Much-anticipated, curious, or simply thrilling, here are some new and notable books out this month.

Strays by Ed Kavanaugh (Killick Press) — Kavanaugh’s ten short stories revolve around emotional and social vagabonds from all walks of Canadian life. Despite the succinctly despondent title and theme, readers are promised stories told with humour, insight and sensitivity. Release Date: September 15, 2013.

Come, Cold River by Karen Connelly (Quattro Books) — “how to enter again / that unlikely tenderness / the cracked ribcage of the world / as if it were the last shelter” — These verses give voice to the poet’s complex family issues and society’s marginalized figures and also serve as a severe chastisement against our nation for silencing those who need to be heard the most. Release Date: September 15, 2013.

Someone by Alice McDermott (HarperCollins) — Is there such a thing as an “ordinary life” of an “ordinary woman”? Marie recollects pieces of her life from childhood to old age against the backdrop of Brooklyn’s Irish community that changes with its inhabitors, ultimately revealing unique and singular experiences that will resonate with readers and cause to question what “ordinary” and “foolish” mean. Release Date: September 17, 2013.

The Lowland by Jhumpa Lahiri (Knopf) — Hotly anticipated, this shortlist nominee for the 2013 Man Booker Prize unravels a dramatic tale of two brothers from Calcutta who take two very different paths and approaches to life, with one headed for tragedy and the other who returns to deal with the aftermath. A sweeping family saga set against volatile and authentic history, Lahiri’s latest is a must-read. Release Date: September 24, 2013.

A Stone in My Shoe: In Search of Neighbourhood by George Ellenbogen (Véhicule Press) The “Canadian Poet in America” traces his childhood and adolescence in 1940s and 1950s Montreal, making the memoir a heartfelt celebration of the Jewish immigrant community that had a direct hand in the growth and sustenance of many others like the Ellenbogen family. Release Date: October 3, 2013.