October 2026 Staff PicksLike this list

14 items

• Bury Me, Already (it's Nice Down Here)

  Comics on Pregnancy and Parenthood

  Wertz, Julia,

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  Early in her new graphic memoir, Julia Wertz depicts her mother stating a truism that seems custom-made for life in 2026: "The only thing you can count on in life is disappointment and diarrhea." Fans of Wertz work will not be surprised by the potty…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Citizenship

  Notes on An American Myth

  Hernández, Daisy

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  In this memoir/history/sociology hybrid, Northwestern professor Daisy Hernandez examines the history as well as the cultural significance of U.S. citizenship. Hernandez emphasizes citizenship's fickle nature: 'Citizenship has become a political dog…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Cool Machine

  a Novel

  Whitehead, Colson, 1969-

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  The final book in Colson Whitehead's Harlem Trilogy drops readers directly into 1981. New York City is still recovering from near bankruptcy and is a place where the rich seem to get richer while everyone else scrambles to survive. Furniture dealer…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Daughters of the Sun and Moon

  a Novel

  See, Lisa,

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  In 1870, Los Angeles is home to 30 or so Chinese women, a number dwarfed by the number of Chinese men and the municipal population at large. See's book portrays three of these women: Dove, who has no greater ambition than to be a bride and is…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Leave Your Mess at Home

  a Novel

  Akinola, Tolani

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  Growing up in an enclave of African immigrants on Chicago's North Side, the Longe siblings have paved their own disparate paths into adulthood. Rebellious oldest daughter Sola fled to Los Angeles to build an online brand with her white hipster…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• May We Feed the King (Booker Prize Longlisted)

  Perry, Rebecca

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  Perry's debut novel, lauded in the UK where it's a Booker finalist, puts a meditative and haunting spin on the historical fiction genre. The novel opens with the story of a modern day curator hired by the site of a historic English palace to create…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Opioids & Organs

  O'Neill, Arizona,

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  In Opioid & Organs, artist Arizona O'Neill takes a dreamlike journey through her grief in relation to her father's fentanyl overdose and her misgivings about allowing the harvesting and donation of his organs. O'Neill traces her parents' teenage…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Pirate Queen

  a Novel

  Lawhon, Ariel,

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  Lawhon's thrilling epic brings to life the historical Grace O’Malley, a 16th-century Irish clan leader and sea captain. The book opens with a 5-year-old Grace cutting off her long hair after her father told her that she could not join a seafaring…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Plant Lady

  Kang, Min-yo ng,

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  In Dosan, South Korea, there is a plant shop run by a serene woman named Yoohee. She offers plant advice to customers and shelter to the neighborhood's stray cats but also has begun a new service: making the abusive men in her customers' lives…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Salt King

  a Novel

  Pulley, Natasha,

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  At 16 years old, Avelyn escaped the small town of Hreodwater with the help of a Jesuit priest and entered the priesthood himself. Years later a visitor to Hreodwater is healed and subsequently turned into a pillar of salt and Avelyn is sent back…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Should the Waters Take Us

  a Novel

  Soileau, Stephanie,

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  The debut novel from Chicago author Soileau focuses on a group of Acadians living on the bayous of the Louisiana Gulf Coast in fictional Pelerin Parish, where people live with the twin risks of oil spills and hurricanes. Main character Boy Broussard…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Simp

  a Novel Without a Hero

  Sethi, Roshan,

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  In this playful satire spoofing contemporary Hollywood, struggling actor Raj is desperate for a break. Having scraped by in L.A. for the last decade in a series of food service jobs, Raj is unable to book many auditions. Even in the wake of the…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Triage

  Rankine, Claudia, 1963-

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  In the time before email, the internet, and social media, the unnamed narrator met and formed a trauma-bonded sisterhood with the theorist. Together they collapsed, inventing a game that served as a metaphor for exhaustion, restoration, invention,…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Where the Music Had to Go

  How Bob Dylan and the Beatles Changed Each Other -- and the World

  Windolf, Jim,

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  The Beatles and Bob Dylan were the biggest things in the second half of the sixties, larger-than-life characters who changed the world around them. They played to huge crowds and were recognized everywhere. Of course, they had a lot of influence on…Read moreRead more of this annotation