Ah, November in Montauk. It often strikes a chill in my heart – summer is over, winter is coming. On the other hand, most of the tourists are gone and our town becomes our town again.

It’s also time to start thinking about the holidays and gift giving. Thankfully, there is a “cornucopia” of new and exciting books that are recently published and some great ones on the horizon. For the early birds out there, here are some ideas:

• World Without End, by Ken Follett. Ken Follett is well-known for his thrillers, mostly set during World War II. Seventeen years ago, however, he wrote the incomparable Pillars of the Earth, a novel set in twelfth century England about the building of a cathedral town. It was a book which had everything in it – love, hate, brutality, goodness, religion, greed. Follett has finally written a sequel to this book, set two hundred years later, in the same cathedral town, involving the descendants of the original Pillars characters. The sequel continues with the same wide-sweeping vices and virtues and most definitely lives up to its promise.
• Run by Ann Patchett. Ann Patchett is perhaps best known for her novel Bel Canto, a novel about militant guerillas capturing and keeping highly placed people who had been attending a party. Patchett’s new novel has similar themes: the need to look beyond superficial differences, the importance of relationships, forgiveness, and finding love in unexpected places.
• The Bridge of Sighs by Richard Russo. Richard Russo won a Pulitzer prize for the novel Empire Falls. He is well-known for writing about small town America, small town families, generally set in upstate New York. Russo continues in this vein yet adds a new twist by writing about the ex-patriate who escaped small town life and made a life in Europe. The similarities and contrasts between the characters who stayed and the one that got away make for a compelling story.
• The World Without Us by Alan Weisman. This is a fascinating non-fiction speculation about what would happen to the earth if humans, and just humans, suddenly disappeared. How long would it take the Statue of Liberty to disintegrate? What would be the first structures in New York City to crumble? What animals would miss our passing and which would thrive because of it? There is plenty of scientific research along with the speculation to keep the reader interested.
• Clapton, The Autobiography by Eric Clapton. A book for any rock music lover, Clapton writes unflinchingly and honestly about his life, loves, many mistakes. He is a man with extraordinary talent yet his demons nearly destroyed him and his music. This is a deeply personal, poignant and disturbing memoir.

These are just a few ideas of the outstanding new books recently published. Upcoming titles include a new novel by James Patterson called Double Cross, which is, yes, a new Alex Cross intrigue. Unsurpassed forensic expert Kay Scarpetta returns in a new novel, The Book of the Dead, by Patricia Cornwell. Richard North Patterson returns with a new novel, The Race, which purportedly takes on familiar topics in a new and frightening way: politics, terrorism, racism, the media, gay rights. Tom Brokaw has a new book, Boom! Voices of the Sixties which describes that tumultuous decade and its lasting effects on the decades that have followed.

Stop by Barnacle Books for other ideas and suggestions. There are new books for any reader on your holiday list! Stay tuned for next month’s column when we will discuss those must-have books for children’s gifts.