New month, new books! Book Light is our Dandelion Chandelier curated list of the titles we’re most excited about that are being published in the upcoming month. Our intrepid team has been exploring the most-anticipated new books scheduled to be released in September 2018 and here’s what we found.
September may be known for serious books about monumental topics, but this year there’s a great mix of dark and light; current events and comical romances; gravity and giddiness. Just like the month itself, it’s a passage from one season and mood to the next.
Our list this month features novels illuminating the current state of culture and life in America; fiction and art monographs showcasing strong women; cookbooks and lifestyle tomes just in time for fall baking and entertaining season; and a memoir and biography of some iconic stylish New Yorkers from days past.
Here’s our pick of the top new books – novels, essay collections, and non-fiction – that we cannot wait to read. You can preorder them now if you like.
Fashion Climbing: A Memoir with Photographs by Bill Cunningham with a foreword by Hilton Als. The beloved and influential late Bill Cunningham, famous style photographer for The New York Times, left behind this testament of his life and influences. Growing up in a conservative suburb of Boston, secretly trying on his sister’s dresses, Cunningham dreamed of a life dedicated to fashion. But his desires were a source of shame for his family, and after dropping out of Harvard, he moved to New York to pursue his chosen profession. Inveterate people-watcher and savvy style maven, his story is an inspiration for anyone fighting to live the life of their dreams on their own terms – September 4, 2018
Zanele Muholi: Somnyama Ngonyama, Hail the Dark Lioness by Renée Mussai and Zanele Muholi. South-African born visual activist and photographer Muholi is publishing a new collection of 100 self-portraits exploring black womanhood and responding to histories of racism, both old and new. More than twenty curators, poets, and authors offer written contributions that draw out the layers of meaning and possible readings for selected images – September 1, 2018
The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker. Novelist Barker re-imagines Homer’s epic poem The Illiad from the point of view of the women who were taken captive during the Trojan War. As with the recent novel Circe by Madeline Miller, and Margaret Atwood’s novella Penelopiad, changing the frame of a classic story from Greek mythology and viewing it through a woman’s eyes makes it newly relevant for many. The experience of Briseis, princess of Lyrnessus, is not dissimilar from that of many women today in war-torn countries: “In the morning she’s a princess and by the evening she’s a sex slave,” notes the author.
Feminasty: The Complicated Woman’s Guide to Surviving the Patriarchy Without Drinking Herself to Death by Erin Gibson. In this collection of wickedly funny personal essays and political commentary from the creator and host of the “Throwing Shade” podcast and TV Land show, the author explores the implications of the pressing question on the minds of ambitious women everywhere: “Am I allowed to do this?” She exposes the hidden rules that make life as a woman harder, and deconstructs them in a way that’s bold, humorous and provocative – September 4, 2018
Lake Success by Gary Shteyngart. The author of Super Sad True Love Story returns with a biting tale of our times. Narcissistic, self-deluded, and living in the bubble of extreme wealth, hedge-fund manager Barry Cohen oversees $2.4 billion in assets. Deeply stressed by an SEC investigation – and by his three-year-old son’s diagnosis of autism – he flees New York on a Greyhound bus in search of a simpler, more romantic life with his old college sweetheart. Meanwhile, his super-smart wife has her own demons to face back in Manhattan – September 4, 2018
The Golden State by Lydia Kiesling. In this debut novel, we accompany Daphne, a young mother on the edge of a breakdown, as she flees her sensible but strained life in San Francisco for the high desert of Altavista with her toddler, Honey. Straining under the weight of being a single parent―her Turkish husband is unable to return to the United States because of a “processing error”― she takes refuge in a mobile home left to her by her grandparents. Wandering the town to kill time, she meets Cindy, a neighbor who is active in a secessionist movement, and befriends elderly Alice, who is nearing the end of her life. Their relationships lead to a dangerous standoff, laying bare the reality of a world deeply divided by class and culture. And revealing the true nature of what it means to be a mother – September 4, 2018
I’d Rather Be Reading: The Delights and Dilemmas of the Reading Life by Anne Bogel. For those of us who passionately believe that our books shape us, define us, and are a part of who we are as people, this book will be a welcome companion this fall. In a collection of reflections on the reading life, blogger and author Bogel invites book lovers into a community of like-minded people to discover new ways to approach literature, learn fascinating new things about books and publishing, and reflect on the role reading plays in their lives – September 4, 2018
Food52 Genius Desserts: 100 Recipes That Will Change the Way You Bake (Food52 Works). Food52 creative director Kristen Miglore set out to unearth the most game-changing dessert recipes from beloved cookbook authors, chefs, and bakers, and collect them all in one indispensable guide. She uncovered genius tips, riffs, and mini-recipes, and the lively stories behind each one, and this volume showcases 100 rigorously tested recipes from the most trusted dessert experts, just in time for baking season – September 4, 2018
Deana Lawson: An Aperture Monograph by Zadie Smith, Arthur Jafa, and Deana Lawson. Over the last ten years, Lawson has created a visual language to describe identity through intimate portraiture and photographic accounts of ceremonies and rituals that are highly structured and deliberately theatrical. Throughout her work, she seeks to portray the personal and the powerful in black life. This volume features forty beautifully reproduced photographs, an essay by writer Zadie Smith, and a conversation with the filmmaker Arthur Jafa – September 10, 2018
She Would Be King by Wayétu Moore. This debut novel reimagines the story of Liberia’s early years through three characters who share an uncommon bond: Gbessa, exiled from the West African village of Lai; June Dey, raised a slave on a plantation in Virginia; and Norman Aragon, the child of a white British colonizer and a Maroon slave from Jamaica. All three possess supernatural powers that help them survive. When they meet in the settlement of Monrovia, their gifts help them salvage the tense relationship between the African American settlers and the indigenous tribes, as a new nation forms around them. The final voice in the novel’s quartet is the spirit of the wind. “If she was not a woman,” the wind says of Gbessa, “she would be king.” – September 11, 2018
We Fed an Island: The True Story of Rebuilding Puerto Rico, One Meal at a Time by Jose Andres. Chef José Andrés arrived in Puerto Rico four days after Hurricane Maria ripped through the island in the fall of 2017. The economy was destroyed, and for most people there was no clean water, no food, no power, no gas, and no way to communicate with the outside world. The chef addressed the humanitarian crisis the only way he knew how: by feeding people, one hot meal at a time. This is the true story of how Andrés and his team nourished hundreds of thousands of people in devastating circumstances, and how a network of community kitchens activated real change. A portion of the proceeds from the book will be donated to the Chef Relief Network of World Central Kitchen for efforts in Puerto Rico and beyond – September 11, 2018
Roots: Farm to Table Recipes from The Black Swan, a Restaurant in the English Countryside by Tommy Banks. Banks became Britain’s youngest Michelin-starred chef in 2013 and in 2017, the annual TripAdvisor Awards named The Black Swan the world’s best-rated restaurant. In his first book, he shares over 100 seasonal recipes from his family farm and pub — as well as stories and ideas about growing, foraging, and preserving – September 11, 2018
#Fashion Victim by Amina Akhtar is described by its publisher as “Heathers meets The Devil Wears Prada.“A gleefully sinister, darkly comic look at the fashion world timed for publication during New York Fashion Week, it’s the tale of a friendly competition between fashion editors Anya St. Clair and Sarah Taft that takes a decidedly Gothic turn – September 11, 2018
The Mermaid and Mrs. Hancock by Imogen Hermes Gowar. In this debut work of historical fiction, set in 1780s London, a prosperous merchant finds his quiet life upended when he unexpectedly comes into possession of a mermaid. Somber Jonah Hancock finds himself moving from the city’s underbelly to the drawing rooms of high society due to his unexpected notoriety as the owner of a mystical creature. At an opulent party, he meets the courtesan Angelica Neal, who turns out to be an extraordinary woman who changes the trajectory of his life – September 11, 2018
The Real Lolita: The Kidnapping of Sally Horner and the Novel That Scandalized the World by Sarah Weinman. Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita is one of the most beloved and notorious novels of all time. And yet, very few of its readers know that the subject of the novel was inspired by a real-life case: the 1948 abduction of eleven-year-old Sally Horner. Drawing upon extensive investigations, legal documents, public records, and interviews with remaining relatives, Weinman uncovers how much Nabokov knew of the Sally Horner case and the efforts he took to disguise that knowledge during the process of writing and publishing his book. The young child’s tragic story echoes those of countless girls and women who never had the chance to speak for themselves; this work casts a new light on the dark inspiration for a modern classic – September 11, 2018
Crudo by Olivia Laing. It’s the summer of 2017 in this debut novel, and for its protagonist, the world appears to be falling apart. Commitment-phobic artist Kathy Acker is engaged, and from a Tuscan hotel for the superrich to a Brexit-paralyzed UK, she spends the first summer of her forties adjusting to the idea of a lifelong commitment. This fast-paced novel addresses the urgent question: How do you make art, let alone a life, when one rogue tweet could end it all?—September 11, 2018
The Dinner List by Rebecca Serle. At one point or another, we’ve all been asked to name five people, living or dead, with whom we’d like to have dinner. Why do we choose the people we do? And what if that dinner was to actually happen? These are the questions the author contends with in her wistful and romantic new novel. When Sabrina arrives at her thirtieth birthday dinner she finds at the table not just her best friend, but also three significant people from her past. And Audrey Hepburn. As the appetizers are served, wine poured, and dinner table conversation begins, it becomes clear that there’s a reason these six people have been gathered together – September 11, 2018
The Dinosaur Artist: Obsession, Betrayal, and the Quest for Earth’s Ultimate Trophy by Paige Williams. A New Yorker magazine staff writer, Williams tells the true story of a dinosaur auction and its aftermath. In 2012, an auction catalogue boasted an unusual offering: “a superb Tyrannosaurus skeleton.” The fossils on display in a Manhattan event space had been unearthed in Mongolia; at eight-feet high and 24 feet long, the specimen was spectacular, and when the gavel sounded the winning bid was over $1 million. Eric Prokopi, a thirty-eight-year-old Floridian, was the man who had brought this rare find to market. A onetime swimmer who spent his teenage years diving for shark teeth, Prokopi’s singular obsession with fossils fueled a thriving business. But there was a problem. As the skeleton went to auction, a network of paleontologists alerted the government of Mongolia. As an international custody battle ensued, Prokopi watched as his own world unraveled. In the tradition of The Orchid Thief, this is a narrative of humans’ relationship with natural history and the ongoing conflicts between science and commerce – September 11, 2018
Dear America: Notes of an Undocumented Citizen by Jose Antonio Vargas. Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist Jose Antonio Vargas, called “the most famous undocumented immigrant in America,” tackles one of the defining issues of our time in this explosive and deeply personal call to arms – September 18, 2018
Washington Black by Esi Edugyan. The author of the award-winning international best seller Half-Blood Blues returns with this novel tracing the journey of George Washington Black, or “Wash,” an eleven-year-old field slave on a Barbados sugar plantation. Paired with his master’s brother Christopher, an eccentric naturalist, explorer, inventor, and abolitionist, Wash is initiated into the larger world and its wonders. But when a man is killed and a bounty is placed on Wash’s head, the pair must flee along the East Coast, and ultimately to a remote outpost in the Arctic. What brings them together will tear them apart, propelling Wash even further across the globe in search of his true self. This exceptional work has been long-listed for the 2018 Man Booker Prize – September 18, 2018
The 7 ½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton. This clever, twisty debut revolves around Aiden Bishop, forced to relive the day of socialite Evelyn Hardcastle’s murder over and over until he can track down her killer and break the cycle. The trick? Each day Aiden finds himself reliving things in the body of a different guest at Lord and Lady Hardcastle’s masquerade, making the information he’s able to gather and the relationships he forges in his search increasingly complicated – September 18, 2018
All the Buildings in London: That I’ve Drawn So Far by James Gulliver Hancock.
The follow-up to the hugely popular All the Buildings in New York, this is an illustrated journey through London, one building at a time, resulting in a charming love letter to London. Hancock’s offbeat drawing style gives a sense of whimsical and delightful fun to his illustrations, while perfectly capturing each building’s architectural details. This unusual combination of the artistic and the technical will allow you to see London’s cityscape with completely fresh eyes – September 18, 2018
Whiskey in a Teacup: What Growing Up in the South Taught Me About Life, Love, and Baking Biscuits by Reese Witherspoon. Witherspoon’s grandmother Dorothea always said that a combination of beauty and strength made southern women “whiskey in a teacup”: delicate and ornamental on the outside, but strong and fiery on the inside. In this book, the actress, producer and entrepreneur shares how she entertains, decorates her home, and makes holidays special for her kids—not to mention how she talks, dances, and does her hair. Plus, she shares some of her grandma’s recipes – September 18, 2018
Transcription by Kate Atkinson. The author of Life After Life returns with a new novel set in 1940’s London. Eighteen-year old Juliet Armstrong is reluctantly recruited into MI5 and tasked with monitoring the comings and goings of British Fascist sympathizers. After the war ends, she presumes the events of those years have been relegated to the past forever. But ten years later, now a radio producer at the BBC, Juliet is unexpectedly confronted by figures from her past. A different war is being fought now, on a different battleground, but Juliet finds herself once more under threat – September 25, 2018
An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green. In this debut novel, the author – who is the co-creator of Crash Course, Vlogbrothers, and SciShow — spins the tale of twenty-three-year-old April May, who stumbles across a giant sculpture one night at 3:00AM. Delighted by its appearance and craftsmanship, she and her friend make a video with it, and upload it to YouTube. The next day April wakes up to a viral video and a new life. Similar sculptures – called “the Carls” – have mysteriously appeared in major cities all over the world, forcing her deal with the pressure on her relationships, her identity, and her safety, all while being on the front lines of the quest to find out not just what the Carls are, but also what they want – September 25, 2018
The Fabulous Bouvier Sisters: The Tragic and Glamorous Lives of Jackie and Lee by Sam Kashner and Nancy Schoenberger. This is a poignant, evocative, and wonderfully gossipy account of the two sisters who represented the epitome of American style and class for much of their lives: Jackie Kennedy Onassis and Lee Radziwill. Jackie was her father’s favorite, and Lee, her mother’s. This biography peers behind the curtain to assess their complicated relationship, exemplified by the elder sister’s last word on the topic. When Jackie died at age 64, her will divided her enormous wealth among many relatives and charitable institutions, and also stated: “I have made no provision for my sister, Lee B. Radziwill, for whom I have great affection, because I have already done so during my lifetime.” – September 25, 2018
It’s looking like an excellent month for reading. Make room on your nightstand. And enjoy!
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