This Month in Adult Books: September 2021

Reading recommendations for adults
September 13, 2021
We Are Not Like Them by Christine Pride and Jo Piazza (coming October 5)
If you enjoyed books like An American Marriage or Small Great Things, this is a book you should not miss. It’s a story about two lifelong friends—one Black, one white—whose friendship is forever altered by a tragic event. Told through their alternating voices, the book explores the way the larger complex societal issues enter personal spaces, from race to policing to the media and beyond. This is a deeply empathetic telling that will resonate with readers and be sure to provoke thoughtful discussion, making it perfect for book groups.




New & Upcoming
This fall brings new books from some familiar authors including Bewilderment from Richard Powers, the author of The Overstory and On Animals from Susan Orlean, author of The Library Book. It also brings several exciting debuts including My Monticello, a collection of short stories, by Jocelyn Nicole Johnson and the heartwarming rom-com, The Matzah Ball by Jean Meltzer.
Check this Out!
The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles: The latest from the acclaimed author of A Gentleman in Moscow takes readers on an epic adventure set in 1950s America (coming October 5).
 
My Monticello by Jocelyn Nicole Johnson: Publisher’s Weekly called this debut story collection about Black lives in America “incandescent” (coming October 5).
 
Carnival of Snackery: Diaries 2003-2020 by David Sedaris: A new collection of diary entries from Sedaris provides a delightful treat for readers and listeners alike (coming October 5).
 

What We’re Reading
Hell of a Book by Jason Mott
On the surface this is the intertwined stories of an author on a book tour and the life of a young boy over both of which hover a recent shooting death of a young Black man at the hands of law enforcement. But, also, Nicholas Cage shows up. The reader is buffeted back and forth between the absurd and the overwhelmingly painful, unsure what is real and what is not in this surreal satire of American society as lived in by its Black residents. Very little is left untouched by the story and there is so much here to discuss. It is indeed a Hell of a Book in the very best of ways.




For More Reading Suggestions:
  • 22 Books You Need to Read This Fall from LitHub
  • Best Memoirs to Read This Fall from EW
  • Nine New Debut Novels that Dazzle from NYPL
  • September Earphones award winners from Audiofile