I have to admit I was wrong. I started this column in January by claiming that March 2024 would be unusually busy because publishers were too afraid to publish much during election season. I said this fall would be pretty dead. Not quite, especially not in this very busy September (see my most anticipated September chart here if you like that).
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Fall is traditionally the time when important books come out, much like Oscar season is for movies. This fall is packed with new releases from well-known literary authors (some of whom sell better than others), those who win the most awards, and even some of the authors who are perennially on the Nobel Prize for Literature contenders lists (plus one winner): Olga Tokarczuk, Haruki Murakami, Louise Erdrich, Karl Ove Knausgaard, Kate Atkinson, Alan Hollinghurst, Edwidge Danticat, Elizabeth Strout, and Richard Powers.
And there are plenty of other high-profile literary authors who more than hold their own in the fall: The release of a new novel by Sally Rooney in September is still a big event, even if we don’t get any bucket hats this time. We also have great new novels by Rachel Kushner, Richard Price, Jami Attenberg, Rumaan Alam, Danzy Senna, Garth Greenwell, and Weike Wang. Damn.
Also coming out this fall: a series of second novels I’ve been waiting for, by authors who are already literary greats. Soon you’ll see new novels from Chelsea Bieker, Amanda Lee Koe, Coco Mellors, Tony Tulathimutte, Ella Baxter, and Jamie Quatro. There’s also a lot of great literature coming to us in translation this fall, including new novels from Vigdis Hjorth, Virginie Despentes, Mariana Enriquez, and Yoko Tawada, to name a few. If you want to read a new novel by a favorite author this fall, you have plenty of options.
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While past fall seasons have been a little more flexible, publishing lesser-known authors who were on the verge of breaking through (see, for example, Lit Hub’s Ultimate Fall 2023 Preview featuring Safiya Sinclair, Molly McGhee, Gabriel Bump, and others), this fall doesn’t have nearly as many promising debuts or so-called “make books” that are publishers’ passion projects. So it’s important to highlight the upcoming novels. Two of my favorite authors from a whole host of other genres are releasing their first novels this fall: Danny Lavery (Women’s hotel) and Lauren Elkin (Scaffolding). I am also looking forward to Still life by Katherine Packert Burke, We fools by Nora Lange and Quarter lifethe American debut of Indian bestselling author Devika Rege.
The most notable absences this fall are in the nonfiction categories. Most of the big books coming out in the next few months will be closely tied to election news (I hope we’ll see Jessica Valenti’s Abortion: Our Bodies, Their Lies, and the Truths We Can Win With everywhere). It seems that publishers are largely staying away from books that have nothing to do with the election and that would depend on morning shows and other big media hits (which don’t work as well as they used to anyway) to get the message out. There are few nonfiction titles that I’m excited about, so once again it’s important for me to tout them. I’m very excited about new books by Lili Anolik (Didion & Babitz), Emily Witt (Health and Safety) and Jessica Hoppe (First in the family).
And don’t despair. There will be plenty of big books for your shopping list by Christmastime: Ta-Nehisi Coates has a new book, as do Yuval Noah Harari, Paula Hawkins and Richard Osman. Both Hillary Clinton and Bill Clinton have new books, if your parents are into them. I’m most looking forward to the big celebrity memoirs. This year’s version of Barbra versus Britney will be Al Pacino versus Cher. I have no idea how it will turn out, but I can’t wait to hear the audiobooks.
I have no idea how the election will turn out (though I’m more optimistic than I was a month ago), but what I do know for sure is that there will be excellent new books to get us through the season. And just wait for what looks like a tough time of choice in early 2025.
