1. Stone Age Astronaut by Liam Callanan
WISCONSIN HISTORICAL SOCIETY PRESS | $24.95
In his first nonfiction effort, UW-Milwaukee English professor Liam Callanan explores the life and legacy of Lester Maitland, Milwaukee’s own Charles Lindbergh. Callanan re-illuminates Maitland’s story, inexplicably lost to history, from his record-setting maiden voyage to Hawaii to his service in the European theater during WWII. Out Sept. 1.
2. The Best of the Wurst by Jesse Brookstein
WISCONSIN HISTORICAL SOCIETY PRESS | $32.95
There’s an argument to be made that Wisconsin is not Wisconsin without sausage – and Jesse Brookstein is not afraid to make that claim. Delving into the history of Wisconsin’s meat-packing industry, Brookstein makes the case(ing) that our state’s unique cultural identity has everything to do with what we grill. Out Sept. 15.
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3. The Radiance by Ayad Akhtar
S&S/SUMMIT BOOKS | $29
Pulitzer Prize-winning dramaturg Ayad Akhtar often confronts the jagged confluence of literature, technology and faith in his work, and his forthcoming novel is no exception. After being struck in a hit and run, Akhtar’s autofictional persona grapples with the mystery of finding his assailant while confronting family trauma and new collegiate career possibilities. Out Sept. 29.
4. The Scarlet Ball by Nghi Vo
TOR BOOKS | $28.99
A 2023 inductee to the Milwaukee Public Library’s Wisconsin Writers Wall of Fame, Nghi Vo has a knack for infusing traditional historical fiction with fantasy. In Gilded Age New York, Vo’s heroine Judith must court debutantes and demons alike to survive ballroom bloodshed. Out Oct. 6.
5. Another Name for Red by Amber Blaeser-Wardzala
PANTHEON | $30
Anishinaabe writer Amber Blaeser-Wardzala’s debut novel offers a fictionalized look into the ongoing devastation of murder and abduction of Indigenous women and girls. As the community ties of Middle Sister’s Minnesota reservation crumble, she tirelessly searches for her missing older sister, demanding justice even at her own peril. Out Oct. 13.
6. The Brightness by Chad Harbach
LITTLE, BROWN AND COMPANY | $32
Fifteen years after his smash-hit debut novel The Art of Fielding, Chad Harbach picks up where he left off with The Brightness. After leaving Westish College on the shores of Lake Michigan, Pella Affenlight and her best friend Irma navigate the uniquely rocky seas of post-grad life, replete with belabored home-finding, awkward weddings and life-altering interpersonal conflicts. The novel is described as a snapshot of the “specific, shimmering anxiety of your twenties when life still feels wide open, even as hard and irreversible choices start closing in.” Out Oct. 27.
