Excerpts galore: October 2, 2024

We have three day-after-release excerpts to share, plus one from last week ... and one from an upcoming release. 

The latter two first: Gobsmacked!: The British Invasion of American English by Ben Yagoda, came out September 24.

The book examines what types of British expressions — mostly insults, but also sport-related and culinary terms — have made their way into the average American's vocabulary and why that is.

Because Fat Girl, by Lauren Marie Fleming, comes out October 22; it's a romantic comedy that follows plus-sized, queer filmmaker Diana as she pursues her directorial dreams through emotional highs and lows.

Here's the excerpt of Because Fat Girl.

And now for the October 1 releases ...

The Message by Ta-Nehisi Coates comprises three intertwining essays about how the stories we tell, whether they intend to report truth or provide some sort of explanatory narrative, distort our reality.

Here's the excerpt of The Message.

The Third Realm by Karl Ove Knausgaard is the third book in his Morning Star series; it imagines a mysterious star that appears over Norway and the unexpected changes it brings to various Norwegians' lives.

Here's the excerpt of The Third Realm.

The Mighty Red by Louise Erdrich centers on the turmoil around one young woman — two men desperately want her; her mother wants to protect her — and the external turmoil of climate change and an economic crisis.

Here's the excerpt of The Mighty Red.