Fall books 2022: What's new to read from Texas writers

Fall is the biggest books season, and hey, everything’s bigger in Texas, right? Here’s a Lone Star themed literary preview of the next few months, from selected new books by Texas writers to Austin tour stops from notable national authors.

New adult books from Austin and other Texas writers

Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Cormac McCarthy returns from a 16-year publishing hiatus with not one but two new books. The linked tales launch on Oct. 25 with the Gulf coast-set “The Passenger” (Knopf, $30). The action starts with a diver assigned to recover a jet’s wreckage, who discovers that the black box, the pilot’s flight bag and a passenger’s body are all missing. “Stella Maris,” (Knopf, $26) described as a coda to “The Passenger,” arrives Dec. 6. Framed as atranscript of dialogue, “Stella Maris” shares the story of brilliant math prodigy Alicia — sister of “Passenger” diver Bobby — who has vivid hallucinations. The famously private McCarthy lived in El Paso for nearly two decades, and Texas State University’s Wittliff Collection is home to an archive of his papers.

Ling Ma won the 2018 Kirkus Prize for her debut novel “Severance.” Her newest is “Bliss Montage” (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, $26), a powerful collection of short stories fueled by wildly imaginative premises: a woman living in a house along with dozens of her ex-boyfriends, invisibility, a yeti in a human suit. BookPeople will host Ma virtually Sept. 15 in a joint event with four other independent bookstores across the country.

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During the pandemic shutdown, playwright, novelist and illustrator Edward Carey posted a drawing a day on Twitter. The effort was part distraction, part chronicle and his subjects varied widely: There were animals familiar (a rat, a squirrel) and less so (a pangolin), a self-portrait the day he got a second vaccine, and famous folks like President Biden and New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ahern. You can see them all in “Plagues and Pencils” (UT Press, $24.95), whichhe’ll discuss with fellow multihyphenate Austin Kleon (“Steal Like An Artist”) Sept. 14 at BookPeople.

Peniel E. Joseph has written several award-winning books on race while also serving as a commentator for CNN, the founding director of the University of Texas’ Center for the Study of Race and Democracy and the Barbara Jordan chair in ethics and political values. Clear-eyed, incisive and engaging, “The Third Reconstruction: America’s Struggle for Racial Justice in the Twenty-First Century” (Basic Books, $27) depicts America’s struggles with racism through threecycles in history, including the title’s era, which Joseph notes began with President Obama’s election.

Ryan Holiday showcases famous lives (Lou Gehrig, Toni Morrison) as part of the second volume in his Stoic Virtues series, “Discipline is Destiny: The Power of Self-Control” (Portfolio, $26). Holiday, who opened Bastrop’s the Painted Porch Bookshop in 2020 just before pandemic shutdowns, curates all things Daily Stoic, including a podcast, email and online courses. His translation of the philosophy devoted to discerning what’s in your control has landed him onmultiple bestseller lists.

Rubén Degollado’s short fiction has appeared in anthologies like 2021’s “Nepantla Familias.” He came to the Texas Book Festival with his young-adult book, “Throw,” which won a Texas Institute of Letters award. Now the Rio Grande Valley author’s debut book for adults is here: “The Family Izquierdo” (W.W. Norton, $16.95), an epic tale of a Mexican family across three generations. It follows the title clan as they grapple with a series of challenges. Could themysterious object unearthed by oldest son Gonzalo be to blame? There are trials, yes, but also plenty of love and miracles in this beautiful chronicle of family.

Elizabeth McCracken shepherds new talent at the University of Texas’ Michener Center for Writers and pens critically acclaimed novels and short story collections, including 2021’s “The Souvenir Museum,” longlisted for the National Book Award. Her newest is “The Hero of This Book” (Ecco, $26.99), a gorgeous and sometimes funny meditation on grief, life and love. The book features a narrator who is also a writer, though McCracken notes this isn’t a memoir. She’ll talk about it Oct. 11 at BookPeople.

University of Texas historian Jeremi Suri analyzes the post-Civil War period in America — and how it failed to help the U.S. create a truly equitable society — in “Civil War By Other Means: America’s Long and Unfinished Fight for Democracy” (Public Affairs, $30). Suri, who hosts the “This is Democracy” podcast and holds the Mack Brown Distinguished Chair for Leadership in Global Affairs at UT, discusses the book Oct. 24 with Mayor Steve Adler at BookPeople.

Fiction writer George Saunders has collected a slew of accolades, including a MacArthur “genius grant” and a Booker Prize. “Tenth of December” was a National Book Award finalist and a New York Times bestseller. His forthcoming collection of short stories is “Liberation Day,” (Random House, $28) comprising nine character-driven tales, four of which are new. Saunders has said it’s his attempt at capturing “some of the joy of being alive in such a strange, transitional, dangerous moment.” He’ll talk about it virtually via BookPeople on Oct. 17.

Wendi Aarons’s deliciously acerbic wit fuels “I’m Wearing Tunics Now: On Growing Older, Better, and a Hell of a Lot Louder” (Andrews McMeel, $26.99). The Austin-based author of middle-grade novel “Ginger Mancino, Kid Comedian” as well as a regular contributor to McSweeney’s and The New Yorker, Aarons melds memoir and humor in this ode to capturing the best of midlife (and laughing at the rest). She’ll be at Book People Oct. 22.

Kids and YA books coming from Austin and Texas writers

Austin’s Christina Soontornvat is a two-time Newbery honoree, for her absorbing nonfiction take on the Thai soccer team and coach rescued from a flooded cave (“All Thirteen”) and her inspired reboot of “Les Misérables” in a Thai-inspired world (“A Wish in the Dark”). Now comes her first foray into graphic novels, with “The Tryout” (Scholastic, $12.99), which draws on her own childhood growing up in small-town Texas. The middle-grade book, with art by Joanna Cacao, follows two best friends as they navigate seventh-grade cheer tryouts and the travails of middle school. Themes of fitting in (or not) as the only Asian kid in her school add thought-provoking layers. Soontornvat will talk about “The Tryout” Sept. 17 at Black Pearl Books.

Liz Garton Scanlon is known for her lyrical picture books, including “Thank You, Garden” and this summer’s “Frances in the Country.” “Lolo’s Light” (Chronicle, $16.99) is the Austinite’s second novel for children, a tender story about a teen navigating a tragic loss. How young Millie learns to cope is at the heart of a book that shows its readers that there is always a path forward.

Austin author and writing teacher Carmen Oliver takes picture book readers inside “The Twilight Library” (NorthSouth Books, $18.95), a sweet ode to the gifts of storytelling. Illustrations from Miren Asiain Lora bring nocturnal magic to life, with forest creatures gathering to hear the librarian’s soothing tales.

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PJ Hoover spotlights “Problem Solvers: 15 Innovative Women Engineers and Coders” (Chicago Review Press, $16.99) in her newest book for young readers. Austinite Hoover — an engineer herself — interviewed each of the women featured in her book, whose projects include the Mars Perseverance rover, Girls Who Code and Tesla batteries. It’s informative, inspiring nonfiction for budding STEM devotees.

Border towns shine in “My Town/Mi Pueblo” (Nancy Paulsen Books, $17.99), the new bilingual picture book from Austin’s Nicholas Solis. Featuring cousins who live on opposite sides of the U.S./Mexico border, the book shares similarities in family celebrations, markets and more, all depicted by Luisa Uribe and using the book’s spine as another example of the division that the cousins bridge between their worlds. Solis will read the book Sept. 20 at the Waterloo Greenway’s Meredith Heritage Tree Deck as part of the Texas Book Festival’s “Morning Glories” series.

Adam Silvera rocketed to the top spot on the New York Times bestseller list with “They Both Die at the End,” which follows two teens as they forge a bond in a society where you’re notified that this day will be your last. He’ll be at BookPeople Oct. 8 to talk about his new prequel, “The First to Die at the End,” (HarperCollins, $19.99) in which two boys spend the day together after Death-Cast gives one of them “the call.”

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Fall books to read 2022: Check out Austin and Texas titles coming up