Nearly eight years have passed since Robert Langdon, the world’s most dashing tenured faculty, found himself ensnared in a dangerous global conspiracy. That’s a long wait for the professor’s loyal readers — but his spell of peace and quiet (and peer-reviewed research, presumably) is at an end.

With the publication of The Secret of Secrets — Dan Brown’s sixth installment in a saga that includes The Da Vinci Code — this week welcomes the return of an astonishingly popular series that has sold untold millions, spawned three Tom Hanks blockbusters and occasionally stoked controversy with its greatest hits list of European conspiracy theories.

But don’t worry: If cloaked menace and mysterious symbols aren’t your bag, this week’s publishing potpourri also includes musical biography, tech memoir and a couple of established fiction veterans.

The Elements, by John Boyne

Seen from certain angles, the Irish novelist’s back catalog can resemble a constellation of neutron stars, strewn with topics — such as the Holocaust and predatory priests — that are as heavy as they are luminously rendered. Don’t expect a breezy read here either. Previously published as separate novellas in the U.K., each titled according to one of the four classical elements, the interlinked stories stitched together here trace a barbed and winding legacy of sexual abuse and trauma across Ireland.

It Was the Way She Said It, by Terry McMillan

The “she” of McMillan’s title could easily serve as a nod to the author herself. After all, if there’s one thread that unites this book’s sundry contents, it’s the voice of a veteran novelist whose Waiting to Exhale and How Stella Got Her Groove Back became 1990s bywords for strong, complex Black female-led stories. Still, singular though her voice may be, McMillan doesn’t settle for a single “way” of expressing herself here. This career-spanning anthology collects a range of shorter pieces, both previously published and as yet unseen – occasionally even unfinished – from short stories and essays to quick sketches and public speeches.

Living in the Present with John Prine, by Tom Piazza

Of all the countless lights extinguished by COVID-19, few in the pandemic’s early weeks left a darkness as deep, and as widely felt, as John Prine’s death. And few felt it as closely as Piazza, a veteran music writer who, after profiling the beloved singer-songwriter for Oxford American magazine, had planned to collaborate on the septuagenarian musician’s memoir. Now, Piazza has written a different kind of reflection on Prine’s life and legacy, weaving elements of biography, travelogue and music criticism with the grief of a bereft friend, in this slim hybrid volume.

Farrar, Straus and Giroux

This Is for Everyone: The Unfinished Story of the World Wide Web, by Tim Berners-Lee

Berners-Lee is credited with coming up with arguably the most consequential invention of the past half-century: the World Wide Web. But for all the ingenuity it took to propose and implement this system for universal information-sharing, it was another move that likely proved even more important: The British computer scientist’s decision to forgo a patent and keep the system free and available for anyone to use. In this memoir, Berners-Lee tells the origin story of his monumental invention and reflects on the danger and promise it presents users today, more than three decades since the first website went live.

The Secret of Secrets, by Dan Brown

It appears that good old Professor Langdon’s luck is as rotten as ever. Can’t a mild-mannered scholar attend even one lecture without being interrupted by yet another disquietingly inventive murder? In Brown’s latest thriller, his ivory tower sleuth once again must embark on a white-knuckle quest to get to the bottom of the homicidal happenings. Expect glamorous destinations, a shadowy organization and — of course — a menacing, mind-bending conspiracy sprung from centuries-old arcana.

If you’re eager to mark the holidays this year with a Danish flair but Copenhagen seems a tad too far away, you might find the answer in Solvang. An answer that includes gnomes and a troll.

That city, founded in 1911 by Danish immigrants, celebrates its Julefest — the winter holidays — with an emphasis on visitor-friendly Old World traditions. This year’s schedule includes a series of events and activities from Nov. 28 through Jan. 4 — roaming carolers, European-style night markets, candlelight tours and shops transformed into micro winter wonderlands.

If you’re planning a winter road trip, here are some things to know.

The most quaint hotels in town are tiny, so book early

Solvang, about 130 miles northwest of Los Angeles, has about 20 hotels and most are smallish and independent. The largest is the Corque Hotel (122 rooms), which is affiliated with Marriott but owned by the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians.

The most intimate and affordable hotels — often in a vintage motel sort of way — include the Atterdag Inn (8 rooms), New Haven Inn (10 rooms), Hamlet Inn (13 rooms), Mirabelle Inn (13 rooms), the Viking Inn (13 rooms) and the Winston (14 rooms).

The most luxurious is the Alisal Guest Ranch & Resort, whose 73 rooms and cottages routinely rent for $1,500 nightly or more (the property includes a lake and two golf courses).

A tree will rise, amid carols, craft markets and more

Tree lighting will happen at 5:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 5, in Solvang Park, followed by a Julefest Parade the next morning at 11 a.m.

Caroling is scheduled on several Saturdays, Nov. 29, Dec. 6, 13 and 20, from 5 to 8 p.m. in Solvang Park (weather permitting). Art and craft markets will materialize on Wednesdays, Dec. 3, 10 and 17, from 3 to 7 p.m.

There will be European-style markets to peruse.

(SolvangUSA)

Solvang Park will offer hourlong light and music shows nightly from 5 to 10 p.m. Nov. 28 through Jan. 4. There are also evening trolley rides through the San Ynez Valley and meet-and-greet opportunities with Santa (in Solvang Park) are set for noon to 4 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays, Nov. 29 and 30, then Dec. 6, 7, 13,14, 20 and 21.

On Dec. 31, attention shifts to Julefest’s Copenhagen Countdown in Solvang Park, ringing in the Danish new year at 3 p.m., Pacific Standard Time. This event, from 2 to 4 p.m., will feature live music from an ’80s tribute band known as the Molly Ringwald Project.

Gnomes and a troll are expected

The seasonal offerings also include candlelight tours (featuring LED candles and hosts in costume), Christmas light tours and daily hunting for nisser (gnomes) throughout downtown Solvang.

The troll — nicknamed Lulu Hyggelig — isn’t really a seasonal addition. It (or she, if you prefer) is a permanent resident of the city’s California Nature Art Museum, added in February. Lulu, made of recycled pallets and wine barrels, is one of many trolls created worldwide by Danish artist and recycling activist Thomas Dambo and his team of veteran builders and volunteers.

Christmas trees will burn — and that’s part of the celebration

Solvang’s holiday Julefest season often ends with a Christmas tree burn. This one happened in 2023.

(Randy De La Pena/SolvangUSA)

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The season ends with a Christmas tree burn, billed as a safety demonstration, supervised by the Santa Barbara County Fire Department and scheduled for 5 p.m. Friday, Jan. 9, weather permitting.