Non Fiction
Andrew Ross Sorkin (Viking), $35
With his bestseller “Too Big to Fail,” Andrew Ross Sorkin dramatically portrayed the 2008 financial crisis. Now, across nearly 600 pages, he thrillingly brings the big crash to life, using newly recovered historical documents to give readers an inside account.
Geoffrey C. Ward and Ken Burns (Knopf), $80
For history buffs, the award-winning documentarians behind the iconic “The Civil War” series have turned their lens on the country’s founding — offering up a richly detailed account, complete with various drawings, paintings and pamphlets from the time. An accompanying six-part docu-series premiered on PBS earlier this month.
Gary Myers (St. Martin’s Press), $31
Give them some fodder for debate around the holiday table. Gary Myers, the author of “Brady vs. Manning” and “Once a Giant,” examines who deserves the credit for the Patriots’ football dynasty and six Super Bowl championships. he digs deeps, running the numbers and talking to players, coaches and other insiders.
Martin Scorsese, with Anthony Spadaro (Grand Central Publishing), $29
Oscar-winning director Martin Scorsese discusses movies and growing up an Italian Catholic with Antonio Spadaro, a journalist and Jesuit priest. The result is a moving, insightful look into the mind of one of our most important filmmakers.
Sophie Elmhirst (Riverhead Books), $28
In 1972, a young couple quit their day jobs with dreams of sailing around the world. But, a year into their journey, an encounter with a whale sunk their boat, leaving the pair stranded for months on a rubber raft in the Pacific. The harrowing true story isn’t just a survival tale, it’s a fascinating, compelling picture of the psychology of marriage.
Amy Odell (Gallery Books), $30.99
The author of the definitive bio of Anna Wintour has written a just-as-juicy portrait of actress and wellness mogul Gwyneth Paltrow. Odell offers up fascinating tidbits and stories on everything from Paltrow’s high school years at Spence and her satisfying sex life with Ben Affleck to her conscious uncoupling from Chris Martin to the “noxious and chaotic” environment of the Goop offices.
Michael Arkush (Doubleday), $30
Your father is unlikely have made the top 100, but he’s almost certain to enjoy reading — and debating — this ranking of golf’s top players, from Bobby Jones to Ben Hogan.
Memoir
Dick Van Dyke (Grand Central Publishing), $29
The iconic Dick Van Dyke, who will turn 100 in December, shares stories both personal and professional from throughout his life and offers up what he’s learned along the way.
Jeff Hiller (Simon & Schuster), $28.99
“I feel like I’m gonna cry because the past 25 years I’ve been like, ‘World, I wanna be an actor’ and the world’s like, ‘Maybe computers,’ ” Jeff Hiller, 49, said in his Emmy acceptance speech in September, when he scored a surprise victory for his work on “Somebody Somewhere.” Here, with the same gentle wit, he shares a series of autobiographical essays about growing up gay in Texas and his long, winding path to Hollywood acclaim.
Margaret Atwood (Doubleday), $35
At 85, novelist Margaret Atwood has penned the story of her own life. She grew up in the wilds of northern Quebec, isolated and independent; wrote “The Handmaid’s Tale” in bohemian Berlin in the 1980s; frolicked with Hollywood stars and famous artists; and built a life with fellow novelist Graeme Gibson, her partner of more than four decades, who passed away in 2019.
Keith McNally (Gallery Books)
Keith McNally’s Instagram reports from dinner service at his Balthazar and Minetta Tavern are always a delight, and his book is this year’s not-to-miss memoir. The prolific, outspoken restaurateur (who hates that word — sorry, Keith) dishes on growing up in London and working as a child actor, opening the iconic Odeon and numerous other classic NYC spots, plus his two divorces, a serious stroke and much more.
Dolly Parton, with Tom Rolland (Ten Speed Press), $55
Part-memoir, part-coffee table tome — it’s filled with both personal anecdotes and colorful images of Dolly Parton and memorabilia — this book bursts with the folksy, fabulous positivity the icon is known for. It completes the singer’s trilogy of photographic books, following “Songteller” and “Behind the Seams” in the set list.
Cameron Crowe (Avid Reader Press/Simon & Schuster), $35
If they loved “Almost Famous” — and who didn’t? — they’ll love director Cameron Crowe’s account of the real-life events that inspired the Oscar-winning movie. He writes of his fascinating, envy-inducing years as a teen journalist for Rolling Stone, when he went on the road with Led Zeppelin, embedded with David Bowie as he transformed into the Thin White Duke, hung out with the Eagles, got Joni Mitchell to open up and much more.
Fiction
Patrick Ryan (Random House), $30
This captivating bestseller follows two small-town Ohio families throughout much of the 20th century as they navigate both American history and personal dramas — including an infidelity, induced by the thrill of victory in World War II, that has far-reaching consequences.
David Szalay (Scribner), $28.99
The prestigious Booker Prize was just awarded to this tale of a man who rises above the poor circumstances of his youth — raised by a single mother in a housing estate in Hungary— to the upper echelons of London. But he can never quite escape his feelings of isolation and alienation.
Lily King (Grove Press), $28
In her final year of university, a young creative writing student named Jordan falls into a lively love triangle with two intellectual men from her 17th-century literature class. Decades later, Jordan is a successful novelist with a beautiful family. Then, unexpected events catapult her back to her college years, and she must reckon with the decisions she made.
R.F. Kuang (Harper Voyager), $32
In this dark academic thriller, two rival Cambridge grad students try to salvage their careers by a journey to hell to track down their recently deceased thesis adviser, who was blown up in a nasty lab accident.
S.A. Cosby (Flatiron Books: Pine & Cedar), $28.99
In one of the year’s buzziest literary thrillers, a patriarch in a crime-ridden Virginia town ends up in a coma after a car crash, and his adult children — older son and money man Roman, troubled younger brother Dante and exhausted sister Neveah — come to realize that it was no accident.
Larry McMurtry (Simon & Schuster)
The Pulitzer Prize-winning Western epic is having a moment, especially among younger women who have been surprisingly captivated by retired Texas Rangers driving cattle into Montana. The 40th anniversary edition of his “Lonesome Dove,” released earlier this year, features a foreword by “Yellowstone” creator Taylor Sheridan.
Dan Brown (Doubleday), $38
In the latest from “The Da Vinci Code” author Dan Brown, Professor Robert Langdon is back and heading to Prague to see his new girlfriend, a scientist about to publish a provocative book about the nature of the human mind. His plans are thrown into disarray by a horrific murder and his girlfriend’s sudden disappearance.
Dani Francis (Del Rey), $32.99
This first book in a new romantasy series has been a BookTok phenom. In a dystopian future, a young woman with psychic abilities gets the chance to join the enemy’s ranks — and fight the powers that be from within.
Catherine Newman (Harper), $26.99
With 2024’s bestselling “Sandwich,” writer Catherine Newman introduced readers to Rocky, a witty, middle-aged woman sandwiched between her growing children and elderly parents while holidaying in Cape Cod. “Wreck” continues Rocky’s story. It’s two years later, everyone is home in western Massachusetts, family dynamics remain complex and Rocky faces a potential health crisis of her own.
Art
Mary Ellen Matthews (Harry N. Abrams), $55
Mary Ellen Matthews, who has been the in-house photographer for “Saturday Night Live” for 25 years, offers up more than 200 highly creative portraits of hosts and musical guests — like Alex Baldwin clad as “The Godfather” and ominously holding a stuffed cat as well as a grinning Travis Kelce lighting a cigar off a flaming football.
Phaidon Editors (Phaidon), $64.95
Behind a stunning modern cover, this beauty spotlights 300 unique gardens from around the world, from the Bosco Verticale in urban Milan and the Red Roof in Vietnam to a private meadow in Sussex, England, and the greenery of Manhattan’s Le Pavillon restaurant.
Alison Friend (Artisan), $30
British artist Alison Friend uses oil paint and the techniques of the Old Masters to create irreverent, wonderfully whimsical portraits of imaginary dogs — including a turtleneck-clad Chihuahua named Little Louis smoking a cigarette and a border collie name Midge occupying her busy mind with a Rubik’s cube.
Vanessa Bryant (MCD), $40
In the wake of the tragic 2020 helicopter crash that killed Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna and seven others, dozens of murals sprang up across Los Angeles and beyond. Bryant’s widow, Vanessa, spotlights more than 100 of the art works and the stories behind them.
Dominic Bradbury (Phaidon), $89.95
This striking book is almost as beautiful as the iconic midcentury designs — from Arne Jacobsen’s Egg Chair to Charles and Ray Eames’ Hang-It-All coatrack — it celebrates.
Nicola Erni and Birgit Filzmaier (Phaidon), $79.95
Over the past 25 years, Swiss collector Erni has amassed one of the largest private photography collections. Here, she showcase nearly 400 of her fashion photos — by shooters such as Richard Avedon and Cindy Sherman — and pairs them with works of art in other mediums.
Neftalie Williams (Artisan), $40
The director of San Diego State University’s Center for Skateboarding, Action Sports, and Social Change — so California — profiles more than 65 of the sport’s best, alongside action-packed photos.
Tyler Mitchell (Aperture), $65
In 2018, Tyler Mitchell shot Beyonce for Vogue, becoming the first black photographer to shoot a cover for the magazine — at the tender age of 23. This early-career survey of his work features dreamy images of black life and a foreword by Anna Wintour, who also had Mitchell lens this year’s Met Gala catalog.
Cookbooks
Dorie Greenspan (Harvest), $35
The beloved, James Beard-award winning dessert maven Dorie Greenspan share recipes for no-fuss cakes — think toasted almond and zucchini-and-chevre — alongside illustrations that are also charming and simple.
Martha Stewart (Clarkson Potter)
Help a loved one perfect their crudité platter and polish their cheese knives. Domestic demigoddess Martha Stewart has rereleased her iconic first book from 1982 after old copies became a hot item on eBay.
Dan Pelosi (Union Square & Co.), $35
Dan Pelosi, creator of the popular Instagram account @GrossyPelosi, shares crowd-pleasing recipes for hosting a variety of events, from a holiday cookie party to a girls’ night in.
Niki Russ Federman and Josh Russ Tupper (Flatiron Books), $39.99
This hefty tome celebrates the 114-year-old New York appetizing institution Russ & Daughters with traditional recipes, history and pictures — including one, yes, of lox so thinly sliced that you can indeed read newspaper through it. Co-writers Federman and Tupper are cousins and the shop’s fourth-generation owners.
Rick Martinez (Clarkson Potter), $32.99
Rick Martinez, a former Bon Appetit editor and New Yorker now based in Mazatlán, Mexico, has crafted a beautiful, bright cookbook filled with vibrant recipes ideal for adding some light to the East Coast winter ahead.
Joshua McFadden (Artisan), $40
Joshua McFadden who won the James Beard Award with “Six Seasons: A New Way with Vegetables,” serves up a noodle-focused book full of creative twists on classics.
Alison Roman (Clarkson Potter), $37.99
The millennial ‘it’ girl of the food world — known for her firm opinions on anchovies and viral hits like “The Stew” and chocolate chunk shortbread cookies — Alison Roman offers up more than 100 approachable recipes that rely on pantry ingredients (anchovies included).
Kids
Jan Brett (G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers), $19.99
If Mariah Carey is the queen of Christmas, Jan Brett is the queen of Christmas books. This year’s intricately illustrated release centers on an adorable pug named Ari and his missing holiday sweater.
Nick Offerman, with Lee Buchanan (Dutton), $35
“Parks and Recreation” star Nick Offerman — also an accomplished woodworker — gives step-by-step instructions for carpentry projects, like a box kite and a bench, for wannabe-builders young and old.
Katherine Rundell (Knopf Books for Young Readers), $19.99
Katherine Rundell is one of our best contemporary authors for children, as is evidenced by this thrilling follow-up to last year’s hit “Impossible Creatures.” Young Christopher Forrester is summoned by a dragon to return to the magical Archipelago, where he must team up with several spunky royal children to save a girl in grave danger.
Strawberry Shortcake, illustrated by Marci Beighley (Tommy Nelson), $10.99
Strawberry Shortcake and her fruity friends are back in this board book sure to delight the age 0-to-4 crowd — and nostalgic parents. Bonus, it’s a scratch ’n’ sniff affair.
Suzanne Collins (Scholastic Press), $27.99
The games continues with this prequel to the young adult phenomenon. While the original series focused on the 74th and 75th Hunger Games, here we go back in time to the 50th, where Haymitch Abernathy is just a teen, selected to be tribute for District 12 — not the rebellious alcoholic mentor he later became.
Read the full article here
