Critic Bethanne Patrick recommends 10 promising titles — fiction and nonfiction — to consider for your September reading list.
September’s novels come from authors who have made a big mark and include literary fiction, crime fiction and commercial fiction about characters who have left their own big mark. Some of the beloved characters return; others introduce new, complex voices. Nonfiction titles include memoir, reportage and historical narrative, each book packed with passion and purpose. Happy reading!
FICTION
Little Rain: A Novel
By Garth Greenwell
Farrar, Straus and Giroux: 320 pages, $28
(September 3)
(Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
Greenwell’s previous works (the novel “What’s Yours” and his story in “Cleanliness”) show enough of his skill in writing about sex and desire, as well as his skill with language. Now he turns the latter to write about pain and dependence, with a vivid and, yes, brilliant story about a gay poet in his 40s whose aortic tear forces him not only to face his own mortality but also how he and his partner will move forward. in his life when he is healed.
Guide Me Home: Novel
According to Attica Locke
Mulholland Books: 320 pages, $29
(September 3)
Texas Ranger Darren Matthews, in his first two Highway 57 novels, tackles East Texas racism and murder. In the third and final title of this trilogy, Matthews has retired early, hoping for a quiet life, when his chaotic mother appears and asks him to investigate the disappearance of a Black sorority girl. Unfortunately, even the slightest question asked about the girl revealed the corruption so bad that Matthews had to rely on his mother to find the truth.
The Women Behind the Door: Novel
By Roddy Doyle
Viking: 272 pages, $29
(September 10)
Readers first encountered the addicted and abused Paula Spencer in Doyle’s 1996 “The Woman Who Walked to the Door” and again in 2006’s “Paula Spencer.” She would be happy to find herself, a 66-year-old widow and grandmother, satisfied with her job, her boyfriend Joe and her children’s stable family. But when their eldest daughter, Nicola, comes to stay, leaving her husband and children behind, the two women must remember old and dark memories.
Tell Me Everything: A Novel
By Elizabeth Strout
Random House: 352 pages, $30
(September 10)
Amgash Strout’s book, of which this is the fifth and final installment, begins with “My name is Lucy Barton”; few of us can predict that the narrator will come to Maine during the pandemic or that he will live with his ex-husband William. Here, as lawyer Bob Burgess, Lucy’s dear friend, is accused of murder, he will even meet Strout’s famous character Olive Kitteridge in a retirement community.
Title: Novel
According to Ruman Alam
Riverhead: 288 pages, $30
(September 17)
Brooke Orr identifies as Black and follows the trajectory of life laid out by her adoptive white mother, leading Orr to be in charge of the billionaire octogenarian’s charitable foundation. He found himself confused when an elderly black woman refused the foundation money. Nature never shirks the scene of discomfort or question, and here, he pitted class against race against greed against freedom, and joy.
NON-FICTION
Best Copy Available: A True Crime Memoir
By Jay Baron Nicorvo
University of Georgia Press: 240 pages, $29
(Sept. 1)
Nicorvo is a loving family man who is also a published author (“The Grand Standard”) and college professor. But the violent crimes she and her single mother endured long ago at the hands of a man have taken their toll. But the past is still murky: A scanned PDF of a copy of his report is labeled “the best copy available.” This honestand sometimes funny memoir shows how a family breaks the cycle of abuse.
By Fire We Carry: The Generations-Long Fight for Justice on Native Land
By Rebecca Nagle
Harper: 352 pages, $32
(September 10)
Nagle belongs to the Cherokee Nation, and knowledge of her own heritage as well as that of the Five Tribes undergirds her fluid and comprehensive account of how US policies have caused injustice to Native Americans. In the lead up to the 2020 Supreme Court ruling on Sharp vs. Murphy who gave the Muscogee Nation land in Oklahoma for resettlement, Nagle gave voice to the frustrations of the indigenous people.
The Voice of Work: Transforming the Daily Grind of Searching for a Better Life
By Brigid Schulte
Henry Holt: 432 pages, $32
(September 17)
The journalist who brought us 2014 “Overwhelmed,” about our overcommitted lives, returns with a special book about what does not work when it comes to the American way of employment. Schulte looks at the current picture and the 20th-century backdrop of how we got here and examines how other cultures work-life balance. His conclusions do not offer solutions, but emphasize the need for change.
The Third Ear: Reflections on the Art and Science of Listening
By Elizabeth Rosner
Counterpoint: 240 pages, $27
(September 17)
Rosner’s parents, who survived the Holocaust, spoke six languages at home, and as the young Rosner listened and studied, he realized that the soundscapes of our lives affect us on large and small levels. As an adult writer, he creates his own stories along with interviews with experts of all kinds to demonstrate how deep listening can lead to better communication and empathy, in a fun and engaging book about how and what we hear.
Health & Safety: A Breakdown
By Emily Witt
Pantheon: 272 pages, $27
(September 17)
Witt, a journalist whose first book, “Future Sex,” is a bold opinion about everything beyond monogamy, describes what happened when, in 2016, he chose to give up antidepressants and try psychedelic substances. It wasn’t long before the author joined the New York City dance club scene, all the while keeping a regular day job. They – and our country – are about to be destroyed, and with characteristic honesty, Witt tells the story of both.
