Balancing school dropoffs, fall sports schedules, family dinners and personal time is no easy task, but Cool Moms and Cool Dads handle it all with style and a sense of humor. Treat yourself to our fall collection of parenting and lifestyle books, featuring hilariously relatable memoirs, insightful family guidance, cozy contemporary fiction, and lighthearted adult reads. With insight from warm, witty and honest voices like Jenny Mollen, Glennon Doyle, Hank Green and Mike Birbiglia, these books offer the perfect literary escape after the kids are finally in bed.
October Parenting & Lifestyle Book Releases
An American Girl: How a Billion-Dollar Doll and Its Unlikely Founder Changed Girlhood Forever
by Amanda Fitzsimons
A deeply researched, invigorating love letter to the beloved American Girl brand, its unforgettable female founder Pleasant Rowland, and her then radical, now iconic line of eighteen-inch dolls that surprised and transfixed a nation.
Are you a Samantha? A Felicity? An Addy? Dive into the world of American Girl, the franchise that has captivated the world for generations.
For four decades and counting, American Girl has been a defining force in the lives of young girls, shaping their understanding of history, identity, and selfhood. But the story of its creation--and the visionary woman behind it--has never been fully told...until now. An American Girl is the fascinating tale of Pleasant Rowland, the trailblazing founder who disrupted the toy industry with her line of dolls defined by their high-quality craftsmanship and rich, educational backstories--and how
this iconic brand from America's heartland ended up shaping girlhood for generations.
Author Amanda FitzSimons takes readers inside Rowland's meticulous creative process and the far-reaching, almost incalculable legacy of her creation. This book explores how American Girl became a cultural touchstone, navigating the crosscurrents of third-wave feminism, the rise of consumer culture, and contentious debates over historical accuracy and representation. It dissects the brand's complicated relationship with race, class, and diversity, from the groundbreaking introduction of Addy Walker--the line's first nonwhite doll--to the critiques of its aspirational price point.
An American Girl is a compelling, eminently readable love letter to the entrepreneurial genius of a brand that has maintained its grasp on public consciousness for nearly half a century. It is an essential read for anyone who has ever loved a doll and recognized the powerful ways in which they can transform our understanding of ourselves--as well as the world around us.
Devil on My Shoulder: A Memoir
by Alice Cooper - Daniel Richler
The definitive autobiography from Alice Cooper, the Godfather of Shock Rock and one of the world's most iconic musicians with a career spanning six decades.
In the beginning, Alice Cooper was the name of a rock group. Then my stage name. And then a monster. Now I've written a book that tracks Alice's evolution, how he and I became almost fatally intertwined, and how I've tamed him at last. After over thirty records and sixty-plus years, the story of Alice Cooper has become a tangle of embellishments, elaborations and outright fabrications, that I think it's time to sort reality from myth: the slaughtered chickens, the bans and record burnings, the evangelical terrors, Ouija boards and poltergeists, resurrections and revenge from the grave, the cross-dressers, thieves, drug addicts and hopeless alcoholics, the house fires and car crashes--all will be revealed for what they really were.
I'm also coming clean about the extent of my addictions, my blackout years, the creative process fueled by alcohol, drugs and round-the-clock TV, my scramble to the top of the pile and the terrible slide back down. I want to talk about the origin of Cold Ethyl, the guillotine and the dead babies, the best and worst of my reviews, my feelings of guilt and regret after people got hurt or died, what life was like on the road until the wheels came off the bus, what a romantic I am at heart and how I've stayed married for half a century even after my wife came at me with a frying pan.
And I want to talk about God. Don't worry, I'm not gonna bang you on the head with a Bible, I just want to describe how it is that I found Him dwelling in me. Alice, that inveterate liar, was a voice in my ear for so long, whispering lies and sweet nothings, pretending to be my better conscience and my inspiration, pretending to be me, that I think it's only right to present both sides of the story: the angel on one shoulder, the devil on the other.
Home at Villa Rosa: Cooking and Living the Vanderpump Way
by Lisa Vanderpump
Lisa Vanderpump--businesswoman, producer, philanthropist, and arguably the most successful housewife to come out of the Bravo franchise--invites readers into her world with a cookbook showing how to cook and live like a Vanderpump with both glamour and style.
Millions of Lisa Vanderpump's fans know her from the enviable life she leads on her eponymous shows Vanderpump Rules and Vanderpump Villa and formerly the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. Now, in her first cookbook, Lisa invites them into her home to share how she cooks family meals, entertains, hosts holiday dinners, mixes cocktails for guests, and more. Lisa's approach is low effort and high reward. She shows how to whip up a four-course meal from scratch and dress up a store-bought cake for dessert. She bakes cookies with her grandsons and treats for her dogs. She makes life a little bit easier (and more welcoming) by keeping some easy make-ahead appetizers and drinks on hand for when guests stop by.
Home at Villa Rosa is an inside look into Lisa's world, including her British heritage and the influence of her grandmothers, which informs how she cooks even today. Cleverly organized into thematic sections, readers will access 70 of Lisa's favorite recipes, including the tea cakes she learned from her sister-in-law, a chef in the royal household; the riding sandwich she makes for her husband Ken; the cocktails made famous on Vanderpump Rules; and the desserts she serves at Christmastime. It's a unique and revealing look into what makes Lisa the most glamorous, successful, and relatable Bravo-lebrity yet and shows how anyone can cook like a Vanderpump.
Homemade
by Nara Aziza Smith
Nara Aziza Smith (@naraazizasmith), the best-dressed culinary creator in digital media, brings her signature style to 80 delicious, homemade family-friendly recipes for slowing down, cooking with love, and finding the whimsy in the everyday.
You may think you know Nara Smith--the glamorous outfits, the soothing ASMR voice, the seemingly effortless approach to making food from scratch--but behind it all is a busy mom trying to do her best, while cherishing her time cooking and nourishing herself and her family.
Nara grew up in Germany, shaped by her family's kitchen--her grandmother's warm bread right out of the oven, meals made with care by her parents While working as a model, she met and married supermodel Lucky Blue Smith and started a family. When she was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease and eczema, she found that she could manage her symptoms by cutting out most processed foods--and turned her from scratch-cooking expertise in a new curated direction while sharing her cooking online with compelling and elevated content. Nara is a self-taught home cook, who found joy with the ethos of slowing down and cooking with intention at home.
Now, millions of followers later, Nara has made home cooking look incredibly chic while preparing delicious and thoughtful meals her family loves. In her eagerly awaited and beautifully photographed first cookbook, Nara shares recipes from simple to complex, such as:
- Softest White Potato Sandwich Bread, English Muffins, and Handmade Cheese Crackers, a few of the doughs that keep Nara's hands busy
- Cinnamon Toast Squares, a quick breakfast beloved by Nara's toddlers and better than anything you can find in stores
- Baked Fall Vegetable Salad with Miso-Sherry Dressing, a gorgeous salad that fuels Nara for long workdays
- Soy-Glazed Flank Steak with Plum Herb Salad, a beautiful, nourishing meal made from whole ingredients
- One Pasta Dough for all shapes and sizes, with sauces, including stunning edible floral lasagna sheets.
- Pork Schnitzel, a comfort food that brings Nara back to her childhood in Germany
- Lucky's Oat Chocolate Chip Cookies, Nara's husband's recipe for the best American classic
- A chapter on Bits & Bobs, including everything from homemade mozzarella to flavored butters to chocolate-hazelnut spread, showing the simplicity and magic of cooking from whole ingredients
In Homemade, Nara brings ease and elegance to the creation of homemade food--inspiring readers to elevate their own reality, in the kitchen and beyond in their daily life.
Mastering American Mahjong: A Complete Guide to Rules and Strategy
by Megan Trottier
Step into the world of American mahjong with this approachable and beautiful guidebook by the founder of Oh My Mahjong, perfect for beginners and players ready to level up their game.
Whether you're learning the tiles for the very first time or looking to sharpen your strategy, Mastering American Mahjong offers a fun, accessible path to playing with confidence and style.
This comprehensive handbook provides you with a step-by-step overview of the rules and basic elements of mahjong, encouraging you to elevate your knowledge of the game and incorporate strategy that will set you apart at the mahjong table. With the help of engaging gameplay illustrations, you'll understand the significance of each type of tile, learn how to recognize patterns, and develop a keen eye for winning plays.
Get ready to throw memorable game nights and create meaningful moments around the table. Whether you're just starting out or refining your approach, Mastering American Mahjong will have you playing boldly, hosting confidently, and sharing the joy of mahjong in no time.
Real Style: The Realreal Guide to Dressing with Intention & Expressing Yourself Through Style
by The Realreal - Kristen Naiman - Cait Munro - Sarah Leon
The RealReal, the world's most trusted and beloved resource for authenticated luxury resale, presents a modern guide to discover, define, express, and evolve your personal style.
This is not a book about fashion, at least not in the traditional sense. This is a book about style. Specifically, your style--and how to find it.
With chapters that cover topics like how to dress for your body and build your wardrobe, style callouts, expert advice, and fashion would-you-rathers, it's a space for curiosity, clarity, and continued conversation about personal style.
Filled with honest talk, big questions, tips, interactive exercises, spaces for reflection, and advice from our community (including some Real Style icons), Real Style is both a mirror and a bible for fashion diehards and the style-curious alike.
Whether you want to explore new style identities without losing your sense of self, navigate a complicated relationship with shopping, or simply refine your style for a new phase--it all starts with asking questions.
The Joy of Cookies: New Classics and Old Favorites to Share
by Joanne Chang - Kristin Teig
Forbes Best Cookbooks Of Fall 2026
A warm, stunning, celebratory baking book of favorite cookies, classic and new, from James Beard award-winning baker and founder of the beloved Flour bakeries in Boston, Joanne Chang.
Joanne Chang says it all started with a chocolate chip cookie. Specifically, the Nestle Toll House chocolate chip cookie--the first she ever baked as a child with her mom: perfect, gooey, and warm. She baked cookies for her fellow Harvard students and study group and became known as the "cookie girl." When she left her career as a management consultant to pursue her baking passion, she did it with a tray of cookies, jokingly declaring to her former colleagues that one day, these cookies will be famous! Now, the critically lauded baker, co-owner of the acclaimed Flour bakery, and beloved cookbook author is here to celebrate the joy of cookies that she's shared all her life.
Joanne begins the book by answering a baker's dozen of baking questions to help home bakers grasp the basics and avoid mistakes, then dives into cookies of all kinds, from classics to the new and adventurous. Chapters are organized by cookie-kind: Drop Everything and Bake These, The Bar Is High, Bake Rattle and Roll, Icing on the Cookie, Pipe Dreams, Art of the Cookie Sandwich, and Some Like It Savory. Alongside the recipes, Joanne shares, with effervescence and humor, stories of the cookies, the people behind them, and bits of her inspiring baking journey.
- Famous Chunky Lola
- Peanut Butter Miso Caramel Cookie
- Breakfast Time Cookie
- Chocolate Cherry Brownies
- Maple Shortbread
- Sticky Bun Crisps
- Chai Spice Palmiers
- Holiday Sugar Cookies
- Cornmeal Lime Sandwiches
- Oatmeal Cream Pies
- Parmesan Chive Coins
With beautiful photographs of every single cookie, The Joy of Cookies is a celebration worth baking, eating, and sharing.
September Parenting & Lifestyle Book Releases
Artificial Intimacy: Who We Become When We Talk to Machines
by Sherry Turkle
From the author of prescient best seller and classic Reclaiming Conversation, Sherry Turkle, comes an urgent warning about how our ever-increasing reliance on human-like AI chatbots is eroding our capacity for empathy, caring, and the very qualities that make us human.
If social media came for our attention, artificial intelligence is now coming for our capacity for attachment. Chatbots that speak to us in a human voice offer themselves as best friends, lovers, and psychotherapists. As of 2025, over 70% of teens and nearly one-third of US adults rely on AI for companionship and emotional support, with many preferring these chatbot relationships over human ones.
When we talk to chatbots in these roles, as intimate machines, we accept as sufficient what machines can offer: the mere performance of intimacy, empathy, and love. We begin to think that pretend empathy is empathy enough. We redefine human capacities for care, solitude, and intimacy in terms of what machines can do. Sherry Turkle, the psychologist who pioneered our understanding of human-computer relationships, calls the new culture of chatbots artificial intimacy, our new AI.
Through compelling storytelling, framed by Turkle's decades of experience as a chronicler and analyst of digital culture, Artificial Intimacy evokes the seductive and beguiling nature of chatbots. They can organize our calendars, plan our travel, or analyze our stock picks, all with an efficiency that outstrips what a person might do.
Artificial Intimacy is unique in how it traces our new habit of talking to machines through the lifecycle--from children's earliest attachments to how we face death.
Feed Them Well: A Guide to Raising Healthy, Confident Eaters for Life
by Jennifer Anderson
From Jennifer Anderson--registered dietitian and founder of Kids Eat in Color, trusted by over two million parents--comes the evidence-based guide to feeding children from baby's first foods through the teen years.
When you became a parent, you probably thought feeding your child would be the easy part. You swore you'd never bribe your kid with dessert, never make a separate meal because it was easier than a standoff, never hear yourself say, "just try it," in a voice that didn't sound like your own.
Or maybe feeding was easy for years--until your child came home one day and said, "My friend says bread makes you fat," and you froze. Maybe your tween started picking at their plate after a pediatrician visit. Maybe your toddler who ate everything suddenly won't touch anything green. Now what?
Every parent wants to feed their kids well--but between picky eating, battles with sugar, confusing nutrition headlines, and the fear of saying the wrong thing about food or bodies, it's hard to feel confident about any of it. Now, in Feed Them Well, Anderson gives you the exact words, scripts, and tools you need to navigate it all--without judgment, guilt, or perfection required.
You'll learn how to talk about food without planting the seeds of diet culture. How to handle sugar, snacks, treats, and dessert in a way that actually works--at home, at birthday parties, at Grandma's house. What to do when your child refuses vegetables or gags on textures. How to navigate weight conversations when doctors, family, or other kids bring it up. And how to cut through nutrition confusion to figure out what truly matters for your family.
Homemaking with Babs: Tips and Tricks for Making a House a Home
by Barbara Costello
From the New York Times bestselling author of Every Day with Babs, comes Babs' life-tested advice and tricks for setting up, cleaning, and maintaining an organized, happy, and healthy home.
Everyone's favorite grandma is back with a comprehensive guide to caring for the home, whether you live in a house or apartment. Through their decades of experience as homeowners, Babs and her husband--aka Mr. Babs--have figured out the most efficient way to manage a home with ease. From daily routines to seasonal cleaning, organizing, and home maintenance, Babs shares her innovative methods and family traditions that make homemaking simple and enjoyable.
Perfect for renters and homeowners alike, Homemaking with Babs also includes DIY solutions for natural cleaning and pest control, making it a valuable resource for anyone looking to create a peaceful and well-maintained home. With more than 150 full-color photographs, this book offers advice and tips covering:
- Clean in 15: Practical routines for morning and nighttime that you can do in no time, along with daily, weekly, and monthly reminders to keep the home running smoothly.
- Seasonal cleaning and organizing: Detailed checklists and tips for spring, summer, fall, and winter, including specific tasks for each area of the home.
- Home maintenance: Guidance on maintaining home systems, planning for repairs, and creating a home maintenance fund.
- Natural recipes: DIY recipes for natural cleaners, pest deterrents, and seasonal simmer pots to keep the home fresh and healthy.
- Get everyone involved: Tips for getting everyone in the household involved in homemaking tasks, from kids to adults.
With more than 100 easy home hacks, practical tips, and seasonal checklists to help readers manage their homes with ease, Homemaking with Babs makes managing the home feel, well, manageable!
Situated: Find the People and Places That Bring Out Your Best
by Angela Duckworth
From the #1 bestselling author of Grit, a new book that reveals the hidden power of situations and how you can shape them to bring out your best.
In Angela Duckworth's first book, she showed that a common denominator of successful strivers is a blend of passion and perseverance she dubbed "grit." This second book springs from her deepening realization that grit, while necessary, is sometimes not sufficient. How you situate yourself to meet a challenge can be crucial.
Duckworth's in-depth research reveals the enormous influence wielded by the objects within arm's reach, your peers and mentors, and even your zip code. Though you're often told to make the best of your situation, it is far, far better to make your situation better first.
In Situated, you'll discover:
- Why your personality changes, sometimes dramatically, from one situation to another--and how you can harness that shift
- The secret to conquering temptation without willpower
- Why taking the less effortful path can feel like cheating but often solves a stubborn problem
- How the company you keep shapes the person you become
- The most effective ways to help others succeed
Highlighting four essential elements of successful situations, Duckworth shows how high performers like Taylor Swift, Michael Phelps, and Jerry Seinfeld create situations that make it easier to excel. And, with disarming honesty, she shares her own struggles with burnout and marriage--and how learning to change her situation, not herself, made all the difference. Whatever it is you want to achieve, there's a situation that can make your journey easier.
Think Like a Dog: How Positive Psychology Can Help Your Dog Thrive
by Jen Golbeck
The surprising science that explains how and why your dog thinks and acts from Jen Golbeck, the "internet's dog mom" behind the popular Golden Ratio Squad online community and the author of the "fascinating" (First for Women) The Purest Bond.
Do dogs' brains work the same as humans? Are they capable of the same spectrum of emotions as us? Do they have a sense of self? What the heck is wrong with this crazy dog?
Like many of us, Jen Golbeck looked at her rescue golden retrievers and affectionately wondered what exactly was going on in their cute, fuzzy heads. But as a left-brained scientist, Golbeck set out to seek concrete answers--research and data--to back up the hunch that there's a lot more going on beneath the surface of our pups' funny looks and adorable, occasionally destructive, behaviors.
What she finds is a surprising relationship between positive psychology and how we might learn to think about how our dogs think in a whole new light. She introduces a mold-breaking concept that shifts our focus from solving problems and scolding "bad behavior" to building on strengths based on qualities like focus, vitality, and curiosity.
Through fascinating case studies, real data, and paws-on-the-ground research and with Golbeck's signature "encouraging" (Library Journal) prose, Think Like a Dog shows how to apply these ideas thoughtfully, consistently, and with compassion, to help our dogs not just behave better, but to truly thrive.
Twenty Minutes Is the New Hour: The Ambitious Woman's Guide to Doing Less and Achieving More
by Fran Hauser - Jodi Lipper
An indispensable guide to help women reclaim hours in their day by overcoming the Four 4P's--People Pleasing, Procrastination, Perfectionism, and Padding--from the acclaimed author of The Myth of the Nice Girl.
"A liberating reframing of time in a culture that equates busyness with worth."-- Jennifer B. Wallace, New York Times bestselling author of Mattering and Never Enough
Women often carry a different kind of time load--one that adds up in ways that aren't always visible but deeply felt. Often, these responsibilities cause us to fall prey to what Fran Hauser calls "The 4 P's"--people-pleasing, perfectionism, procrastination, and (time) padding. Whether it's saying yes when you know you don't have the bandwidth, rewriting an email for the tenth time, or sitting through meetings that go nowhere, these patterns chip away at our hours, leaving less time for what truly matters. But when we start paying attention to these habits, we begin to change our relationship with time.
In Twenty Minutes Is the New Hour, Hauser shows professional women how to embrace a "twenty-minute mindset" to create more time and space for themselves and their most meaningful work. This mindset helps us break free from the 4 P's, stop over-rotating and make progress in less time than we think we need.
Drawing on Hauser's decades of executive experience--and stories from successful women such as Sprinkles Founder Candace Nelson and Journalist Danielle Robay-- Twenty Minutes is the New Hour is equal parts accessible and actionable. You'll come away with important tools, including:
- The secret recipe for getting an effective meeting done in 20 minutes
- A messy action mindset to help you start (and keep going)
- Ways to streamline projects and negotiations that have become overly complex
- Frameworks for nailing high-stakes conversations without overthinking
- A simple weekly practice to create space on your calendar
Twenty Minutes Is the New Hour is the antidote to our always-on, overworked world and a fresh take on productivity. The goal isn't to do more. It's to focus on what matters--and feel good about how you're doing it.
Worth: The New Science of Self-Esteem and Secure Attachment
by PhD Franco
From the New York Times bestselling author of Platonic, a groundbreaking guide exploring the promise (and limits) of secure attachment to help us feel better and boost our self-esteem.
"I can't think of anyone who won't need this book." --Jen Hatmaker, New York Times bestselling author and host of For the Love
What if what you thought you knew about secure attachment was wrong? Or worse, making you more insecure?
Dr. Marisa G. Franco is the New York Times bestselling friendship expert whose advice Glennon Doyle calls "wise, concrete, and effective"--Dr. Franco literally wrote the book on how to become a securely attached friend. But since then, she's realized that when we feel unworthy, the things we think should make us feel secure and raise our self-esteem often backfire:
- Optimistic self-talk makes us feel worse, not better.
- Positive feedback raises our blood pressure.
- Compliments make us uncomfortable.
- Positive events make us sicker.
The good news: Self-esteem is a skill that can be learned--and you can get better at it, which in turn strengthens all your other relationships. In Worth, Dr. Franco mines promising new research at the intersection of psychology and neuroscience to show us why so many of us still struggle with self-esteem (even in this self-obsessed age), and how we can build a foundation of lasting self-worth that doesn't rely on likes or followers.
You Are the Parent: Move from Overparenting to Balanced Parenting and Become the Leader Your Child Needs
by Cohen Siggie Cohen Siggie
Dr. Siggie Cohen, beloved parenting expert and influencer behind the viral @dr.siggie, shares a profound framework that will empower a new generation of parents to lead with confidence and enjoy less chaotic, more harmonious, happier homes.
Do you feel like you're stuck in a power struggle with your little one and he might be winning?
If so, you're not alone. Modern parenting has become a quagmire of good intentions gone wrong--too many of us are over-accommodating, over-explaining, over-negotiating, over-emphasizing, and over-fixing. This trend of over-parenting is leaving our children without strong coping skills and trapping us in never-ending tug-of-wars for control.
It's time for a more balanced approach. It's time for parents to trust themselves again.
Bringing decades of experience in early childhood education and developmental psychology--with millions of social media fans who swear by her advice--Dr. Siggie Cohen is here to cut through the noise and reassure you that parenting doesn't have to be this hard or this complicated.
You can become the calm, confident leader your family needs, while still parenting with empathy and prioritizing essential connection. Dr. Siggie's Emotional/Behavioral Proficiency (EBP) method offers a simple, yet groundbreaking framework to understand the root cause of your child's behavior, so you can effectively manage common challenges while raising a more resilient and confident kid.
Through relatable, real-life examples and actionable strategies, you will learn to see past the problem behaviors to the unmet needs beneath. With advice for true parenting pain points, like:
- Discipline--and why it's not what you think it is
- Little kids, big tornadoes--handling tantrums and outbursts
- Navigating transitions and change
- Dealing with lying, stealing, and bragging
- Whhyyyyyy kids whine, and how to help them stop
You Are the Parent provides helpful scripts and tools to set firm, loving boundaries while teaching your child the emotional skills they need to navigate their world and build a foundation of self-regulation.
For more book recommendations, check out our guide to new releases for The Hobbyist or Trendsetter. You may also enjoy our YA picks for the Young At Heart.