October is moving briskly along. If it’s all moving a bit too quickly, and you need to slow down for a bit with a brilliant new book, you’re in luck. Below, you’ll find twenty-five exciting, distinctive works out today in fiction, poetry, and nonfiction.

There’s anticipated new fiction from John Edgar Wideman, Mark Haber, Maame Blue, GauZ’, Camilla Grudova, and more; poetic experiments by Margaret Atwood, Jenny George, and Pam Rehm; nonfiction exploring the legacies of Marie Curie, John Lewis, Shirley Chisholm, and others; and books taking a deep dive into essential short nonfiction, the design history of the car, the making of Spamalot, Yellowstone’s paradigm-shifting designation as a then-new idea, a national park; and more. It’s an excellent day for new things to read. I hope you’ll add some, or many, of these to your lists and piles! * “Long heralded as one of literature’s preeminent voices.

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His latest blends memoir, fiction, and history to describe what he calls the ‘slaveroad,’ a psychological and geographical artery that extends from Africa to the Global North; from the sixteenth century to the present day; and from his own family’s travails to a wider consideration of the African American experience...

offers a fresh perspective of slavery’s impact and a confirmation of Wideman’s exalted status in American letters.” – “This is an extraordinary novel from Booker Prize winner Hollinghurst, memorably conceived, beautifully executed, a.