Know what you're getting into, before page one

Soul Surfer

Bethany Hamilton, Sheryl Berk, Rick Bundschuh · 3 Nov

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

C. S. Lewis · 3 Nov

Best for: Readers of about nine and up, and adults, who want an atmospheric, mythic children's fable carried by Narnia's wonder and Aslan rather than by tight plotting.

A Most Agreeable Murder

Julia Seales · 3 Nov

Best for: Readers who want an absurdist, genre-mashing Regency spoof wrapped around a storm-trapped, cozy-style whodunit, and who value zany energy over a tight puzzle or a sincere Regency romance.

Thus Spoke Zarathustra

Friedrich Nietzsche · 2 Nov

Best for: Readers who want philosophy delivered as scripture-like parable and poetry, and who are content to wrestle with figurative claims and return to the book over time rather than extract a tidy doctrine.

American Predator

Maureen Callahan · 2 Nov

Best for: True-crime readers who want a procedural, psychologically focused account of one little-known killer and the FBI's effort to understand him, rather than a tidy whodunit or a celebrity-style murder story.

The Nanny Diaries

Emma McLaughlin, Nicola Kraus · 2 Nov

Best for: Readers who want a funny, class-conscious workplace satire of Park Avenue wealth that also has real feeling for a neglected child, and anyone who has done childcare or service work where you must be everything while staying invisible.