There are many words associated with autumn, but few speak to the season quite like “crisp” — the crunchy leaves, the apple treat, the cool breeze, and the pages of a fresh book. Even for those who are long past their days of compulsory education, the call to end summer with a trip to the bookstore or library to grab a full backpack’s worth of hardbacks might just feel mandatory. Luckily, there’s nothing stale about our recommended-reading list.
This fall, we’re staying up late with ghost stories from an Argentine master of horror; we’re following a New Yorker writer on a wild trip through Brooklyn’s underground dance scene; and we’re taking a hard look at America’s many, many problems through fiction and nonfiction alike (how apt for an election year). Pour yourself a warming beverage, find a spot on a comfy chair, and settle in for a read that’s as refreshing as the season. Greenwell’s latest novel begins during lockdown.
In the What Belongs to You author’s characteristic style — winding sentences that feel urgent and philosophical — a narrator guides us through his trip to the ICU for a serious heart condition. He’s on his domestic partner’s insurance; the visit would’ve been cheaper were they married. Through asides like these, the author considers death, pain, love, and American health care with an interest in the power dynamics at play in intimate spaces.
— Maddie Crum Sadie Smith, a former U.S. spy, is a ruthless observer of human .