You can almost hear the scenes that unfold across Baya Mahieddine’s canvases, sensorial riots of color and linework visualizing women’s joyous, musical, and imaginative everyday lives. The first biography of the self-taught trailblazer, which arrives over two decades after her death, is one of 18 books our editors and contributors are itching to read this fall. Among them are Peter Forshaw’s Occult, for fans of mysticism and our seasonal Tarotscope; Hettie Judah’s Acts of Creation, for readers with art and motherhood on their minds; and Didi Jackson’s My Infinity, for poets with a soft spot for Hilma af Klint. See the full list below for more recommendations, and let us know what you’ll be adding to your to-be-read pile. Our contributors were also engrossed in books that reframe stories we think we know — a perennial question artists are uniquely positioned to tackle. Shameekia Shantel Johnson reviews an anthology on the built environments that mapped Malcolm X’s political and personal trajectory, while Greta Rainbow reports on a new tome redefining the visual story of mass incarceration. And before you dig into more below, mark your calendars for nationwide Banned Book Week events continuing through Saturday, from reading challenges to events at your local library. I hope to revisit some essential reads and graphic novels like Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye, Art Spiegelman’s Maus, and Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis if time allows (though, when it comes to reading, does it ever really)? Be sure to check out our new round-up of other upcoming art book events, including the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art’s poetry reading inspired by artist Shilpa Gupta and a talk marking the publication of a new Helen Frankenthaler monograph. — Lakshmi Rivera Amin, Associate Editor
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