Big Name Fiction -- Coming Soon

The fall fiction catalogues are beginning to arrive, drawing attention to all the great fiction that will be released in the next few months. There are a lot of big name authors with new titles coming out this fall, here's a few to consider (especially now while the hold lists are still short!).

Freedom by Jonathan Franzen (August 31): I'm so excited about the pending release of the first novel in almost 10 years from American author Jonathan Franzen that I didn't even need to look up the release date: I've got it committed to memory. Best known for his 2001 novel the Corrections which is publicly notable for having won the National Book Award and having been unselected as an Oprah's Book Club pick, and for me is personally notable for being the most depressing book that I have ever loved. Freedom is (like the Corrections), a look at a modern American family and a critique of American culture and values.

Room by Emma Donoghue (September 7): Irish-Canadian author Donoghue's latest is the story of a woman and her young son Jack, locked in a room by a man known as Old Nick. For Jack, at five years, the room is the only home he has known: his mother has been imprisoned there for 7 years. Told through the words of the 5 year old boy, this book has already been released in the UK where it has been included on the long list for the Man Booker Prize.

Ape House by Sara Gruen. (September 7): Gruen's followup to her incredibly popular Water for Elephants was originally scheduled for 2009, but is finally hitting shelves. Like her previous novel, there is a strong focus on animals, this time bonobo apes. Gruen spent time at an Ape reserve where scientists are studying among other things communication and linguistics.

The Brave by Nicholas Evans (September 16): another popular novelist who has made his fans wait for his latest. The Brave is about Tom Bedford told in parallel stories of his youth and his life as a 50 year old man with a soldier son fighting in Iraq. "The Brave traces the legacy of violence behind the myth of the American West and explores our quest for love and identity, the fallibility of heroes and the devastating effects of family secrets". (amazon.com product description). According to author Evans' website the long delay in the release of this book is as a result of his having eaten poisonous mushrooms, which left him suffering severe kidney problems that have necessitated dialysis and left him on a kidney transplant list.

To finish off, here's two upcoming titles that are continuations of popular series that you're sure to recognize:

Dexter is Delicious by Jeff Lindsay (September 7): in the latest Dexter novel, the serial killer who only kills bad people becomes interested with and the interest of a group of cannibal teens.

Pirates of the Levant by Arturo Perez-Reverte (September 7): the latest swashbuckling adventure of 17th century Spanish Captain Diego Alatriste.