By: Deanna McFadden
 Just like in television and film, the fall season continues to be the biggest and brightest in terms of releasing the lion's share of new titles. What this means for the consumer is a bookstore full of blockbuster releases where well-known and more established writers dropping their heartbreaking tomes to their legions of fans. It's also the place to find new and exciting authors whose editors feel deserve a shot at the big leagues, whose books they feel have the best chance at breaking out of the pack. With the marketplace exceedingly crowded this time of year, it gets harder and harder to stand out, but that doesn't mean that new classics aren't being published, just the opposite in fact.
Not only does the fall season mean that there are impressive amounts of new books making their way into stores, but it also signals the start of a lot of touring authors, the big festivals (including Toronto's staple IFOA), and a rush of high profile media. We all come down from our summer reading highs and march on the track of serious literature touting the latest and greatest in terms of the printed word. It's also awards season, where you'll see the Man Booker, the Scotiabank Giller and a number of other longlists emerge to countdown to the prize announcements that come later in the fall.
How do you decide which books to read this fall? Which author readings to go to? Which literary events to attend? Well, much of that will be decided by your own personal tastes: do you prefer fiction to nonfiction? Are you an avid pop-culture consumer or is commercial fiction your cup of tea? Publishers large and small will be working hard over the next few months to get the attention of avid readers, once-a-month book buyers, and book club members.
Some of fall's biggest books come in the form of nonfiction, with Brian Mulroney, Jean Chretien, Alan Greenspan and Fidel Castro each publishing their memoirs, it seems that political battles will be fought on the bestseller lists. Other heavy hitters with new nonfiction books with a political edge this fall include Naomi Klein (The Shock Doctrine: the Rise of Disaster Capitalism) and Christie Blatchford (Fifteen Days: Stories of Bravery, Friendship, Life and Death from Inside the New Canadian Army). Two important books about Canadian history emerge this fall, the first, Nathan Greenfield's Baptism Of Fire looks at the impact of the 2nd Battle of Ypres, and the second, Emperor Of The North by James Raffan takes an in-depth look at Sir George Simpson and the Hudson's Bay Company.
If homegrown fiction is your passion, as it is for so many readers, some of the big hitters with new books this fall include: Richard Wright (October), Frances Itani (Remembering The Bones), M.G. Vassanji (The Assassin's Song), Todd Babiak (The Book of Stanley), and Elizabeth Hay (Late Nights on Air). These few suggestions barely scratch the surface of the great books that'll be available this fall, and many of which will be having launch parties, readings and festival appearances in the upcoming months. For now, fingers crossed you're relaxed at a cottage somewhere with a juicy mystery in your hands reading your way through a guilty pleasure to end all guilty pleasures before the serious fall season starts up in earnest.
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