Books
This Week's 11 Best Books Will Change Your Thoughts On Politics, Literature & Personality Tests
It's quite a time to be alive and aware at all of anything going on around you — as demonstrated in many of this week's new book releases. Of course, this week brings with it the publication of Fear: Trump In The White House by Bob Woodward, an absolutely brutal examination of the dysfunction of the Trump administration, as sourced and reported by one of the best journalists in the game. (Perhaps you've heard of "Watergate"?)
But if you don't want to read a book that could be fairly described as a "Hunger Games prequel," then perhaps you might want to try one of the other books on this list. This week's offerings include The Real Lolita by Sarah Weinman, an examination of the real-life case that possibly inspired Vladimir Nabokov in the writing of his most famous novel; The Personality Brokers by Merve Emre, a history of the Myers-Briggs personality test that will challenge what you know about those four-letter assignations (Spoiler: it's pretty much a sham); and Fierce Fairytales by Nikita Gill, a collection of cleverly retold myths.
No matter if you're in the mood for fiction or nonfiction, there's something on this list for you. Here are the 11 books you need to know this week:
'Fear' by Bob Woodward
The Patron Saint of Journalists Getting Information on Deep Background, Bob Woodward, is back with a new book (maybe you've heard of it?) about dysfunction in the Trump White House. Excerpts of the book leaked in advance of its release, but pick up the hefty title for the full insider account of just how messed up things actually are behind the doors of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. It's not officially labelled as horror, but it should be.
'Someone Like Me: How One Undocumented Girl Fought For Her American Dream' by Julissa Arce (Sept. 18, 2018)
CNBC and Crooked Media contributer and social justice activist Julissa Arce re-tooled her memoir, My (Underground) American Dream, for a younger audience, and the result is a poignant, accessible story about how she came to the United States legally, became undocumented after her visa expired, and eventually made her dreams happen anyway — even rising to the ranks of VP at Morgan Stanley. "Someone Like Me is not about immigration at all," she told Bustle in an interview. "The book is about love for family and the sacrifices we must make to achieve our dreams."
Click here to buy. (Pre-order)
'The Real Lolita: The Kidnapping Of Sally Horner And The Novel That Scandalized The World' by Sarah Weinman
It seems impossible that Vladimir Nabokov wasn't inspired by the real-life kidnapping of Sally Horner in his writing of Lolita — in fact, Sally Horner is mentioned within the pages of that very novel. In The Real Lolita, acclaimed crime writer Sarah Weinman writes about the case of Horner and examines how her tragic fate may have inspired one of the most controversial, scandalous novels of the 20th century.
'Fierce Fairytales: Poems & Stories To Stir Your Soul' by Nikita Gill
In a story about Fierce Fairytales, Bustle writer Sadie Trombetta posed two questions: "What if every fairytale you’ve ever heard has been told to you all wrong? Where are the stories for the wicked girls?" The answers can be found in this book — a luminous collections of fairy tales that have been subverted, flipped, and rearranged to tell different types of stories: stories of villains with a lot of good in them, stories of princesses creating their own happily ever afters, stories that will change how you think about these classics forever.
'Miss Kopp Just Won’t Quit' by Amy Stewart
In the fourth installment of Amy Stewart's Kopp Sisters series, Deputy Constance Kopp, New Jersey's first female deputy sheriff, decides to help an inmate bound for the insane asylum after learning that she's being put away by her husband so he can play house with a new girlfriend. But her actions just might jeopardize the campaign of her mentor, Sheriff Heath, who is running for Congress. This is a riotous, thrilling book that's perfect for fall nights when it's too foggy to do anything but stay in with a good story.
'The Dinner List' by Rebecca Serle
You have probably been asked, at some point in your life, to name the people — living or dead — you would have dinner with, if you could choose anyone. (Remember the question was an entire plot-line on Gossip Girl?) In The Dinner List, Rebecca Serle writes about what would happen if those people actually just... showed up to your 30th birthday party. Even when those people include both your best friend, three people from your past, and Audrey Hepburn.
'The Personality Brokers: The Strange History Of Myers-Briggs And The Birth Of Personality Testing' by Merve Emre
Oh hello, just your resident INFP here to tell you that everything you know about Myers-Briggs personality test is false. Well, that's a broad statement, because truthfully, who knows anything about the Myers-Briggs test? This book breaks it all down — from the personality test's dubious origins (a mother and daughter who were amateur psychoanalysts created the test) to its present day popularity, despite the fact that scientists have struggled to validate its methodology and results.
'Summer Bird Blue' by Akemi Dawn Bowman
A lyrical novel about grief, love, and finding oneself again in the wake of a tremendous loss, Summer Bird Blue is a truly special novel. The book follows Rumi Seto, who is sure of nothing in life except that she wants to create music with her little sister, Lea, forever. But when Lea dies in a car accident, Rumi is sent to live with her aunt in Hawaii, where she attempts to cope with the loss of her sister and the loss of her love of music.
'Crudo' by Olivia Laing
From the author of The Lonely City comes Crudo, a wry novel about Kathy, a writer, who is getting married in the summer of 2017 in a world that appears to be near its end. The readers ask questions to delve deeper into a question they've likely already asked themselves in the last few years: How can you learn to love when everything seems utterly hopeless?
'Rage Becomes Her' by Soraya Chemaly
Women are angry — with good reason. In Rage Becomes Her, Soraya Chemaly argues that rage is a valuable resource that can be channeled into action and lasting change.
'She Would Be King' By Wayétu Moore
In She Would Be King, Wayétu Moore spins a story of Liberia's early years through the lens of three characters with unusual gifts: Gbessa, who has been exiled from her West African village and survives a viper attack; June Dey, who flees the plantation in Virginia on which he lives and works after an overseer notices his superhuman strength; and Norman Aragon, a mixed-race man who can literally fade from view.
