Fall Reading: Books with Buzz.

Although autumn doesn't start officially until September 22, it feels like it is already here with kids back in school, football on television, and leaves falling in the yard.  It's sad to see the summer end.  However, we can take solace in the fact that as the weather cools and the days continue to get shorter, there will be more time for reading and lots of interesting new books available.

Here are a few books that are already getting a buzz, and which I will likely read in the coming weeks:

• J.K. Rowling, of Harry Potter fame, is releasing her first book written specifically for adults, The Casual Vacancy.  If The Casual Vacancy is even close to being as interesting as the Potter books, I'll be happy.

• Lee Child has another Jack Reacher book available, A Wanted Man.  Although I skipped Reacher's last outings, The Affair and a Kindle-only story, Deep Down, I'm ready for another Reacher yarn.

• Sweet Tooth by Ian McEwan.  McEwan writes beautifully.  I enjoyed the experience of reading Atonement and Saturday and look forward to this new work which The Irish Times described as an espionage novel and love story that is readable and funny.  

• Sutton by J.R. Moehringer.  A novel about one of America's most famous bank robbers, Willie Sutton.  J.R. Moehringer was a correspondent for the L.A. Times and is the author of the memoir The Tender Bar.  

• The Art Forger by B.A. Shapiro.  Art thieves, obsessed collectors, forgery:  It all sounds exciting to read about.

• Dead Anyway by Chris Knopf.   I'm a big fan of Chris Knopf's books, including the recent Ice Cap.  In the reviews I've looked at of Dead Anyway, Knopf reportedly goes in a different direction with this book.  I'm looking forward to checking it out.

• The Return of the Thin Man by Dashiell Hammet.  Two novella-length stories by Dashiell Hammet, this book was mentioned by Otto Penzler in an LA Times article last spring.  I absolutely love the Thin Man movies and definitely plan to read this book.  

If there is a particular book, new or otherwise, that you are planning to read this fall, let us know in the comments.