As temperatures slowly cool and days grow shorter, reading can become a necessary pastime, an act of mending the mind after the long, hot days of summer. Here are some lovely new books hitting shelves this month, certain to inspire.
THE MATRIX: A Novel BY LAUREN GROFF
The fourth novel by the celebrated writer is a retelling Marie de France’s life, a Medieval poet on whom very little is known. (Penguin, Random House).
HARROW BY JOY WILLIAMS
Master of the short story Joy Williams pens her first novel since 2000’s The Quick and the Dead (a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize). Here she takes readers on a ride through an apocalyptic world. (Penguin, Random House).
LOOK FOR ME AND I’LL BE GONE: Stories BY JOHN EDGAR WIDEMAN
A new collection from the revered short story writer and two time winner of the PEN/Faulkner Award as well as finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award and National Book Award. John Edgar Wideman’s newly anticipated collection weaves tales from Michael Jordon, Emmett Till to life in prison. (Scribner).
BEAUTIFUL WORLD WHERE ARE YOU BY SALLY ROONEY
Who hasn’t heard about this one? From the author of Normal People, already a bestseller, readers are calling this “classic Rooney”. (FSG).
GRACELAND, AT LAST: Notes on Hope and Heartache in the American South BY MARGARET RENKL
A collection of personal and reported essays from New York Times Nature writer and author of the esteemed book Late Migrations comes a deep dive into the American South, both from the author’s own history and that of others. (Milkweed).
HARLEM SHUFFLE: A Novel BY COLSON WHITEHEAD
From the two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Underground Railroad and The Nickel Boys, a riveting novel set in Harlem in the 1960s. (Penguin, Random House).
BEWILDERMENT: A Novel BY RICHARD POWERS
Already long listed for the 2021 Booker Prize, Bewilderment is the newest novel from the Pulitzer Prize winning author of The Overstory.
STONES: Poems BY KEVIN YOUNG
A book of loss and looking back from celebrated poet and Andrew W. Mellon Director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture. (Penguin, Random House).
THE MORNING STAR BY KARL OVE KNAUSGAARD
The much anticipated new novel from the venerable author of the My Struggle series. (Penguin, Random House).
READ UNTIL YOU UNDERSTAND: The Profound Wisdom of Black Life and Literature by Farah Jasmine Griffin
Recipient of a 2021 Guggenheim Fellowship, Griffin weaves memoir and history in this startling investigation into the ongoing struggle for black freedom and democracy.
Little Patuxent Review 