As I have been wandering through publishers’ fall catalogs, I have found myself repeatedly thinking “dang, another terrific nonfiction option.” I did not take the next step to thinking “dang, the fall is chock-a-block for nonfiction,” at least not until I saw the highlights all in one place in this fall nonfiction preview from the editors at Amazon. There are at least six must-reads here for me, with several others lurking as strong possibilities (and one I have read already).

Adam Grant (Vibe) and Angela Duckworth (Situated) releases give us a one-two of pop psychology/self-dev heavyweights that will be in think pieces and airports everywhere.

Malcolm Gladwell (The American Way of Killing) working more political than he has before is notable, and I expect a lot of secondary coverage around this one.

A memoir from LeVar Burton (Take My Word for It) is a long-time coming and will delight book lovers who came of age in the ’80s and ’90s, Star Trek fans, and just people who are into goodness and light in general.

Haruki Murakami’s slim memoir of his father (Abandoning a Cat) contains the most personal and reflective work I have ever seen from him.

Look, Jill Lepore (The Rise and Fall of the Artificial State) is on a heater. Not sure what else to tell you.

It’s a triple-feature of marquee names this week as Liane Moriarty delivers a long-awaited sequel to Big Little Lies, Edwidge Danticat explores the aftermath of a violent attack, and Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Jill Lepore unpacks the ways AI is changing democracy.

Also hitting shelves:

See more of this week’s most notable new releases.

From the bestselling author of Behind Her Eyes and We Live Here Now, Sarah Pinborough, comes a small-town novel of suspense: They Say a Girl Died Here.

Anna Maybourne never imagined herself living in a place like Harper’s Creek, a nowhere town full of dusty farmland plagued by drought. Along with outspoken loner Melissa Laverne and handsome deputy Todd Greenbough, Anna fills her hours with the town’s darkest curiosity–a string of grisly murders attributed to a killer called The Farmhand.

In a race to solve the murders, cycles of violence and family history emerge in this genre-defying, devastating mystery.

Minor characters take center stage in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, Tom Stoppard’s Hamlet send-up, marking its 60th anniversary this year.

With wit, wordplay, and philosophical ponderings to rival the Bard himself, the play announced Stoppard as a major voice in 20th-century drama, and it continues to delight scholars and civilian nerds alike.

Learn more about Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead and Tom Stoppard’s influence on modern theatre on Zero to Well-Read.

Wattpad, an online platform for original stories and fanfiction, recently changed its policies to state that “Pornographic content (created primarily for sexual arousal)” is banned/not allowed, in addition to banning content depicting “illegal sex acts.”

If you’re not familiar with Wattpad, I apologize for the extremely online sentence I’m about to share, but it’s relevant context. The kind of content Wattpad is most associated with is “I was sold to One Direction” fanfiction, in which a young woman (often a self-insert of the reader) is sold to the boy band by their parents and becomes a love interest.

We simply don’t have the space to get into that here, but this is the environment we’re dealing with. Unsurprisingly, users were shocked by this announcement, saying that banning smut from Wattpad is like “banning water from the ocean.”

It has caused an exodus to Archive of Our Own (AO3), a fan-owned, anti-censorship fanfiction site where almost every kind of content is allowed, as long as it’s clearly labeled.

This is all part of an ongoing history of censorship of fan content, and it also reflects the increasing censorship of sexual content as orchestrated by payment processors, as seen previously on Tumblr, Itch.io, and many other platforms.

Wattpad’s policies as written allow for a lot of leeway, so time will tell how strictly they are reinforced. AO3 is fan-owned, has no app presence (where app stores can control what is allowed), and has no advertisers to answer to; the archive was constructed to be as censorship-proof as possible.

Given the way censorship disproportionately affects queer content—which is seen as inherently more sexual—I’m grateful that there is at least one corner of the fanfiction world that is not beholden to credit card companies to decide what kinds of content are acceptable. —DE

What do we owe the people we leave behind?

In February 2024, celebrated children’s book illustrator Petra Mathers and her husband, documentary filmmaker Michael Mathers, mailed letters to dozens of friends and family members announcing that they had died by suicide. Both in their late 70s, Petra and Michael seemed happy and healthy to those who knew them. 

In season three of Death of an Artist, married journalists Leon Neyfakh and Alice Gregory speak with the people who received those letters in an attempt to understand the Matherses’ decision and its impact on the loved ones they left behind. 

Part mystery, part love story, Death of an Artist is a provocative exploration of mortality, marriage, and the choices we make at the end of a life. Find it wherever you get podcasts.

Tell me, what is it you plan to watch on your one wild and precious summer night? If Mary Oliver’s poetry means something to you, here’s your answer.

Mary Oliver: Saved by the Beauty of the World, a new documentary from Sasha Waters, debuts tonight as the latest installment in PBS’s “American Masters” series.

I had the pleasure of seeing the film when it premiered at the James River Film Festival in Richmond, VA this spring, and I’m thrilled for everyone who will get to experience it now. Oliver’s work has been a touchstone in many eras of my life, and the film is quite moving.

Watch on PBS tonight at 9pm Eastern (check local listings), or watch on the “American Masters” YouTube channel or PBS app.

Don’t know where to start with Oliver’s work? Here’s my favorite. — RJS

Jeannie Chin is the author of The Cozy Nook Bookshop, out today from Forever. Below, she recommends three cozy and heartwarming Asian American and Asian Canadian romances.

My book club had a real bummer of a year recently. We were making a concerted effort to read more inclusively, but accidentally, we’d picked twelve books in a row that were bone-crushingly depressing. This got me thinking about the sorts of books we tend to see when we go looking for different stories, told by voices that represent a wider variety of backgrounds and experiences. 

It’s also made it even more important to me to continue telling stories about characters who share my Asian American heritage—including my new small town contemporary rom-com, The Cozy Nook Bookshop. It’s a grumpy-sunshine love story, featuring cozy autumn-in-New-England vibes, a dreamy bookstore, and just a touch of magic. 

Here are three romance novels I’ve read recently, written by Asian American/Canadian authors that will hopefully bring a bit of joy to your shelf:

Red String Theory by Lauren Kung Jessen: The immediate chemistry between the artist heroine and scientist hero of this novel drew me in, but the gorgeous, lyrical writing and evocative imagery made it unforgettable. It’s a truly immersive read.

The Stand-Up Groomsman by Jackie Lau: What I love most about Jackie Lau’s books is how grounded and real her characters feel. This book is no exception; the hero doesn’t have rock-hard abs, and the heroine is quite introverted. Their opposites-attract love story is incredibly endearing and satisfying. 

A Thousand Miles To Graceland by Kristen Mei Chase: This book straddles the line between women’s fiction and romance. The heart of the novel is an epic, bucket-list road trip taken by a woman and her mother. While it’s full of trauma and baggage, and it can get quite heavy at times, it’s also laugh-out-loud funny and full of hope.

ThriftBooks is keeping summer reading going with Endless Summer, Endless Points, giving readers the chance to build their perfect summer reading stack while earning up to 200+ bonus ReadingRewards points on a single order.

The more books readers add to their cart, the more bonus points they can earn, making it the perfect time to squeeze in one more great summer read or stock up for the season ahead.

Plus, readers can enjoy free domestic shipping on orders over $20, making it even easier to keep the pages turning. Shop now, only at ThriftBooks.

Did you know? Amis began his literary career reviewing science fiction (under the alias Henry Tilney, the gothic-novel-loving character from Austen’s Northanger Abbey)

Here’s how Anthropic is making it easier to tell if text is AI-generated.

Fuel your kids’ FOMO with back-to-school picture books.

A buzzy (and boozy) new book bar is open in Toronto.

Dive into these must-read books about cults.

PBS’ Roadtrip Nation series to make two-episode homage to public libraries.

Written by Jeff O’Neal, Rebecca Schinsky, and Danika Ellis. Thanks to Vanessa Diaz for copy editing.

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