The fall to-do list is long: There are apples to be picked, Oktoberfest beers to sip, elections to vote in, and of course — so many new books to read! We sorted through the current and upcoming releases to find 16 titles you should watch out for this fall. Dive in!

Fiction

Creation Lake by Rachel Kushner (Sept. 3) Kushner’s new novel is about a spy named Sadie Smith (great spy name), infiltrating an eco-extremist group in southern France. The book’s already being met with great reviews, including a spot on the longlist for the Booker Prize, the UK’s fanciest literary award.

Guide Me Home by Attica Locke (Sept. 3) Darren Matthews is a detective pulled out of retirement for one last case. This time it’s the case of a Black college student missing from an all white sorority. Locke is a longtime hand at writing crime novels, and this is the conclusion of her Highway 59 trilogy.

A Sunny Place for Shady People by Mariana Enriquez, translated by Megan McDowell (Sept. 17) Enriquez has made a name for herself blending supernatural horrors (ghosts, haunted houses, witches, that sort of thing) with the concrete horrors of everyday life in Argentina. Her last novel was a nearly 600-page tome, but this newest one is a collection of shorts – like a pillowcase full of trick-or-treat candies.

The Mighty Red by Louise Erdrich (Oct. 1) The newest Erdrich release (which is always a big deal in the literary world) will take place during the economic crisis of 2008. There’s something of a love triangle in this book, with a woman named Kismet at the center. But Kismet’s mother has reason to worry about Kismet’s future.

The Great When by Alan Moore (Oct. 1) The legendary comic book writer returns with his first novel since 2016’s Jerusalem. This new one takes place in postwar London, following a young bookshop employee named Dennis who find a copy of a book from a different, more fantastical London.

Bull Moon Rising by Ruby Dixon (Oct. 15) Dixon is the author behind the Ice Planet Barbarians series, a world of romance/erotica books with a fairly outlandish premise (Women land on a planet of sexy aliens. They do stuff together). Her new book is the start of a whole new world where our hero Aspeth Honori marries a minotaur.

Absolution by Jeff VanderMeer (Oct. 22) The popular Southern Reach trilogy becomes a quadrilogy nearly 10 years after the original series was released. This newest book is a prequel, exploring the origins of the mysterious Area X.

The City and its Uncertain Walls by Haruki Murakami, translated by Philip Gabriel (Nov. 19) The latest novel from Japanese writer Haruki Murakami comes out in English this fall. It’s his first in six years, taking place in a fantastical realm where people read dreams and shadows can become untethered from their source. In classic Murakami fashion, the book touches on themes of loss, loneliness, and isolation.

Nonfiction

Lovely One: A Memoir by Ketanji Brown Jackson (Sept. 3) America’s first Black female Supreme Court justice writes a memoir detailing her early childhood, and the hurdles she faced coming up in the legal world.

We’re Alone: Essays by Edwidge Danticat (Sept. 3) This essay collection finds Danticat looking back at her native country of Haiti. Not with the naive rose-colored glasses of nostalgia, but with full awareness of the complicated nature of “resilience” and the mixed feelings anyone has about where they came from.

Reagan: His Life and Legend by Max Boot (Sept. 10) For the person in your life obsessed with presidential biographies, Boot’s newest book is a deeply reported look into the life of Ronald Reagan. Covering his childhood, his Hollywood years and, of course, his presidency, Boot portrays a man that is somehow both more ideological and more pragmatic than we might think.

Connie: A Memoir by Connie Chung (Sept. 17) Connie Chung is a broadcast legend. As the first woman to co-anchor the CBS Evening News as well as the first Asian to anchor a national news broadcast in the U.S., Chung has got loads of stories to share about breaking into the industry and dealing with rivals and the other men in her way.

The Message by Ta-Nehisi Coates (Oct. 1) Coates’ 2015 book Between the World and Me made a huge splash, winning awards and audiences as it addressed race in America. Since then, Coates has written comics, a novel, and did some reporting. And this new book is the result of that reporting, documenting his travels everywhere from the West Bank to Columbia, South Carolina, in order to come to terms with the myths we tell ourselves.

Sonny Boy: A Memoir by Al Pacino (Oct. 15) It was Pacino’s mom that first used the nickname Sonny Boy. It comes from an Al Jolson song she used to sing to him. The book digs deep into old memories like this one, detailing his childhood in the South Bronx and how he fell in love with the craft of filmmaking.

War by Bob Woodward (Oct. 15) The Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist continues his run of deeply reported portrayals of what’s going on in the upper echelons of American government. This new book examines President Biden’s handling of the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, and how former president Trump has been spending his time in the run-up to this November’s election.

High and Rising: A Book About De La Soul by Marcus J. Moore (Nov. 19) It’s been a little over a year now since the influential hip hop group De La Soul made its way onto streaming platforms. Which means we’re overdue for a big book about them. Music writer Marcus J. Moore tells the story of what made this band work, re-contextualizing them for old heads and introducing them to new listeners alike.

Carlos Leon found himself in a depressed state — a personal relationship was stalling and his career seemed directionless.

What he craved was an escape, one inspired by the fantasy worlds he devoured as a child and continued to consume into adulthood. Think those inspired by “The Lord of the Rings” and Dungeons & Dragons, fantastical spaces filled with wizardry, wild creatures and, most of all, tales of adventure.

Lacking any real-life dragons to slay, Leon began attacking metaphorical demons by disappearing into these imagined universes. He found comfort, at last, by transforming his apartment bedroom into a Medieval bar for his roommates and friends. With limited economic resources, he began scouring online marketplaces to surround his Murphy bed with a cheap wooden table, a budget chandelier, battery-powered candles and modest wall sconces.

And thus, the first iteration of what would become Squirrelor’s Tavern was born.

“I was craving an atmosphere of warmth, coziness, camaraderie and food and beverage,” Leon says. His childhood nickname? Squirrelor, which he also uses as his gaming name.

“And I was hunting for it everywhere,” he adds. “The closest thing I got was an Irish pub. But I realized what I was really after was a tavern that you see in fantasy tales — a Prancing Pony, or any run-of-the-mill Dungeons & Dragons tavern.”

Today Squirrelor’s Tavern is a more polished affair, although it still maintains a do-it-yourself charm. To step into the pop-up fantasy pub — hidden in an upstairs room of a downtown Los Angeles sports bar — is to be welcomed by fake cobblestone flooring, flickering electronic candles, old-timey, slightly Gaelic music, and walls and shelving filled with odd ephemera, including skulls, plastic animal skeletons and a bevy of squirrel-related art.

And puzzles. They’re everywhere. Wooden boxes and mini chests sit locked on bookshelves, where one will instantly spy scrolls hidden in bottles or books that appear to be concealing veiled messages. And don’t be surprised if that picture is cloaking something behind its frame.

The first time I set foot in Squirrelor’s Tavern, it was instantly familiar, so much so I felt as if I had already visited it. In a way, I had. Raised on fantasy games and Dungeons & Dragons novels, I too had longed to venture into a fantastical pub, the kind of place where strangers instantly become friends over a pint and exaggerated stories, and where swords and shields dot the walls. Maybe, if you’re lucky, you’ll discover an adventure to embark upon, or perhaps your evening will simply be filled with drinking shanties.

Carlos Leon, center, behind bar, as Squirrelor, the proprietor of a fantasy-themed pub in downtown.

(Landon Donoho / Squirrelor’s Tavern)

Such is the vibe of the tavern, which taps into our renewed interest in fantasy. Running since March and extended through at least the end of October, Squirrelor’s Tavern has arrived during the 50th anniversary of Dungeons & Dragons, and when television series such as “House of the Dragon” and “The Legend of Vox Machina” continue to bring sword-and-sorcery stories to new audiences. Also, “Dungeons & Dragons: The Twenty-Sided Tavern” has become a theatrical hit in New York, and will begin a touring production in 2025.

Squirrelor’s Tavern has more humble ambitions. This is a gathering spot for puzzles and a light, escape room-inspired narrative with some immersive theater trappings — but it understands that drink, food and games, as well as heroic, mysterious myths, are timeless.

“It strips away all the stimuli technology that you are drowning in when you go to a bar,” Leon says.

The space, instead, is largely an invitation to play. A night at the bar runs $150 per person and contains about a three-hour narrative. As you’re seated, you learn, via the menu, that Squirrelor’s Tavern sits in the midst of a kingdom that has been thrown into disarray, with the peaceful elves losing power amid multiple warring factions. You’re invited to lean in, if you like, and if you do you’ll discover that throughout the tavern are hidden clues for those seeking to join the rebellion.

After all, no Dungeons & Dragons-inspired bar would be complete without a quest. The pub is full of narratives. A coat hanging on a wall hook turns out to be one that was left there in haste, with notes between distant lovers still residing in the pockets. I went to Squirrelor’s Tavern solo and was invited, at times, to join others in light social games — a bartender may hand out syrupy shots if participants can uncover the likes and dislikes of a stranger — but mostly focused on the bar’s underlying story as a space sympathetic to those fighting for the good of the kingdom.

Puzzles can be found in menus and scrolls at Squirrelor’s Tavern, a fantasy-themed pub in downtown Los Angeles.

(Tara Pixley / Squirrelor’s Tavern)

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Here, a guest book may be anything but, and cipher puzzles may reside in knickknacks while shields may turn out to be more than just decoration. To uncover the secret narrative of Squirrelor’s Tavern should take you about half the night, depending, of course, on how much drinking and socializing you partake in. You can also opt to simply interact with the cast, or solve an assortment of puzzles divorced from the main story. There’s also a three-course meal of simple pub fare — think pretzels, wings and sausage plates.

In addition to Leon, now general manager of downtown’s First Draft Taproom & Kitchen, where Squirrelor’s Tavern resides in an upstairs nook, the fantasy pub was the creation of Taylor Frost and Alicia Minette, who bring experience in event production and television and theatrical fabrication. The team, ranging in age from their mid-30s to early 40s, bonded over a love of immersive entertainment and began developing the idea of a full-blown Squirrelor’s Tavern during the 2023 Hollywood strikes when work began drying up.

Throughout Squirrelor’s Tavern are puzzles and chests, each awaiting to be solved or opened.

(Landon Donoho / Squirrelor’s Tavern)

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Frost led the design of most of the puzzles, having also contributed to the narrative development of numerous live-action role-playing games.

“The escape rooms I love the most are not the ones that have the hardest puzzles,” Frost says. “They’re the ones that are the most immersive and story-driven. With the tavern, we wanted to give it a choose-your-own-adventure vibe.”

There are now two core storylines running concurrently at Squirrelor’s Tavern, the second geared toward returning guests who want to further develop the narrative. If all goes according to plan, the team hopes to create a third, and to someday be successful enough to run the tavern as a hangout space when it’s not hosting its primary ticketed event. For now, Frost says the bar is breaking even, necessitating an one-day-at-a-time approach.

But Leon believes the concept appeals far beyond those familiar with a 20-sided die. “Every single person that I speak to that has seen the tavern or I show the tavern to has said, ‘I want to go there.’ It’s a human craving for an immersive escape that’s centered around interaction. Yes, there are puzzles and storylines, but personally my favorite part is just sitting and living in the space. You forget you’re in the second floor of this little sports bar in downtown L.A.”

The spell is only broken when the night ends, not with an out-of-control orc or goblin but with something far more mundane: a bill.

Hvaldimir, a beloved whale believed to have escaped a past life as a Russian spy, was found dead over the weekend in what animal rights organizations say were unnatural circumstances.

The beluga — whose name combines the Norwegian word for whale (hval) and Russian President Vladimir Putin’s first name — rose to international prominence after he was discovered by fishermen off the coast of Norway in 2019 wearing a camera harness that read “Equipment St. Petersburg.”

Theories about his mysterious past sparked headlines and intrigue, but it was his friendly demeanor that won him scores of admirers in the years that followed.

Hvaldimir worked his way along the Norwegian coast, frequenting fish farms and actively seeking out human interaction in the process. He was “very interested in people and responded to hand signals,” according to the nonprofit Marine Mind.

The gentle giant, who measured some 13 feet long and weighed about 2,000 pounds, even went viral several times: for retrieving a kayaker’s dropped GoPro camera, playing fetch with a rugby ball and playing with an underwater drone.

But Hvaldimir’s encounters with people weren’t always positive. He bore scars from being hit by multiple boats, and experts warned that he faced lower odds of survival as a “solitary sociable individual.” Concerns grew when he was spotted last year in Sweden, which has more people and fewer fish than Norway.

Hvaldimir’s case inspired the work of at least two nonprofits dedicated to marine conservation and Hvaldimir’s protection specifically.

OneWhale, founded in 2019, advocated for Hvaldimir’s protection from “tourism and other dangers.” Other marine biologists, concerned about the impact of relocating the whale, formed Marine Mind, which tracked Hvaldimir’s movements but also focuses on raising awareness about marine species more broadly. NPR has reached out to both organizations for comment.

With the permission of Norway’s government, OneWhale was actively working to relocate Hvaldimir to a wild beluga population in the Arctic, where belugas are normally found. The organization had recently announced plans to transport him in the coming weeks.

But hopes for Hvaldimir’s safety were dashed on Saturday, when he was found dead in what OneWhale called the “heavily trafficked waters just outside of Stavanger, Norway.”

“This morning, after receiving a sighting report from a local, our team arrived to find Hvaldimir floating peacefully in the water,” Marine Mind announced on Instagram. “It is not [immediately] clear what caused his death, a necropsy will be conducted to determine his early passing.”

Hvaldimir was believed to be between 14 and 15 years old when he died. The average lifespan for a beluga whale is upwards of 30.

The Norwegian Veterinary Institute will conduct the necropsy — an autopsy for animals — and release the results in “two or three weeks,” the Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries said in a statement to People.

In the meantime, theories and tributes are flooding social media.

Many questions remain about Hvaldimir’s life and death

OneWhale said in its announcement that it suspects Hvaldimir’s passing “was not a natural death.”

In a series of video messages later posted to Instagram, founder Regina Haug referenced “holes pouring with blood from his body” and said that out of a team of marine biologists and veterinarians who had looked at pictures of Hvaldimir’s injuries, “not one of them believe that Hvaldimir died of natural causes.”

“We got to visit Hvaldimir today ourselves and see him and say goodbye, and there was no question that he was dying from something very unnatural and heartbreaking,” she said tearfully, before casting blame on those who worked to “block his move” and spread misinformation about the extent of his injuries.

Sebastian Strand, the founder of Marine Mind, told AFP that there were no visible injuries on Hvaldimir’s body.

Strand also told the scuba diving publication Divernet that “we would prefer not to talk about human rifts in a time of mourning Hvaldimir,” adding that “people had different ideas of how to best safeguard him.”

“For now, we work toward a final dignity of making sure he is kept well and examined so his death will not be a mystery,” he added.

While authorities work to answer questions about Hvaldimir’s death, it’s likely much about his early life will remain a mystery.

It is widely believed that he escaped captivity in Russian waters. Many, pointing to the label on his camera harness and his responsiveness to humans, believe he was involved in espionage.

The Russian navy has been known to use marine mammals like whales and dolphins for intelligence purposes (the U.S. has a history of similar programs), though the Kremlin has never commented publicly on Hvaldimir.

Others theorize he was a missing Russian therapy whale named Seymon, who lived in an enclosure and sometimes performed for children with disabilities.

What’s certain is that Hvaldimir’s playfulness and resilience both amused and inspired many. Environmental groups say his story shed a light on the plight of beluga whales and, by extension, other marine species struggling to survive.

Marine Mind credits Hvaldimir with touching tens of thousands of lives over the last five years and bridging “the gap between humans and wild animals in a way that few can.”

“His presence taught us about the importance of ocean conservation, and in doing so, he also taught us more about ourselves,” it added.