Fall New Releases I Can't Wait to Read

Fall books are here, fall books are here! Or, at least, they are coming soon. Book lovers can always find something to look forward to among the many new releases of the autumn. Here are some of the new fiction titles that I am most anticipating . . .

Some Luck by Jane Smiley: I haven't read Smiley for quite some time (since the 1990s! wow), but her latest is a family saga spanning multiple decades that sounds intriguing. Just those words--"family saga spanning multiple decades"--are almost guaranteed to get a literary fiction fan's heart beating faster. This novel will be released October 7, and has been longlisted for the National Book Award.

Us by David Nicholls: I haven't read Nicholls before, but this caught my eye when it appeared on the longlist for the Man Booker Prize. The plot about a man struggling to hold together his troubled marriage while on a European art tour sounds interesting. The release date in the United States is October 28.

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel: There is buzz aplenty surrounding this recently released novel, which received a spot on the National Book Award longlist for fiction. Here's the quick Goodreads description: "An audacious, darkly glittering novel about art, fame, and ambition set in the eerie days of civilization's collapse, from the author of three highly acclaimed previous works." I don't know Mandel's previous work, but this sounds like something I want to read.

Stone Mattress: Nine Tales by Margaret Atwood: Short story collections often give me hives, but . . . Atwood!

The Book of Strange New Things by Michael Faber: This one sounds a like genre-bending mix of sci-fi and literary fiction. A minister on a mission trip to another planet? "Strange new things," indeed. I'm not quite sure what to expect, but my interest is piqued! Faber's new novel will be published on October 28.

Lila by Marilynne Robinson: Robinson's latest, set for release on October 7, is another one of the contenders for the National Book Award. Robinson revisits the characters and settings of her much acclaimed novels Gilead and Home in this work. Unfortunately, I haven't had the chance to read Robinson before, but I think I'd like to start. The question is, should I start with Lila or the earlier novels? I don't have a sense of whether this is a stand-alone novel or not.

First Impressions: A Novel of Old Books, Unexpected Love, and Jane Austen by Charlie Lovett: Right, so I keep saying that I won't read any more books that extend an Austen novel or re-imagine Austen characters. What is THIS doing on here?! Oops. Well, I figured I might need something light and easy at some point in the fall. This might be sweet and amusing or highly irritating; I suppose there's only one way to find out!

Vanessa and Her Sister by Priya Parmar: This novel is based on the life of Vanessa Bell, a painter who was the sister of Virginia Woolf. The publisher's description promises passion, betrayal, self-destruction, and madness among the Bloomsbury Group in early 20th century London. It sounds like it could be juicy and literary at the same time--my favorite combination. This book will be released December 30 (ok, not technically a FALL book, but . . . close enough!)

Well, I don't know if I'll get to every single one of these . . . I've got some backlist reading I want to do, and some books released earlier this year that I haven't read yet. The TBR pile--it threatens to topple over. But these are definitely the fall releases that caught my attention.

What new releases are you most looking forward to this season? Will any of these make it to your bookshelf?