We take the weekend to highlight recent books coverage in The Times:

A tour of the Book Review

The Book Review’s annual Halloween issue features horror books, of course, but also thrillers, fantasy and science fiction, and our crime columnist Marilyn Stasio’s biannual foray into the terrors of true crime.

Plus, reviews of new fiction by Jeanette Winterson, Joe Hill, Stephen Chbosky and Joseph Kanon.

The actor John Lithgow answers our By the Book questions, and also joins us on the podcast.

Peak Witch

This fall, at least a dozen new witch books have or will hit the market: everything from personal narrative (“Initiated: Memoir of a Witch,” by the first-time author and practicing witch Amanda Yates Garcia) to politics (“Revolutionary Witchcraft,” by Sarah Lyons, a guide to the history and practice of politically motivated magic).

Patricia Highsmith’s Diaries

Patricia Highsmith’s sharply observed psychological thrillers included “Strangers on a Train” and “The Talented Mr. Ripley.” In 2021, readers will get more insight into her own psychology, when Liveright Publishing releases hundreds of pages from the author’s personal diaries as a book.