Fall books preview: Jodi Picoult, Ed Burns and more

The only thing we love more than summer reading lists is ... fall reading lists. Because publishers typically schedule their most anticipated heavy hitters for September and October, there's always more than enough to take us all the way through the holidays. This year's list includes four items of special interest to Long Islanders: a debut thriller set in a small Island town, a gorgeous coffee-table book, and two titles from Long Island writing royalty, Jodi Picoult and Ed Burns. Beyond that, you'll find historical fiction, a murder mystery, sci-fi-adjacent narratives from the ever-more-popular world of speculative fiction, and trips to Taiwan and Switzerland. Read on.!

SWITZY by Emma Cline

Retired exec David Hastings and his long-suffering assistant Cody are traveling by private jet to a dark destination: euthanasia at a Swiss clinic. Alzheimer's has already taken so much from Hastings, but he's hoping for a few more moments with his estranged daughter in London and an old friend in France on the way. (Random House, Sept. 8)

THE PIRATE QUEEN by Ariel Lawhon

The legendary Grace O'Malley, whose adversaries included everyone from her horrible husband to Queen Elizabeth I, here gets the swaggering epic she deserves. Moving through her life as maiden, mother and matriarch, Lawhon regales us with tales of clan rivalries, daring escapades, bloody betrayals and female power in 16th century Ireland. (Doubleday, Sept. 8)

TAIPEI STORY by R.F. Kuan g 

Chinese American freshman Lily Chen arrives in Taipei with other Yalies for a summer language program, hoping to connect with her heritage. Instead she finds grueling classes, a maddening roommate, a hot-springs date gone south and an unexpected visit from her mother. From the author of "Yellowface." (William Morrow, Sept. 8)

EXIT PARTY by Emily St John Mandel

At a party in Los Angeles, 2031, the host vanishes, a guest appears to have self-replicated and a painting is stolen into a parallel timeline. Set in a future America splintered by civil war and political chaos, Mandel's dazzling brain teaser leads us through centuries and across continents to the thrilling moment when all the pieces fall into place. (Knopf, Sept. 15)

HOLLOW BONES by Jodi Picoult

Welcome to the Nesconset-raised writer's latest. After losing her mother on 9/11 as an infant, 19-year-old Molly Fitzgerald does disasters for a living — at the Rhode Island emergency preparedness agency. Her marriage to Jesse, a much older police polygraph expert, feels like solid ground. Then the unexpected arrives, overturning all their best-laid plans. Trademark Picoult. (Ballantine, Sept. 15)

MURDER AT THE GRAND ALPINE HOTEL by Lucy Foley

Agatha Christie's Miss Marple is back in this classic locked-room whodunit set at a resort high in the Swiss Alps. The Grand Alpine Hotel has glorious mountain views, world-class skiing, elite guests ... and a dead body. Luckily for everyone, Jane Marple and her friend Dolly are on the scene. Get to work, Miss M. (William Morrow, Sept. 22)

AMERICAN HAGWON by Min Jin Lee

Another masterpiece from the author of "Pachinko" following the Koh family — Helen, John, and their three children — across decades and continents, from Seoul to Sydney to Southern California. Economic upheaval, personal betrayal and ferocious competition test them at every turn, but their resilience and their unshakable family bonds trump their misfortune time after time. (Cardinal, Sept. 29)

THE MARLBORO ROAD GANG by Ed Burns

Actor-filmmaker Ed Burns returns to the Irish American world of his Long Island childhood for this second novel, finding "the kid from Marlboro Road" now almost 15, navigating the complications of less than perfect families and threatening older teens with his buddies Mark, T-Mac, Zeppo, Louie and Cakes. (Seven Stories Press, Oct. 6)

OLD WESTBURY GARDENS: DAYS OF GRACE ON LONG ISLAND by Clive Aslet

In 1906, Jay Phipps built a Long Island estate to woo his English love, Dita Grace, promising to recreate the elegant British world she'd known. The result — designed by George Crawley, planted by Dita herself — is now the only Gold Coast mansion preserved in its original condition. Gorgeous. (Triglyph, Oct. 6)

MONSTER IN THE MIRROR by Janasha Prabhu

Jiah Rai was found cradling her girlfriend's corpse at the bottom of Wailing Cliff. No charges, but the town never quite believed her story — especially since her uncle was a convicted serial killer. Does murder run in the family? When a new body turns up posed exactly like his victims, we'll find out. (Sourcebooks Landmark, Oct. 20)

PUBLIC ACCESS AFTERWORLD by Jane Schoenbrun

Imagine a dimension that lies beneath all commercial television, where people are imprisoned inside their own TV shows, broadcast to the rest of the world as content. Structured as a season of episodes narrated after lights out in a juvenile detention facility, filmmaker Schoenbrun's debut is a psychedelic work of genius. (Hogarth, Oct. 27)

PEREGRINE HILL by Nina de Gramont

In Gilded Age New York, a widow pushes her daughter into marriage with a horrible but wealthy old man who knows their secrets. The miserable bride finds solace in fiction writing, and in a friendship with her ladies' maid, and the two together lead her life down a more promising path. (Simon and Schuster, Nov. 10)