I have to admit I was wrong. I kicked off this column in January by claiming that March of 2024 was unusually crowded because publishers were too afraid to publish much during election season. I said this fall would be pretty dead. Not quite, especially not this very frontloaded September (see my most anticipated September spreadsheet here, if that’s your thing).
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Fall has traditionally been the time when Big Important Books come out, much like Oscar season is for films. This fall is absolutely stacked with new publications by brand name literary authors (some of whom sell better than others), the ones who win the most awards, and the even some of the ones that perpetually appear 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 level literary authors who can more than hold their own in autumn: The publishing of a new Sally Rooney novel this September is still a major event even if we don’t get bucket hats this time around. We’ve also got big new fiction by Rachel Kushner, Richard Price, Jami Attenberg, Rumaan Alam, Danzy Senna, Garth Greenwell, and Weike Wang. Damn.
Also publishing this fall: a bunch of second novels I’ve been waiting on from authors who are already literary luminaries. Soon you’ll see new ones by Chelsea Bieker, Amanda Lee Koe, Coco Mellors, Tony Tulathimutte, Ella Baxter, and Jamie Quatro. There is also a ton of great literature in translation coming to us this fall, with new ones from Vigdis Hjorth, Virginie Despentes, Mariana Enriquez, and Yoko Tawada, among others. If you’re looking to read a new novel by a favorite author this fall you’ll have many choices.
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If past autumns had become a little more flexible with publication of lesser known writers destined for breakout (for example see Lit Hub’s Ultimate Fall 2023 Preview featuring Safiya Sinclair, Molly McGhee, Gabriel Bump, and more), then this one doesn’t have nearly as many promising debuts or so-called “make books” that are passion projects for publishers. So it’s important to highlight the ones that are coming. Two of my favorite writers in a whole bunch of other genres are debuting novels this fall: Danny Lavery (Women’s Hotel) and Lauren Elkin (Scaffolding). I’m also looking forward to Still Life by Katherine Packert Burke, Us Fools by Nora Lange, and Quarterlife, which marks the American debut of Indian bestseller Devika Rege.
The most notable absences this fall are in nonfiction categories. Most of the big books coming out in the next few months will be intimately tied to election news (I hope we’ll be seeing Jessica Valenti’s Abortion: Our Bodies, Their Lies, and the Truths We Use to Win all over the place). It seems that publishers are mostly steering clear of non-election-related books that would be dependent on morning shows and other major media hits (which don’t work as well as they used to anyway) to get the word out. There are only a few nonfiction titles I’m looking forward to, so once again it feels important to shout them out. I’m highly anticipating new ones from Lili Anolik (Didion & Babitz), Emily Witt (Health and Safety), and Jessica Hoppe (First in the Family).
And don’t despair. By holiday season there will be tons of big books to go around for your shopping list: Ta-Nehisi Coates has a new one, as do Yuval Noah Harari, Paula Hawkins, and Richard Osman. Both Hillary Clinton and Bill Clinton have new books, if your parents are into that. Mostly I’m excited for 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 cannot wait to listen to the audiobooks.
I have no idea how the election will turn out (although I’m feeling more optimistic than I was a month ago), but what I know for certain is there will be excellent new books to get us through the season. And just wait for what’s looking to be an embarrassment of riches in early 2025.
