Check out our top books, from supernatural to serious

Five can’t-miss titles include a biography of photographer Richard Avedon.

1. “Culture Warlords: My Journey Into the Dark Web of White Supremacy,”

by Talia Lavin (Hachette, nonfiction, on sale Oct. 13)

h What it’s about: Jewish journalist Lavin assumed false identities and used her research skills to infiltrate and expose online extremist groups – such as white supremacists and Nazis – and shows readers how we can fight back against the internet’s most hateful subcultures.

h The buzz: “Righteous indignation meets techie magic to shine light on one of America’s most malignant warts,” says a starred review from Kirkus Reviews.

2. “Ring Shout,”

by P. Djèlí Clark

(Tor, fiction, on sale Oct. 13)

h What it’s about: The Nebula Award-winning author gives the Ku Klux Klan a horrific twist in this supernatural period piece that imagines actual monsters among the monstrous group.

h The buzz: “Thrills, chills, macabre humor, and engaging heroines to root for: What more could a reader want?” says a starred review from Kirkus Reviews.

3. “A Lover’s Discourse,”

by Xiaolu Guo (Grove, fiction, on sale Oct. 13)

h What it’s about: A young Chinese woman moves to London and simultaneously has to adapt to a foreign culture and to a foreign lover.

h The buzz: “Through (Guo’s) precise and unflinching language, a revealing account emerges of how one mind opens to another,” says USA TODAY’s ★★★☆ review.

4. “What Becomes a Legend Most,”

by Philip Gefter (Harper, nonfiction, on sale Oct. 13)

h What it’s about: A hefty, definitive biography of acclaimed photographer Richard Avedon, whose portraits captured some of the iconic figures of the 20th century and shaped fashion photography.

h The buzz: “Revealing, fluent, and very well written – an exemplary biography of an underappreciated artist,” says a starred review from Kirkus Reviews.

5. “The Lost Shtetl,”

by Max Gross (HarperVia, fiction, on sale Oct. 13)

What it’s about: A tiny Jewish hamlet tucked in a Polish forest exists in cheerful isolation, spared the horrors of WWII and virtually untouched by time. But a marriage dispute brings the town careening into the 21st century.

The buzz: A ★★★☆ review for USA TODAY calls it a “witty and sagacious debut novel” and “a potent cautionary tale.”