Dear readers, I am not French, nor do I have young children in school, but I am partial to France’s concept of “la rentrée” — the re-entry to “regular” life after a summer spent seaside, chasing oyster lunches with ice cream and pastis. (Or so I imagine.) Maybe that’s why I’m so happy to see the return of many well-known and well-loved literary figures this season. To name just a few: Dan Brown, who drops his symbologist hero Robert Langdon into Prague to untangle yet another global conspiracy; Thomas Pynchon, who has written what sounds like another madcap paranoiac romp; and Kiran Desai, after a hiatus of nearly 20 years, who has written an utterly pleasurable and absorbing love story that spans decades and continents. We’ve compiled the nonfiction books and novels to watch for this fall — 48 of them, so pace yourself! You’ll see many familiar authors on these lists, and hopefully encounter several more that intrigue you. Keep track of everything you’d like to read by using the “Want to read” buttons on our reviews, and be sure to refer back to Your Reading List. And if you’re struggling to decide what to read next, be sure to listen to our podcast this week and next week: The editor of the Book Review, Gilbert Cruz, and I discuss many of these books in greater detail. This week’s episode is devoted to the season’s fiction, and next week we’ll dive into nonfiction. As always, I’d love to hear about what you’re currently reading. You can reach me by emailing books@nytimes.com. See you next week.
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