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Welcome, readers! Im Carolyn Kellogg, The Times book editor, with links to book reviews and news for you this week.

THE BIG STORY

Arundhati Roys 1997 novel, The God of Small Things, won the Booker Prize and earned her international acclaim. She then turned her attention to activism and protest, until returning to fiction this summer with The Ministry of Utmost Happiness, a novel packed with the ghosts of Indias conflicts. The Ministry of Utmost Happiness unfolds in that liminal space between novel and history lesson, writes critic at large Rigoberto Gonzlez in our review, which might disappoint all but her most ardent fans since the fictional story appears to have been written in service to the nonfiction content.

Mayank Austen Soofi

Arundhati Roy, author of "The Ministry of Utmost Happiness."

Arundhati Roy, author of "The Ministry of Utmost Happiness." (Mayank Austen Soofi)

HILLARY CLINTONS NEW BOOK

This week publisher Simon & Schuster confirmed that the book coming this fall from Hillary Clinton is changing shape instead of essays on her inspiration, it will be a deep dive into the 2016 presidential election titled What Happened. The publisher writes: Now free from the constraints of running, Hillary takes you inside the intense personal experience of becoming the first woman nominated for president by a major party in an election marked by rage, sexism, exhilarating highs and infuriating lows, stranger-than-fiction twists, Russian interference, and an opponent who broke all the rules."

Patrick Semansky / Associated Press

Former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton

Former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton (Patrick Semansky / Associated Press)

IF YOU LIKE GET OUT, YOULL LOVE VICTOR LAVALLE

We talk to Victor LaValle, who writes complex and literary horror and speculative fiction that, like the blockbuster movie Get Out, addresses social issues such as racism and inequality. His new book, The Changeling, also tackles the complex emotions around parenthood. For all this horror stuff, Im really an optimist, so I wouldnt say that I only think the world is a horror show, he tells writer Nichole Perkins. I think its also beautiful.

Spiegel & Grau

Victor LaValle

Victor LaValle (Spiegel & Grau)

Some people, like Morgan Jerkins at the New Republic, think that the roil of news from Washington, D.C., has taken the wind out of book sales. But some books seem to be riding the wave, and I think its why Trevor Noahs Born a Crime is now in its 22nd week on our nonfiction bestseller list. The book, a memoir of growing up mixed-race in South Africa, isnt speaking directly to whats happening with President Trump, but Noahs appeal as the host of politically edged The Daily Show, has, I think, a clear connection to his books enduring popularity.

Timothy A. Clary / AFP/Getty Images

Trevor Noah at "The Daily Show Presents: The Donald J. Trump Presidential Twitter Library," designed to look like the Oval Office.

Trevor Noah at "The Daily Show Presents: The Donald J. Trump Presidential Twitter Library," designed to look like the Oval Office. (Timothy A. Clary / AFP/Getty Images)

ALAIN MABANCKOU

Speaking of growing up in Africa: Black Moses is a picaresque novel of an orphan in the Republic of Congo in the 1960s-70s. Author Alain Mabanckou, who writes in French, is widely acclaimed in France and teaches at UCLA. Like every other literary orphan, Moses gets a sense of freedom and a few good times out of his predicament, reviewer Mark Athitakis writes. But his restless wanderings are never a substitute for what hes lost.

Caroline Blache

Alain Mabanckou

Alain Mabanckou (Caroline Blache)

MORE ON BOOKS

As an editor at Farrar, Straus & Giroux, Sean McDonald gained a reputation for championing boundary-pushing fiction and for creating new ways for readers to engage with it (the three books of Jeff VanderMeers Southern Reach Trilogy were published just months apart). Now McDonald has his own imprint at the publisher, MCD; Margaret Wappler takes a look at whats in store.

The premise for many dystopias is how those who remain after a cataclysm will survive without the benefits of our technological society. But what if youve already opted out of that society? Thats the idea behind the Amish dystopia, When the English Fall, the debut novel by David Williams, reviewed by Swapna Krishna.

Janelle Brown hit bestseller lists with her debut novel, All We Ever Wanted Was Everything, a wry take on the Silicon Valley suburbs. Now shes written a page-turning thriller, Watch Me Disappear, about a mother who goes missing. The novel evolved a lot. I didnt expect it to be a mystery, she tells Meredith Maran.

Seattle Seahawks star Michael Bennett is writing a book: How to Make White People Uncomfortable. Co-written by Dave Zirin, Bennetts book will be published by Haymarket Books in 2018.

Ted S. Warren / Associated Press

Seattle Seahawks defensive end Michael Bennett, above left at a recent football practice, is co-writing a new book, "How to Make White People Uncomfortable," to be published next year.

Seattle Seahawks defensive end Michael Bennett, above left at a recent football practice, is co-writing a new book, "How to Make White People Uncomfortable," to be published next year. (Ted S. Warren / Associated Press)

carolyn.kellogg@latimes.com

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Books: Rigoberto Gonzlez on Arundhati Roy, a new book from Hillary Clinton and more - Los Angeles Times