quarterback whose agent lands him a contract with the Parma Panthers.

(His last book, “The Innocent Man,” was his first nonfiction work.) Rick Dockery is a washed-up never-has-been N.F.L. In his new novel John Grisham again departs from his usual legal thriller mode. Translated from the French by Sandra Smith. The book ends with a sentence that is as devastating as it is inevitable. Here, as the narrator, Silvio, puts it, “Everyone lives in his own house, on his own land, distrusts his neighbors, harvests his wheat, counts his money and doesn’t give a thought to the rest of the world.” Silvio has ended up old and alone - “an old boat, still solid and seaworthy, but whose paint has faded in the water,” - but he tells a tale of loves, or at least passions. Némirovsky and her family fled before the occupying German forces). It is set in a small town in the French countryside (perhaps reminiscent of Issy-l’Évêque, where Ms. Like the best-selling “Suite Française” this slender novel was discovered among the papers Irène Némirovsky left behind when she was arrested and deported to Auschwitz in 1942. But others, like Patricia Cornwell, pick up where they left off. Others take it easy: John Grisham forgoes crime for the charms of Italy and football. Some stretch: Ken Follett’s new book is a saga of more than 1,000 pages. This group of new titles, all by veteran authors, includes some taking a break from their usual forms. October is the heart of publishing season, when bookstore shelves fill with familiar names (including, this year, Leo Tolstoy’s, twice).

John grisham playing for pizza review