new york review of books september 2021

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15 must-read September books

The nature of middle earth , by j.r.r. tolkien.

Lord of the Rings fans who want to know more about famed fantasy author J.R.R. Tolkien 's literary world will find much of interest in his final writings on Middle-earth. The collection is being published for the first time, and covers topics like Elvish immortality and reincarnation. (Sept. 2)

Home, Land, Security , by Carla Power

Landing two decades after the Sept. 11 attacks — and, tragically, as the Taliban retakes Afghanistan — Carla Powers' nonfiction work follows four mothers whose sons were drawn into extremist groups. She also delves into the world of rehabilitation camps for those who lucky enough to return alive. (Sept. 7)

Beautiful World, Where Are You , by Sally Rooney

It's the novel that needs no introduction, perhaps the most anticipated book of the fall (at least among the millennial set). But for posterity's sake, although it's no Normal People (or Conversations With Friends ), it's worth spending a few hours with Sally Rooney 's characters as they try to make sense of the dumpster fire that is our current society. Plus, aren't we done expecting famous writers to deliver exactly what we think they should? (Sept. 7)

Matrix , by Lauren Groff

Leave it to Lauren Groff to take a topic like nuns in a medieval abbey, with all the deprivation and poverty associated, and make it not only readable but a story with flourish. There's really no fiction she can't write. (Sept. 7)

White Smoke , by Tiffany D. Jackson

The queen of YA returns with a psychological thriller hailed as The Haunting of Hill House meets Get Out . It follows a teenage girl whose recently blended family moves to a new home where all isn't what it seems — but don't believe us, take the jacket image's word for it. (Sept. 14)

Harlem Shuffle , by Colson Whitehead

After winning the Pulitzer Prize for his last two novels, The Underground Railroad and The Nickel Boys , Colson Whitehead pivots to an old-fashioned heist tale for his latest blockbuster tome. Ray Carney is a furniture-dealer-turned-occasional-criminal who gets wrapped up in the robbery of a famed Harlem hotel. (Sept. 14)

You Got Anything Stronger? , by Gabrielle Union

Four years ago Gabrielle Union captivated readers with a highly personal essay collection, and now she's catching us up on everything that's happened since. She divulges tales of her life at home — she's raising two girls with husband Dwyane Wade — the racist practices she's bumped up against in the entertainment industry, and her thoughts on her iconic character from Bring It On . More wine indeed. (Sept. 14)

Unbound , by Tarana Burke

In the aftermath of the 2017 wave of the #MeToo movement, Tarana Burke delivers her life story and a history of her groundbreaking work on behalf of sexual assault victims. Expect to come away with more admiration for Burke than you thought possible. (Sept. 14)

Apples Never Fall , by Liane Moriarty

If binging the Hulu adaptation of Nine Perfect Strangers isn't enough Liane Moriarty for you, the author delivers a fresh new family drama — with a side of possible murder. The Delaneys are pillars of their suburban Sydney community (they run a renowned tennis facility) until matriarch Joy goes missing and her husband, Stan, looks quite the culprit. (Sept. 14)

Nice Girls , by Catherine Dang

A thriller that offers a tongue-in-cheek take on the idea of "Minnesota nice," this story is about a girl who moves back to her Midwestern hometown and finds herself wrapped up in the murder of a local social media star. (Sept. 14)

Assembly , by Natasha Brown

The fall's biggest debut comes from a former banker in London, who delivers a brisk, affecting diary of a young Black woman contemplating an opt-out of capitalism and life entirely. It's Mrs. Dalloway for the burnout generation, the anticapitalism manifesto millennials have been waiting for. (Sept. 14)

My Sweet Girl , by Amanda Jayatissa

In this provocative thriller, protagonist Paloma is living in San Francisco and recently cut off from her adoptive parents' funds when she finds her new subletter dead at their apartment. In the aftermath of the murder, she discovers that her past (including time spent in a Sri Lankan orphanage) is never far behind. (Sept. 14)

A Calling for Charlie Barnes , by Joshua Ferris

Our titular Charlie is in a funk. Or rather he was, until his second act presents an opportunity to pivot from a life of disappointments (divorce, a disappointing career path) to one of promise. This charming and witty novel tells a wholly inventive modern American story. (Sept. 28)

Cloud Cuckoo Land , by Anthony Doerr

The author of the overwhelmingly popular All the Light We Cannot See takes his talents to the epic. Cloud Cuckoo Land spans 15th-century Constantinople, present-day Idaho, and a futuristic spaceship hurtling toward a new colony, all with an eye toward honoring the power of the written word and its ability to transcend civilizations. (Sept. 28)

Please Don't Sit on My Bed in Your Outside Clothes , by Phoebe Robinson

Comedian Phoebe Robinson delivers another hilarious-yet-poignant collection of essays about her life and work. This time around, the book will also launch her brand-new publishing imprint, Tiny Reparations. (Sept. 28)

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‘New York Times’ Reveals Its Best Books of 2021

BY Michael Schaub • Nov. 29, 2021

The New York Times Book Review unveiled its list of the 10 best books of the year , with titles by Honorée Fannone Jeffers, Patricia Lockwood, and Clint Smith among those making the cut.

Jeffers was honored for her debut novel, The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois , which was a finalist for this year’s Kirkus Prize and longlisted for the National Book Award.

Lockwood made the list for her Booker Prize-finalist No One Is Talking About This , while Imbolo Mbue was honored for her novel How Beautiful We Were . The other two works of fiction selected by the Times were Intimacies by Katie Kitamura and the genre-defying When We Cease To Understand the World by Benjamín Labatut, translated by Adrian Nathan West. Kitamura’s novel made the National Book Award fiction longlist, while Labatut’s book was on the prize’s translated literature shortlist.

Smith’s How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning With the History of Slavery Across America , also longlisted for the National Book Award,was one of the nonfiction books to make the Times list, along with Annette Gordon-Reed’s On Juneteenth .

Other nonfiction books on the list included Andrea Elliott’s Invisible Child: Poverty, Survival and Hope in an American City and Tove Ditlevsen’s memoir cycle,  The Copenhagen Trilogy: Childhood; Youth; Dependency , translated by Tiina Nunnally and Michael Favala Goldman.

Rounding out the list was Heather Clark’s Red Comet: The Short Life and Blazing Art of Sylvia Plath . The biography, a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Critics Circle Award, was published in 2020; when asked on Twitter why it was named one of the Times’ notable books of 2021, Times Book Review editor Pamela Paul explained , “We used to make the cut after the Holiday issue and carry the titles over [to the] following year. Moving forward, it’s the full calendar year.”

Michael Schaub is a Texas-based journalist and regular contributor to NPR.

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Our most anticipated books of september 2021, coming september 7th.

Beautiful World, Where Are You  by Sally Rooney

Are we ready to call Sally Rooney THE millennial novelist yet? If Normal People and Conversations with Friends weren't enough to convince you, this latest novel will surely do the trick.

Matrix  by Lauren Groff

2021 is shaping up to be a banner year for fresh and feisty takes on historical fiction and Lauren Groff's Matrix might just steal the crown! Cast out of the royal court by Eleanor of Aquitaine, deemed too coarse and rough-hewn for marriage or courtly life, seventeen-year-old Marie de France is sent to England to be the new prioress of an impoverished abbey, its nuns on the brink of starvation and beset by disease.

The War for Gloria  by Atticus Lish

Gritty, visceral, and profoundly stirring, The War for Gloria tells the story of a young man, straddling childhood and adulthood, whose yearning to protect his mother requires him to risk destroying his father. An indelible work from a strikingly original voice in American fiction.

Coming September 17th

A Single Rose  by Muriel Barbery

No one does poetic simplicity quite like Muriel Barbery! In her latest novel, a woman connects with her estranged father only after his death, not through letters or confessions, but through the people he'd known and the friendships he'd left behind.

Kaya Days  by Carl de Souza, trans. by Jeffrey Zuckerman

A white-knuckle, breakneck read! Set in Mauritius during the uprising following the death of the Mauritian musician Kaya, Kaya Days tells the story of a young woman's daylong search for her younger brother who has gone missing.

Harlem Shuffle  by Colson Whitehead

Limitlessly talented Colson Whitehead has graced us once again with the pleasure of his writing! Set uptown in the early 1960s, Harlem Shuffle is a glorious heist novel with memorable, spit-fire characters to rival any crew Danny Ocean ever put together.

Palmares  by Gayl Jones

Gayl Jones, author of Corregidora , is back after a decades-long hiatus with Palmares , a sweeping tale of slavery, liberation, trauma and myth set in 17th-century Brazil.

Coming September 21st

Bewilderment  by Richard Powers

With its soaring descriptions of the natural world, its tantalizing vision of life beyond, and its account of a father and son's ferocious love, Bewilderment marks Richard Powers's most intimate and moving novel. At its heart lies the question: How can we tell our children the truth about this beautiful, imperiled planet?

The Wrong End of the Telescope  by Rabih Alameddine

" The Wrong End of the Telescope is the best kind of prose. Lines break out like poetry and the story muscles on, telling. The setting is real history which I'm hungry for and Rabih Alameddine queers it handsomely with all kinds of love and a feeling that existence is pure experience, not language at all and the shape of this book, right up to the end, is a becoming." --Eileen Myles

Awake  by Harald Voetmann, trans. by Johanne Sorgenfri Ottosen

A wry, corking little novel about history's first wikieditor, Pliny the Elder. Voetmann paints the Roman author of Naturalis Historia as a hygene-adverse workaholic, surrounded by a feckless nephew, pedantic friends and his much-enduring slaves.

The Book of Form and Emptiness  by Ruth Ozeki

"Heart-breaking and heart-healing--a book to not only keep us absorbed but also to help us think and love and live and listen. No one writes quite like Ruth Ozeki and The Book of Form and Emptiness is a triumph." --Matt Haig, New York Times bestselling author of The Midnight Library

Coming September 28th

Chronicles from the Land of the Happiest People on Earth  by Wole Soyinka

The first Black winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature gives us a tour de force, his first novel in nearly half a century: a savagely satiric, gleefully irreverent, rollicking fictional meditation on how power and greed can corrupt the soul of a nation.

Summer Sons  by Lee Mandelo

Seamlessly transition from summer to Halloween with this queer, Southern gothic debut novel. Dark academic meets Tennessee whiskey.

Cloud Cuckoo Land  by Anthony Doerr

Set in Constantinople in the fifteenth century, in a small town in present-day Idaho, and on an interstellar ship decades from now, Anthony Doerr's gorgeous third novel is a triumph of imagination and compassion, a soaring story about children on the cusp of adulthood in worlds in peril, who find resilience, hope--and a book.

Shutdown: How Covid Shook the World's Economy  by Adam Tooze

Deftly weaving finance, politics, business, and the global human experience into one tight narrative, a tour-de-force account of 2020, the year that changed everything--from the acclaimed author of  Crashed .

Castaway Mountain: Love and Loss Among the Wastepickers of Mumbai  by Saumya Roy

Journalist and activist Saumya Roy makes her book debut in this harrowing and compassionate portrait of Deonar--a 320 acre landfill outside Mumbai--and the people who make a life for themselves among its litter-filled slopes.

On Freedom: Four Songs of Care and Constraint  by Maggie Nelson

Freedom is one of those words so overused it's in danger of losing meaning altogether. Does a continued obsession with the term enliven and emancipate, or reflect a deepening nihilism (or both)?  On Freedom  examines such questions by tracing the concept's complexities in four distinct realms: art, sex, drugs, and climate. Less autobiographical than The Argonauts , On Freedom is cultural criticism at its finest.

Coming September 14th

Read Until You Understand: The Profound Wisdom of Black Life and Literature   by Farah Jasmine Griffin

Farah Jasmine Griffin, inaugural chair of the African American and African Diaspora Studies Department at Columbia University, where she also teaches, blends memoir, history and art together into something truly special. "Read until you understand," Griffin's father wrote and she took these words straight to heart. 

Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law  by Mary Roach

How do you stop a jaywalking moose? What about aggressive monkeys and burgling bears? Join America's funniest science writer (Peter Carlson, Washington Post ), Mary Roach, on an irresistible investigation into the unpredictable world where wildlife and humans meet.

The Philip Roth We Don't Know: Sex, Race & Autobiography  by Jacques Berlinerblau

"Provocative and original, The Philip Roth We Don't Know interrogates the life and works of Roth in light of the #MeToo movement and, in so doing, provides a contemporary context for discussing Roth during these changing times." --Aimee Pozorski, author of Philip Roth Studies

Graceland, at Last: Notes on Hope and Heartache from the American South  by Margaret Renkil

From New York Times contributing opinion writer and author of Late Migrations Margaret Renkl, a selection of her beloved weekly essays presenting a multifaceted view of the contemporary American South.

A Revolution in Three Acts: The Radical Vaudeville of Bert Williams, Eva Tanguay, and Julian Eltinge  by David Hajdu & John Carey

This vivid book offers the tales and truths of pioneering performers who challenged the rules of race, gender, and sexuality. "Change the joke and slip the yoke," as Ralph Ellison said. And so they did, remaking American art and history and culture in the process. --Margo Jefferson, author of  Negroland: A Memoir

Complaint!  by Sara Ahmed

Drawing on oral and written testimonies from academics and students who have made complaints about harassment, bullying, and unequal working conditions at universities, Sara Ahmed examines what we can learn about power from those who complain about abuses of power.

Springer Mountain: Meditations on Killing and Eating by Wyatt Williams

Move over,  The Omnivore's Dilemma,  Wyatt Williams has brought something different to the table with this thoughtful and thought-provoking insight about the meat we eat (or don't) and why we should (or shouldn't).

NB: Some of the text on this page is sourced from publisher-provided marketing content.

Beautiful World, Where Are You: A Novel (Hardcover)

Matrix: A Novel (Hardcover)

The War for Gloria: A novel (Hardcover)

A Single Rose (Hardcover)

Kaya Days (Paperback)

Harlem Shuffle: A Novel (Hardcover)

Palmares (Hardcover)

Bewilderment: A Novel (Hardcover)

The Wrong End of the Telescope (Hardcover)

Awake (Paperback)

The Book of Form and Emptiness: A Novel (Hardcover)

Chronicles from the Land of the Happiest People on Earth: A Novel (Hardcover)

Summer Sons (Hardcover)

Cloud Cuckoo Land: A Novel (Hardcover)

Shutdown: How Covid Shook the World's Economy (Hardcover)

Castaway Mountain: Love and Loss Among the Wastepickers of Mumbai (Hardcover)

On Freedom: Four Songs of Care and Constraint (Hardcover)

Read Until You Understand: The Profound Wisdom of Black Life and Literature (Hardcover)

Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law (Hardcover)

The Philip Roth We Don't Know: Sex, Race, and Autobiography (Hardcover)

Graceland, at Last: Notes on Hope and Heartache from the American South (Hardcover)

A Revolution in Three Acts: The Radical Vaudeville of Bert Williams, Eva Tanguay, and Julian Eltinge (Hardcover)

Complaint! (Paperback)

Springer Mountain: Meditations on Killing and Eating (Paperback)

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The Most-Anticipated September 2021 Book Releases

Wondering what to read now? Here are all the hot new September 2021 book releases for you. I’ll let you know what I’ve read, what I can’t wait to read, and what’s getting all the attention this month.

In case you’re new to Booklist Queen, every month I cover all the hottest new book releases. I try to read as many new book releases as I can to give you an honest perspective on what to read and what to skip. 

However, I realize that my to-read list might not exactly match yours. That’s why, this year, I’ve decided to also include some of the most popular September 2021 book releases from your favorite authors. 

Enough from me. Let’s get on to the September 2021 book releases so you can fill up your to-read list.

Don’t Miss a Thing

Top September 2021 Book Releases

Cloud Cuckoo Land

Anthony doerr.

From the author of All the Light We Cannot See comes an ambitious work of literary fiction. Doerr’s novel toggles between three timelines – the Fall of Constantinople in 1453, present-day Idaho, and interstellar ship far in the future. Each piece explores the power of stories as a fictional ancient Greek comedy weaves throughout the entire book. I predict that Cloud Cuckoo Land will be hit or miss with people since the plot doesn’t converge as powerfully as it should. Yet, the awe-inspiring power of the written word that Doerr evokes in every sentence will be appreciated by literary fiction lovers.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Scribner through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Apples Never Fall

Liane moriarty.

It should be the golden years for Stan and Joy Delaney now that they’ve sold their tennis academy and settled into retirement, so why aren’t they happy? When they welcome a bleeding stranger into their home, her arrival begins a cascade of events. Now Joy is missing, and the four grown Delaney children wonder if their father might have done it. Liane Moriarty’s books always make for exciting reads, so you’ll want to keep your eye out for her latest novel.

Publication Date: 14 September 2021 Amazon | Goodreads | More Info

Harlem Shuffle

Colson whitehead.

In 1960s Harlem, Ray Carney has a reputation as an upstanding used furniture salesman. Although Ray strives to live up to what he knows he can be, times aren’t like they used to be, and he occasionally supplements his incomes with a side gig fencing items for the underworld of Harlem. When Ray’s cousin ropes him into being the fence for a heist gone wrong, Ray finds himself caught up with shady cops and local gangsters.

The Night She Disappeared

Lisa jewell.

One night in 2017, a teen mom has her mother watch her baby boy so she can attend a party in the nearby woods, only to disappear without a trace. Two years later, mystery novelist Sophie is wandering the woods near her new house when she finds a note attached to a tree saying, “Dig Here.” Lisa Jewell’s dark thrillers are always my favorites, displaying the harrowing lengths to which humans can descend. The Night She Disappeared is a slow-burn mystery that is intriguing enough to grab your attention but not an edge-of-your-seat read.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Atria through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Rock Paper Scissors

Alice feeney.

After winning a trip to a remote Scotland getaway for the weekend, Adam and Amelia try one last-ditch effort to save their marriage. Amelia is tired of Adam putting his work as a screenwriter before her and Adam is just tired of Amelia. As things start to unravel and their past is revealed through secret anniversary letters Adam has never read, you find that someone is lying and someone doesn’t want them to end happily ever after.

While I was reading, I wavered between enjoying the mystery and being annoyed by it. Overall the book was good, if a bit unbelievable, but the twist is so artfully executed that it elevates the entire novel up a notch.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Flatiron Books through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Beautiful World, Where Are You

Sally rooney.

Hitting the upper end of the new adult genre, Sally Rooney’s latest novel follows the lives of four single 30ish Irish protagonists as they try to find their way in life. On a whim, Alice, a novelist, invites Felix, a warehouse worker she just met, to travel to Rome with her. Meanwhile, while recovering from a breakup, Alice’s best friend Eileen begins flirting with Simon, a childhood friend. 

Beautiful World, Where Are You alternates between chapters that push the plot forward and letters between Alice and Eileen full of existential musings on life, love, climate change, and sex. If you love Rooney’s distinctive style then you’ll love her September release. If you don’t enjoy reading about millennial angst, then I’d pass on this one.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Farrar, Straus and Giroux. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Save for Later

Book of the Month – September 2021

Receiving my blue box from Book of the Month Club is a highlight of every month.

Here’s how it works – each month, they pick 5 books and you get to choose one book or skip until the next month. If you want to add any extra books, then you get them at a discounted price.

Each month is usually a mix of new releases and advance copies of unreleased books. If you are interested in joining, right now you can use my Book of the Month Club affiliate link to get your first book for $5 !

The September Book of the Month selections are:

See the Complete List of Upcoming Releases !

Reese Witherspoon’s September 2021 Book Club Pick

L.A. Weather

María amparo escandón.

In the L.A. drought, Mexican-American matriarch Keila is tired of her loveless marriage to Oscar whose only thought is for the weather and the rain that might never come. When Keila decides to end her marriage, her three adult daughters are forced to take a hard look at their own relationships in this witty family drama chosen by Reese Witherspoon for her September book club pick.

Publication Date: 7 September 2021 Amazon | Goodreads | More Info

Read with Jenna’s September 2021 Book Club Pick

Beautiful country, qian julie wang.

When Qian was seven years old, her family immigrated to the United States. As her parents struggled to cope with the transition from respected professors to “illegal” sweatshop laborers, Qian finds herself an outcast at school and seeks comfort in the library. When her mother becomes ill, Qian’s fears multiply in this moving coming-of-age memoir about the immigrant experience in the US.

The Most Anticipated September 2021 Book Releases

Under the Whispering Door

When the reaper comes to collect him at his own funeral, Wallace Price, a soulless lawyer obsessed with all the wrong things, finds himself taken to a small tea shop tucked into the mountains. Given one week until he needs to pass on, Wallace decides to lives as much as he can in the next seven days with the help of the kind tea shop owner who is assigned to assist Wallace.

Many readers are going to love Under the Whispering Door , raving about the profound truths conveyed through wry humor and quirky characters. Unfortunately, I am not one of them. To me, Under the Whispering Door felt like it was trying to hard to be meaningful. The tongue-in-cheek humor just isn’t my style, so I decided not to finish this one. If you liked Fredrik Backman’s Anxious People, you’ll likely love TJ Klune’s September 2021 book releases. Else, I’d skip this one.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Tor Books. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

My Rating: DNF Publication Date: 21 September 2021 Amazon | Goodreads | More Info

Eight Perfect Hours

On her way home from a school reunion, a surprise blizzard traps Noelle on the highway. She ends up spending eight splendid hours talking with Sam, the handsome American in the car next to her. Over the next few months, as Noelle keeps running into Sam, she begins to realize that she wants more in life than what she has settled for.

Although I loved Lia Louis’s debut, Dear Emmie Blue , Eight Perfect Hours fell flat for me. The sheer number of Noelle and Sam’s coincidences tipped the scales from cute to completely contrived. Moreover, Noelle spends so much time in her head repetitively going over the same doubts that the story loses force. Although still an enjoyable rom-com, Eight Perfect Hours needed much more nuance and character-building to be worth recommending.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Atria Books through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Bewilderment

Richard powers.

Richard Powers, the author of the bestseller The Overstory , contemplates the world we are leaving for our children in his September 2021 book release. As widowed astrobiologist Theo Byrne searches for life on other planets, he struggles with raising his nine-year son. Sweet nature-loving Robin is on the verge of being expelled from third grade. Robin’s teachers and doctors tell Theo that Robin needs drugs to help be normal, but Theo refuses, leaning on the love of the natural world to help Robin cope.

Publication Date: 21 September 2021 Amazon | Goodreads | More Info

Nicholas Sparks

As a troubled teenager, Maggie Dawes was sent to live with her aunt in a remote North Carolina beach town. Her life is changed forever when she met Bryce Trickett, a handsome local teen who taught her to love the island and introduced her to photography before he heads off to West Point. Now a renowned travel photographer, Maggie recounts the story of her first love to her young assistant after Maggie is diagnosed with a crippling illness.

Publication Date: 28 September 2021 Amazon | Goodreads | More Info

Anderson Cooper and Katherine Howe

CNN host Anderson Cooper teams up with historian Katherine Howe to recount the rise and fall of a great American dynasty, his mother’s family, the Vanderbilts. Told in vignettes of the various family members, Cooper shows how Cornelius Vanderbilt built his shipping and railroad empires in the 1800s, and how his descendants fought over his staggering fortune, forever fracturing the family.

Declutter Like a Mother

Allie casazza.

Are you tired of being a “hot mess” mom, spending your days drowning in overwhelm? Forget the stark white empty walls, Casazza teaches a family-oriented approach to minimalism that shows you how to reclaim the joy in motherhood and make your home work for you. Declutter like a Mother does a great job conveying the why of decluttering for families, explaining the benefits to both mothers and children. The actual decluttering techniques are similar to basically every decluttering book. Also, be aware that she gets a little annoying with the self-promotion of her online courses.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Thomas Nelson Books through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Once Upon a Broken Heart

Stephanie garber.

When the love of her life is about to marry her stepsister, Evangeline Fox strikes a deal with the Prince of Hearts. In payment, he demands in payment three kisses, to be given at his time of choosing. After the first kiss is given to the Prince of the North, Evangeline realizes she’s trapped in a deadly game with an immortal, one that will either end in her happily ever after or completely break her heart.

Set after the events of the Caraval books, Once Upon a Broken Heart picks out a new resourceful heroine and brings back the bad boy you love to hate, or it it hate to love? Critically speaking, the story isn’t nearly as good as Caraval, lacking originality and spending too much time in Evangeline’s head. However, preteens and Caraval fans won’t care and will gobble it up.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Flatiron Books. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Winterlight

Kristen britain.

In the 7th book in the Green Rider series, Sir Karigan G’ladheon is making her way back to Sacor City after her eventful mission to the North. Although plagued by nightmares and self-doubt after being tortured, Karigan must continue to risk all for king and country as the Second Empire makes a final bid to attack the kingdom.

Fantasy isn’t generally my genre of choice, but I got hooked on the Green Rider series after the birth of my youngest, reading all six (gigantic) books in about a week. I’ve heard that this is the penultimate book in the series, and I have to admit that I am just as hooked now as I was when I started. In Winterlight , fans of the series will be pleased as Britain keeps up a constant stream of action while diving into the psychological toll of Karigan’s many adventures. While the loose threads from the other books are mentioned, the focus is on Karigan and King Zachary taking on the Second Empire.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from DAW through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

R. J. Palacio

From the author of the bestselling middle-grade novel Wonder comes a new children’s story set in the American West. In the middle of the night, three horsemen take Silas’s father away. When a pony shows up, twelve-year-old Silas sets out on a journey across the West to find his father. But Silas is not alone. He brings along Mittenwool, a companion who happens to be a ghost.

Popular September Upcoming Releases

What September 2021 Book Releases are You Most Excited to Read?

What books can you not wait to get your hands on this month? Did I miss any September 2021 book releases that you are anticipating? As always, let me know in the comments!

More New Book Releases:

• Can’t Miss August 2021 Book Releases
• The Hottest October 2021 Book Releases
• Book of the Month September 2021 Selections
• The Best Books of 2021
• The Best New Thrillers Books

Recommended

Reader Interactions

September 1, 2021 at 3:00 am

I cannot honestly say I am that excited about it, but of the options given, I chose Beautiful Country as my September BOTM. I know nothing about it, but the others were of no interest at all. I’ve skipped months recently and seem to be getting most new releases, among other books from my local library.

I did need a “debut” to complete my debut darling badge, so this memoir will fill that spot.

I actually had 2 credits & a birthday coupon from August that BOTM kindly let me crossover to this month, since I had skipped August. So in addition, I added The Goldfinch & The Secret History, both Donna Tartt books.

The Secret History is still buzzing after all these years. It was her debut novel. I think I may have started it in the past, but did not finish. The same with The Goldfinch. It is a massive book. I believe I checked it out twice from the library 8 years ago & never got to the end! I figure it will at least give me my money’s worth page-wise

I know I attempted it 8 years ago, because my now 8 year old grandson was an infant.

I am not sure what is going on with BOTM, but lately the main choices are IMO not as good as the add ons. And I am sorry to see their collaboration with ReadwithJenna has ended. No one would give me a definite answer, then finally they confirmed it.

I love Hayley Mills, so Forever Young is of interest to me. Whenever you are feeling down in the dumbs or overwhelmed with our current day stressors, just find a Hayley Mills movie & watch it.

Also I only recently discovered Lauren Groff, so super excited for Matrix and on a wait list at my library.

The Magician sounds good too!

So many great books, that was why BOTM’s weak picks this month were a little disappointing.

September 1, 2021 at 3:03 am

Down in the “dumps” not dumbs!!!!!

Although it can feel that way at times!!!

Stephanie Easthope says

September 7, 2021 at 6:39 pm

Ann – I just finished The Secret History – having had it on my shelf for more than a decade… I’m glad I picked it up again. It’s a fantastic book.

September 7, 2021 at 8:42 pm

Most people love Labor Day for the three day weekend. I love it because now the library will be open on Sunday.

Ethics panel unconstitutional, appeals court says

(The Center Square) – A now-defunct New York state ethics panel that targeted former-Gov. Andrew Cuomo over a controversial book deal is unconstitutional, a state appeals court has ruled.

The unanimous ruling by New York's Appellate Division’s Third Department upholds a September decision by state Supreme Court Judge Thomas Marcelle. He determined the state Commission on Ethics and Lobbying in Government was created without a required constitutional amendment, and lacks oversight of how the governor and other top officials appoint panel members.

“The Legislature, though well-intentioned in its actions, violated the bedrock principles of separation of powers," the panel wrote in the six-page ruling. "Even the most advantageous legislation violates the dictates of separation of powers if it results in one branch of government encroaching upon the powers of another for the purpose of expanding its own powers."

The ruling stems from a lawsuit filed by former Cuomo saying the ethics panel doesn’t have the authority to seize $5.1 million from a book he wrote about the state’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Cuomo's lawyer, Gregory Dubinsky of the law firm Holwell Shuster & Goldberg, said in a statement they are "gratified" by the appellate court's ruling which they said "recognized that the act creating COELIG usurped the power of the governor and placed it in the hands of individuals who answer neither to the governor nor the electorate."

In 2020, the Joint Commission on Public Ethics initially approved Cuomo’s request to write the book. But a year later, the commission walked back that approval, saying Cuomo had used his staff and state resources on the book. The panel ordered Cuomo to forfeit the $5.1 million a publisher paid him.

Cuomo sued to block the move, saying it was fueled by politics and deprived him of due process. In August 2022, a state judge overturned the commission's order after ruling that the panel had sidestepped the rules by not holding a hearing on the fines.

Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat who took over after Cuomo resigned in August 2021 amid a sex scandal, signed a bill last year disbanding the commission and creating the new panel, which rekindled efforts to clawback the money from Cuomo's book deal.

In court filings, Cuomo's lawyers say Hochul's move to create the ethics commission "blatantly violates the separation of powers because it creates an unaccountable agency exercising quintessentially executive powers."

In a joint statement, Chairman Frederick Davie of the Commission on Ethics and Lobbying in Government and Executive Director Sanford Berland said they "respectfully disagree" with the ruling and are "reviewing all options, including, if appropriate, recommending interim legislation."

"We will work with the Attorney General’s office to promptly seek review in the Court of Appeals and to continue the stay of the lower court’s order for the duration of the appellate process," they said.

The officials stressed the state's ethics laws "remain intact" and that the commission "will continue to promote compliance with the state’s ethics and lobbying laws as this matter works its way through the full appellate process."

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Best of The New York Review, plus books, events, and other items of interest

May 23, 2024

Current Issue

Table of Contents

July 1, 2021

Cracks in the Israeli Consensus

Dickinson’s improvisations.

Writing in Time: Emily Dickinson’s Master Hours

by Marta Werner

‘Reality Rebellion’

A haunted patrimony.

The House of Fragile Things: Jewish Art Collectors and the Fall of France

by James McAuley

As American as Family Separation

Separated: Inside an American Tragedy

by Jacob Soboroff

Taking Children: A History of American Terror

by Laura Briggs

The Landscapes Inside Us

Wayfinding: The Science and Mystery of How Humans Navigate the World

by M.R. O’Connor

From Here to There: The Art and Science of Finding and Losing Our Way

by Michael Bond

Nature Shock: Getting Lost in America

by Jon T. Coleman

More Than Accomplices

Women as War Criminals: Gender, Agency, and Justice

by Izabela Steflja and Jessica Trisko Darden

Selfies from Hell

Reality and Other Stories

by John Lanchester

Grievance Conservatives Are Here to Stay

The Power Worshippers: Inside the Dangerous Rise of Religious Nationalism

by Katherine Stewart

Gay Rights vs. Religious Liberty?: The Unnecessary Conflict

by Andrew Koppelman

A Most Adaptable Party

From Rebel to Ruler: One Hundred Years of the Chinese Communist Party

by Tony Saich

The Party and the People: Chinese Politics in the 21st Century

by Bruce J. Dickson

The Chinese Communist Party: A Century in Ten Lives

edited by Timothy Cheek, Klaus Mühlhahn, and Hans van der Ven

How the Red Sun Rose: The Origin and Development of the Yan’an Rectification Movement, 1930–45

by Gao Hua, translated from the Chinese by Stacy Mosher and Guo Jian

I Burn Time

The triumph of mutabilitie.

Edmund Spenser and the Eighteenth-Century Book

by Hazel Wilkinson

Spenserian Moments

by Gordon Teskey

Forging an Early Black Politics

Until Justice Be Done: America’s First Civil Rights Movement, from the Revolution to Reconstruction

by Kate Masur

The First Reconstruction: Black Politics in America from the Revolution to the Civil War

by Van Gosse

Dostoevsky and His Demons

Fyodor Dostoevsky: A Life in Letters, Memoirs, and Criticism: Volume 1: In the Beginning, 1821–1845

by Thomas Gaiton Marullo

Fyodor Dostoevsky: A Life in Letters, Memoirs, and Criticism: Volume 2: The Gathering Storm, 1846–1847

Dostoevsky in Love: An Intimate Life

by Alex Christofi

Lectures on Dostoevsky

by Joseph Frank, edited by Marina Brodskaya and Marguerite Frank

India’s Streaming Auteurs

The broken promise of retirement.

Detroit Resurrected: To Bankruptcy and Back

by Nathan Bomey

Rescuing Retirement: A Plan to Guarantee Retirement Security for All Americans

by Teresa Ghilarducci and Tony James, with a foreword by Timothy Geithner

American Bonds: How Credit Markets Shaped a Nation

by Sarah L. Quinn

Downhill from Here: Retirement Insecurity in the Age of Inequality

by Katherine S. Newman

Blue Bloods and Brownshirts

Nazis and Nobles: The History of a Misalliance

by Stephan Malinowski, translated from the German by Jon Andrews

In Her Own Voice

Conversations with Lorraine Hansberry

edited by Mollie Godfrey

All Things Great and Small

Neutron Stars: The Quest to Understand the Zombies of the Cosmos

by Katia Moskvitch

The End of Everything (Astrophysically Speaking)

by Katie Mack

Fundamentals: Ten Keys to Reality

by Frank Wilczek

Imperial Delusions

Time’s Monster: How History Makes History

by Priya Satia

Neither Settler nor Native: The Making and Unmaking of Permanent Minorities

by Mahmood Mamdani

Worldmaking after Empire: The Rise and Fall of Self-Determination

by Adom Getachew

Reckoning with Nazism in Occupied Norway

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editors’ choice

6 New Books We Recommend This Week

Suggested reading from critics and editors at The New York Times.

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It’s a happy coincidence that we recommend Becca Rothfeld’s essay collection “All Things Are Too Small” — a critic’s manifesto “in praise of excess,” as her subtitle has it — in the same week that we also recommend Justin Taylor’s maximalist new novel “Reboot,” an exuberant satire of modern society that stuffs everything from fandom to TV retreads to the rise of conspiracy culture into its craw. I don’t know if Rothfeld has read Taylor’s novel, but I get the feeling she would approve. Maybe you will too: In the spirit of “more, bigger, louder,” why not pick those up together?

Our other recommendations this week include a queer baseball romance novel, an up-to-the-minute story about a widower running for the presidency of his local labor union, a graphic novelist’s collection of spare visual stories and, in nonfiction, a foreign policy journalist’s sobering look at global politics in the 21st century. Happy reading. — Gregory Cowles

REBOOT Justin Taylor

This satire of modern media and pop culture follows a former child actor who is trying to revive the TV show that made him famous. Taylor delves into the worlds of online fandom while exploring the inner life of a man seeking redemption — and something meaningful to do.

“His book is, in part, a performance of culture, a mirror America complete with its own highly imagined myths, yet one still rooted in the Second Great Awakening and the country’s earliest literature. It’s a performance full of wit and rigor.”

From Joshua Ferris’s review

Pantheon | $28

YOU SHOULD BE SO LUCKY Cat Sebastian

When a grieving reporter falls for the struggling baseball player he’s been assigned to write about, their romance is like watching a Labrador puppy fall in love with a pampered Persian cat: all eager impulse on one side and arch contrariness on the other.

“People think the ending is what defines a romance, and it does, but that’s not what a romance is for. The end is where you stop, but the journey is why you go. … If you read one romance this spring, make it this one.”

From Olivia Waite’s romance column

Avon | Paperback, $18.99

ALL THINGS ARE TOO SMALL: Essays in Praise of Excess Becca Rothfeld

A striking debut by a young critic who has been heralded as a throwback to an era of livelier discourse. Rothfeld has published widely and works currently as a nonfiction book critic for The Washington Post; her interests range far, but these essays are united by a plea for more excess in all things, especially thought.

“Splendidly immodest in its neo-Romantic agenda — to tear down minimalism and puritanism in its many current varieties. … A carnival of high-low allusion and analysis.”

From David Gates’s review

Metropolitan Books | $27.99

THE RETURN OF GREAT POWERS: Russia, China, and the Next World War Jim Sciutto

Sciutto’s absorbing account of 21st-century brinkmanship takes readers from Ukraine in the days and hours ahead of Russia’s invasion to the waters of the Taiwan Strait where Chinese jets flying overhead raise tensions across the region. It’s a book that should be read by every legislator or presidential nominee sufficiently deluded to think that returning America to its isolationist past or making chummy with Putin is a viable option in today’s world.

“Enough to send those with a front-row view into the old basement bomb shelter. … The stuff of unholy nightmares.”

From Scott Anderson’s review

Dutton | $30

THE SPOILED HEART Sunjeev Sahota

Sahota’s novel is a bracing study of a middle-aged man’s downfall. A grieving widower seems to finally be turning things around for himself as he runs for the top job at his labor union and pursues a love interest. But his election campaign gets entangled in identity politics, and his troubles quickly multiply.

“Sahota has a surgeon’s dexterous hands, and the reader senses his confidence. … A plot-packed, propulsive story.”

From Caoilinn Hughes’s review

Viking | $29

SPIRAL AND OTHER STORIES Aidan Koch

The lush, sparsely worded work of this award-winning graphic novelist less resembles anything recognizably “comic book” than it does a sort of dreamlike oasis of art. Her latest piece of masterful minimalism, constructed from sensuous washes of watercolor, pencil, crayon and collage, pulses with bright pigment and tender melancholy.

“Many of these pages are purely abstract, but when Koch draws details, it’s in startlingly specific and consistent contours that give these stories a breadth of character as well as depiction.”

From Sam Thielman’s graphic novels column

New York Review Comics | $24.95

Explore More in Books

Want to know about the best books to read and the latest news start here..

The complicated, generous life  of Paul Auster, who died on April 30 , yielded a body of work of staggering scope and variety .

“Real Americans,” a new novel by Rachel Khong , follows three generations of Chinese Americans as they all fight for self-determination in their own way .

“The Chocolate War,” published 50 years ago, became one of the most challenged books in the United States. Its author, Robert Cormier, spent years fighting attempts to ban it .

Joan Didion’s distinctive prose and sharp eye were tuned to an outsider’s frequency, telling us about ourselves in essays that are almost reflexively skeptical. Here are her essential works .

Each week, top authors and critics join the Book Review’s podcast to talk about the latest news in the literary world. Listen here .