If every reader holds a fascination for an unlikely subject, mine is urban planning—which is why the recommendations I’ve received to read The Power Broker over the years are legion. This summer I finally picked it up and slowly made my way through its 1344 pages, which have frequently been described as a tour de force of biography, history, and journalism. In these pages I learned how I had no idea what I didn’t know, and that my own experience moving through New York City, the United States, and even some cities of the world had been decidedly impacted by this man who never held elected office and yet built more infrastructure and structures than anyone who’s ever lived—and influenced the building of many more. I’m so glad I finally read this: I was expecting something akin to Witold Rybczynski’s A Clearing in the Distance about Frederick Law Olmsted and the building of America (and NYC parks) in the 19th Century, and was surprised to discover it felt much more like Doris Kearns Goodwin’s Team of Rivals, a Lincoln biography that lingers on the question of how history would be different both then and today had Lincoln survived to lead his country through the Reconstruction era. Here Caro poses an inversion of that question, asking how New York City might be better—that is, more equitable, accessible, and beautiful—had Moses not held the power to shape the landscape and infrastructure from the crucial years of 1924 to 1968 in ways that today are irreversible. I’m told I should listen to the 99% Invisible podcast series on the book next, but I don’t know—after spending 1344 pages here I feel like I have some catching up to do on my reading list! (Convince me either way in comments?) More info →

This new 736-page Georgian novel from the author of The Eighth Life was just published in the U.S. on September 9; I found out about it just after we wrapped our 2025 Fall Book Preview list or would have included it there. In this sweeping platonic love story, four female friends first meet as grade schoolers in a Tblisi apartment courtyard in the late 1980s. In alternating timelines, we see how these women’s lives tangle with and are impacted by their home city and its political upheaval, invasions and civil war, and violence of organized crime over the course of twenty years. This was a hard read—both challenging to me as a reader and utterly heartbreaking—but my time here was well spent. Translated from the original German by Charlotte Collins and Ruth Martin. More info →

The rave reviews from bookseller friends convinced me to pick up this new release (already shortlisted for the Booker) despite its hefty 688-page length. It’s a family saga and love story featuring two characters that had me rooting for them from beginning to end. Sonia dreams of being a novelist—but after a disastrous college love affair with an older man left her feeling desolate and haunted, she returns to India to try and recover her sense of safety. Sunny also left India for the U.S., seeking to become a successful journalist, and first sees Sonia on an overnight train while back in India visiting his family. The two feel pulled towards each other, and though their initial embarrassment about their families having once tried to matchmake them nearly derails their young love, it takes root and grows. But for them to find happiness, they must navigate their meddling families and somehow break the curse of Sonia’s ex-lover. I read that Desai spent twenty years on this novel and it’s no wonder—I found it to be a sad, sprawling, and wistful tale of two young people seeking to make sense of their families, the world, and who they can be to each other. More info →