Two new books chronicle the lives of two pop idols, Madonna and Britney Spears. The way each came to stardom — and what happened to them after — illuminates why their paths have been so different.

Through images and words, author Nora Krug illustrates the day-to-day lives of two individuals and their families living within warring nations.

Here the New York Times columnist and author of Late Migrations and Graceland Margaret Renkl brings alive in 52 chapters her love for the animals and plants in her yard and nearby parks in Tennessee.

Jesmyn Ward's narrative forces readers to look at our country's ugly past and face the lingering effects of history — but it also tells a story of perseverance and the power of the spiritual world.

Talk about a dream, kill a conversation. But not in the case of graphic novelist Roz Chast. Even her subconscious emanations present deliciously skewed takes on life's absurdities and fraught moments.

It's almost Halloween — and, anyway, fall is always a great time for mysteries and thrillers. Here are a few we recommend.

Jungian psychology is having a moment, owing to the TikTok-famous, self-published The Shadow Work Journal. But mind detritus becomes the stuff of great art in the hands of poet Adrienne Chung.

The writer W. Somerset Maugham plays a central role Tan Twan Eng's entrancing new novel that encompasses at-the-time risky interracial and homosexual love stories and a scandalous murder trial.

More than a decade after his debut, We the Animals, Justin Torres returns with a novel that centers on a deathbed conversation between two friends about the distortions and erasures of queer history.

The first volume in author-artist Sharee Miller's debut YA graphic novel series reminds us of the many possibilities and excitements interwoven within the challenging years of early teenagerhood.

The Sympathizer author's memoir is cocky and riveting — self-consciously constructed as if written for a standup audience and serving as a generous, one-stop primer for his fiction and scholarly work.

Helen Garner, 80, embraces the many-sidedness of life. Her books crackle with curiosity and unpredictability — they win big prizes, kickstart controversies and say things other people rarely dare.

Whether the witches are good, misunderstood, or just plain wicked — some fun fall fantasy reading options include The Witches of Bone Hill, Night of the Witch, and After the Forest.

Safiya Sinclair's memoir follows her journey from a scared and sheltered Rasta girl in Jamaica to a strong and self-assertive woman — exploring just how poetry became her savior.

In her return to short stories, the Interpreter of Maladies author returns to fiction that powerfully conveys her characters' efforts to navigate geography and culture to find a place in the world.