10 books you should read in September, including Stephen King’s Fairy Tale and Alex Ross’ Fantastic Four: Full Circle

Also check out All The Women In My Brain And Other Concerns, a candid collection of personal essays from Emmy Award-nominated actress Betty Gilpin

By Cat Auer | August 24, 2022 | 9:00am

Books News Fairy tale

10 books you should read in September, including Stephen King’s Fairy Tale and Alex Ross’ Fantastic Four: Full Circle

Clockwise from bottom left: How Not To Drown In A Glass Of Water (Image: Macmillan); Fantastic Four: Full Circle (Image: Abrams ComicArts); Rules Of Engagement (Image: Berkley Books); Fairy Tale (Image: Scribner), Ducks (Image: Drawn & Quarterly); The Furrows (Image: Hogarth); The Storm Is Here (Image: Penguin Press); All The Women In My Brain And Other Concerns (Image: Flatiron) Graphic: Libby McGuire

Every month, a deluge of new books comes flooding out from big publishers, indie houses, and self-publishing platforms. To help you navigate the wave of titles arriving in September, The A.V. Club has narrowed down the options to 10 books we’re most excited about, including a trope-twisting dark fantasy novel from horror master Stephen King, an interdimensional journey through the Negative Zone with Marvel’s original superhero squad, and a collection of comical musings from GLOW star Betty Gilpin.

All The Women In My Brain And Other Concerns, Betty Gilpin (September 6)

Betty Gilpin, star of GLOW and (and the upcoming series Three Women and Mrs. Davis), speaks her own creative language in this collection of thoughtful and often comic musings on identity, nonconformity, and what it means to make a living by pretending to be other people. Gilpin imagines her mind as populated by a gaggle of “brainwomen” (including Joni McLamb, the tender-hearted caretaker; Crags Garafalo, the thick-skinned tough; and Ingrid St. Rash, who is all about festering insecurities), an Inside Out-esque approach to navigating life and understanding herself. It’s not a traditional “actor memoir,” but Gilpin has plenty of wry advice for aspiring actresses (“Wear a lot of makeup to apologize for having an alive face”). After nearly a decade of scraping together work, the decision to show her breasts for a recurring role on an acclaimed TV series was purposive—a necessary “toll” to be paid to reach the next level. She wrestles with self-doubt and self-hate and, sometimes, self-love. Take the time to decode her metaphor-rich parlance and unique terminology, and you’ll find she has much to say.

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