Books Briefing: September books

September 1, 2020

Hi readers,

Here’s your weekly catch-up on everything you need to know going on in the book world.

The news:

Here are 15 can’t-miss books coming this month. Mariah Carey’s tell-all, deep dives into Cold War spies and more.
Will the Trump (book) bump continue post-election? From big journalistic exposés to insider accounts of the White House and more: Since President Trump entered office, books about his life and administration have poured out of publishing houses, and sales are soaring.
One such book is “Melania and Me,” by the first lady’s former White House adviser and close friend Stephanie Winston Wolkoff. We put together a list of the book’s seven biggest takeaways — including details of Mrs. Trump’s relationship with her stepdaughter Ivanka.
Serious supply issues have disrupted the book industry, with capacity issues at large printing companies causing havoc for publishers and authors alike.
Alyssa Cole talks about her new thriller, “When No One Is Watching,” a departure from the romance novels she usually writes. “I wanted the characters to be more morally gray, where I could explore some darker areas,” she says.
Laurence Fishburne is narrating the first unabridged recording of “The Autobiography of Malcolm X,” to be released later this month. He told us: “I just feel doubly blessed to have been asked to read his book at this moment.”
Dan Brown, the author of “The Da Vinci Code,” just released a picture book accompanied by a classical music album for children. The new project is just one of the assets Brown and his wife are disputing in lawsuits over their divorce, a fight involving expensive horses, allegations of infidelity and more.
Fiction out today: “The Lying Life of Adults,” by Elena Ferrante (translated by Ann Goldstein); “Daddy,” by Emma Cline; “Transcendent Kingdom,” by Yaa Gyasi; “Red Pill,” by Hari Kunzru; “A Girl Is a Body of Water,” by Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi; “Out of Mesopotamia,” by Salar Abdoh; “Self-Portrait With Russian Piano,” by Wolf Wondratschek (translated by Marshall Yarbrough); “Fifty Words for Rain,” by Asha Lemmie.
Nonfiction out today: “Hitler: Downfall, 1939-1945,” by Volker Ullrich (translated by Jefferson Chase); “The Churchill Complex,” by Ian Buruma; “Donald Trump v. the United States,” by Michael S. Schmidt; “The Violence Inside Us,” by Chris Murphy; “Unforgetting,” by Roberto Lovato; “The Quiet Americans,” by Scott Anderson.

The critics:

Parul Sehgal reviews about Elena Ferrante’s new novel, “The Lying Life of Adults.” The book is “suspenseful and propulsive; in style and theme, a sibling to her previous books,” Sehgal says. “But it’s also a more vulnerable performance, less tightly woven and deliberately plotted, even turning uncharacteristically jagged at points as it explores some of the writer’s touchiest preoccupations.”
Dwight Garner is enthusiastic about Sigrid Nunez’s “What Are You Going Through,” her first novel since she won the National Book Award for “The Friend.” Nunez makes the story, about a terminally ill woman who asks a friend to help her end her life, not just sorrowful but funny as well. Garner writes: “Being near death, in this novel, comes to seem like sitting in front of a blazing bonfire while in the Arctic: your face is aglow, thanks to your friends, but you can no longer feel your back.”
And Janet Maslin writes about “Squeeze Me,” a satirical political novel by Carl Hiaasen that mines all the targets that Florida has to offer: pythons, the superrich, even a feisty critter-removal expert. As Maslin says: “In its themes and its wild imagination, ‘Squeeze Me’ offers some familiar pleasures, akin to a Greatest Hits collection. Anyone who’s read him will know what a prime recommendation that is.”

That’s all for now. Please stay in touch and let me know what you think — whether it’s about this newsletter, our reviews, our podcast, our literary calendar, our Instagram or what you’re reading. We on the Books desk read all of it, and I’ll make every effort to write back. You can reach me at books@nytimes.com.

All my best,

Joumana Khatib

Books at The New York Times

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