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As a true book lover you know: summer is all very well for an occasional guilty pleasure and a whole pile of page-turners to tote to the beach but the real serious lifting -- both literally and metaphorically -- in terms of reading comes with the turn of the leaves in fall.
This season we have many heavy hitters from darlings of the literary fiction world such as Margaret Atwood and Jonathan Franzen, and also remarkable work from newer talent to keep an eye out for. Here are a dozen we have our sights trained on. Feel free to add your recommendations for upcoming fall releases as well.
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The Incarnations: A Novel by Susan Barker Aug 18, 2015. 384 pages. Touchstone. The word "karma" gets a whole new meaning in this epic novel that spans centuries in China. As a Beijing taxi driver gets strange missives about his past life, he believes that someone is watching him, someone who increasingly disturbs his present as he delivers news about the past. Spun with folklore and history, this is a look at the Asian behemoth that is China, through the eyes of one ordinary man. More info |
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Best Boy by Eli Gottlieb Aug 24, 2015. 256 pages. Liveright. The complex prism of life with autism as viewed through the lens of an adult man with the condition, this deeply empathetic novel appeals with its portrayal of frailties. Powered by the author's own family experience, the touching story probes the disability's effects on not just the affected but everyone caught up in its immediate satellite. More info |
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The Nature of the Beast: A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel
by Louise Penny Aug 25, 2015. 416 pages. Minotaur. When you've retired as the former head of homicide of an important Canadian municipality, it is only natural that people expect you to make the right call. The problem is, Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, might have slipped up this once. Nobody believes nine-year-old Laurent Lepage's outrageous stories, so why should he? As it turns out Laurent is soon dead and things get muddy very quickly. BookBrowse and Quebec's favorite inspector is back to delight fans in the latest in this very popular series. More info |
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Jade Dragon Mountain by Elsa Hart Sept 1, 2015. 336 pages. Minotaur An event of astronomical proportions is eclipsed by a murder. A Jesuit astronomer is found dead in a Chinese magistrate's house and Li Du, who was set to cross the border to Tibet, must figure out whether to solve this layered crime, complicated by bureaucracies of early eighteenth century China, or make his way onward to what he believes is a better kind of future. Rich in atmospheric detail and cultural history, this is a mystery that delivers rich rewards. More info |
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Purity by Jonathan Franzen Sep 1, 2015. 576 pages. Farrar, Straus & Giroux The youthful blush of idealism can easily be smeared off by the harsh realities of everyday life. This is one of the many life truths that Pip Tyler learns as a new graduate saddled with student debt, enticed by the appeal of someone who believes in her intellectual abilities. That this someone is a world-famous outlaw looking to upend conventional societal norms, is a fact not lost on young Pip. Franzen brings his trademark ability to paint the minutest of details on a large sprawling canvas and delivers a story that is all too relevant for our times. More info |
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Girl Waits with Gun by Amy Stewart Sep 1, 2015. 416 pages. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Constance Kopp would have been a rebel even by today's standards but this towering daredevil was especially so in 1914 when she is forced to defend her family and property against powerful and unsavory elements. BookBrowse has always loved spunky women and this independent-minded young lady with no interest in marriage or domestic affairs, looks set to win our hearts and minds in this historical fiction based on one of the USA's first female sheriffs More info |
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Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights: A Novel
by Salman Rushdie Sep 8, 2015. 304 pages. Random House Does anybody work with a touch of the fantastical better than Rushdie? Tossing in elements of mystery and magical realism into his latest novel, he proves to be one heck of a contemporary storyteller, a modern-day Scheherazade who weaves tales every bit as mesmerizing and transportive as those from the Arabian Nights. More info |
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Fortune Smiles: Stories
by Adam Johnson Aug 2015. 320 pages. Random House There's a reason that Pulitzer winner Adam Johnson is a BookBrowse favorite. His debut novel might have been set in stark North Korea but its humanity appealed to readers the world over. His follow-up collection of short stories has all the trademark qualities he showed in The Orphan Master's Son, generous doses of empathy, humor and a sure pulse on the human condition. More info |
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The Heart Goes Last: A Novel
by Margaret Atwood Sep 29, 2015. 320 pages. Nan A. Talese The most chilling stories are not the outlandish and improbable ones -- they're the tales that are only slightly off-kilter until the mask is torn apart to reveal the ugly beating heart at the center of it all. Margaret Atwood's fans are legion and they have much to celebrate in her latest novel of a couple who believes there's a way out of their desperation until they realize the solution is worse than the problem. A tale that is signature Atwood and one that will appeal to new readers as much as it will satiate her many admirers. More info |
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Gold Fame Citrus: A Novel
by Claire Vaye Watkins Sep 29, 2015. 352 pages. Riverhead Books If her debut collection of short stories, Battleborn, was any indication, Claire Vaye Watkins was headed places. The immensely talented young author, one of the National Book Foundations 2014 "Five Under 35," proves the hype was real with her first novel that takes the California drought to a wholly plausible extreme with elements of dystopia thrown in for good measure. It's a story that confirms our endless capacity for hope even during our darkest days. More info |
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Slade House: A Novel
by David Mitchell Oct 27, 2015. 256 pages. Random House Keep your eyes peeled for a small black iron door. Imagination should be David Mitchell's middle name and his latest novel proves he has it in spadefuls. A ghost story set in a haunted house that whirls you through a maze of time, this is one that probably should be read with the lights on. You'll never look at a regular old fish-and-chips British pub in the same way again. More info |
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Submission: A Novel
by Michel Houellebecq Oct 20, 2015. 256 pages. Farrar, Straus & Giroux The France of 2022 is no longer a socialist government but an Islamic one, encouraging polygamy and insisting on the veil for women. In this atmosphere, one has-been professor is promised a new lease on life as long as he makes a life-altering commitment. This novel, by one of France's literary darlings, is a biting satire served with large helpings of humor. It's controversial for sure but wrapped in a delicious and intensely engaging presentation. More info As an interesting aside, a new book by Houlellebecq is always big news in his home country of France, but particularly so for Submission which was published in France on Jan 5, 2015 and was featured on the front cover of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo two days later, the same day gunmen attacked the magazine's office killing eight employees. |
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