What To Read

Every month, we share the books we can't wait to read including: new memoirs from Patti Smith and Margaret Atwood, National Book Award and Booker Prize nominees, and a new work of fiction from acclaimed journalist George Packer.

FICTION

Seascraper by Benjamin Wood (Nov 4)

Selected by Fernanda Gorgulho

A story about a shrimp fisherman and part-time folk musician on the northern coast of England might sound pedestrian, yet Seascraper seems to turn that stillness into something luminous. Longlisted for the Booker and praised by the Financial Times as “a small wonder” that “reads like the forging of a new myth,” Benjamin Wood’s novella follows one ordinary day upended by the arrival of a mysterious American filmmaker. What begins as a search for a movie location becomes a moving story about class, ambition, and the thin line between art and ordinary life.

Palaver by Bryan Washington (Nov 4)

Selected by Fernanda Gorgulho

I love a good holiday reunion story, and this one set in Tokyo hits all the right notes. The city’s mix of intimacy and distance makes the perfect backdrop for a mother and son reconnecting after ten years apart in the weeks before Christmas. Bryan Washington captures family, food, and forgiveness with such tenderness—and with Palaver now a National Book Award finalist, it’s near top of my list this month.

The Emergency by George Packer (Nov 11)

Selected by Lynda Hammes

I'm not a huge reader of contemporary dystopian fiction since so much of it is alarmingly close to reality. But this novel is getting rave reviews and I've been a huge fan of Packer's journalism since reading The Assassins Gate on the Iraq war back during my time in the foreign policy world. I was sold after reading his new and very personal Atlantic essay on his disenchantment with journalism -- and why fiction also matters to democracy.

False War by Carlos Manuel Álvarez (Sept 30)

Selected by Romina Raimundo

False War moves from Havana to Berlin, tracing people caught between worlds—always in motion, never quite home. I'm always drawn to Latin American writers who turn chaos into poetry -- and Álvarez does it with such precision and grace.

NONFICTION

Bread of Angeles by Patti Smith (Nov 4)

Selected by Fernanda Gorgulho

Patti Smith's new memoir it’s easily one of my most anticipated books of the season. I loved Just Kids and Bread of Angels is said to be even more intimate. I can’t wait to see where her mind and memory is wandering now.

The Age of Extraction by Tim Wu (Nov 4)

Selected by Romina Raimundo

I’m drawn to The Age of Extraction because it feels like the book we most need right now—a clear, urgent reflection on how technology has quietly taken control of our time, money, and choices. Wu offers a timely exploration of our digital economy and the power of big tech—an issue that feels increasingly impossible to ignore.

Book of Lives by Margaret Atwood (Nov 4)

Selected by Romina Raimundo

I can’t think of a book I’m more eager to read than Margaret Atwood’s memoir. The idea of hearing her tell her own story, tracing the path from her wild Canadian childhood to the creation of The Handmaid’s Tale, feels like being invited into the mind of a living legend.

Notes on Being a Man by Scott Galloway (Nov 4)

Selected by Emmanuel Hidalgo-Wohlleben

I don't agree on everything Scott Galloway says, but his podcasts always make me think. He is spot on with his analysis of the dangers of the "manosphere." At a time when too many young men are turning to toxic voices for guidance (or blaming marginalized people for their problems), Galloway is one of the rare voices offering a smarter, saner alternative.

Nightmare Obscura by Michelle Carr (Nov 18)

Selected by Lynda Hammes

I can’t remember my last dream (thank you midlife insomnia), but I know that dreams are setting the tone for my mental landscape starting each day - and I am intrigued by the idea of dream engineering. This new book by a sleep scientist gets to the cutting edge of harnessing your dreams before your sleep goes sideways.

Black Owned by Brenda Lozano (Nov 4)

Selected by Iliyah Coles

It's not always one of the iconic places you think of in relation to civil rights activism or even the Harlem Renaissance, but bookstores have long been a hub for Black intellectuals to congregate. And, of course, because of this, they instantly became a target for raids and hate crimes. Still, there was so much beauty in them then, and I'm able to appreciate the beauty in them now as a Black girl who loves to read.