JK Rowling New Book, Stephen Colbert, and the Top 8 Books to Put on Your Fall Reading List

Pour a pint of your favorite pumpkin beer, Autumn is here. What better way to welcome the season than with an exciting new book to read? We hand selected eight titles you’ll love to get lost in, just like your favorite corn maze.

1. The Casual Vacancy -- J.K. Rowling (fiction,  September 27)

What it’s about: A parish council member passes away in a small English town. The community, rife with social conflict, must reconcile their differences in order to find a replacement.

Why you’ll love it: J.K. Rowling. Need I say more? It’s her first novel for adults. For the reader who grew up with Harry Potter, The Casual Vacancy is a hippogriff of a different color.

2. Why Have Kids: A New Mom Explores the Truth About Parenting and Happiness – Jessica Valenti (non-fiction, available now)

What it’s about: Valenti grounds her book in her own research and experiences as a mom, exploring the complications of raising kids in a society that is ever more individual. She portrays parenthood as both joyful, exciting, and exhausting.

Why you’ll love it: We often ask, “Why not have kids?” Valenti’s book speaks about the nuances of parenting that we don’t always talk about, but should definitely think about. Oh, by the way, she created this animated video, which you should definitely check out.

3. America Again: Re-Becoming The Greatness We Never Weren’t -- Stephen Colbert (non-fiction/humor, October 2)

What it’s about: Supposedly Colbert has all the answers to solving our economic crisis and getting America back to where it was(n’t).

Why you’ll love it: How could you not? According to the Colbert News Hub, “It features everything from chapters, to page numbers, to fonts.” Humor for when you’ve had enough Election 2012.

4. There Was A Country: A Personal History of Biafra -- Chinua Achebe (non-fiction/memoir, October 11)

What it’s about: Achebe remembers his life during the Nigerian civil war between 1967 and 1970, employing historical research and personal memoir.

Why you’ll love it: The author of much loved novel Things Fall Apart again uses brilliant prose to shed light on the plight of a group of people divided.

5. Woes of the True Policeman – Robert Bolaño (fiction, November 13)

What it’s about: Amalfitano, a Chilean professor is forced to leave his home in Barcelona and flee to Mexico. The story follows Amalfitano as he discovers his new home, where he meets a magician/writer with some interesting insight[ES2]  into literature and life itself.

Why you’ll love it: Bolaño began this novel in the 1980’s, leaving it unfinished at the time of his death in 2003. The story, translated from Spanish, should be exciting, heavy, and beautiful.

6. Fashion Talks: Undressing the Power of Style – Shira Tarrant and Marjorie Jolles (non-fiction, available now)

What it’s about: What role does fashion play in the making of the status quo? This compilation explores style sense and its relation to the identity politics of race, class, gender, and sexuality.

Why you’ll love it: Who knew getting dressed in the morning was so political? Anyone interested in pop culture, fashion trends, or gender studies is bound to enjoy this anthology.

7. Letters -- Kurt Vonnegut (non-fiction, October 30)

What it’s about: “Wait, didn’t he die?,” readers might ask about in relation to Vonnegut’s new book. The answer is yes, but this text is a posthumous release, detailing the profound life of an author we’ll never forget. It’s a collection of personal letters written over the course of Vonnegut’s life.

Why you’ll love it: The majority of material in the book has never before been published. Vonnegut’s correspondence will capture audiences with his ever classic wisdom and wit. It’s like a gift from Mr. Rosewater, but better.

8. Flight Behavior -- Barbara Kingsolver (fiction, November 6)

What it’s about: After becoming pregnant as a teen, a woman from Appalachia feels trapped in her in Tennessee town. A disastrous biological event occurs, creating commotion from the heart of her small town across international borders.

Why you’ll love it: Kingsolver always captivates readers, through her politics and characters, and the emotions they both evoke.