The perfect Minnesota chair for reading and relaxing this fall

There's no use in pretending. Summer is over. Even if the mercury makes it into the 90s again, school is back in session, birds are heading south and Labor Day is in the rearview mirror. That's means we're coming up to the best time of the year: reading season.

What else do you need besides a comfy chair and a stack of books to get you through winter? Good thing we've got you covered with a soothing leather chaise longue and a list of brand-new titles.

So, put the tea kettle on or pour a whiskey, grab your favorite throw and settle in.

The scene: Deep Thoughts chaise in loden green by Blu Dot, $2,495; Turn Tall Side Table, $595; Marais linen throw, $215, all at bludot.com.

— Connie Nelson

Just in time for fall, curl up with these new books:

"The Marriage Portrait," by Maggie O'Farrell

A gripping historical novel based on the life of an Italian Renaissance woman who married at age 15 and was dead by 16. Did she die of "putrid fever," as her husband said? Or was she murdered?

"The Ski Jumpers," by Peter Geye

The Minneapolis writer's novel is about an athlete who faces a terrible diagnosis — and a broken past. Geye speaks Sept. 13 at the Parkway Theater in Minneapolis.

"Lucy by the Sea," by Elizabeth Strout

Strout revisits her beloved character Lucy Barton in this novel, due out Sept. 20. Set during COVID, the book shows Lucy sheltering in place with her former husband and complicated friend William.

"The Bullet That Missed," by Richard Osman

The Thursday Murder Club is back. The sleuths tackle a decade-old murder — and Elizabeth is faced with a terrible choice (Sept. 20).

"The Furrows," by Namwali Serpell

The mysterious disappearance of a young boy shatters a family, and his sister — until years later, when she meets a strange man looking for his home (Sept. 27).

"Our Missing Hearts," by Celeste Ng

The author of "Little Fires Everywhere" is back Oct. 4 with "Our Missing Hearts," a searing novel about an America in the near future, where children of dissidents are relocated, and books seen as "unpatriotic" are banned. Ng speaks at the Star Tribune's Talking Volumes series on Oct. 26.

— Laurie Hertzel