Finally, autumn is here! Out with the heat and the muggy afternoons, in with the crisp. The leaves haven’t quite started to turn, but the air has cooled — and nights are downright chilly. Soon, we’ll be pulling blankets out of closets and comforters up to our chins; pouring hot tea instead of iced. And what better to pair with a steaming mug than a great new novel.

The first crop of fall fiction offers a stunning variety of choices. Whether you’re in the mood for an academic comedy hinged on two rival art scholars (Zadie Smith’s “On Beauty”), a slightly fantastic, genre-bending collection of short stories (Tim Powers’ “Strange Itineraries”), a hypnotic Civil War narrative (E.L. Doctorow’s “The March”), or the spare, sad tale of a man’s recovery after a dramatic accident (J.M Coetzee’s “Slow Man”), there’s something for you in this mix. Not to mention pigs (Kelly Fitzgerald’s wild and charming “Pigtopia”), the flu (Myla Goldberg’s accomplished and daring “Wickett’s Remedy”), and trickster gods (Neil Gaiman’s wonderful “Anansi Boys”).

So, don’t despair that summer has come to an end. In fact, look forward to the coming cold, and the excuse to stay inside. We promise, too, that there will be even more inspiring fiction to come in this season — so get reading! With any of these picks, you’re assured a delicious indoor afternoon.

Our first pick: From the author of “White Teeth,” an academic comedy, a riff on E.M. Forster and a catalog of human folly

Earlier in the summer we recommended some of the smartest, most entertaining summer reading for this season. Then, we decided to highlight some of the great classics out there, still waiting to be tackled. Well, there’s even more! This month delivered such a trove of great novels that we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to let you in on some of our favorites — including an ambitious adventure in genre cross-pollination, two novels set during WWII, and a savvy movie business almost-tell-all.

Spring has definitely arrived, and summer’s on the way. It might be a little early to start packing your beach bag, but it’s the perfect time to grab a book and spend one of May’s sunnier afternoons in the park or on your patio, soaking up a great story along with the rays. Or, if you’re stuck with a weekend filled with spring rain, what could be better than staying in bed with a good book?

We recommended a handful of novels for your early spring reading, and here are a few more to carry you into the warmer months. Laura Miller suggests a novel that visits our favorite sleuth on Baker Street; Andrew O’Hehir raves about a strange tale of a secretive boarding school in the English countryside; Hillary Frey speaks up for a tangled New York story involving a confused fashion model and a middle-aged doctor; and Rebecca Traister puts in a vote for an ambitious first novel about a big, crazy Midwestern family.

It’s a mix, but we like it that way. There’s something for everyone in this spring bouquet.

Our first pick: A lovely work of literary fiction offers a look at a beloved detective in his later years, as he struggles to hold on to his very identity

Spring is here! Sure, for many of us it’s still too cold to go out without a coat, but at least the crocuses are poking their heads out and the daffodils are crowding out the evergreens at our local greenmarket. Soon it will be time to shed the scarves, dust off the hiking boots, unpack the picnic basket. Change is a-coming, and it’s in the air. It’s all we can do to wait out the rest of winter.

Thankfully, besides the rain and occasional dust of snow, March has also brought with it a handful of absorbing novels. We’ve already written about the three accomplished, much-discussed 9/11-themed novels that came out this month; here are four more we liked, all offering truly eccentric narratives and new perspectives. From an off-kilter Icelandic saga to an alcoholic’s ode to the drink, to a hilarious English comedy of social climbing gone awry, and an unlikely neo-Nazi romance, these four books are sure to keep you absorbed. And if the weather clears up this weekend, they’ll also travel well with a picnic.

Our first pick: In a throwback to the 19th century social novel, the drama centers on an improbable romance between a skinhead and a soccer mom who works for a Holocaust survivor

By fluke or design, novels that address the attacks of Sept. 11 are suddenly popping up on bookshelves, three years after the fact. Naturally, this sudden deluge has given rise to all sorts of worried and contradictory questions: What took so long? Has it really been long enough? Can fiction redress the wounds of that day? Are we ready to even try? Is it even possible to write a novel about 9/11 that is actually good?

The answer, at least to the last question, is yes. The three heavyweight titles in the arena this season — Ian McEwan’s “Saturday,” Jonathan Safran Foer’s “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close,” and Frederic Beigbeder’s “Windows on the World” — entertained us, made us cry, and brought us a little closer to an emotional reckoning with the day the twin towers fell.

Our first pick: The story of a middle-aged man seeking his moral compass in the post-9/11 world

We’re not sure who designated February as the month of surprises, but every new release we’ve picked up recently has been filled with them. Not that we’re complaining. What could be better for the last month of winter than to be an armchair discoverer, charting new and exciting territory in the dreariest looking places?

Each of the five recommend books herein has given us something unexpected; whether it be an alternate reality that seems more true than real life, or the discovery that there are still exciting stories to be told about suburbia. Even the overextended category of World War II novels gets a fresh and exciting entry with a tale of Italian resistance to Nazism. And in a debut novel that we almost missed because it was so small, we found some impressively strong storytelling.

So pull up a comfy chair, put up your feet, and take out your compass. We promise you won’t regret it.

Our first pick: Reality TV takes an insane and resolutely un-p.c. turn, with hilarious results