The fall preview in these parts continues (a review of September can be found here, if you’re interested) with a look at several books slated for October release. Part two will be up on Monday. (Two late-September releases are included below.)

Chicago: A Biography by Dominic A. Pacyga
This history, written by a Chicago native, charts the city from the explorations of Joliet and Marquette in 1673 to the current day, with a particular focus on ordinary people and their stories. Oct. 1

The Collected Stories of Lydia Davis
At 750 pages, this volume contains all of Davis’ highly acclaimed, often experimental short (sometimes very short) fiction. Sept. 29

Anne Frank: The Book, The Life, The Afterlife by Francine Prose
A wide-ranging examination of the classic document, in which Prose, according to Publishers Weekly, argues that the diary was “a consciously crafted work of literature rather than the spontaneous outpourings of a teenager, and offers evidence that Frank scrupulously revised her work shortly before her arrest and intended to publish it after the war.” Sept. 29

Manhood for Amateurs: The Pleasures and Regrets of a Husband, Father, and Son by Michael Chabon
Linked autobiographical essays by the bestselling, prize-winning novelist. Oct. 6

The Simpsons: An Uncensored, Unauthorized History by John Ortved
I can’t wait for this one. Oct. 13

The Children’s Book by A.S. Byatt
Byatt’s latest follows two artistic British families from 1895 through the end of World War I. Oct. 6

The Casebook of Victor Frankenstein by Peter Ackroyd
A period piece about the friendship between Frankenstein and the poet Shelley. Oct. 6

Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
Mantle’s tenth novel, set in 16th-century England, concerns the relationship between Thomas Cromwell and Henry VIII. Already published in the UK, there it’s been called Mantel’s “most humane and bewitching” work yet. Oct. 13

Looking for Calvin and Hobbes: The Unconventional Story of Bill Watterson and His Revolutionary Comic Strip by Nevin Martell
The first October release about a great comic strip. Oct. 1

Bloom County: Complete Library, Vol. 1 by Berkeley Breathed
The second. Oct. 6

Chronic City by Jonathan Lethem
Lethem’s latest is a tale of paranoia about a young Manhattanite and his girlfriend, who happens to be trapped in outer space. Oct. 13

Thelonious Monk: The Life and Times of an American Original by Robin Kelley
Self-explanatory, no? Oct. 6

Inventory: 16 Films Featuring Manic Pixie Dream Girls, 10 Great Songs Nearly Ruined by Saxophone, and 100 More Obsessively Specific Pop-Culture Lists by The A.V. Club
The Onion’s sister publication collects its pop-culture lists and adds new ones to the mix, with contributors like John Hodgman, Amy Sedaris and Patton Oswalt. Foreword by Chuck Klosterman. Oct. 13

The Red Book by Carl Jung
See much more about this here. Oct. 7

Bright-sided: How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America by Barbara Ehrenreich
From the press materials: “Ehrenreich traces the strange career of our sunny outlook from its origins as a marginal nineteenth-century healing technique to its enshrinement as a dominant, almost mandatory, cultural attitude.” Oct. 13