Check out Fall’s Must Read Books!
As fall begins, in comes a slew of new novels, stories, and writers for readers to enjoy. This list includes something for every reader, filled with classic fall genres and anticpated releases.
The Fraud by Zadie Smith
Already an acclaimed writer after her debut novel, White Teeth, Smith’s newest novel, The Fraud, is a piece of historical fiction. It is based on a trial that divided Victorian England. Capturing the tension between classes, The Fraud poses questions to our modern society about credibility and voice, all while maintaining its time period.
Holly by Stephen King
A staple of fall reading, King has dominated the season with his timeless horror and detective stories. In this novel, detective Holly Gibney, a complex and resourceful character that appears in his earlier works like Mr. Mercedes, stars as the protagonist as she helps a woman find her daughter.
Chenneville by Paullette Jiles
Best-known for her western work News Of The World, which was turned into a film starring Tom Hanks and Helena Zengel, Jiles’ Chenneville continues the author’s work with historical fiction. The novel takes place in the post-Civil War era and melds classic themes with modern insights as a man is driven by his grief and desire for vengeance through the lawless South, seeking redemption.
Let Us Descend by Jesmyn Ward
While her novel Salvage the Bones has rocketed into the classrooms of schools across the country, Ward’s new novel shifts into the pre-Civil War era and focuses on a young enslaved woman. Applying her vivid imagery and candid depictions of character and pain, Ward’s work combines the poetic with the searingly human.
Absolution by Alice McDermott
After the release of The Ninth Hour, critics and readers have been anxiously anticipating McDermott’s next novel. Absolution tells the story of two Vietnam War wives as they navigate obligation and sacrifice. Uncovering untold perspectives, Absolution gives a voice to so-far marginalized characters in Vietnam War literature.
Normal Rules Don’t Apply: Stories by Kate Atkinson
Having previously published excellent historical novels and crime fiction, this set is Atkinson’s first short story collection in twenty years. These stories explore humanity with sharp, candid observations interlaced with poignant feeling and verbal mastery. Ranging from queens to secretaries, this collection reflects Atkinson’s style while exploring chance and connections.
Roman Stories by Jhumpa Lahiri
With her first collection of short stories, The Interpreter of Maladies, winning the Pulitzer Prize in 2000, Lahiri has gained acclaim for her multifaceted story-telling and mastery of the form. Roman Stories, originally written in Lahiri’s adopted language of Italian, tells various accounts of the city and the people who reside within it, mixing the metaphysical with the tangible.
Father and Son: A Memoir by Jonathan Raban
Though Raban unfortunately passed earlier this year, his final novel remains a poignant recollection of both his own recovery from a stroke in 2011 and his parent’s love story. Interweaving the present day conflict with the World War II romance, Raban’s memoir connects the past and present through the generations.
Menewood by Nicola Griffith
Having won the Washington State Book Award for her novel Hild, Griffith has recently written the sequel. Menewood continues the story of Hild’s central protagonist, the king’s agile and resourceful niece, as she navigates power. However with ten years between the release of the books, Merewood leads the protagonist out of her childhood and into a journey for selfhood and control.
Again and Again by Jonathan Evison
Best Known Lawn Boy and The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving, Evison’s latest work centers around a patient living out the rest of his days in a nursing home, insisting that he had lived multiple lives. He claims to have spent thousands of years trying to find love. Describing the poignancy of love found and lost, Evison’s novel captures the nature of life and emotion.
Tupac Shakur: The Authorized Biography by Staci Robinson
Written by Shakur’s high school peer, this is the first and only biography authorized by Shakur’s estate. Capturing the whole of the musician’s rise and his sudden death at the age of only 25 in 1996, this biography catalogs a life that forever changed the face of music and the decades following his death.
My Name is Barbara by Barbara Streisand
Detailing Steisand’s life and career, this titanic work is nearly a thousand pages long. Spanning her childhood in Brooklyn and her six decade career on stage and in film, the autobiography includes stories and events that forever shaped the icon’s perspective. Studded with mentions of stars like Marlon Brando and Madeleine Albright, Streisand’s work is highly anticipated and wonderfully engrossing.
Conclusion
With many highly anticpated releases, this year’s fall reading season should be one of excitement and variety. As acclaimed authors publish new stories, and debut writers enter the shelves, readers and book lovers can look forward to cozy days and nights spent with new characters and ingrossed in unique plots.