As readers saw in Alam’s previous novel, Leave the World Behind, there is a palpable sense of dread running through this highly recommended book as well. In this case, it is not an existential threat to humanity; it’s the train wreck that is Brooke’s life. Readers may see it coming, but they won’t be able to look away.

The shortlist for the Nota Bene Prize, for novels “that have received organic, word-of-mouth recognition and are deserving of a wider readership,” is revealed. Annabel Sowemimo wins the Bread and Roses Award for Radical Publishing for Divided: Racism, Medicine and Why We Need To Decolonise Healthcare. Salman Rushdie wins the Halldór Laxness International Literary Prize. Winners of the V&A Illustration Awards and the shortlist for the Financial Times and Schroders Business Book of the Year are also announced. Several academic publishers facing an antitrust suit over unpaid peer review processes. Plus, new title bestsellers and an Isabel Allende Barbie doll.

LitHub releases its ultimate fall reading list. Nadia Davids wins the Caine Short Story Prize, and the German Book Prize shortlist is announced. LibraryReads and LJ offer read-alikes for Richard Osman’s latest novel, We Solve Murders. Memoirs from Connie Chung, Jaleel White, Melania Trump, Wilmer Valderrama, Katherine Moennig, and Leisha Hailey get buzz. Plus, interviews with Srikanth Reddy, Stephen Colbert and Evie McGee Colbert, Sharon McMahon, Terry Szuplat, and Francis S. Collins.

Kerry Rea and Tiana Smith take readers on action-packed adventures, filled with romance and intrigue.

We Solve Murders by Richard Osman is the top holds title of the week. LibraryReads and Library Journal offer read-alikes for patrons waiting to read this buzziest book.

An incandescent, nail-biting adventure set at a flooded American Museum of Natural History and an epic journey through a near-future, ravaged landscape that blends extreme suspense with serene meditation.

David Baldacci sets his latest in a 1944 London bookshop, Julia Bartz offers a locked-room thriller, and Heather Graham writes about a would-be-murderous smart house and personal AI.

Readers can look forward to a Jazz Age murder mystery featuring Jay Gatsby’s sleuthing younger sister, a story inspired by a real-life antiquities scandal in Pakistan, and the return of senior sleuth Vera Wong.

Feature fiction starring teachers and academic settings as school resumes.