Today in Bookish and Literary History, October 31

1906 Caesar & Cleopatra by George Bernard Shaw

In a cheeky nod to Shakespeare’s towering reputation, Shaw reinvents two of his historical characters but sets his own play in a period predating both Julius Caesar and Antony and Cleopatra.

1917 In the Zone by Eugene O'Neill

2016 The Book of Endless Sleepovers by Henry Hoke

"In his atmospheric debut, Henry Hoke maps the wild country of adolescence, the murky realm of childhood and its mysterious stirrings, where the names of cities are always changing along with our own, as we swap them for those of our favorite characters: The Hardy Boys or Huck Finn or Peter Pan. A land where pet bunnies are eaten by owls in the night and cats change owners at their own will. The Book of Endless Sleepovers is beguiling and evocative and sometimes sad. It is not to be missed." -Kate Durbin, author of E! Entertainment

2023 The Reformatory by Tananarive Due

A gripping, page-turning “masterpiece” (Joe Hill, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Fireman) set in Jim Crow Florida that follows Robert Stephens Jr. as he’s sent to a segregated reform school that is a chamber of terrors where he sees the horrors of racism and injustice, for the living, and the dead.

• Winner of the World Fantasy Award
• Winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize
• Finalist for Locus Award
• Winner of the Bram Stoker Award
• Winner of the Shirley Jackson Award

2023 Absolution by Alice McDermott

A riveting account of women’s lives on the margins of the Vietnam War, from the renowned winner of the National Book Award.

2025 The Art of Drowning by Molly Macabre

A voice rising from the wreckage of youth, this collection gathers two decades of poetry written through depression, heartbreak, and restless nights. Scrawled across torn journals and inspired by the era of emo anthems, these verses unravel ominous thoughts, twisted love, and the haunting reflections of an adolescent mind still echoing today.