Autumn is in the air and those of us looking for a way to relax after the frenzy of getting the kids back to school will be delighted with the books coming in September.

At the top of our list is Dick Francis' new book, Under Orders (pub.date 09/26/06). Mr. Francis will be in Middleburg for an author signing at The Sporting Library on October 5th at 7:00 p.m. Please call Books & Crannies at (540) 687-6677 to pre-order your copies.

The story features the author's most popular and beloved former champion jockey turned super-sleuth, Sid Halley, who, just moments before discovering the third murdered jockey in a single day, is called upon by Lord Enstone to make discreet inquiries into why his horses appear to be on a permanent losing streak. Are races being fixed? Are bookies taking a cut? Halley's quest for answers will draw him even deeper into the darker side of the racing game.

Adrianna Trigiani brings us Return to Big Stone Gap, welcoming readers back to the lush Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia to revel in the long-awaited next chapter in the Big Stone Gap saga.

A new work by bestselling author Mitch Albom, entitled For One More Day, is a beautiful, haunting novel about the family we love and the chances we miss.

And for Alexander McCall Smith fans, The Right Attitude to Rain is the new installment in his bestselling adventures of Isabel Dalhousie and her no-nonsense housekeeper, Grace.

If non-fiction is your preference, you won't want to miss The Last Explorer, Simon Nasht's riveting and unrelenting true story of Hubert Wilkins, the first truly modern explorer, who, among other exploits, helped to map the Canadian Arctic.

For our younger readers, Book the Thirteenth, the final book in A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket will be released on Friday the 13th this October. But before the last in the series arrives, The Beatrice Letters will shed light on many of the mysteries surrounding Lemony Snicket and the series.

And at the end of September, a truly special book will arrive, heralding the beginning of the holiday season. Tomie dePaola's Christmas Remembered is a departure from this beloved children's author's usual fare. In this wonderful Christmas memoir, Mr. de Paola shares his love of the season in fifteen vivid memories spanning six decades.

Tomie dePaola will be at Books & Crannies on Wednesday, October 25th from 3:30 – 5:00 p.m. for an author signing and the store is taking pre-orders now.