The hilarious "Sad Monsters" will have you laughing this week (Plume)

“The Night Circus”
By: Erin Morgenstern
(Doubleday, Hardcover, $27)

One of “Amazon’s Best Books of the Month for September,” this fantasy about the traveling and mysterious Le Cirque des Rêves, where beneath its black-and-white striped tent, young and in-love magicians Marco and Celia are caught up in a duel. This competition can only leave one standing and the fates of everyone involved are wrapped up in what plays out beneath the big top each night. (Sept. 13)

“Dead End in Norvelt”
By: Jack Gantos
(Farrar, Straus and Giroux, Hardcover, $16)

This novel blends fact and far-out fiction together as a kid named Jack Gantos (namesake of author…the line between reality and surreality is already blurring here) takes on a job helping out an elderly neighbor type out obituaries of the eccentric founders of his town. This seemingly innocuous task turns out to lead him on an adventure filled with Hells Angels, lots of bloody noses, a man on a tricycle, and maybe even murder. (Sept. 13)

“Sad Monsters: Growling on the Outside, Crying on the Inside”
By: Frank Lesser, illustrations by Willie Real
(Plume, Paperback, $13)

This hilariously titled and creatively illustrated book by Emmy-winning writer Lesser (for “The Colbert Report,” no less!) delves into the complicated and very human problems of many beloved monsters. Every creature from Godzilla to a claw-footed bathtub is dealing with some issue, from discrimination to a bad body image, and tells their story in their own words. (Sept. 27)

Reach Books Editor Kristin Yinger here. Follow her on Twitter @kying7.