them. He employs them in situations ranging from the cafeteria, where he deems his bologna sandwich “strange stuff,” to chorus, where he retorts, “Blind mole, a wicked dew from unwholesome fen drop you” after getting teased for singing soprano, to an encounter with his older sister. “A southwest blow on ye and blister you all o’er,” he tells her. Holling doesn’t mind that he doesn’t know exactly what he’s saying: “It’s all in the delivery anyway.”

—Stephanie, Associate Editor

The Sellout

There’s dark humor, and then there’s black hole-dark humor, and from that deep, crushing vacuum comes the biggest joke of all, a “post-racial” America. Paul Beatty’s Booker Prize winner is perhaps the greatest satirical novel of our lifetime, if not the greatest ever. The absurdity is beyond anything you’ve ever read; the wordplay is the cleverest, and Beatty’s irreverence the farthest star from political correctness. After the death of his father, our farmer hero, whose name is Me, finds himself as a crisis interventionist for the Black residents of Dickens, a town on the outskirts of Los Angeles that has been erased from the map. Despite Me’s protestations, an old Dickens resident (and former “Little Rascals” star) begs to be Me’s slave, punishments and all, and all he wants for his birthday is resegregation. Laugh to keep from crying, or cry to keep from laughing.

—Cat, Deputy Editor

China Rich Girlfriend

Kevin Kwan’s frothy novels of Asia’s ultrarich would just be compendiums of designer labels and other assorted decadences if not for his willingness to lovingly mock the society he invites the reader into. This is perfectly encapsulated by Colette Bing, a bundle of nervous energy swaddled in haute couture who darts through the second book of Kwan’s Crazy Rich Asians series, China Rich Girlfriend. Colette is on a relentless quest to perfect every aspect of her existence. She named her dogs after Kate and Pippa Middleton and has the uniquely chaotic attitude of a person who has never encountered a problem she couldn’t buy her way out of. Kwan revels in her precisely orchestrated decadence and lampoons her absurdity in equal measure, creating a character you’ll love as much as laugh at.

—Savanna, Associate Editor

When in French

Think David Sedaris meets Jhumpa Lahiri, and you’ve got the gist of this smart, hilarious and tender memoir from New Yorker writer Lauren Collins. How did a woman from Wilmington, North Carolina, end up married to a Frenchman “who used Chanel deodorant and believed it to be a consensus view that Napoleon had lost at Waterloo because of the rain”? The story of their romance and Collins’ journey to fluency in French sits companionably alongside a thoughtful inquiry into the history of language. Pairing these two elements gives Collins’ experience universal resonance and intellectual weight, but there’s also a laugh on nearly every page as she recounts various linguistic misadventures, like informing her mother-in-law that she has given birth to a Nespresso machine. Lovers of language, romance and fish-out-of-water comedies shouldn’t miss it.

—Trisha, Publisher

They say it’s harder to make people laugh than it is to make them cry. Maybe this is why finding a book that makes you laugh—and we’re talking full-on guffaw here—is so difficult. We’ve done the hard work for you, so sit back and get ready to chuckle. Priestdaddy Usually when a poet pens a […]
NonfictionTrue CrimeGraphic Memoirs

The sharp lines of storytelling

Feature by Matthew Jackson

For readers who enjoy immersing themselves in memoirs and true crime, the comic book format offers even more to devour.

In a world saturated with superhero media, it bears repeating that comic books are a medium, not a genre. There’s nothing wrong with capes and tights and giant robots, of course, but to reduce the wide world of comics to such a narrow view does a disservice to the medium’s vast possibilities. Through tales of darkness, recovery and self-discovery, three towering works of graphic nonfiction reveal the full breadth of comic books’ expressive power.

In Happiness Will Follow, longtime superhero comics fixture Mike Hawthorne turns the full force of his talents on his own struggle to understand where he comes from and how he grew into the man and artist he is now. This stunning graphic memoir begins with an old shoe in a doorway, a sign to Hawthorne’s Puerto Rican mother that a curse is upon them, and then catapults through years of poverty, violence and psychological and physical trauma, as Hawthorne comes to grips with a heritage from which he feels removed.

Hawthorne’s narration is candid, raw and precise, but the memoir soars on the strength of his art as he zooms out to offer us a sense of isolation amid the crush of New York City, then zooms back in to depict haunting, bold close-ups of the key figures in his life. Chief among those figures is his mother; their relationship roots the book in a powerful, unflinching exploration of what it feels like to anchor yourself to another person, especially when that person is a harmful presence in your life. As Hawthorne takes us through the past and present, the cultural and personal, the painful and beautiful, he tells his story with empathy and vulnerability, and that makes Happiness Will Follow an essential graphic memoir.

Coming-out narratives are too often depicted in popular culture as a linear decision-making process followed by a single crystallizing moment when all becomes clear and a pure sense of self is achieved. But this is definitely not always the case. Coming-out journeys are just as often bumpy, messy and full of false starts, as British artist Eleanor Crewes reminds us through her beautifully rendered, endlessly witty graphic storytelling in The Times I Knew I Was Gay.

Drawing on memories from childhood, early adulthood and beyond, Crewes tells the story of her own journey to coming out fully and for good. Her memoir defies the conventional forms of graphic storytelling; there are no panel borders here, no defining boundaries to keep Crewes confined to a certain time or place at any given moment. Sometimes her gorgeous pencil drawings pause the narrative altogether so she can break the fourth wall and reflect on the tale as she’s telling it.

The Times I Knew I Was Gay began as a short zine, and that DIY ethos is still present in these pages, reminding us that our most personal stories are often best told in the simplest and most direct way. There’s an elegance to this simplicity that makes it feel like a friend is opening up to you as you read, creating an intimate connection between book and reader.

Maids
From Maids by Katie Skelly. Used with permission from Fantagraphics.

Of course, graphic nonfiction isn’t limited to memoirs. Sometimes the comics medium is also the perfect vehicle for a stylized retelling of a true crime story, as Brooklyn-based cartoonist Katie Skelly proves with her dazzling Maids.

Using a simple grid layout that she manipulates to great effect, and with art that blends Eastern and Western styles, Skelly tells the story of the infamous Papin sisters, who worked as maids for a wealthy French family until they murdered their employer’s wife and daughter in 1933. The story of Léa and Christine Papin has been told many times before, but never quite like this. Maids draws striking power from the way Skelly fully embraces the potential of her format.

The narrative unfolds slowly and suspensefully, giving ample space to build a visually and emotionally symbiotic relationship between the two sisters. The way they seem to float through the panels together, moving through the world in a way the other characters do not, contributes to a growing sense of dread. Even if you know this story intimately, you’ll be itching to know what happens next. That Maids pulls off this particular trick is a testament to both Skelly’s talent and to the power of graphic narratives.

For readers who enjoy immersing themselves in memoirs and true crime, the comic book format offers even more to devour.
NonfictionLiteratureGraphic Novels & ComicsComics

Surprises for the seasoned reader

Feature by Julie Hale

There’s always room for more books on a literature lover’s bookshelf, no matter how overflowing it seems to be. We’ve gathered five top-of-the-list titles that are sure to please ardent readers and literary trivia enthusiasts.

Cult Writers

Cult Writers: 50 Nonconformist Novelists You Need to Know celebrates a group of edgy, intrepid, slightly out-there authors—visionaries whose books may challenge and discomfit readers but never fail to thrill. This arresting little title is the latest entry in White Lion’s Cult Figures series, which recognizes maverick artists in various media. Octavia Butler, Angela Carter, Ralph Ellison and Ursula K. Le Guin are among the individualists found in this volume.

In crisply written biographical profiles, critic Ian Haydn Smith looks at the attitudes and aesthetic approaches of these authors and provides helpful context. Readers will discover unabashed courters of controversy (Pauline Réage, Michel Houellebecq), quiet outsiders (Joan Didion, Denis Johnson) and brash iconoclasts (Virginia Woolf, William S. Burroughs). Illustrator Kristelle Rodeia captures the essence of each novelist in exceptional, impressionistic portraits. Vibrantly designed and discerningly assembled, Cult Writers is a standout gift selection.

I Will Judge You by Your Bookshelf

Among the literary-minded, books can induce fever, compulsion and fanaticism. Illustrator Grant Snider understands this all too well. He explores the singular world of the book-obsessed through concise cartoons that have appeared in the New York Times and other publications. I Will Judge You by Your Bookshelf provides a sensational sampling of his work.

Snider dissects the peculiar habits and preoccupations of the literature addict with amazing economy. He classifies types of readers (“nocturnal,” “reclusive,” “indecisive”), offers ideas on arranging bookshelves (try organizing titles in rhyming couplets!) and reflects on a host of writerly topics, from lost pens to proofreader’s marks. His colorful panels convey just the right amount of information, seasoned with sly allusions and inside jokes aimed at the avid reader. Anyone with the book bug will savor Snider’s brand of humor.

Warriors, Witches, Women

In the rousing anthology Warriors, Witches, Women: Mythology’s Fiercest Females, Kate Hodges provides a fresh appraisal of 50 women from myth and folklore, demonstrating that they’re as vital and inspiring today as they were centuries ago. Hodges presents backstories and biographical information for each fierce female. Drawing on cultures from across the globe, she includes characters that many readers will recognize, as well as a host of less familiar figures.

Morgan le Fay, Baba Yaga, Circe, Artemis and Mami Wata are among the enchantresses highlighted in the book. As Hodges shows, these legendary women often wrestled with enduring concerns such as mortality and motherhood and now serve as symbols of strength for a new generation of readers. In her vibrant illustrations of these characters, Harriet Lee-Merrion contrasts delicate lines with rich colors and standout details. This exhilarating anthology brings a contemporary perspective to stories of iconic heroines.

The Call Me Ishmael Phonebook

The Call Me Ishmael Phonebook: An Interactive Guide to Life-Changing Books began as a lark. Stephanie Kent and Logan Smalley set up a phone number that book lovers could call in order to leave voicemails about their favorite titles. They received a flood of messages and had special rotary phones installed in schools, bookstores and libraries so that readers could record their impressions of significant books.

Those messages are compiled in The Call Me Ishmael Phonebook, which has been cleverly designed to resemble the print Yellow Pages of yesteryear and is packed with neat retro graphics, fun lists of phoned-in favorites, hidden literary references and other book-inspired surprises. From A Little Princess to Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, the books that callers rave about run the gamut. An unbeatable gift for your favorite bookworm, this whimsical volume is a testament to the power of literature.

Ex Libris

In Ex Libris: 100+ Books to Read and Reread, Michiko Kakutani, former chief book critic at the New York Times, offers a survey of important works and reveals why she finds them significant in brief, perfectly polished essays. From time-tested tales such as The Odyssey to contemporary masterworks like Toni Morrison’s Beloved, Ian McEwan’s Atonement and Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan Quartet, her selections are drawn from a variety of eras and genres.

Kakutani also gives consideration to children’s books—Madeleine L’Engle and Maurice Sendak both get their due—and offers a witty appreciation of Dr. Seuss. The stunning book-jacket illustrations by Dana Tanamachi that appear throughout Ex Libris will delight die-hard bibliophiles. “In these pages, I’m writing less as a critic than as an enthusiast,” Kakutani explains in the volume’s introduction. Her mood shines through in this stirring tribute to the reading life.

We’ve gathered five top-of-the-list titles that are sure to please ardent readers and literary trivia enthusiasts.

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