The beginning of fall means making a few essential purchases: at least one new candle, a collection of sweaters, and a stack of new books to curl up with as it gets chilly outside. The best way to recreate that back-to-school energy we all know and miss? Bulk up your To-Be-Read (TBR) list, of course. Whether you’re looking for a spooky thriller to match the season or you’re more of a memoir person, fall is the best time of year to get in touch with your bookish side.
We turned to Goodreads: a site where readers can rate and review all kinds of books. These are the new books this fall that Goodreads’ readers cannot wait to read—plus a few on our editors’ personal lists!
Twenty year-old Mia is not initially concerned when her father and her brother do not immediately return from a walk in the nearby park. However, when her brother, who cannot speak, returns home covered in blood and without her father, it becomes clear that the patriarch of the family has disappeared. What follows is an emotionally rich investigation of a family whose secrets may be the key to Mia's father's disappearance.
August 29, 2023
Stephen King's beloved character Holly Gibney returns in this new novel. When Penny Dahl calls the Finders Keepers detective agency in search of help for her missing daughter, Holly is initially suspicious. However, something in Penny's voice sends her on a quest to find Bonnie Dahl. What Holly discovers in the basement of the book-lined home of professors Rodney and Emily Harris will change everything as Holly careens towards the truth about Bonnie's disappearance.
September 5, 2023
Lucian Rollins is a powerful, suit-clad, vengeance-seeking mogul, who is determined to change the impact his abusive father had on his family name. Sloane Walton is a feisty, small-town librarian with seemingly nothing in common with Lucian besides a shared dark secret from their past. When their bickering accidentally turns into flirting, these enemies-to-lovers end up faced with an age-old conflict: Sloane is ready to settle down and start a family, while Lucian won't hear of marriage or children.
September 5, 2023
Maria Bamford has spent her entire life trying to be a part of something. From growing up in the 1980's with an eating disorder to joining anonymous fellowships to psychological institutionalization, Maria has done everything she can to not just be a part of the world, but also to want to be a part of it. Her memoir is an exploration of what it means to keep going as a member of society, even when you do not feel like you are very good at it.
September 5, 2023
Girlboss Adalyn Reyes is used to her routine working for the Miami Flames FC. However, when a video of her altercation with the team mascot goes viral, Adalyn finds herself in the middle of North Carolina, coaching a struggling local children's soccer team. Cameron Caldani, a well-known goalkeeper, would be the perfect person to help Adalyn out, but due to a series of unfortunate events, he is bent on driving her out of town. What he doesn't know is that Adalyn is playing the long game.
September 5, 2023
Yara has been placed on probation at work after an altercation with her racist coworker. Her Palestinian mother tells her that this is the result of a family curse. Yara was never one to be superstitious, but in her newfound free time, she finds herself digging into the reasons why she has been so unsatisfied in the life her mother once dreamed of. Etaf Rum's sophomore novel is a story of intergenerational trauma and breaking the cycle of abuse.
September 5, 2023
For her whole life, Belle has been obsessed with watching skincare videos and taking care of her skin, much like her mother, Noelle, who has devoted her life to the enigmatic spa La Maison de Méduse. When Noelle mysteriously dies, Belle finds herself back in Southern California, and involved with the same spa thanks to the appearance of a woman dressed in red at her mother's funeral. Here, Belle will learn the truth about her familial obsession with the mirror.
September 12, 2023
Bright Young Women follows Pamela Schumacher, the president of the top sorority at Florida State University, after she finds two of her sisters murdered in the sorority house. Across the country, Tina Cannon is determined to prove that the disappearance of her friend, Ruth, is the result of the "All-American Sex Killer." When she hears of the sorority murders, Tina heads to Tallahassee, on a collision course with Pamela.
September 19, 2023
At age eighteen, Vesper Wright left home and never looked back, in spite of the promise that doing so would mean she would never be able to contact her devoutly religious family members again. However, when an invitation unexpectedly arrives for Vesper's cousin's wedding, she feels the need to return to her former religious community, even if it means reuniting with her former horror film star mother. Vesper's homecoming unearths secrets that cause her to reckon with her family's beliefs and her own crisis of faith.
September 19, 2023
A dying world, full of smog and suffering crops, is a difficult place for a young female chef. This is why the main character of C Pam Zhang's Land of Milk and Honey escapes to a commune in the mountains, headed up by her enigmatic employer and his visionary daughter. Here, among the clear skies and the global elite, she rediscovers the pleasures of taste and touch. This new novel is both a celebration of food and a query into what is means to search for pleasure during tragic climate change.
September 26, 2023
Once, London was connected by four magical worlds, which could only be accessed by powerful magicians known as Antari. Now, only three known Antari are left: Kell in Red London, Delilah in Grey London, and Holland in White London. As each struggles to rule their respective worlds and keep them safe, the appearance of a girl with unusual magical ability, named Tes, could change everything.
September 26, 2023
High-school dropout Opal is determined to get out of the small town of Eden, Kentucky, and find a better life for herself and her younger brother, Jasper. However, she finds herself drawn to the Starling mansion, the former home of the mysteriously disappeared author E. Starling and the current home of a brooding man, Arthur. Together, Opal and Arthur begin to unravel the secrets of the house, and, in turn, Eden itself.
October 3, 2023
Throughout her childhood, Safiya Sinclair's father, a Rastafarian reggae musician, feared the threat of Babylon, and believed that the Western world would threaten the purity of the women in his family. As Safiya and her sisters sought solace in books and poetry, Safiya found herself standing up to her father more and more, fighting against his rage, paranoia, and rules. How to Say Babylon is an exploration of the lingering impacts of colonialism on Jamaica, as well as a story of a woman finding her own power.
October 3, 2023
When Michael Lewis first met Sam Bankman-Fried, he was the world's youngest billionaire and a crypto king. He played video games during Zoom meetings yet was visited by CEOs, celebrities, and leaders of small countries. Going Infinite takes readers into the mind of Sam Bankman-Fried, asking questions about fraud, bankruptcy, cryptocurrency, and our justice system.
October 3, 2023
A Haunting on the Hill is the first novel authorized to return to the world of Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House. Struggling playwright Holly Sherwin is taken by the ornate, crumbling, gothic mansion of Hill House as the place to write her new play. Reluctantly, her girlfriend, Nisa, joins her, in the house. Soon, the two find themselves not only at odds with each other, but with the haunted mansion itself.
October 3, 2023
Living in Los Angeles, Cam is a disaster after the death of the love of his life, Kai. The ghost of Kai haunts him, causing Cam to return to his hometown of Houston. There, he runs into his former best friend, TJ, who is unsure of how to navigate this changed and self-destructive Cam. Spanning Los Angeles, Houston, and Osaka, this is a story about how the people who love us most set the standard for love in our lives.
October 10, 2023
Lovers of Cassandra Clare's Shadowhunter Chronicles will be delighted with the author's return in Sword Catchers. In the vibrant city-state of Castellane, orphaned Kel works as the body double to Prince Conor Aurelian. Meanwhile, magical physician Lin Caster works to heal the sick and dying of the city. Both Kel and Lin are drawn to the mysterious criminal Ragpicker King, who shows them a corruption in Castellane that changes life as they know it.
October 10, 2023
In the sequel to One Dark Window, Elspeth and Raven embark on a quest to save the kingdom from a tyrant king and dark magic. They are in search of the last of twelve Providence Cards, the Twin Alders. In order to find the Twin Alders, they must travel through the terrifying woods, and the only one who can lead them through is the monstrous Nightmare who shares Elspeth's head.
October 17, 2023
Jesmyn Ward's fourth novel is a reimagining of American slavery, told through the perspective of Annis, who was sold south by the white enslaver who fathered her. As she struggles against the abominations of slavery, Annis seeks comfort in stories about her African warrior grandmother. In doing so, she opens herself up to a magical world, teeming with spirits of earth, water, history, and myth.
October 24, 2023
The final installment in Stephanie Garber's Once Upon a Broken Heart trilogy follows Evangeline Fox, who believes she has found happiness in the Magnificent North. After all, she is married to a handsome prince and lives in a legendary castle. However, she has no idea the price she has paid for this lifestyle, and her husband is determined that she will never discover the truth.
October 24, 2023
Rebecca Yarros' bestselling hit, Fourth Wing, followed Violet Sorrengail. In the sequel, the real training has begun at Basgiath War College, and Violet is still being underestimated. The new vice commandant has made it his personal mission to teach Violet that she is weak and powerless—by attempting to get her to betray the man she loves. However, Violet is stronger than ever, and iron-willed.
November 7, 2023
Martha Einkorn is working for a power-hungry social media titan, surrounded by moguls who are designing private weather, predictive analytics, and covert weaponry. Across the world, in Singapore, Lai Zhen is being hunted by an assassin, until a piece of software appears on her phone with instructions to escape. Martha and Lai are on a collision course, as they both fight for the future of humanity among billionaires who are assured of their safety in a dying world.
November 7, 2023
Viv's career with the notorious Rackam's Ravens mercenary company comes to a startling halt when she is hurt in the hunt for a powerful necromancer. Viv finds herself recuperating in the sleepy beach town of Murk, where she spends hours at a dusty bookshop with its foul-mouthed owner. When a suspicious traveler with a chip on his shoulder shows up in Murk, the once-dull town becomes more exciting than Viv could have ever expected.
November 7, 2023
In March of 1919, far-flung patriots established the Korean Provisional Government in protest of Japanese occupation in Korea. Years after the dissolution of the KPG, former writer Soon Sheen comes across an unfinished book seemingly authored by the KPG. The book blends fiction with history, revising the past to connect famous names and obscure bit players to the KPG's grand project; it causes Soon Sheen to wonder whether utopia might be possible.
November 7, 2023
When Stephanie Land published her first memoir, Maid, she never expected for it to be called one of the best books of 2019 by Barack Obama, or to be adapted into a hit Netflix series. Class continues Land's story as she attempts to finish college and pursue her career as a writer while living below the poverty line. It is a story about a higher education system that fails to recognize the conflicts of personal desire and professional ambition.
November 7, 2023
Molly Gray's flair for cleaning and proper etiquette has catapulted her to the position of esteemed Head Maid at the Regency Grand Hotel. However, when mystery writer J.D. Grimthorpe drops dead in the hotel's tea room, Molly's world is turned upside down. The hotel's reputation is at stake, and Molly must race to solve the mystery of Grimthorpe's murder — especially since she knew Grimthorpe herself long, long ago.
November 28, 2023
