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Rental House

By Weike Wang

In the third novel by the author of “Chemistry” and “Joan Is Okay,” Keru and Nate, an interracial, young professional couple, host their parents on consecutive vacations at a rented beach house in New England and a Catskills bungalow. As the visits gradually expose resentments and longings they would rather keep hidden — Keru is the daughter of strict, highly driven Chinese immigrants; Nate is the first in his white, working-class family to earn a college degree — Wang paints an elegantly off-kilter portrait of partnership and its isolations, and of the ungainly, imperfect intimacy of family.

Riverhead, Dec. 3

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A Century of Tomorrows

By Glenn Adamson

“There seems never to have been a time when people weren’t making predictions about tomorrow,” writes Adamson, a cultural historian and expert on crafts. His book considers many of the “futurologists” who’ve held sway in the United States, including demagogues like Billy Sunday, utopian dreamers like Buckminster Fuller and sci-fi seers like Octavia E. Butler.

Bloomsbury, Dec. 3

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Cabin

By Patrick Hutchison

Based on a piece Hutchison wrote for Outside magazine, “Cabin” is the story of the author’s spontaneous decision to move from an urban office job to a dilapidated off-grid cabin in the Pacific Northwest without any survival or carpentry skills. High jinks ensue. To say that he faces a steep learning curve is an understatement; the new homestead isn’t called “Wit’s End” for nothing. A cautionary tale for anyone tempted to get away from it all.

St. Martin’s, Dec. 3

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