Is it fall yet? Maybe? Does cozy reading sound appealing? Well then. This month’s new releases cover a wide range of modes and styles, from absorbing journeys into the self to sprawling novels of potential futures and hidden secrets. Perhaps something in here will be your next perfect read as the days get shorter and the temperature drops.

Jon McGregor, Lean Fall Stand
(Sept. 1, Catapult)

What do you do once you’ve written a pair of books that take the reader inside an insular community and explore all facets of that world? The answer, for Jon McGregor, is simple: head to Antarctica. His latest book focuses on a man traumatized by his experiences there and the effects that has on those who care for him.

Jai Chakrabarti, A Play For the End of the World
(Sept. 7, Knopf)

Jai Chakrabarti’s new novel is vast in scope, covering legacies of trauma and history on no less than three continents. And the questions Chakrabarti raises are massive indeed: about the role of art in dealing with political oppression, and about how love and intimacy might factor in to things.

Suzanne Schneider, The Apocalypse and the End of History
(Sept. 7, Verso)

Looking for an incisive read on contemporary politics? Suzanne Schneider’s The Apocalypse and the End of History might well be your ideal book right now. It’s a haunting look at authoritarianism and reactionary political violence, drawing unexpected connections along the way.

Cadwell Turnbull, No Gods, No Monsters
(Sept. 7, Blackstone Publishing)

First and foremost, this book has an excellent title. Second, Turnbull’s previous novel The Lesson was a fascinating science fictional take on alien contact. That his new book focuses on the supernatural with a multilayered approach suggests an even more compelling narrative to be found here.

Farah Rose Smith, Of One Pure Will
(Sept. 10, Trepidatio Publishing)

Do you enjoy your fiction with a heady dose of the uncanny and the full-on Weird? Farah Rose Smith’s new book certainly fits that bill. Matthew M. Bartlett noted that the collection “deftly intertwines the oneiric, the mystical, and the brutally physical.” We’re suitably intrigued.

Dennis Cooper, I Wished
(Sept. 14, Soho Press)

For the last ten years, Dennis Cooper has broadened his artistic scope, including forays into filmmaking and using GIFs for longform storytelling. Now, he’s back with a new novel, and one which revisits the characters and settings of his George Miles Cycle. The publisher’s description also promises “sentient prairie dogs,” and we’re pretty intrigued by the prospect of that as well.

Carl de Souza, Kaya Days; translated by Jeffrey Zuckerman
(Sept. 14, Two Lines Press)

In early 1999, the Mauritian musician Joseph Réginald Topize (also known as Kaya) died in police custody, leading to a substantial pushback from the nation’s residents against police brutality. With the novel Kaya Days, Carl de Souza uses this as a backdrop to the story of a woman searching for her brother — and what that reveals about a nation.

Lauren Elkin, No. 91/92
(Sept. 14, Semiotext(e))

Lauren Elkin’s previous work of nonfiction, Flâneuse, took as its subject walking in cities. Now, with No. 91/92, she’s turned her attention to her own travels via bus in the city of Paris. (We’re hoping Elkin will get around to funicular railways at some point.) Elkin’s has a fascinating eye for detail and an impressive ability to make unexpected connections; we’re eager to see what she does here.

Devon Walker-Figureroa, Philomath
(Sept. 14, Milkweed Editions)

Can poetry evoke a place? It’s a challenge many a poet has accepted over the years. (William Carlos Williams, we’re looking at you.) Devon Walker-Figureroa’s new book uses poetry to explore the town of Philomath in western Oregon, a place where the timber industry played a significant role over the years, and venture towards an unexpected resolution.

Janice Lee, Imagine a Death
(Sept. 15, Texas Review Press)

Two years ago, Janice Lee wrote an essay about the path that Imagine a Death took en route to being published. Now, her new novel is heading into the world, and its themes — mortality, trauma, and the apocalyptic — seem all too relevant right now. We’ve been eager to read this one for a while now, and that moment is almost here.

Zoraida Córdova, The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina
(Sept. 7, Atria Books)

Zoraida Córdova’s new novel offers a unique spin on generational legacies and forays into the supernatural. According to a recent interview, the author also drew on her own family’s history to tell the story of a family in Ecuador with unique abilities and an unpredictable way of interacting with the wider world.

Lincoln Michel, The Body Scout
(Sept. 21, Orbit)

Ever since the release of his collection Upright Beasts, we’ve been eager to see what Lincoln Michel would do next. Now, we have our answer: a speculative mystery about body modification and baseball, set in an unsettling near future. This one looks like an excellent pairing of author and premise if ever there was one.

Ruth Ozeki, The Book of Form and Emptiness
(Sept. 21, Viking)

What if you could hear the voices of inanimate objects? That’s the situation facing the protagonist of Ruth Ozeki’s new novel, who grapples with this ability and eventually finds solace in his interactions with books. Where does this journey take him over the course of his life? Well, you’ll need to read it to find out.

Michael J. Seidlinger, Runaways
(Sept. 28, Future Tense Books)

Michael J. Seidlinger’s last novel, Dreams of Being, explored creativity through two very different mediums: filmmaking and cooking. For his new book, he offers another window on the frustrations that can come with making art — with the ups and downs of social media thrown into the mix. With art and solitude subjects on many a mind these days, Runaways is entering the world at the perfect time.

Note: all release dates and cover artwork are subject to change.

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