8 Books We Can’t Wait to Read in November
From a reevaluation of the controversial experiment that changed how the world saw mental illness to social media advice from Kant, Wittgenstein and Heidegger, November is positively brimming with fabulous new books. Read on for eight you should add to your Amazon cart immediately.
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The Great Pretender by Susannah Cahalan (Nov. 5)
In the 1970s, a Stanford psychologist named David Rosenhan and seven other people—sane, well-adjusted members of society—went undercover in mental asylums around America to test the legitimacy of psychiatry's labels. All of them emerged with alarming diagnoses and even more troubling stories about their treatment. But, as journalist Cahalan's explosive new research shows, very little in this saga is what it seems.
Little Weirds by Jenny Slate (Nov. 5)
Actress and comedian Jenny Slate (who co-wrote Marcel the Shell with Shoes On) combines fiction, nonfiction and poetry in her adult debut. She ruminates on growing up in a haunted house in Massachusetts, admits to debilitating self-doubt and generally offers readers an intimate look inside her admittedly weird mind.
The Likeability Trap by Alicia Menendez (Nov. 5)
Women are stuck in an impossible maze of being nice, but not too nice; successful, but not too successful. Combining extensive research and interviews, Menendez examines the pressures we face to be amiable at work, home and in the public sphere, and explores the price women pay for internalizing those demands.
The Witches Are Coming by Lindy West (Nov. 5)
Eye-opening and funny (in an I-can’t-believe-this-is-real way), this collection of essays from West (Shrill) examines how patriarchy, intolerance and misogyny have conquered politics and American culture.
The Revisioners by Margaret Wilkerson Sexton (Nov. 5)
After freeing herself from slavery as a child, Josephine is the proud owner of a thriving farm in 1924. But when her neighbor, a white woman named Charlotte, seeks her company, an uneasy friendship forms—until Charlotte’s relationship with the Ku Klux Klan jeopardizes Josephine’s family. After her National Book Award–nominated debut, A Kind of Freedom, Wilkerson Sexton’s latest is a historically-inspired story about female friendship and impossible survival in the American South.
That’s Mental: Painfully Funny Things That Drive Me Crazy About Being Mentally Ill by Amanda Rosenberg (Nov. 6)
In her debut, British comedy writer Rosenberg sets out to dispel myths and misconceptions about what it means to live with bipolar II. In a darkly funny way, she covers reaching out for help (specifically, how much it sucks), dealing with people who suggest “cures” for your depression and making up excuses to miss work for a mental health day.
When You Kant Figure it Out…Ask a Philosopher: Timeless Wisdom for Modern Dilemmas by Marie Robert (Nov. 12)
Can Kant comfort you when you get dumped via text message? Can Heidegger make you feel better when your dog dies? This slim volume explains how pearls of wisdom from the greatest Western philosophers can help us face modern life’s daily challenges, including social media, failed diets and bad birthday presents.
You Can’t Kill Me Twice by Charlyne Yi (Nov. 19)
This deeply personal collection of poetry and art by actor, comedian and composer Yi covers everything from the uncertainty of relationships and the absurdity of societal expectations to family trauma and identity.
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