With the turn of the calendar page, our minds have flipped to fall mode. Pair your pumpkin-spice latte with one of these great new reads.
Fiction
To the Moon and Back by Eliana Ramage
Steph’s ambition to be the first Cherokee astronaut drives her life and tests her relationships. Using multiple narrators, author Ramage explores various aspects of Native American history and identity, including an infamous court case about adoption and the Indian Child Welfare Act. As an astronaut training in Hawaii, Steph is confronted by protestors objecting to NASA’s use of Indigenous land—among them her sister and niece. In the hands of a lesser novelist, the story would be overstuffed, but Ramage’s epic debut is absorbing and thought-provoking. Available September 2. // Library catalog link here.
It’s Me They Follow by Jeannine A Cook
The shopkeeper suffers from a fear of being touched—to the point that she’ll pass out if she touches another person—but is determined to conquer her fears and open her own bookstore. When a mysterious monk-in-training buys the only copy of her self-published novel, he, and more copies of the book, start appearing everywhere. As more people find connection through her book, can she find connection in the real world? This quirky and magical debut about a woman coming into her own is also a love letter to the beauty and power of stories. Available September 23. // Library catalog link here.
The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny by Kiran Desai
Sonia is an aspiring novelist caught in an abusive relationship with a much-older artist. Sunny is a journalist with a girlfriend his family doesn’t know about. They live in the U.S., but are each visiting family in India when they meet on a train. They’re immediately taken with each other, which is awkward given their grandfathers once tried to arrange a marriage between them. This sweeping story follows the two as they try to navigate country, class, race, history, and families while also searching for happiness. This literary masterpiece, Desai’s first book since the 2006 Booker-winning The Inheritance of Loss, was worth the wait. Available September 23. // Library catalog link here.
Pick a Color by Souvankham Thammavongsa
Strong in their belief that customers can’t tell them apart or understand them, all the women working in Ning’s nail salon have name tags that say Susan and spend their days bantering and telling jokes in their unnamed mother tongue. Over the course of one summer day at Ning’s, their inner thoughts and conversations reveal their distinct lives and personalities as the Susans navigate a range of customers and a rivalry with another nail salon. Told in an observant and dry-humored voice, it’s a moving and funny exploration of class, identity, and work. Available September 30. // Library catalog link here.
Nonfiction
Articulate: A Deaf Memoir of Voice by Rachel Kolb
Born the same year as the American with Disabilities Act passed, Kolb’s life has been a case study in triumphs and failures. Born deaf to hearing parents, she grew up bilingual in American Sign Language and English. She describes the great efforts she’s gone through to make herself understood by hearing people, and the lack of reciprocal understanding. These experiences helped shape her complex relationship to the multisensory experience of language, which she thoughtfully and eloquently deconstructs. Combined with cultural commentary on the history of American Sign Language, lip-reading, and Deaf culture, Kolb’s memoir is heartfelt and fascinating. Available September 16. // Library catalog link here.
Dark Squares: How Chess Saved my Life by Danny Rensch
Through growing up in a cult and struggling with addiction, chess was a lifeline and outlet for Danny Rensch. An International Master by the age of 19, he stopped playing a few years later. But at the same time, he found the site Chess.com and offered many suggestions to elevate the level of game play. He’s since become the face of the website, and as such ended up in the middle of a massive cheating scandal. Throughout it all, chess remains a constant that keeps Rensch moving forward. This winning memoir combines a poignant story of overcoming adversity with a history and examination of the game. Available September 16. // Library catalog link here.
Replaceable You: Adventures in Human Anatomy by Mary Roach
From dentures to joint replacements, prostheses to organ transplants, skin grafts to cosmetic implants, humans have always at least attempted to replace body parts when needed. With her signature voice and curiosity, Roach looks at the history and future of transplants, replacements, and regeneration. In interviews with doctors, patients, and researchers along with visits to conferences and laboratories, Roach’s mix of storytelling and deep science is fascinating and deeply approachable. Available September 16. // Library catalog link here.
Humanish: What Talking to your Cat or Naming Your Car Reveals about the Uniquely Human Need to Humanize by Justin Gregg
From naming storms and cars to imagined dialogues with our pets and stuffed animals, humans love to anthropomorphize everything around us. Gregg, an animal cognition researcher, shows how this “utterly charming linchpin of the human mind” helps humanity socially connect, build empathy, and make sense of the world. But Gregg doesn’t shy away from the dark side, either—giving human attributes to the mundane objects around us makes it significantly easier to dehumanize large groups of people. Full of research and illuminating anecdotes, this informative and astute exploration of anthropomorphism is a delightful and engaging read. Available September 23. // Library catalog link here.
Middle Grade
White House Secrets: Medical Lies and Cover-Ups by Gail Jarrow
Medical information is usually private, but what happens when the patient is the President of the United States? How much information should the public have the right to know? Jarrow’s latest medical history book looks at nine presidents whose health information was concealed from the public. Woodrow Wilson had a stroke that left him incapacitated, Franklin D Roosevelt hid his wheelchair from the public, and the attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan was a lot more serious than the White House let on. From Garfield up through Biden, this examines the history and the ethical issues surrounding presidential health. Intriguing and accessible, it’s also great conversation fodder. Available September 30. // Library catalog link here.
Teen
Loudmouth: Emma Goldman vs America (a love story) by Deborah Heiligman
Born in Lithuania in 1869, Emma Goldman was forced to leave school at 13 to help support her family. At 16, she immigrated to America where she faced discrimination for being Jewish, an immigrant, and a woman. Working in terrible conditions for low pay, she read widely to educate herself and started to speak out about the injustices she saw all around her. Her views on anarchism drew negative attention from law enforcement and the government, eventually leading to her being stripped of her citizenship and deported. This engrossing tale of a fierce and influential figure has many contemporary parallels, but Heiligman keeps her meticulous research and absorbing prose on Goldman herself. Available September 16. // Library catalog link here.
Jennie Rothschild is a collection engagement librarian for Arlington Public Library.