The fall season in the book world has already begun.  So for all those devoted readers here is a preview of what to look for in the next four months.  This column deals with fiction, next week will be the non-fiction and children’s titles.

 

In the last week of August, readers need to marks their lists for “Colorless Tsukuru and His Years of Pilgrimage” by Haruki Murakami which is already receiving critical praise in its story of a loner and the friends who gave up on him.  Best-selling mystery author, Louise Penny, returns with another case for Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Quebec Surete in “The Long Way Home.” 

 

Popular fantasy author, Robin Hobb, finally adds another volume after a decade wait in the Farseer series with “Fools Assassin.”  Fans have been asking for months when Susan Elizabeth Phillips is turning out another of her hilarious romances.  The wait is over with “Heroes are my Weakness.”

In September, there are some major authors with new novels including Lee Child with his next Jack Reacher book, “Personal,” as well as Ken Follett with the  third volume in his The Century Trilogy, “Edge of Eternity.”   Another popular mystery author, Kathy Reichs, offers a new adventure for Temperance Brennan with “Bones Never Lie.”

 

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 Tana French’s latest in the Dublin Murder Squad series is “The Secret Place.”  Ian McEwan’s next novel is “The Children Act.”  Other September books are “The Paying Guests” by Sarah Waters, “The Assassination of Margaret Thatcher: Stories” by Hilary Mantel, “A Sudden Light” by Garth Stein, “Rooms” by Lauren Oliver” and “Station Eleven” by Emily St. John Mandel.

 

October-November hits the height of the publishing season as books reach the shelves ahead of the holidays.  So expect new novels from John Grisham, “Gray Mountain,” Danielle Steel, “Pegasus,” George R. R. Martin “The World of Ice & Fire: The Untold History of Westeros and the Game of Thrones,”  Nora Roberts “Blood Magic,” Stephen King, “Revival,” Jodi Picoult, “Leaving Time,” Anne Rice, “Prince Lestat,” James Patterson, “Hope to Die,” Colm Tobin, “Nora Webster,” Denis Johnson, “The Laughing Monsters,” and Marilynne Robinson, “Lila.”

 

And for those willing to wait all the way to January, the latest in the Odd Thomas series by Dean Koontz, “Saint Odd,” is scheduled for release on January 13, 2015.