By Sienna Vittoria Asselin
Maybe you’re heading back to university this term, and you want something fun to enjoy in between assigned readings; or maybe you graduated a long time ago and just miss that back-to-school vibe and want to make yourself a reading list to relive it. Either way, here is a selection of some of fall’s most buzziest new books, including spooky stories to cozy up with, thought-provoking historical novels, and a tell-all celebrity memoir. Regardless of your reading taste, we’ve got something that will transform the depressingly cooling weather into the perfect excuse to hide away and get into a new book.
The Book of Goose: A Novel
By Yiyun Li
This captivating story spans postwar rural France, where two young girls, Agnes and Fabienne, make a world for themselves in stories, to a quiet house in Pennsylvania where the grown-up Agnes learns of Fabienne’s death. This novel of friendship, fame, and loss is a unique page-turner.
The Two Lives of Sara
By Catherine Adel West
They say not to judge a book by its cover, but this striking cover design caught my eye right away and will look great in your next #bookstagram post. Set in Memphis in the 1960s, it follows a young woman with a secret named Sara, who finds refuge at a popular boardinghouse under the wings of its kind matriarch Mama Sugar. From there, she finds herself drawn into exciting conversations around equal rights, Freedom Riders, the work of Martin Luther King Jr., and hope for the future with a handsome schoolteacher named Jonas—cue the romance.
People Person: A Novel
By Candice Carty-Williams
From the author of the popular debut novel Queenie comes a new witty story that follows Dimple Pennington, a lonely 30-year-old aspiring lifestyle influencer. After an unexpected event brings her four distant half siblings back into her life and she is forced to reconnect with the absent father they never really knew, things go from complicated to complicated.
The Ghost Woods
By C.J. Cooke
If you like spooky historicals like Mexican Gothic, you’ll love this chilling new novel. It takes place in the 1960s and follows Pearl Gortham, a young woman sent to give birth in a mysterious house called Lichen Hall in the middle of the woods, a place steeped in mystery, ghost stories, and tales of witches. You won’t be able to put it down—and you might not be able to sleep after reading it either.
The Weight of Blood
By Tiffany D. Jackson
This YA novel (which can be enjoyed by adults as well) is a fascinating spin on Stephen King’s classic Carrie and tells the story of Maddie, a biracial teenager in Georgia who, until now, was passing as white. After a devastating video highlights her high school’s racist roots, the students decide to plan its first fully integrated prom to move forward. But it goes wrong—terribly wrong—and when those that survived the night are questioned about what happened, all fingers point to Maddie.
Making a Scene
By Constance Wu
If you’re more of a non-fiction type, add this new memoir-in-essays from Crazy Rich Asians actress Constance Wu. It is one of the most anticipated non-fiction releases of the season and tells the story of her childhood, heartbreak, sexual assault, and how she made it in Hollywood.
