Hello, friends. The weather has turned. It is getting dark earlier. And the fall books are starting to arrive. Plan accordingly. 
 

First up is the return of Paula Hawkins with A Slow Fire Burning. It's a thriller about a dead man on a boat and the three women whose lives are somehow connected. We could attempt to flowchart out the plot here, but we suspect the flowchart would turn into a diagram about as complicated as the wiring structure of the audio components in the stereo cabinet in back. (Ed: Don't ask.) Suffice to say that Hawkins has returned to The Girl on a Train territory with her twisted storylines, and we're pretty sure this one is going to be a winner this fall.
 

And speaking of winners, Stephen Graham Jones is back with My Heart is a Chainsaw. Jones, who has been diligently writing amazing horror stories for the past decade, is really taking off these last few years. Last year's release The Only Good Indians won the Ray Bradbury Prize, the Alex Award, the Shirley Jackson Award, and the Bram Stoker Award (and it's up for a World Fantasy Award as well). My Heart is a Chainsaw is a bloody homage to slasher films (not unlike Grady Hendrix's The Final Girls Support Group), wherein a young half-Indian teen discovers that her tiny little town of Proofrock, Idaho, has been targeted by a malevolent individual with a terrifyingly bloody plan. 
 

And speaking of malevolence, Daryl Gregory is back this week with Revelator, a richly gothic tale of a family that has an old god buried in the back yard. This is the Ghostdaddy of family secrets, and when grown-up Stella comes back to the family estate, she has to face the old legacies and destructive violence that has been churning in the woods for a very long time. Gregory is a writer who transcends the genre labels, and we've been a long-time fan of his work. We're delighted to see him delve into the dark heart of family drama, and we're slightly scared at what he might find. 
 

Less frightening but equally eye-catching is Larry MacDougall's Gwelf: The Survival Guide. Look, it's a book about talking animals and the art is astounding. But, is it a role-playing campaign setting, or it is an actual guide book to the land of Gwelf? We're not sure, but we also don't care. We're delighted to no end that a book like this exists. If you are in the mood for vacation planning, but don't want to go to a destination where you have to deal with people, then this book is for you. 

Look. There's a raccoon riding a pony on the cover. This book sells itself. 
 

And speaking of books that sell themselves, our favorite smack-talking crow is back in Kira Jane Buxton's Feral Creatures, the follow-up to Hollow Kingdom. It's been thirteen years since S.T. (the crow) has been charged with keeping the last human child alive, and in that time, the kiddo has grown up to be a tempestuous adolescent. Hijinks ensue, of course, and our beloved crow must turn to the animal kingdom to save humanity from itself. 
 

And speaking of unruly animals, here is Sophie Blackall's Negative Cat, which is the story about a new family pet. When a young boy finally gets a cat (after asking for 427 days!), the cat that arrives is very dour. He's not very likable and all he does is stare at the wall. He's kind of an off-kilter cat, until the child discovers the one thing that the cat does like. Can you guess? That's right! The cat likes reading! But you have to read slowly and carefully because words are hard, you know? 
 

And speaking of reading for clues, Enola Holmes is back this week with Enola Holmes and the Black Barouche. Nancy Springer's engaging heroine is swept up in a strange disappearance of a twin, the sudden death of a wife, and the mysterious presence of the titular carriage. Naturally, Enola's famous brother shows up and tries to steal the show, but Enola is clever enough to distract Sherlock and solve the mystery all on her own. 
 

And speaking of grandstanding characters, we're delighted to discover that Marvel is putting out an inexpensive series of Masterwork titles. This week it's the origin stories of the X-Men, those quirky kids who didn't fit in and who had no friends . . . well, not until that bald-headed dude let them all stay at his fancy school in upstate New York. These classics are all being reprinted in bright colors and will look great on your shelves. 
 

And speaking of things that will look great on your shelf, here's J. R. R. Tolkien's The Nature of Middle-earth, the latest collection of ephemera from Tolkien's extensive notes about the world he created. Apparently, there are still some bits of deep lore trivia that we did't know about Middle-earth. Go figure. But if you've got someone in your house who thinks they know everything about hobbits, ents, Rohan riders, and the Ring of Power, well . . . 
 

And speaking of entertaining trivia, here is Matt Siegel's The Secret History of Food: Strange But True Stories About the Origins of Everything We Eat. Get your copy now, and be ready for those awkward conversational pauses during holiday dinners.