There is something about the turn of the weather from the hot, languid days of summer to fall's crisp air that can make readers reach for something a little more serious. The beach reads from a month ago can feel insufficient for a now-cold evening. To help you navigate this season's literary offerings, here are three books — two memoirs and a novel — to help you readjust to an indoor life.
"The Futilitarians," by Anne Gisleson, Little, Brown and Company, 272 pages (nf)
In this memoir of her year with an unusual book group, journalist Anne Gisleson records her enlightenment forged from tragedy, disappointment and disaster. Gisleson is sifting through the suicides of her younger sisters when her father’s sudden death from cancer leaves her with added mystery in a family she once believed she knew. While mourning, Gisleson and her husband cobble together a motley group of friends also living in post-Katrina New Orleans and who themselves are no strangers to grief. As they meet monthly to discuss John Cheever's "The Swimmer" or to make their own Via Dolorosa pilgrimage during Holy Week, this Existential Crisis Reading Group works together to navigate the unforgiving sea of mortality and finds moments of solace as they go.
Content advisory: Contains occasional strong language and mature themes.
"Autumn," by Karl Ove Knausgaard, translated from the Norwegian by Ingvild Burkey, Penguin, 240 pages (nf)
Anticipating the birth of his fourth child finds Norwegian author Karl Ove Knausgaard ruminating on the detritus of life — oil tankers, flies, chewing gum, daguerreotype — and recording his observations as an accounting for his new little one. This is the first in Knausgaard’s latest autobiographical quartet based on the seasons. There is no obvious story, but Knausgaard's chapters are short and tightly written, as he shares with his new baby information about the siblings that will shape her world as much as the inanimate objects and nature he also discusses. Knausgaard's pacing reflects the shift in autumn’s tenor, and his attention to detail encourages readers to consider and embrace the slower, gently methodical tone of this time of year. Knausgaard's translator, Ingvild Burkey, has made this English version a volume to savor.
Content advisory: Contains mature themes.
"The Burning Girl," by Claire Messud, Norton, 247 pages (f)
Author Claire Messud, best-known for her 2006 novel "The Emperor's Children," examines friendship’s masked fragility through this story of two girls approaching the landmines of adolescence. As their paths inevitably diverge because of things out of their control — family realities, class distinctions — both girls begin to test their boundaries, as all teens do, and incur repercussions that affect relationships beyond the one they share. Messud’s engaging voice makes this familiar story a quick read, but her ability to give language to the inner workings of a whirring teenage brain make it worth a reader’s time.
Content advisory: Contains strong language and mature themes.
Amanda Olson is a former adjunct faculty member of the Professional Writing Programs at Brigham Young University, Northeastern University, and the University of Maryland, College Park. EMAIL: alc.olson@gmail.com