Fall arts and entertainment guide: Plenty of award-winning authors to read this fall

It’s a stellar fall/winter reading season with adult fiction by Louise Erdrich, Charles Baxter, Wendy Webb, Larry Millett, Brian Freeman and Kristi Belcamino. For young readers we have Pete Hautman and Kathleen Glasgow, and for the toddler crowd there’s David LaRochelle/Mike Wohnoutka, John Coy and Shannon Gibney. All are award winners. If you are a clip-and-save kind of reader, this list of titles is for you. More are sure to be announced as we get closer to the end of the year. Enjoy. (Author readings in parenthesis.)

September

(Available now and reviewed: “Spirit Crossing,” William Kent Krueger; “The Reaping,” Jess Lourey; “A World of Hurt,” Mindy Mejia; “Where They Last Saw Her,” Marcie R Rendon; “The Last Tale of Norah Bow,” J. P. White, “The Diamond Explorer,” Kao Kalia Yang.)

Nonfiction

“Girls In a World At War” by Peggy Munro Scholberg & Nancy Ewing Munro (Kirk House Publisher): Firsthand account of five women who served in the 223rd General Hospital in France during World War II, operating out of a converted horse barn close to the Battle of the Bulge. Their patients included survivors from the Dachau concentration camp.

“Math for English Majors: A Human Take on the Universal Language” by Ben Orlin (Black Dog & Leventhal): St. Paul author of the “Math with Bad Drawings” series argues we should treat learning math as we would any human language — as something with grammar rules, etymologies and distinctive conversational patterns.

“Muus vs. Muus: The Scandal that Shook Norwegian America” by Bodil Stenseth (Minnesota Historical Society Press): A wife, mother and valued member of her rural Minnesota congregation sued her husband to recoup her inheritance, gaining notoriety throughout Norwegian-America and beyond. Conceptualizes the arrival of Norwegians in Minnesota, conflicts among various Lutheran conferences, and questions of Americanization.

“Red Stained: The Life of Hilda Simms” (Minnesota Historical Society Press): An actress born in Minneapolis emerged at a time when segregation was entrenched in Hollywood and on Broadway.

“Rise to the Challenge: A Memoir of Politics, Leadership, and Love” by Marlene M. Johnson (University of Minnesota Press): Life story of the state’s first woman lieutenant governor, serving in the Rudy Perpich administration from 1983 to 1991, from her early commitment to improving lives, care-giving for her husband when he had a brain tumor, and life after politics.

“Surviving the Warming: New Strategies for Americans” by Lorin Robinson (Open Books): Former holder of the journalism chair at the University of Wisconsin – River Falls, argues that reducing greenhouse gasses will not save us from the worst of the warming and that too little effort is being made to adapt to what’s coming and making necessary changes to lifestyles and infrastructure.

Fiction

“Break Every Rule” by Brian Freeman (Blackstone): Freeman’s 30th novel is an exciting stand-alone thriller about a man, hiding in Florida under a false identity, whose only chance to rescue his abducted wife and baby is to return to the past he thought he had left behind while learning his wife had a secret past, too. Freeman also writes Robert Ludlum’s Jason Bourne series.

“The Glass Girl” by Kathleen Glasgow (Delacorte Press): Former Minnesotan living in Arizona tells a raw story about a teenager facing down her struggles with alcohol and the journey she must take to heal.

“A Return to Duty” by William C. Hammond (Rowman & Littlefield): Volume 8 in The Cutler Family Chronicles of naval history.

“The Witches of Santo Stefano” by Wendy Webb (Lake Union Publishing): An investigative journalist uncovers the haunting secret history of her ancestors including a great-grandmother who died of witchcraft. Set in the small, centuries-old hill town of Santo Stefano in southern Italy.

Poetry

“Cotton Grass: New and Selected Poems of the North” by Bart Sutter (Nodin Press): Poems the author judges to be his best on the natural world selected from his previous eight collections along with new work. He is a former Duluth poet laureate.

“Incandescent” by Emilie Buchwald (Nodin Press): Founder and former editor of Milkweed Editions, co-publisher of The Gryphon Press, writes about aging, nature and life experiences in her new collection. (Book launch 2-4 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 28, Elmer L. Andersen Library, University of Minnesota, 222 21st Ave. S., Mpls., presented by Nodin Press and University of Minnesota Upper Midwest Literary Archives. Free.)

“Little by Little, the Bird Builds Its Nest” edited by J.D. Hegarty (Paris Morning Publications): Anthology of poetry about birds of all varieties from some of our most accomplished Minnesota poets.

“Stars Unseen” by Greg Watson (Holy Cow! Press): St. Paul poet of Finnish descent uses snapshots of images and verse to navigate a path through multi-generational trauma and grief, exploring his Finnish-American heritage, and the joys and challenges of single parenting.

October

Young readers

“Answers to Dog” by Pete Hautman (Candlewick Press): National Book Award-winning author of young adult and middle-grade novels introduces Evan, a loner who doesn’t fit in at school. Then a burr-covered border collie starts following him around and joining him on his runs. The boy and his dog thwart an abusive dog breeder and the school bully and find the courage to stand up for themselves and open up to those who matter most.

“The Hotel Balzaar” by Kate DiCamillo, illustrated by Julia Sarda (Candlewick Press): In this magical companion to “The Puppets of Spelhorst,” two-time Newbery Medalist revisits the land of Norendy in an original fairytale about a lonely girl and a mysterious countess.

Adult fiction

“Blood Test” by Charles Baxter (Pantheon): Comic novel about a divorced Midwestern dad who takes a cutting-edge medical test and learns he has a predisposition to murder. (6 p.m. Oct. 15, Moon Palace Books, 3032 Minnehaha Ave., Mpls.; 6 p.m. Oct.23, Next Chapter Booksellers, 38 S. Snelling Ave., St. Paul.)

“The Mighty Red” by Louise Erdrich (Harper): Pulitzer Prize-winner’s new novel is about ordinary life and extraordinary love in time of economic and ecological precariousness set in the Red River Valley of North Dakota where people in a small town gather for a fraught wedding. The characters include a terrified young man set to inherit two farms, an impulsive young Goth woman, a giant man, and a mother who sees late-night visions of angels. (Launch reading Oct. 1 at Talking Volumes, Fitzgerald Theater, St. Paul. See accompanying events box.)

“Mysterious Tales of Old St. Paul: Three Cases Featuring Shadwell Rafferty” by Larry Millett (University of Minnesota Press): St. Paul author of eight mystery novels featuring Sherlock Holmes and St. Paul bar owner/detective Shadwell Rafferty, who died in “Rafferty’s Last Case,” offers a prequel to the Holmes/Rafferty books with three novellas going back to Rafferty’s beginnings when he honed his skills before joining forces with the Great Detective.

“Sound Museum” by Poupeh Missaghi (Coffee House Press): In this fourth in the press’s NVLA novella series an Iranian ex-interrogator gives a tour of her museum dedicated to the art of torture. A look at state-sanctioned violence and the psychology — and banality — of evil, along with some dark humor.

November and December

Adult fiction

“Among Wolves” by Brian Shea and Kristi Belcamino (Seven Rivers Publishing): Second in the thriller series featuring former Delta Force operative Shepherd and his fearless female partner, Lucky, thrown into a deadly mission to escape the clutches of a Russian warlord, teaming up with the infamous mercenary duo known as the Darcy Brothers. Sequel to “Shepherd and The Fox.” Belcamino is a Minnesotan who writes dark mysteries about tough women.

Children’s picture books

“Mr. Fox’s Game of NO” by David LaRochelle and Mike Wohnoutka (Candlewick Press): The popular collaborators’ second game-themed release this year (after “Go and Get With Rex”) in which they challenge kids to answer every question with “NO” even when their brain keeps insisting “YES.” If you occasionally say “YES” it’s back to the beginning of the book for you. And along the way little readers have to avoid Mr. Fox’s clever traps.

“So Cold!” by John Coy, illustrated by Chris Park (Minnesota Historical Society Press): Multi-award winner Coy embraces the cold in this story about a father and son who perform science experiments using household objects outside on a frigid day.

“We Miss You, George Floyd” by Shannon Gibney, illustrated by Leeya Rose Jackson (University of Minnesota Press): A young girl hears about the murder of George Floyd and who he was, finding solace from violence at Minneapolis’ George Floyd Square filled with art of protest and resistance, lifting her voice to harmonize with the outpouring: “We Miss you, George Floyd.”

Events and reading series

Opus & Olives: Friends of the St. Paul Public Library fundraiser with guest readers Kirsten Miller, Michele Norris, Tommy Tomlinson and David Wroblewski. Oct. 13, St. Paul River Centre. $150; thefriends.org.

Mizna Gala: Celebrating the 25th anniversary of the organization honoring Arab and Southwest Asian/North African creatives. Oct. 25, Paikka, 550 Vandalia St., St. Paul. $150; mizna.org>events.

Graywolf Literary Gala: Fundraising event features Graywolf authors Edwidge Danticat, Heid E. Erdrich, Donika Kelly, Layli Long Soldier, Manuel Munoz and others. Sept. 19. Machine Shop, 300 Second St. N.E., Mpls. (General admission tickets sold out.)

Club Book: Emiko Jean (“The Return of Ellie Black”) in person opens this season’s free series Sept. 18 at Merriam Park Library, 1831 Marshall Ave., St. Paul, followed in coming months by Jasmine Guillory, Matt Goldman, Karla Cornejo Villavicencio, Jayne Ann Phillips, Yangsze Choo, Stephen Graham Jones, and Liza See. Presented by Metropolitan Library Service Agency. Subsequent programs will be held at libraries around the metro area; clubbook.org/authors/.

Talking Volumes: Begins Sept. 17 with a reading by Edwidge Danticat, followed later by Alice Hoffman, Louise Erdrich, and Kate DiCamillo. Fitzgerald Theater, St. Paul. $30; mprevents.org.

Pen Pals: Friends of the Hennepin County Library celebrates the 28th anniversary of this reading series that begins Oct. 7 with Percival Everett, followed in coming months by Rebecca Makkai, David Grann, Ann Napolitano and Herman Diaz. Hopkins Center for the Arts, 1111 Mainstreet, Hopkins. $49-$59; supporthclib.org/pen-pals.

UMN Visiting Writer series: University of Minnesota English department opens the Edelstein-Keller series with Philip Metres, poet and author of 12 books, including “Behind the Lines: War Resistance Poetry on the American Homefront Since 1941,” winner of the International Peace Writing Award, followed by Hernan Diaz, Daniel Philippon, Elif Batuman, Kimberley Blaeser and Gerald Vizenor, Natasha Trethewey, and Jia Tolentino. Free, except for required registration for Diaz, Trethewey and Vizenor. 7 p.m. Sept. 26, Pillsbury Hall, 310 Pillsbury Dr. S.E.,  Mpls. Go to cla.umn.edu/english/news-events/events.