We recommend: The best new book releases

The best of new fiction

Before We Forget Kindness by Toshikazu Kawaguchi: This is the fifth book in the popular Japanese book series ‘Before the Coffee Gets Cold’. The series is centred on a cafe in Tokyo where guests can time travel to any point in their life—provided they meet at the cafe—for a short period of time—before the coffee gets cold. The newest addition to the series focuses on four new guests which includes a father who couldn’t allow his daughter to marry the love of her life, a woman who regrets not giving Valentine’s Day’s chocolate to her loved one, a boy who wants to see his divorced parents smile and a wife with a nameless baby.  (November 5)

The Conspiracies of the Empire by Qiu Xiaolong: Qiu—who is a translator of Chinese poetry—has authored the critically acclaimed Inspector Chen series. His latest is the second book from his ongoing series Judge Dee Investigation which blends mystery, history and ancient Chinese politics. In the sequel, set during the Tang dynasty, Judge Dee Renjie, an esteemed official under the rule of the powerful Empress Wu, is charged with finding Luo Binwang, a poet who vanished after taking part in a failed rebellion. Accompanied by his loyal servant Yang, Judge Dee embarks on a perilous investigation that leads him into a politically fractured landscape, stirring doubts about the empress's true intentions. Kirkus Reviews praises the novel for its rich historical detail and poetic interludes, grounding the suspenseful mystery in a deeply literary experience. (November 5) 

The City and Its Uncertain Walls by Haruki Murakami; translated by Philip Gabriel: This is Murakami’s 15th novel, and takes off from a novella he wrote in 1980. The novel centres around a nameless couple, with a man whose job is to read dreams. When the woman disappears from his life, the man makes it his quest to find the imaginary world where her true self lives. The contemporary fantasy novel blends mystery, love, and dreamscapes in its now-complete avatar. Reviews, however, are mixed: The Guardian felt it lacked magic and meaning, Boston Globe felt it was “at once sweeping and intimate, grand and tender, quiet and charged with feeling”. (November 19) 

This month’s poetry pick

Dreams of the Epoch & the Rock by Jaspreet Singh: The Canadian writer’s new poetry collection contains poignant pieces about the climate, migration, decolonisation, and language. The meditative poems merge the present-day happenings, and personal histories from Singh’s experience, with the dreams of ancient gods and ancestors. (November 15) 

The best of the non-fiction list

The Name of the Band is REM by Peter Ames Carlin: This book takes you right back to the heart of '80s and '90s rock, with R.E.M. as the band that “challenged the corporate and social order” while chasing a sound both raw and iconic. Carlin dives deep into their rise from Athens, Georgia’s music scene to global fame, painting the rock legends as both wildly creative and loyal friends. The book is “a well-researched but by-the-numbers biography,” Kirkus Review notes. While R.E.M.’s guardedness still keeps them mysterious, The New York Times review says, the “shivery sense of the mythic” still pulses in every chapter. It's a tribute to R.E.M.’s unique space in rock history, woven with nostalgia and Carlin’s knack for capturing cultural shifts. (November 5) 

Box Office Poison: Hollywood's Story in a Century of Flops by Tim Robey: There are plenty of books that dissect the best movies of all times, but this one’s not it. Film critic  Tim Robey has been in the business for 20 years and has found an academic fascination with flops—which he lays down in this book. The roster of 26 movies mentioned in the book include ‘Freaks’, ‘Land of the Pharaohs’, ‘Dune’, ‘Speed 2’, ‘Catwoman’, and ‘Cats’. The biggest selling point according to The Guardian: “[W]hat makes this a five-star book is the way Robey weaves in the wider context so deftly that you barely notice.”  (November 7) 

Vanishing Treasures by Katherine Rundell: The book is a series of essays that profiles 22 endangered species from around the world—each essay describing the creature in wondrous ways from its physical traits to behaviours. NPR commends her presentation and says: “Rundell’s essays are no mere Wikipedia entries about the natural world; rather, they’re deeply-felt, lyrical, often witty, and occasionally grisly evocations of the living marvels she’s surveying.” Kirkus Reviews terms it a “clarion call for preservation by way of a delightful bestiary.” (November 12)

‘Heartbreak Is the National Anthem’ by Rob Sheffield: The author of this book is highly qualified to write it as he is a veteran Rolling Stone writer and a Swiftie. The book details Taylor Swift like never before and restores her the dignity of being an artist—beyond the boy drama and glamour. Washington Post describes it the best: “[A]n impassioned dissertation on (almost) all things Swiftian: her history, her method, her craft, her secret life as a pop music scholar and geek, her place in a long line of legends and calculated image-crafters from Joni Mitchell to Michael Jackson. (November 12)