  • "City on Fire: A Novel" by Garth Risk Hallberg

    "City on Fire: A Novel" by Garth Risk Hallberg

  • "Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink" by Elvis Costello

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I just returned from the annual migration of booksellers to BookExpo America, the largest publishing event in North America. This trade show for publishers, authors and booksellers is heaven for book nerds. Free books. Famous authors. Publisher parties. And an advance look at the hottest upcoming titles. Here are some of the fall releases that the book business is all abuzz about:

“Purity” by Jonathan Franzen. The five-year wait for the new book by the critically acclaimed author of “The Corrections” and “Freedom” ends with another epic story about love, truth and family, but this time it’s also geographically and thematically sweeping with a new and welcome playfulness. (September)

“City on Fire” by Garth Risk Hallberg. Arguably the most talked about book at BookExpo, this debut novel set in 1970s New York has already garnered comparisons to Donna Tartt, Michael Chabon and Tom Wolfe, which explains its rumored $2 million price tag. The story focuses on a handful of characters’ relationships, shedding light on how we try and sometimes fail to make connections with others. A central mystery adds to the richness of this already compelling narrative. (October)

“The Tsar of Love and Techno” by Anthony Marra. Embraced early on by independent booksellers for his first novel, “A Constellation of Vital Phenomena,” Marra went on to become a New York Times best-selling author so there are a lot of people rooting for his continued success and eager for his follow-up. His beautiful new collection of interwoven stories that take on history and big themes through everyday people’s lives promises to deliver. (October)

“The Water Knife” by Paolo Bacigalupi. I stayed up way too late reading this powerful literary thriller about a drought-stricken near future. But this isn’t your daughter’s dystopian novel; it’s published by Alfred A. Knopf, a publishing house known for its roster of literary greats including Joan Didion, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Cormac McCarthy and Toni Morrison. Bacigalupi’s writing is extraordinary. (Available now)

“Home Is Burning” by Dan Marshall. The plot may be reminiscent of Dave Eggers’ “A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius” — a young man called home to take care of his family in crisis — but by all accounts this new memoir is fresh and unexpected, at turns breaking your heart then busting your gut with laughter. (October)

“Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink” by Elvis Costello. The long-awaited memoir by the English singer-songwriter and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer. I attended a little get-together at BookExpo that included Costello in conversation with “VH1 Storytellers” creator and author Bill Flanagan. If Costello is even half as funny, interesting and candid in his new memoir as he was in their interview, then readers are in for a huge treat. (October)

“Eileen” by Ottessa Moshfegh. Moshfegh is currently a Wallace Stegner fellow at Stanford University, joining the ranks of former fellows Raymond Carver, Larry McMurtry and Tillie Olsen. But don’t let this pedigree fool you: Moshfegh gets down and dirty in her shocking story of Eileen, an utterly unreliable and unforgettable narrator with an amazing tale to tell. The story is matched only by the author’s remarkable storytelling: Noir nods, Hitchcockian plot twists and what publisher Scott Moyers described as a “well-earned darkness.” (August)

“Rules for Werewolves” by Kirk Lynn. The image of tract housing on the cover may be ordinary but the book is far from it — weird, humorous, peppered with pop culture references, and a fall “Indies Introduce” title (an independent bookstore showcase for undiscovered authors). (October)

Allison K Hill writes about books, authors, the reading life and Southern California’s incredible contribution to the literary landscape. She is president and chief executive officer of two nationally recognized independent bookstores, Vroman’s Bookstore in Pasadena and Book Soup in West Hollywood, and a frequent contributor to The Huffington Post book section. Reach Hill through her website at www.AllisonKHill.com, or follow her on Tumblr at readingalovestory.tumblr.com.

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