What To Read

Every month, we share the books we can't wait to read. Our November staff picks include: a gritty novel by an alumnus of The Wire; a literary whodunit with three authors as the prime suspects; a follow-up by the author of Braiding Sweetgrass; and one of the book events of the year: HARUKI MURAKAMI.

FICTION

The City and Its Uncertain Walls by Haruki Murakami (Nov 19)

Selected by Emmanuel Hidalgo-Wohlleben

I love Murakami. Jazz, coffee, the Beatles, loneliness, shattered love—all viewed through his signature strange and surreal glasses. I will devour this book like every Murakami that came before it.

Lazarus Man by Richard Price (Nov 12)

Selected by Fernanda Gorgulho

Few authors capture America’s urban underbelly like Richard Price, who not only wrote the gritty realistic novels The Wanderers, Clockers, and Lush Life, but also contributed to one of the most brilliant TV dramas of all time, The Wire. He's back on familiar street turf with this novel, which depicts the aftermath of a Harlem tenement building's collapse — sounds like another gritty Price classic in the making.

The Author's Guide to Murder by Beatriz Williams, Lauren Willig and Karen White (Nov 5)

Selected by Romina Raimundo

Agatha Christie meets Clue set in a writers' retreat in a Scottish castle... and it gets even better: the three prime suspects in this whodunit are authors, mirroring the three best friend authors who wrote this book together. Can't wait for this one!

This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things by Naomi Wood (Nov 26)

Selected by Fernanda Gorgulho

With a title that captures Taylor Swift, Paula Poundstone and a raft of internet memes, I was hooked by the cover of this story collection. It’s filled with tales of fierce women in some of their finest and messiest moments —like an ex-wife making mischief at her ex-husband's wedding, or a pregnant director plotting revenge on a treacherous actress—told in a dark and hilarious blend of British humor that I can't resist.

NONFICTION

The Serviceberry by Robin Wall Kimmerer (Nov 19)

Selected by Emmanuel Hidalgo-Wohlleben

The serviceberry tree, native to 40 American states, is so common that it is often overlooked. In her long-awaited follow-up to Braiding Sweetgrass, Kimmerer focuses on the tree as an embodiment of reciprocal relationships in humanity and in nature. I often look to nature when I am in need of inspiration or grounding, and this book couldn't come too soon.

Water, Water: Poems by Billy Collins (Nov 19)

Selected by Lynda Hammes

Because Billy Collins!

The Ultimate Hidden Truth of the World . . . by David Graeber (Nov 12)

Selected by Romina Raimundo

In the political and economic tumult of the last few years, Graeber is one of the few voices who I rely on for grounding and inspiration. While the title of this essay collection is comically grand, I have a feeling he just might deliver on it.

Master of Me by Keke Palmer (Nov 19)

Selected by Iliyah Coles

Do I even need to explain? Baby, this is Keke Palmer! She went from starring in Akeelah and the Bee to being a co-host on Good Morning America to owning her own network. She's a multitalented, multifaceted icon and I even had the opportunity to meet her in person a few years ago, and she was so nice and incredibly down to earth and I will pretty much blindly support whatever she chooses to do. I don't normally read a lot of self-help, but if it's a book on how to be the best, most profitable version of yourself and Keke Palmer's writing it, I'll read it twice.

Afrocentric Style by Shirley Neal (Nov 26)

Selected by Iliyah Coles

I moved a few months ago and still haven't found a decent coffee table book that has nothing to do with minimalism to grace my beautiful mess - haha. Shirley Neal has crafted a design book that exists loudly and beautifully, celebrating every aspect of Blackness in pop culture that you can think of. This will be a good one to flip through casually or even a fun bedtime browse. It'll be cool to see how far the culture has come and where we're headed.

From Under the Truck by Josh Brolin (Nov 19)

Selected by Lynda Hammes

Cher may be the celeb memoir du jour but that would be too obvious. I’m more intrigued by the backstory of Josh Brolin, who acted in the first movie I saw in the theater: The Goonies! From the bizarro series Outer Range to Dune to Marvel, his career keeps getting more interesting, so let’s see if his supposedly “unceleb” memoir delivers.