PEOPLE’s Best Books of September 2024

‘Who’s That Girl’ by Eve

Grammy-winning rapper, actress and talk show host Eve has made history with her music, from her 1999 debut album Let There Be Eve…Ruff Ryders’ First Lady to her acclaimed single in collaboration with Gwen Stefani, “Let Me Blow Ya Mind.” In her new memoir, the star is opening up about that career, along with motherhood, infertility issues mental health and more.

“The book is about a woman who went through a lot,” she tells PEOPLE. “That’s a lot of us. If I can help someone feel less alone, that’s what I care about.”

‘Tell Me Everything’ by Elizabeth Strout

A Maine murder mystery is the backdrop for Pulitzer winner Strout’s latest, a stunner that unites beloved characters from her previous books. Attorney Bob Burgess defends the suspect, a loner accused of killing his mother. Meanwhile, Burgess’s friendship with writer Lucy Barton enters a deeper phase and Lucy strikes up a bond with Olive Kitteridge, now living in a retirement home. Strout’s musings on life and the importance of storytelling are downright profound. — Claire Martin

‘We Came to Welcome You’ by Vincent Triado

Sol and her wife, Alice, are excited to buy a home in the gated community of Maneless Grove, but when they get there, they discover strangely identical lots, unexplained events, creepy kids and nosy, pushy neighbors. The suburbs have never been scarier. — Rennie Dyball

‘Colored Television’ by Danzy Senna

Struggling L.A. novelist Jane has written a hefty “history of mulatto people in fictional form.” But when her agent rejects the book, she decides to try TV instead— which turns her world upside down. A sharp, hilarious page-turner about art, identity and the cost of success. — Kim Hubbard

‘Lovely One’ by Ketanji Brown Jackson

This inspiring memoir charts the rise of the first Black woman appointed to the Supreme Court, from her family’s fighting segregation to her confirmation to the highest bench in the country. An accessible, uplifting read.  

‘Who Could Ever Love You’ by Mary Trump

A heart-wrenching memoir from Donald’s niece of what she saw as a family torn apart by greed and poisoned by its overbearing patriarch. Devastating and beautifully painted.

‘By the Fire We Carry’ by Rebecca Nagle

Connecting the 1830s removal of Native Americans from their lands and a 1990s murder that reaffirmed their sovereignty, this powerful, important story is a must-read addition to any American’s historical education.

‘Small Rain’ by Garth Greenwell

This propulsive autofiction novel is set in the ICU, where our narrator spends 11 days for an injury to his aorta that mystifies his doctors and terrifies his partner (they were set up by colleagues as the only two gay poets in Iowa City). As he tries to understand what is happening, he bonds with one caretaker over medieval music and recoils from another’s frighteningly incompetent care as we’re immersed in his dazzling mind. — Marion Winik