20 Best Books To Read in October

by Bryan Washington

Washington brilliantly commits to his style and preoccupations in a novel about the often winding journey to family. Full review >

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by Jhumpa Lahiri ; translated by Jhumpa Lahiri with Todd Portnowitz

Filled with intelligence and sorrow, these sharply drawn glimpses of Roman lives create an impressively unified effect. Full review >

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by Teju Cole

A provocative and profound meditation on art and life in a world of terror. Full review >

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by Jesmyn Ward

Ward may not tell you anything new about slavery, but her language is saturated with terror and enchantment. Full review >

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by Daniel Clowes

A timeless nugget of polished pulp. Full review >

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by Elsa Morante ; translated by Jenny McPhee

A masterpiece by one of Italy’s foremost modern writers. Full review >

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by Tananarive Due

A novel that reminds its readers that racism forges its own lasting, unbearable nightmares. Full review >

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by Bethany Jacobs

An exciting start from a fresh talent, offering emotional and political complexity plus plenty of interplanetary action. Full review >

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by Tim Johnston

A slow-burn novel that quietly elevates the fragile codes of honorable men. Full review >

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by Guy Gunaratne

A penetrating view of the legacies of extremism. Full review >

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by Liza Mundy

Another winner from Mundy, who tells a story that deserves to be told about women who deserve to be remembered. Full review >

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by Curtis Chin

Chin is a born storyteller with an easy manner, and this memoir should earn him many readers. Full review >

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by Amy Kurzweil

Intimate reflections and powerful visual elements combine in an exemplary work of graphic nonfiction. Full review >

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by Edwin Raymond with Jon Sternfeld

An urgent exposé, essential to understanding the fractured state of policing in America. Full review >

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by Fergus M. Bordewich

A critically important revisionist history. Full review >

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by Daniel C. Dennett

A delightful memoir from one of our deepest thinkers. Full review >

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by Reggie Watts

Fans of Watts will revel in this enjoyable stroll into the past, and those new to him could have no better introduction. Full review >

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by Safiya Sinclair

More than catharsis; this is memoir as liberation. Full review >

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by Jami Nakamura Lin ; illustrated by Cori Nakamura Lin

A stunning memoir about the stories that make us who we are. Full review >

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by Stuart A. Reid

An evenhanded work of deep scholarship that clearly elucidates a largely hidden piece of U.S. foreign policy. Full review >

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