The Best Grown-Up Reads of September 2018
by Jennie Yabroff
September is here, which means the kids will soon be (or already are) back in school, the days will soon grow shorter, and the weather, we hope, will soon cool. The fall brings a renewed sense of ambition and the spark of possibility — just as this month’s group of new releases should inspire and delight. They’re perfect to enjoy in the park as the leaves turn and thoughts drift towards the delights of autumn, including the joys of a really great read.
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21 Lessons for the 21st Century
Available from:Our new century is already old enough to vote, but do we really understand it, or comprehend who it’s growing up to be? In this future-minded book of philosophical musings and practical advice, Harari offers a guide to living in our increasingly technologized, rapidly changing, and in some ways deeply troubling 21st century. Devoting each chapter to a different issue we and our children will face in the coming decades, he offers reassurance that we can still embrace the values that matter most to us, and the future is not entirely grim.
(On sale: 9/4/18)Also available from: -
The Class
Available from:Most high school science teachers have enough of a struggle just getting their students to wear their safety goggles and not accidentally burn down the classroom. But Andy Bramante, an unorthodox teacher at Connecticut’s Greenwich High, gets his kids into Harvard, on “Stephen Colbert,” and invited to the Nobel Prize ceremony. His students take on challenges like inventing diagnostic tools and treatments for major diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Lyme disease, and rack up awards at national science fairs. To discover Bramante’s secret, journalist Tesoriero embedded in his class for a year. The result is this inspiring book about the potential in all students, and all teachers.
(On sale: 9/4/18)Also available from: -
Small Fry
As the daughter of Steve Jobs, Lisa Brennan-Jobs saw a side of her father the rest of the world, enthralled with his computing genius as the face of Apple, could never dream of. Though she spent her childhood with her mother, Brennan moved in with her father as a teen, and entered a world of tech celebrity in Silicon Valley. Her father was far from perfect, but in this tender, frank, and loving memoir, Brennan-Jobs writes with clarity and grace about growing up in California during the tech boom. Readers will come away with a new sense of Jobs, as well as the culture that created and nurtured not just his genius, but the spirit of his gifted daughter as well.
(On sale: 9/4/18) -
Sea Prayer
Available from:In this slim yet moving new book by the beloved author of The Kite Runner, a father writes a letter to his son on the eve of a treacherous sea crossing to escape war-torn Syria. Inspired by the refugee crisis and specifically pictures of Alan Kurdi, the 3-year-old Syrian boy whose body washed ashore in Turkey, Hosseini writes a tender and searching exploration of the forces that drive families to flee their countries and the terrible grief for all that is left behind. After reading this devastating story, you will never think about home, refugees, or family the same way again.
(On sale: 9/18/18)Also available from: -
Time’s Convert
Available from:The author of the bestselling All Souls trilogy. returns with this blend of historical fiction and the supernatural that tells the story of a man’s choice to become immortal. Set against the backdrop of the American Revolution, the novel follows Marcus McNeil, who makes the dangerous decision to become a vampire. He wins life forever, but soon questions the value of that life if it is to be lived at odds with his strongest-held beliefs. Harkness takes readers around the world and across centuries in a tale of love and honor.
(On sale: 9/18/18)Also available from: -
Washington Black
Available from:In this follow-up to her Man Booker Prize-finalist novel Half-Blood Blues, Edugyan tells a sweeping historical tale of slavery and freedom, friendship and betrayal. Her story begins on a Barbados sugar plantation, where the young slave George Washington Black has just been chosen to leave the fields to work as a manservant. Over the following years he’ll follow his employer across continents, viewing wonders of the natural and industrial worlds, and exploring the true nature of the human condition in bondage and out. A moving, provocative read about the inescapable desire for freedom and price of human bondage.
(On sale: 9/18/18)Also available from: -
An Absolutely Remarkable Thing
Available from:Most of us know Hank Green as the other half of the vlogbrothers, the YouTube channel featuring Green and his brother, bestselling young adult novelist John Green. Now Hank takes his turn as author with a novel that comments on the upsides and pitfalls of social media. When a woman’s video of an unusual sculpture goes viral, she finds herself thrust into the world of internet fame, while simultaneously trying to figure out where the sculpture came from and what it could possibly mean.
(On sale: 9/25/18)Also available from: -
Transcription
Kate Atkinson is a master at blending sharply realistic historical fiction with a sense of the uncanny, simultaneously planting her reader firmly in reality while provoking us to wonder, but what if…? In her latest novel, she sets her story during World War II, where protagonist Juliet Armstrong is recruited to be a spy. Once the war ends, Juliet believes her work for the government is finished, but just the opposite turns out to be true. Juliet comes to see the past deeply informs her present, and an action, once taken, is impossible to undo. A thrilling and provocative literary examination of the choices we make and the prices we pay.
(On sale: 9/25/18)
What books are you most excited to cozy up with this month? Let us know in the comments below!