For children’s books this month it has been mostly about Halloween. Some of the best ones are books in a series with the holiday theme, with a favorite being Jon Muth’s wonderful “Zen Ghosts.” Also, the new, hot series from Rick Riordan has its first volume, “The Lost Hero!”
In nonfiction, the big buzz book of the moment is “Life,” by The Rolling Stones’ Keith Richards. But don’t miss two of the other big gift books of the season, just out: Ron Chernow’s “Washington” and “The Autobiography of Mark Twain” In fiction, check out the great new mysteries from the best of the genre: Le Carré, Flynn, Connelly, Leonard, and Lee Child.
Fiction
1. “Our Kind of Traitor,” by John Le Carré, hardcover, Viking, $27.95
2. “American Assassin: A Thriller,” by Vince Flynn, hardcover, Atria, $27.99
3. “Freedom,” by Jonathan Franzen, hardcover, Farrar, Straus, & Giroux, $28
4. “The Reversal,” by Michael Connelly, hardcover, Little Brown, $27.99
5. “Djibouti,” by Elmore Leonard, hardcover, William Morrow, $26.99
6. “A Gate at the Stairs,” by Lorrie Moore, paperback, Vintage, $15
7. “The Girl Who Played With Fire,” by Stieg Larsson, paperback, Vintage, $15.95
8. “The Humbling,” by Philip Roth, paperback, Vintage, $14.95
9. “Worth Dying For,” by Lee Child, hardcover, Delacorte, $28
10. “Point Dume,” by Katie Arnoldi, hardcover, Overlook Press, $24.95
Nonfiction
1. “Life,” by Keith Richards, hardcover, Little Brown, $29.99
2. “The Wave: In Pursuit of the Rogues, Freaks, and Giants of the Ocean,” by Susan Casey, hardcover, Doubleday, $27.95
3. “The Lonely Sky: The Personal Story of a Record-Breaking Experimental Test Pilot,” by William Bridgman with Jacqueline Hazard, paperback, iUniverse, $21.95
4. “The Grand Design,” by Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow, hardcover, Bantam, $28
5. “The Big Jewish Book for Jews: Everything You Need to Be a Really Jewish Jew,” by Ellis Weiner and Barbara Davilman, paperback, Plume, $17
6. “The Autobiography of Mark Twain: The Complete and Authoritative Edition, Volume 1,” by Mark Twain, hardcover, University of California Press, $34.95
7. “The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence of Evolution,” by Richard Dawkins, paperback, Free Press, $16.99
8. “Force of Nature: Mind, Body, Soul, and, of Course, Surfing,” by Laird Hamilton, paperback, Rodale, $19.99
9. “Washington: A Life,” by Ron Chernow, hardcover, Penguin Press, $40
10. “Crazy for the Storm: A Memoir of Survival,” by Norman Ollestad, paperback, Ecco, $14.99
Children
1. “The Lost Hero (The Heroes of Olympus No. 1),” by Rick Riordan, hardcover, Hyperion, $18.99
2. “Haunted Party, by Iza Trapani, paperback, Charlesbridge, $7.95
3. ‘Olivia and the Haunted Hotel,” by Jodie Shepard, paperback, Simon Spotlight, $4.99
4. “Boo, Bunny!,” by Kathryn O. Galbraith, paperback, Sandpiper, $6.99
5. “Zen Ghosts,” by Jon Muth, hardcover, Scholastic, $17.99
6. “LEGO Star Wars Brickmaster,” by DK Publishing, hardcover, DK, $29.99
7. “Happy Halloween!,” by Grosset & Dunlap, hardcover, Grosset & Dunlap, $3.99
8. “Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules,” by Jeff Kinney, hardcover, Harry N. Abrams, $12.95
9. “I Love You, Little Pumpkin!,” by Sandra Magsamen, hardcover, Little Brown Kids, $7.99
10. “The Witches,” by Roald Dahl and Quentin Blake, paperback, Puffin, $6.99
Book list provided by Diesel, A Bookstore