Whether you’re in a rush to fulfill your New Year’s resolution or you just want something to keep you company as the weather gets cooler, it’s not too late to pick up some books to read before 2023 comes to a close. This season has several titles to keep you interested and educated, and give you something to talk about holiday parties (they’ll be here before you know it). Related: Sign up for our free Book Pages newsletter about bestsellers, authors and more Whether your interests are cryptocurrency or the Roman Empire, video games or true crime, you’re bound to find something exciting to curl up with this fall — here are 20 books you might want to add to your shopping list. “Going Infinite: The Rise and Fall of a New Tycoon” Author: Michael Lewis What It’s About: The “Big Short” author turns his eye to Sam Bankman-Fried, the Stanford-born cryptocurrency exchange CEO whose arrest and trial on fraud charges have been dominating headlines this year. Lewis has a gift for making difficult subjects easy to follow, so don’t be afraid if you don’t understand the ins and outs of crypto. Publication Date: Out now — “Behind the Door: The Dark Truths and Untold Stories of the Cecil Hotel” Author: Amy Price What It’s About: The success of the Netflix series “Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel” caused many true crime buffs to take an interest in the notorious downtown L.A. housing complex. Price, the hotel’s general manager for a decade, tells the story behind the Cecil’s famously checkered past. Publication Date: Out now — “A Man of Two Faces: A Memoir, A History, A Memorial” Author: Viet Thanh Nguyen What It’s About: L.A. author Nguyen won the Pulitzer Prize for his celebrated 2015 debut novel, “The Sympathizer” (and recognized as one of this newspaper’s Noteworthy authors); a television adaptation will air on HBO next year. His long-awaited memoir tells the story of his life in the U.S., where he moved with his family, from Vietnam, when he was 4 years old. Publication Date: Out now — “How to Say Babylon: A Memoir” Author: Safiya Sinclair What It’s About: Bound to be one of the most talked-about books of the year, Jamaican-born poet Sinclair’s memoir recounts her childhood as the daughter of a volatile musician who insisted that his family obey the rules of his strict Rastafarian sect. Publication Date: Out now — “Extremely Online: The Untold Story of Fame, Influence, and Power on the Internet” Author: Taylor Lorenz What It’s About: Some of us are old enough to remember when people were predicting the Internet would be nothing but a fad. That’s not the way it turned out, of course, and nobody knows this better than Washington Post columnist Lorenz, who has faced threats and abuse for her coverage. In her book, she chronicles the rise of online influencers, from early mommy bloggers to today’s TikTok stars. Publication Date: Out now — “Family Meal” Author: Bryan Washington What It’s About: One of the country’s most exciting young novelists, Washington wowed critics with his books “Lot” and “Memorial,” and his food writing for the New York Times routinely goes viral. His latest novel, set in L.A., Houston, and Japan, follows a man mourning the loss of his partner, and who reconnects with an estranged friend. Publication Date: Oct. 10 — “Touched” Author: Walter Mosley What It’s About: L.A. literary legend Mosley is best known for his mystery novels, but he’s also been writing science fiction for 25 years. His latest novel follows a Hollywood Hills man who’s convinced that he’s the cure for the virus of humanity; he and his family are stalked by the embodiment of death. Publication Date: Oct. 10 — “Opinions: A Decade of Arguments, Criticism, and Minding Other People’s Business” Author: Roxane Gay What It’s About: “Bad Feminist” and ”Hunger” author Gay has become one of the country’s most recognizable and respected cultural critics. Her latest book collects her thoughts on feminism, civil rights, and culture at large — it promises to be yet another engaging book from the always-relevant public intellectual. Publication Date: Oct. 10 — “The Exchange: After The Firm” Author: John Grisham What It’s About: It’s been 32 years since lawyer-turned-novelist Grisham shook the publishing world with his blockbuster legal thriller “The Firm.” This sequel takes place 15 years after the original and looks poised to be a hit with readers who loved the first one. Publication Date: Oct. 17 — “The Goth House Experiment and Other Stories” Author: SJ Sindu The latest book from “Blue Skinned Gods” author Sindu is a short story collection that touches on some modern topics, including the COVID-19 pandemic and political extremism. The of-the-moment stories include “Dark Academia and the Lesbian Masterdoc,” about a professor whose life is thrown into disarray after she becomes a TikTok sensation. Publication Date: Oct. 17 — “Organ Meats” Author: K-Ming Chang What It’s About: California author Chang is a rising literary star, having published three full-length books while still in her twenties. Her latest novel, which has been the subject of significant buzz, follows two best friends who befriend a pack of dogs that can communicate with humans — and then decide to become dogs themselves. Publication Date: Oct. 24 — “Julia” Author: Sandra Newman What It’s About: The acclaimed author of “The Country of Ice Cream Star” and “The Heavens” returns with a feminist retelling of George Orwell’s (sadly) always-relevant “1984.” Newman’s version tells the story from the point of view of Julia Worthing, the lover of “1984” protagonist Winston Smith. Publication Date: Oct. 24 — “Emperor of Rome: Ruling the Ancient Roman World” Author: Mary Beard What It’s About: Have you seen the TikTok trend of people asking men how often they think about the Roman Empire? Yeah, we don’t get it either. But if you’re someone whose brainwaves are frequently occupied by Julius Caesar, Caligula, and Nero, the new book from Beard, known for her book “SPQR” as well as her cheeky TV documentaries, might be just the one for you. Publication Date: Oct. 24 — “Let Us Descend” Author: Jesmyn Ward A new novel from Ward, who twice won the National Book Award, for “Salvage the Bones” and “Sing, Unburied, Sing,” is always going to be an event, and one that’s guaranteed to get the literary scene talking. Her latest follows Annis, an enslaved girl in the mid-19th century who is sold to the owner of a Louisiana sugar plantation. Publication Date: Oct. 24 — “The Vulnerables” Author: Sigrid Nunez What It’s About: More than three years after it began, novelists are still trying to make sense of the COVID-19 pandemic. The latest from National Book Award-winning author Nunez (“The Friend”) tells the story of an older woman in the early days of the lockdowns who befriends a bird and the zoomer who used to watch after it. Publication Date: Nov. 7 — “To Free the Captives: A Plea for the American Soul” Author: Tracy K. Smith What It’s About: Former U.S. Poet Laureate Smith, a Pulitzer Prize winner for her collection “Life on Mars,” blends memoir and history in this look at how an America riven by racism can heal itself. Smith says she believes that everyone “can choose to work alongside the generations that precede us in tending to America’s oldest wounds and meeting the urgencies of our present.” Publication Date: Nov. 7 — “Touching the Art” Author: Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore What It’s About: Queer activist Sycamore is one of the most exciting American writers working today, known for novels like “Sketchtasy” and “So Many Ways to Sleep Badly.” Her latest is a memoir that focuses on her relationship with her late grandmother, an abstract artist who discouraged Sycamore from making art with a queer viewpoint. Publication Date: Nov. 11 — “Critical Hits: Writers Playing Video Games” Editors: Carmen Maria Machado & J. Robert Lennon What It’s About: In the mood to take a break from “The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom”? This anthology of authors writing about video games, edited by short story writer Machado (“Her Body and Other Parties”) and novelist Lennon (“Subdivision”) collects work from acclaimed writers like Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, Larissa Pham, and Hanif Abdurraqib. Publication Date: Nov. 21 — “Songs on Endless Repeat: Essays and Outtakes” Author: Anthony Veasna So What It’s About: The literary world was stunned when California author So, a rising star, died in 2020 at the age of 28, months before his debut short story collection, “Afterparties,” was due to be published. This posthumous collection features essays and fiction from a writer who still had so much to say before his life was tragically cut short. Publication Date: Dec. 5 — “Prophet Song” Author: Paul Lynch What It’s About: The latest novel from Irish author Lynch is in contention for the prestigious Booker Prize. It follows a woman in a dystopian Ireland who struggles to keep her family together after the secret police begin to investigate her trade unionist husband. Whether or not it takes home the Booker next month, the themes are sure to resonate for readers with a wary eye on the future.
20 books we’re looking forward to reading in the fall and winter of 2023
