HAPPY SPOOKY
SZN WHAT MADDIE READ
Fall Reading Guide 2021
e d i s n I s ’ t Wha 4 6 8 11 12
My Go-To Recs What’s On My Fall Reading List September 2021 Releases Warm & Fuzzies Campus Novels
20 Superlatives 22 24 26 28 30 36 38 40 44 46
Blast From The Past October 2021 Releases Your Guide To Riley Sager Spooky Szn Your Guide To Nonfiction Literary Fiction November 2021 Releases Thrillers? For Fall? Classics + Their Modern Counterparts Foodie Reads
Welcome! When I created the Summer Reading Guide last May, I was totally convinced that it would be a oneand-done thing, until I realized that a fall guide full of thrillers and campus novels and cozy reads would be kind of perfect. Much like the last guide, I tried to break down all of the recs by mood and genre. I truly do think there’s something in here for everyone, whether it’s a read that’s perfectly timed to Halloween or a campus novel that hits you right in the nostalgic feels. I tried to make each recommendation unique + fresh. There aren’t a ton of repeat titles from this guide to the last and if a book appears again, it’s in a different category than the last time. As always, there’s a mix of new releases + backlist titles. I love how this guide turned out, from the recs to the doodles (I’m low key obsessed with all of the notebook paper) and I hope y’all love it & find as much value in it as I do!
MY go-to book
Long Bright River Liz Moore
Curtis Sittenfeld
The Most Spectacular Restaurant In The World
At its core, this is a novel about family and addiction, with a breathless mystery that will keep you turning the pages. Mickey and Kacey are sisters on opposite sides of the opioid epidemic in the Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia. Kacey has long struggled with addiction, while Mickey is a police officer helping to combat the crisis. When Kacey disappears at the same time a series of murders begins, Mickey is convinced that Kacey is in danger and becomes consumed with finding both Kacey and the culprit. Where this novel truly shines is in its depiction of the way addiction can affect a family. Moore deftly crafts a heartbreaking and all-too realistic portrayal of a family rocked by addiction.
My love of campus novels has been well-documented (pretty sure it used to be in my Instagram bio, which is very on brand). Something about a collegiate or boarding school setting is so appealing to me. Maybe it’s the wealth, maybe it’s the blatant privilege or maybe it’s the rich people problems on this very insular stage, but I simply can’t get enough. PREP was one of my first forays into the campus novel. It follows Lee through her four years at boarding school, where her workingclass background makes her an instant outsider. It’s such a poignant story about fitting in and finding out who you really are. PREP is one of my all-time favorite novels and I reread it every fall.
Want More Thrillers?
Fellow Campus Novel Lover?
Need Nonfic In Your Life?
Head to page 12 for more!
Head to page 30 for more!
Head to page 40 for more!
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Prep
Tom Roston
This incredible book follows The Windows on the World, a restaurant on the top of the North Tower of the World Trade Center, from its creation in the 1970s to its end on 9/11. This one goes hard on the details of setting up a restaurant and I loved reading about all of the challenges that come along with building a restaurant 107 stories up. The 9/11 parts are hard to read because you feel so close to and invested in the restaurant and all of those who were involved. Smart, wellwritten, heartbreaking and hopeful.
k recs
Free Food For Millionaires
Need a fall rec that’s going to be a sure-fire hit? These six books are my tried-and-trues, the ones I have no qualms about recommending to anyone + everyone. Absolute perfection!
11/22/63
Heavy
Stephen King
Kiese Laymon
I would literally go to war for this book. It’s not just historical fiction (which isn’t always my thing), but it’s sci-fi and romance. Genrebending in the best way possible. In this one, Jake is sent back to the 1960s to prevent John F. Kennedy from being assassinated. While in the 60s, he realizes the things he does in preparation to stop the killing will have profound effects on not only the people he’s come to love in his new life in the past, but the history of the world as he once knew it. The entire thing is so engrossing and unputdownable, and is well worth its length, in case the page count (800+!) is throwing you off.
This memoir follows Laymon through a turbulent coming of age in Jackson, Mississippi, where he revisits his complicated relationship with his single mother and his struggles with eating disorders and body image, and explores what it’s like to grow up Black in the south. The language is gorgeous and stirring and I even found myself taking photos of certain quotes, which is something I’ve never done before. It’s evident how deeply personal this book is, written directly to his mother. Each sentence is expertly crafted and Laymon is so unabashedly honest and vulnerable throughout.
Looking For Lit Fic?
Go Back In Time
More Memoir Moments?
Head to page 36 for more!
Head to page 22 for more!
Head to page 32 for more!
Min Jin Lee
Casey Han, a Princeton grad and daughter of Korean immigrants, is struggling post-grad, jobless and in debt from trying to keep up with Manhattan society. She’s determined to live the life she feels she’s entitled to and become an investment banker, but she soon finds that her dream lifestyle comes at a cost. If you like books that delve deep into what makes each character tick, pick this up! Throughout the novel, there are tons of references to 19th and early 20th century classic literature and I think this one felt a lot like a direct descendant of one of Edith Wharton’s society novels, with a healthy dose of Korean culture and tradition.
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Wanna stalk my fall reading list? Hoping to fit all of these in between football games and frolicking in the leaves. Shameless plug: you can see all of my thoughts on these in real-time over on Instagram @whatmaddieread!
Ghosts
Dolly Alderton Loved Alderton’s memoir, so now I’m dying to read her novel about dating + family.
The Final Girl Support Group
Grady Hendrix Because would it be spooky szn without a Hendrix book?
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Long Division
Kiese Laymon A Black teen YouTuber heads back in time to protect his family from the KKK.
A Woman of Intelligence
Karin Tanabe An NYC housewife nabs a role as a Russian spy.
The Firekeeper’s Daughter
Angeline Boulley Nothing but praise for this YA thriller set on a reservation.
Somebody’s Daughter
Ashley C. Ford I need more memoir in my life and Ford’s has been getting rave reviews.
what’s on my
FALL READING LIST
The Charm Offensive
Alison Cochrun Bachelor Nation 4ever! In this one, the star falls for his producer.
When The Sky Fell On Splendor
Emily Henry Heard the Stranger Things comparison and hit add to cart.
The Vixen
Francine Prose Set in 1950s NYC, a young book editor is tasked with a project that hits a little too close to home.
Bath Haus
P.J. Vernon A man visits a bath house and barely escapes with his life.
The Talented Miss Farwell
Emily Gray Tedrowe This one is giving me WHITE IVY vibes, which is fab because I LOVED that one!
Schools for Scandal
Graydon Carter VF is my dream job and writing about campus drama might just be one of my dream gigs.
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what’s new in
september
Beautiful Country Qian Julie Wang September 7
In Every Mirror She’s Black
Lola Akinmade Åkerström September 7
Never Saw Me Coming Vera Kurlan September 7
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Beautiful World, Where Are You? Sally Rooney September 7
L.A. Weather
Fault Lines
Friends Like These
Matrix
Mom Jeans and Other Mistakes
Emily Itami September 7
María Amparo Escandón September 7
Lauren Groff September 7
Never Saw You Coming
Perfect Timing
Erin Hahn September 7
Owen Nicholls September 7
Kimberley McCreight September 7
Alexa Martin September 7
Portrait of a Scotsman Evie Dunmore September 7
Did every literary heavy-hitter get the September 2021 memo? Not sure if all of these novels are the product of having lots of writing time over quarantine or what, but these 36 (!!!!) brand new titles? Yeah, not mad about ‘em.
Rock Paper Scissors
The Charm Offensive
The Hawthorne Legacy
The Night She Disappeared
Your Life Has Been Delayed
A Lot Like Adios
Apples Never Fall
Dark Things I Adore
Harlem Shuffle
My Sweet Girl
Nice Girls
The Love Hypothesis
Alice Feeney September 7
Michelle I. Mason September 7
Colson Whitehead September 14
Alison Cochrun September 7
Alexis Daria September 14
Amanda Jayatissa September 14
Jennifer Lynn Barnes September 7
Liane Moriarty September 14
Catherine Dang September 14
Lisa Jewell September 7
Katie Lattari September 14
Ali Hazelwood September 14
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The Missing Hours
The Spectacular
White Smoke
This Is Why We Lie
Vanderbilt
As Good As Dead
Cloud Cuckoo Land
Eight Perfect Hours
Please Don’t Sit On My Bed In Your Outside Clothes
Summer Sons
The Ex Hex
The Sweetest Remedy
Julia Dahl September 14
Anderson Cooper and Katherine Howe September 21
Phoebe Robinson September 28
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Zoe Whitall September 14
Holly Jackson September 21
Lee Mandelo September 28
Tiffany D. Jackson September 14
Anthony Doerr September 28
Erin Sterling September 28
Gabriella Lepore September 21
Lia Louis September 28
Jane Igharo September 28
Warm & fuzzy
Fall is the perfect time to get your maximum cozy on. Whether you’re curling up by the fire or wearing your fave sweater (bonus points for both!), pair it with one of this picks!
The Lager Queen of Minnesota
Nothing To See Here
LAGER QUEEN blew me away! It follows three women: Edith, a grandmother and local baking celebrity; Helen, Edith’s sister who rejuvenated the Blotz beer company in the 1970s; and Diana, Edith’s granddaughter who has a promising future but instead decides to become a brewmaster. Edith and Helen have been at odds their entire life, and the narrative, told in chapters with alternating POVs unravels their complex relationship. This book is absolutely stunning. The writing is beautiful and the family dynamics portrayed in here will break your heart on one page and make you laugh and smile by the next. You can tell how much research Stradal put into this one when it comes to making beer.
I could cry just thinking about this book. It’s funny and sweet and heartwarming and heartbreaking all at the same time. The plot is super bizarre: Lillian and Madison were roommates at a posh boarding school where Madison was the rich department store heiress, while Lillian was the weird scholarship kid. When a scandal forces Lillian to leave school, the unlikely duo become pen pals, even as Madison marries a U.S. senator. One day, Madison writes with an odd request: could Lillian move to their estate and live in the guesthouse with Jasper’s twins from a previous marriage? The caveat? The twins catch on fire at any given moment. The plot is so strange. But it all comes together in such a beautiful way. Loved it!
J. Ryan Stradal
Kevin Wilson
The Guncle Stephen Rowley
Steven Rowley’s THE GUNCLE will 100% go down as one of those books you pick up when you want to smile so hard you tear up. I laughed, I laughed some more + teared up a few times + my cold heart melted juuuuust a little bit. Patrick, a former TV star who lives in Palm Springs, finds his world rocked when his sisterin-law and former best friend tragically passes away, leaving behind her grieving husband and two young children. When his brother Greg announces that he too is struggling with a health issue, Patrick decides to take his niece and nephew back to Palm Springs with him for a unforgettable summer, turning himself from Patrick to GUP — Gay Uncle Patrick, duh! So much heart and love in this novel.
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your guide to
CAMPUS
NOVELS Even though I’m a few years removed from college, I relive my college years basically all the time (and I’m not talking about obsessively rewatching my Snapchat memories from when I was young + fun, although I do that too). How? It’s the art of the campus novel. Basically, if a book takes place on a campus or at a school, I’m devouring it. The best part? Campus novels range from thrillers to YA to historical fiction to more literary numbers, so there’s something for everyone.
YA
The Ivies
Might be a little obvious, but those campus novels tend to feature some, ummm, young adults, no? Bonus points if they’re YA thrillers, because those are my ride or dies.
Ace of Spades
Alexa Donne
Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé
Did I read this book in a single sitting? YES. It’s pretty much everything I love: a campus novel and a YA thriller rolled into one. I mean, a group of friends known as the Ivies, who each have a target Ivy League school assigned to them, even though multiple members have the illustrious Harvard in their sights? COME ON! When one of the members is found dead after getting into Harvard, the race is on to find the culprit before anyone else is murdered in the name of a Harvard acceptance letter. SO dang good. Twisty and suspenseful and such a unique plot line. The pacing was perfection, to the point of being completely + totally unable to put the book down. HIGHLY recommend!
It’s best to go into this YA thriller (that’s being touted as a combo of Gossip Girl and Get Out!) blind. This one takes place at Niveus Private Academy, an elite private school. Chiamaka, the Head Prefect and most popular girl on campus and Devon, a quiet musician, find themselves the targets of anonymous text messages from Aces, a mysterious figure who is dead set on bringing their secrets to light. Like most YA novels, has a level of social commentary that bests that of a lot of adult novels out there. It’s not only a thriller, but a mediation on race, class and sexuality and I thought the elite private school lens was the perfect way to explore these topics in a fresh but meaningful way.
They Wish They Were Us Jessica Goodman
Rich teens? Say no more. Jill and her core friend group appear to have it all — they’re members of the Players, an exclusive but not-so-secret society on campus where they’re given the answer keys to every test, the invites to the best parties and the unwavering admiration of every student in school. But everything is not what it seems. Three years before, Jill’s best friend Shaila was murdered by her boyfriend Graham during their initiation to the Players. But when Jill starts receiving texts proclaiming Graham is innocent, she vows to find out the truth. The murder mystery aspect will suck you in, but what Goodman really nails with this one is just how dangerous too much privilege can be.
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Literary fictio
The Secret History Donna Tartt
Have to mention a classic, right? When I say campus novel, this miiiight just be the first thing that comes to mind, and tbh, I totally see why. For a lot of people, I think Tartt’s novel is the quintessential campus novel and if you’re into a shocking twist or two, then I think you’re gonna be a biiiiig fan. A group of students who are enrolled in an exclusive Classics class slip into a world of delusions as they begin to lose sight of reality and launch into a world full of murder and secrets. Virtually every single character is a terrible person, but something about it is so intoxicating that you can’t look away. You’ll either love or loathe this one, so when ya read it, DM me and tell me where you fall!
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The Other’s Gold Elizabeth Ames
Four girls meet during their freshman year of college and become fast friends, turning into one of those completely inseparable cliques that you kind of hate but also kind of wish you were a part of. We follow them through their college years and into adulthood, where each of them makes a life-changing mistake that will have repercussions that strike the balance of the group. While I don’t think everyone will love it because the characters at times are extremely unlikeable and the writing style is a little intense at times, it’s well worth the read if you like the types of novels that transcend time and get into the character nitty-gritty.
I Am Charlotte Simmons Tom Wolfe
This book was my first foray into the world of Tom Wolfe, and I can confidently say that I’ve thought of this one often. I AM CHARLOTTE SIMMONS is a behemoth of a book, clocking in at over 752 pages. This follows Charlotte through her first year or so at an elite college (think the Ivies, Duke, Stanford, etc.). It covers it all from fraternity life to academic woes, hookup culture to athletics, all with Tom Wolfe’s signature writing style. Think a lot of WHAM! BAM! ZOOM! Takes you a minute to get used to it, but he was an immense talent and is someone everyone should try at least once. Definitely not for everyone, but I loved it and highly recommend.
on
Think YA’s a little too young for ya? Doubt it, but ok, sis. Instead, try one of these from my list of fiction faves. Some are on the lighthearted and fun side, while others have a few twists and turns to keep you on your toes.
The Gifted School
The Art of Fielding
BIG LITTLE LIES meets the college admissions scandal! Four families, all best friends living in a privileged area of Colorado, are torn apart when a new school for gifted children is announced. Each family jumps on the opportunity, preparing for standardized tests and putting together impressive portfolios. But the admissions process proves to be more than just a study in extracurriculars and test scores as secrets that will shatter entire families are revealed. I loved how diabolical some of these kids were. Some of them felt smarter than their parents, which I was here for. A little on the longer side, but still a really good read!
THE ART OF FIELDING turns a novel about baseball into a smart story about ambition and family and love. We meet Henry Skrimshander, a Westish College baseball player who is destined for greatness until his stage fright trips him up; college president Guert Affenlight, who falls in love with someone completely unexpected; Owen Dunne, Henry’s roommate and fellow baseball player who caught up in an affair that is bound to end poorly; Pella Affenlight, Guert’s daughter who suddenly appears on campus after an ill-fated marriage; and baseball player Mike Schwartz who is uncertain about his future after college. Each character’s story intertwines so seamlessly and flawlessly, making for a truly beautiful story. A modern classic.
Bruce Holsinger
Chad Harbach
All Girls
Emily Layden ALL GIRLS is a pivot from my usual: it takes place at an allgirls boarding school instead of a college and each chapter is told from the perspective of a different student. The entire novel revolves around a decade-old accusation that a professor sexually assaulted a student and the shockwaves that the news causes around campus. I loved how this one told the story of the entire year through the voice of different students, but I was a little sad that we didn’t get to see how some of the girls’ stories ended. It ended up feeling a little disjointed at times, but I did appreciate their little cameo appearances throughout! As per usual, loved everything about the campus setting, traditions, etc. and thought the writing was spectacular.
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The Learning Curve Mandy Berman
I picked this one not realizing that it’s actually a sequel (the first novel PERENNIALS covers the characters at a summer camp), but this one easily stands on its own, so don’t shy away from it for that reason! Fiona and Liv are best friends who find their relationship tested by the arrival of Oliver Ash, a visiting literature professor who is notorious for an affair with an underage student a decade ago. Fiona is struggling with the death of her younger sister, while Liv is considering a future with her clean-cut boyfriend, which makes for interesting subplots. This book takes the tropes of your typical college novel and elevates them. Certainly one you should pick up!
Tell Me Everything
Cambria Brockman TELL ME EVERYTHING follows Malin as she attends college at a prestigious school in small-town Maine. She quickly becomes a part of a tight-knit friend group by hiding her troubled past and acting the part of a popular college student. But by senior year, both Malin and the group’s secrets all begin to come out against a backdrop of Senior Day activities. This novel uses multiple timelines, and each chapter alternates which timeline is used. I’ve read books where this doesn’t really work, but it added to the suspense here. Malin was a super shifty narrator. I took me most of the novel to completely figure her out, which rarely happens, but I’m not complaining because I love a book that keeps me on my toes. You’ll plow through this one in a day.
The Swallows Lisa Lutz
This boarding school take on #MeToo is a seriously unsung novel! When Alex Witt accepts a job as a creative writing teacher at a boarding school, her first assignment reveals more about her students and the school’s social hierarchy than she expects. She learns about the Darkroom, a website that can only be accessed by male students to rate their female counterparts’ sexual prowess. Witt, along with three female students, attempt to take down the site and put an end to the boys’ behavior, to dangerous consequences. The premise is so clever and I loved how the Q&As from the classroom assignment were included in the novel. The events in the book ended up being the perfect blend of plausible and wacky.
WILD CARDS I have a few campus faves that are out the realm of my usual rom-com/literary/ contemporary/thriller faves. Maybe I should make some kind of cheesy “Historical fiction, fantasy and a ghost story walk into a bar” joke here?
Ninth House
The Gilded Years
I think I liked this? I was also very confused and thinking wtf about the whole thing. Let’s unpack: Alex Stern is offered a life-changing spot at Yale on one condition: she’s tasked to monitor the secret societies that dominate the Ivy League and produce politicians, entertainers and Wall Street dynamos on the surface, while secretly engaging in disturbing and sinister activities in private. We didn’t get a ton of campus life, but there was also a lot of backstory on the societies. Some parts of this one felt like a good ole mystery/thriller and I found myself loving it there, but once we got into the mythology and magic, I had a harder time getting focused. Try it if you like fantasy!
I feel like this one is a majorly unsung historical fiction pick & I heard it’s being adapted into a movie! This novel is based on a true story in which a Black girl who passes as white enrolls in Vassar College in the late 1890s. Anita is beautiful and smart and is desperate to keep her identity under wraps, especially as she rooms with Lottie, a scion of one of Manhattan’s most prominent families. When Lottie falls in love with Fredrick, Anita’s brother who can also pass as white, Anita’s secret is even more likely to come out, terrifying her. This one seemed majorly out of my comfort zone in terms of the eras I like to read about, but it blended romance and history and the elements that I love in a campus novel so deftly.
Leigh Bardugo
Karin Tanabe
Ghosts of Harvard
Francesca Serritella A campus novel with dashes of mystery, family drama and the supernatural. On paper, Cady looks like your typical Harvard freshman, but last school year, her brother Eric, an extremely intelligent and talented Harvard student who had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, took his own life. Cady, desperate for answers, follows in Eric’s footsteps and attends Harvard, despite the fact that her painful decision has repercussions for her already fragile family. Once on campus, Cady begins searching for answers about what actually happened during Eric’s final days, only to begin hearing voices herself.
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Someone stop me from hitting add to cart on every single one these rn. Pls & thank u!
Privilege
Mary Adkins Follows three women on campus at a school dubbed the “Harvard of the South.”
Truly Devious
Maureen Johnson A student and true crime lover sets out to solve a cold case on campus at her boarding school.
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what’s on my
TBR
For Your Own Good
Samantha Downing A campus thriller told from the perspective of a teacher who might just be a villain himself.
If We Were Villains
P.J. Vernon Seven actors studying Shakespeare are at the center of a murder case.
In My Dreams I Hold A Knife
Emily Gray Tedrowe A college reunion turns dark and deadly as old secrets come to light.
Real Life
Brandon Taylor A young Black man must adjust to life on campus at a Midwestern university.
All GREEK To ME
Obsessed with Bama Rush TikTok? Same. Read these if you can’t get enough!
Rush
Lisa Patton
Eating The Cheshire Cat Helen Ellis
I was (am? Post-grad is weird) an Ole Miss sorority girl, and I loved every bit of it. I know sorority life often gets a bad rap, but my Ole Miss experience would have been dramatically different without Greek life. So, when I heard that a novel all about Ole Miss sorority life was coming out, I first was like ‘Shoot, I’ve always wanted to write that,” but I was mostly just excited to read it. This novel follows a very familiar cast of characters: the wholesome girl just looking for a place to belong on a big campus, a mother hellbent on her daughter going top-tier, a girl who doesn’t understand all of the ins-and-outs of Greek life but is enchanted by it nonetheless, and a Black woman working in the house who wants to move up in the ranks and become the first Black house mom on campus. This book is a lot about Greek life, but it also tells an important story about race and privilege in the South. I loved all of the Ole Miss and Oxford, Mississippi references (like the name checks of my favorite restaurants) and I think Patton captured the zeitgeist of campus really well. And who knows? Maybe I’m still cooking up a sorority story of my own.
Ellis is a great essayist and when I found out that she had written a sorority novel based on her own time at the University of Alabama, I was pumped. Ellis doesn’t hold back at all. While I feel like a lot of media about sorority life either paints it as too wholesome or too evil, Ellis gets it exactly right: its evident that she understands and appreciates the good in sorority life, but she’s also not going to hold back at all. In this novel, she takes Alabama sorority life to another level, following Sarina, who alongside her mother, will stop at nothing to achieve her goals in Tuscaloosa; Nicole Hicks, who happens to be obsessed with Sarina and Bitty, a nice girl from the wrong side of the tracks who struggles to find her footing in school. Don’t get me wrong: this book gets WEIRD, but Ellis is just so funny and gets so much right in this book, from Homecoming to rush. A little twisted. Would be good for fans of BUNNY.
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SUPERLATIVES
Best Dressed:
Cutest Couple
Stacey Swann
Tia Williams
Olympus, Texas
Seven Days In June
Most likely to ace the SATs:
The Office of Historical Corrections Danielle Evans
Class Clown: A Very Punchable Face Colin Jost
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Life of the party:
Most Athletic:
Taylor Jenkins Reid
H.G. Bissinger
Malibu Rising
Friday Night Lights
Remember voting on superlatives for your high school yearbook? Kind of the same thing here, but with books, so it’s better, duh!
Most likely to win prom queen:
Most likely to succeed:
Most thoughtprovoking convos:
Erica Katz
Torrey Peters
Pumpkin
The Boys’ Club
Detransition, Baby
Class Gossip:
Most likely to shock everyone at reunion
Most unlikely couple:
Julie Murphy
The Housewives Brian Moylan
The Last Thing He Told Me Laura Dave
Better Than The Movies Lynn Painter
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BLAST FROM THE
American Wife Curtis Sittenfeld
AMERICAN WIFE is a fictionalized version of Laura Bush’s life, from childhood to becoming First Lady. It’s so beautifully written, smart, and well-researched. A lot of this book is straight from Laura Bush’s real life, but no matter your political affiliation, you’ll be sucked into this story filled with details that take you behind the scenes of one of the world’s most high-profile marriages. While I do think that this book begins to slow down a little in the last quarter (when they enter the White House), I flew through all 500-some pages of this one because I was captivated by the story and the writing. It’s a book that has stayed with me long after finishing it, and one that I think about often.
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The Heart’s Invisible Furies John Boyne
Book club anyone? I highly recommend reading this novel in a group setting. The book follows Cyril Avery, a gay man in Ireland, with the narrative spanning his entire life. We see him grapple with having adoptive parents who aren’t exactly loving, come to terms with the way gay people were treated in a very conservative and religious Ireland and experience love and heartbreak. The writing is funny and witty and wry and the characters are so incredibly human in the ways they behave and interact. It was incredible to read about Cyril’s entire life; the time span the novel covers is incredibly immersive and I loved getting to read about Ireland’s history.
The People We Keep
Aidan Donnelley Rowley This one has been a huge hit recently — and for good reason. We follow April, a teen who has had a rough upbringing, living alone in a mobile home while her father lives with his new family. She decides to finally leave and heads to Ithaca, where she finds a new core group. When someone spreads a vicious rumor about her, she leaves her new home behind where she must find a new place to start over. I adored the first half of this novel as April heads to Ithaca. I loved the characters we met there! I would highly recommend this one: the characters are memorable and the messaging about found family is on point.
E PAST
Me? Into historical fiction? Who is she? I used to be anti-hist fic, until I realized that maybe I was just reading the wrong historical fiction. Loved all of these picks!
The Four Winds
Great Circle Maggie Shipstead
Jessica Anya Blau
Elsa and her two children navigate leaving Dust Bowl and Depression-ridden Texas in hopes of a new life in California. Once they reach California, everything is not as they hoped, as they must adapt to living as outsiders in a strange new world. I was especially surprised by all of the Communism/worker’s rights/protest plot lines & thought those sections were fascinating! The motherdaughter relationships were probably the high point of the novel for me, both between Elsa and Rose and Elsa and Loreda. I thought this one was the perfect blend of history and emotional impact and that emotional punch really hit hard in the mother-daughter aspects of the story.
Add this one to the list of best of 2021 contenders! I can’t resist a long read and even though I’m not the biggest historical fiction lover, I was super intrigued by the premise: a female aviator who mysteriously disappears and the Hollywood actress who plays her in a biopic 100 years later. This one lives up to the hype! It’s so wellwritten and the two halves of the story work in together in perfect conjunction. It takes you around the world from LA to London to Montana to Antarctica and the details are spot on. I loved spending time with both Marian (the aviator) and Hadley (the actress). Bonus points because this one fulfilled the hole in my heart left by my childhood love + fascination by all things Amelia Earhart.
A novel about a girl coming of age in 1970s Baltimore? Obsessed just from the premise. I LOVED THIS BOOK. Loved all of the Baltimore references, loved reading about Mary Jane as she learns about the world and leaves the confines of her sheltered life and loved all of the 1970s pop culture details. Really liked seeing the dichotomy between Mary Jane’s home life + her life while at the Cone’s house. I don’t always love when children are main characters in adult novels, but I thought Izzy was adorable and I loved Mary Jane as a protagonist. Probably going to be on my faves of 2021 list!
Kristin Hannah
Mary Jane
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what’s new in
OCTOBER
Cackle
Rachel Harrison October 5
Last Girl Ghosted
Jonathan Franzen October 5
I Love You, But I’ve Chosen Darkness Claire Vaye Watkins October 5
In The Weeds Tom Vitale October 5
Lisa Unger October 5
Jocelyn Nicole Johnson October 5
My Monticello
Payback’s A Witch Lara Harper October 5
James Han Mattson October 5
Shelf Life
The Holiday Swap
The Lincoln Highway
The Neighbor’s Secret
Nadia Wassef October 5
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Crossroads
Maggie Knox October 5
Amor Towles October 5
Reprieve
L. Allison Heller October 5
They always say pub months get worse and worse as the year goes on, but honestly? October 2021 begs to differ. Rounded up 24 incredible releases here, and you know I deffff missed some absolute 10/10s!
We Are Not Like Them
Aristotle and Dante Dive Into
Christine Pride & Jo Piazza October 5
Benjamin Alire Sáenz October 12
The Book of Magic
The Party Crasher
Everything and Less Mark McGurl October 19
Christina Dalcher October 19
Not All Diamonds and Rosè
Well Matched
As The Wicked Watch
Fan Club
Alice Hoffman October 12
Dave Quinn October 19
The Waters of The World
Sophie Kinsella October 19
Jen DeLuca October 19
No One Will Miss Her Kat Rosenfeld October 12
Tamron Hall October 26
State of Terror
Hillary Rodham Clinton & Louise Penny October 12
Femlandia
Erin Mayer October 26
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o t e d i u your g
R E G A S Y E L I R love a slasher movie?
Final Girls
FINAL GIRLS is his first thriller and it’s a good one, with a title that riffs off of the horror movie trope of there being a “final girl,” the only one who survives a movie massacre. College student Quincy is the embodiment of a final girl, after she is the sole survivor of her friend group after a brutal murder spree. She joins a group of final girls in an attempt to put the horrors behind her. A decade later, Quincy is doing well until one of the final girls turns up dead and another appears on her doorstep looking for answers. She’s suddenly thrust back into the past as she tries to figure out what really happened that night. It’s hard to chose a fave Sager, but this one hits. The twist was surprising and while the story was wild, it never felt like it wasn’t plausible.
wanna relive your summer camp days?
At summer camp, Emma becomes enamored by a group of older, glamorous campers. She was the last person to see them before they disappeared from their cabin. A decade later, Emma is a rising star on the New York art scene and the tragedy is infused in all of her paintings. When Emma is invited to be an art instructor at the camp, it brings back painful memories and a sneaking suspicion that things aren’t always how they seem. This one is a really great thriller that has pretty universal appeal. The camp angle gives it a unique, almost nostalgic edge. Like the rest of Sager’s picks, I tore through this one in a few sittings.
The Last Time I Lied
looking for a total mindf*ck?
Lock Every Door
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This + HOME BEFORE DARK seem to be pretty polarizing in the Sager sphere, but I adored this one! Jules accepts a housesitting gig in a creepy old apartment building in Manhattan, where there are a few rules: no visitors, no leaving the apartment at night and no bothering the residents of the building, all of whom are wealthy and famous. Jules befriends Ingrid, another apartment-sitter, who confides in Jules that there’s something sinister happening in the building. Suddenly Ingrid disappears and Jules is racing to identify the killer lurking within. The twists in this one shocked me and I loved how creepy and dark this one got!
For the past five years, Riley Sager has released banger after banger in the thriller realm. From takes on haunted houses to creepy apartment buildings, summer camps to slasher flicks, it wouldn’t be fair to chat about thrillers and all things spooky szn without shouting out Sager’s compulsively readable novels.
always secretly wanted to live in a haunted house?
Home Before Dark
HOME BEFORE DARK follows Maggie Holt as she returns to Baneberry Hall, her childhood home that her family fled, only to have her father turn the experience into a bestselling book, changing their lives forever. In the present, Maggie doesn’t remember much about her childhood and doesn’t believe in the events her father recounts in the book. When he passes away, she inherits Baneberry Hall, which she intends to restore to sell, only to find her return is anything but smooth, as she begins to experience things eerily similar to those detailed in the book. I’m not a huge horror reader and I don’t always love ghost stories, but this one is perfect for spooky season. The book within a book element is always fun and as per usual, I love when a house or a place feels like its own character, which it totally does here!
want a road trip gone wrong moment? After the devastating murder of her roommate by the Campus Killer, Charlie decides to head home to Ohio. She posts an ad on the campus rideshare board where she meets Josh, who agrees to drive her. Once they hit the road, Charlie grows suspicious of him and begins to believe that he’s the Campus Killer — and that she might be his next victim. This one is super quick, which is exactly how I like my thrillers. I loved the 90s setting and the movie references — I thought they gave the book another fun dimension that it would have lacked had it taken place in today’s world. Had a blast reading this one!
? l l a m e ‘ d Rea
west, THE HOUSE Sager just announced his ne coming next summer!
Survive The Night
ACROSS THE LAKE
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spooky but not scary!
Bunny
Mona Awad Read this if you’re in the mood for a mindf*ck, or if you’re looking for something weird that might have you wondering what the heck you just read. Samantha is an outsider in her elite MFA program. She doesn’t fit in with the other girls in the program because they’re all spoiled rich girls who call each other Bunny and move together in a pack. When Samantha receives a coveted invitation to the Bunnies’ Smut Salon, everything changes. She becomes more and more embroiled in their world, using her dark imagination to conjure up unimaginable things. This was so weird but I also couldn’t look away, so if you’re in that kind of mood, I think this one is honestly kind of a must.
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Clear your Hallo-reading lists! These books are perfect for October, whether you’re a horror lover or a scaredy-cat.
We Ride Upon Sticks Quan Barry
This one took me right back to my short-lived middle school field hockey career in the best way possible. It follows a perennially losing field hockey team in Danvers, Massachusetts who go to some rather dark and crazy extremes to win. I’ll give y’all a hint: Danvers is located suspiciously close to Salem, MA — home of the Salem Witch Trials. This one was fun and witchy and perfect for the season, but a little on the weird side for my tastes. I really liked the 1980s setting and the team dynamics. Try this one if you like Stranger Things, if you want to relive your high school sports glory or if you’re super into 80s music.
The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires Grady Hendrix
Patricia, a Southern housewife, is devoted to her book club. After she’s mysteriously attacked by an elderly neighbor, she meets James Harris, said neighbor’s nephew. Once Patricia lets James into her life, children on the other side of town go missing, with all signs pointing to James. It turns out that he’s more of a monster than anyone could imagine and it’s up to the book club to stop him. It’s spooky and sinister enough to satisfy anyone looking for horror, but it won’t keep you up all night.
Spooky szn
American Psycho Bret Easton Ellis
What does it say about me that I love this book and movie? Like am I kind of a psycho myself? If you’re unfamiliar with the plot, it basically follows Patrick Bateman, a Manhattan investment banker as he narrates the day-to-day activities of his vapid lifestyle, from his workout routine to the paper his business cards are printed on to the women he rapes and murders. Yup, you read that right. This book is super wild and is a total mindf*ck, but I also kind of loved it. Read this, then watch the movie and then come and tell me which you like better! I’m torn, only because Christian Bale is the perfect Patrick Bateman.
Mexican Gothic
The Shining
When Noemí, a glamorous debutante in 1950s Mexico City, receives a mysterious letter from her recently married cousin, she heads to High Place, her cousin’s new home on the Mexican countryside. There, she begins to piece together some disturbing details about her cousin’s new husband and the truth behind High Place. I was super into the setting + all of the period details with this one! I don’t read a ton of horror, but I loved how this one felt so atmospheric! High Place was really creepy and I loved how the house was almost its own character in the narrative. but I would have appreciated Read if you like anything where the house feels like a character (gave me major American Horror Story: Murder House vibes).
The Shining is one of my alltime favorite movies so I was low-key a little nervous to read this. Jack Torrance needs a fresh start so he can reboot his writing career and inspiration. He accepts a new position at the Overlook Hotel, a secluded spot that’s closed for winter. He’ll have plenty of time to write and spend with his family. As the winter sets in, life at the hotel proves to be lonely and isolating. While the remote location seemed perfect at first, it seems to be getting more and more sinister and Jack’s five year old son Danny is one of the only ones to notice the mysterious forces at play at the Overlook. I liked seeing where the plot points differed and maybe spent a liiiiittle too much time playing “Spot the Difference.”
Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Stephen King
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Five Days At Memorial
Simply one of my new all-time favorites, if you could call a book about Hurricane Katrina, one of the most devastating events in the history of the United States, a favorite. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about this book and have been going down Katrina documentary rabbit holes for months after finishing this book. This one doesn’t cover the hurricane as a whole, but follows what happened at Memorial Medical Center, where a doctor and two nurses are indicted for euthanizing patients who would have otherwise had a chance to be evacuated. The book, split in two parts, covers the events of the five days of the hurricane and evacuation at the hospital, as well as the trial and legal proceedings in the years following. This one is long but is so worth it. So incredibly reported, so heartbreaking. 100% a must. I will force this book on everybody for the rest of my life.
Sheri Fink
While I’m only part of the way through this one as I write this, I am 100% recommending it + am pushing it into your hands so that you can read it before the movie comes out. In case you’re not familiar with the premise (because I didn’t know this whole story until the movie news dropped!), this one focuses on the story of Maurizio Gucci’s 1995 murder. In 1998, his ex-wife Patrizia Reggiani Martinelli was sentenced to prison for planning the murder of her husband. The book unfolds the truth about the relationship between Patrizia and Maurizio and uncovers theories behind his death. I love a true crime moment and coupled with the fact that this is about GUCCI? I cannot. wait. The fashion moments in this movie are going to make me pass out as is and that + a true crime moment means this needs to skyrocket to the top of your TBR.
House of Gucci
Sara Gay Forden
The Cost of These Dreams Wright Thompson
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For me, sports journalism is something that I’m always in complete awe of. When a writer can transcend the game and make the story all about people and emotion, sports journalism both shines and makes me envious that I can’t write about sports like that. As an Ole Miss grad, I had always known about Wright Thompson because he wrote Ghosts of Ole Miss, the article that served as the basis for the ESPN 30 for 30 documentary of the same name. This collection of some of Thompson’s best sports articles is fabulous. The topics range from Tiger Woods to Michael Jordan, post-Katrina New Orleans to a pilgrimage to Augusta National in honor of his father. Thompson might be the shining example of someone who just gets sports journalism and how it’s supposed to read in its best and purest form. Honestly, I’d recommend it to anyone who enjoys article collections, even if you don’t know the difference between a field goal and a first down.
o t e d i u g your
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t n e m o m a memoir
In The Land of Men
This memoir by Adrienne Miller follows her journey from working at GQ to rising up the ranks to become Esquire’s literary and fiction editor. It also tracks the blurred lines of her personal and professional relationships with David Foster Wallace. I really loved this memoir, both for its focus on New York media culture and its more personal threads about Miller’s relationship with Wallace, who is someone I’ve always been curious about. There is so much depth in here, between the details about magazine life to the deeper sections on friendship and being a young woman in a male-dominated portion of the industry. I recommend this if you’re into memoirs or if your dream job involves editing stories by some of the world’s most acclaimed writers (being a fiction editor for a magazine sounds like a dream job, so let’s bring back fiction in magazines, ok?)
Adrienne Miller
I feel like this memoir flew pretty under the radar when it first came out but it’s an incredibly strong depiction of a family in turmoil after Wall Street crashed and is even more pertinent now that McDowell has released THE CAVE DWELLERS, a social satire about the elite Washington, D.C. crowds she grew up in. Christina thought she had the perfect life. She loved and worshiped her father until she found out that because of him, her entire family’s life was built on lies. He was arrested and imprisoned for his role in the Jordan Belfort scandal (remember Wolf of Wall Street?) and this memoir details the fallout from the scandal, Christina’s struggles with drugs and alcohol, all juxtaposed on a background of Washington D.C.’s social elite. I found this one to be raw and moving and would recommend if you’re interested in stories about the fall from grace for the elite.
Small Fry
Lisa Brennan-Jobs
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After Perfect
Christina McDowell
SMALL FRY depicts Lisa Brennan-Jobs’ childhood, growing up with Apple founder Steve Jobs as her father. This isn’t some juicy Apple tell-all. Instead, it’s a memoir about fathers and daughters, about growing up with an unconventional childhood, and about forgiveness. Steve Jobs isn’t portrayed in this best light in this book. He’s described as being cold, dismissive, and sometimes downright cruel to his daughter. Parts of this memoir are devastating, and you’ll wonder how Brennan-Jobs was ever able to forgive her father before his death. She’s also an incredible writer, and it’s evident how freeing and cathartic writing this was for Brennan-Jobs. I loved this memoir and it even found a spot in my top 10 favorites of 2019! Would definitely recommend it if you like portraits of dysfunctional family dynamics or if you would like to learn more about Steve Jobs as a person and not this larger-than-life figure.
All That You Leave Behind
David Carr, a recovering addict and media journalist for the New York Times, fatally collapsed in the newsroom on a cold night in 2015. His daughter Erin was destroyed by his passing as he had long served as both a mother and father figure in her life. As she combs through their old emails and messages, she begins to put together answers to so many questions she has about life and her future as she deals with processing her grief, her burgeoning documentary film-making career and her own alcoholism, a trait she inherited from her father. I loved the way she wove the theme of family into every aspect of this book. She had a very special relationship with her father and this book is a testament to the way they relied on and supported each other. I’m glad that this was about both Erin and her father and I loved how eloquently and truthfully she wrote about both of their struggles.
Erin Lee Carr
A blurb on the back describes this one as “Nora Ephron for the Tinder generation” and after reading this, I think that’s a spot on description. It’s essentially a coming of age memoir about life, love and growing up in Britain, with stories about everything from falling in love with the wrong person to struggling with the job search to finding the meaning in true friendships. Everything about this one was super honest and heartfelt and I thought you really got into Alderton’s head throughout. While some of the humor in this one was pretty British, which isn’t always my cup of tea (lmao), I thought it was really funny and well-written. Definitely would recommend, especially if you want a book that really encapsulates what it’s like to grow up, fall in love and find yourself. This is one of those books that I think is essential coming of age reading for anyone in their twenties. Why can’t we read something like this in school instead of, say, THE CRUCIBLE? Even more excited to pick up GHOSTS, her debut novel!
Everything I Know About Love Dolly Alderton
My Salinger Year Joanna Rakoff
Devoured this one in a single sitting and highly recommend if you love books about writers and books. This is a memoir about a woman who gets a job as an assistant at a prestigious literary agency that just so happens to publish the work of J.D. Salinger (of CATCHER IN THE RYE fame). It’s one of those books that captures a time period so well and it’s full of nods to NYC and stories about life in the publishing industry and coming of age in a big city. Basically, I loved every second of it and thought it was so well-written and smart, capturing this enigmatic figure who has long dominated high school reading lists so well. This one is one I definitely recommend if you love a good memoir, or if you’ve always dreamed about mingling with New York’s literati. Perhaps best paired with a repeat reading of THE CATCHER IN THE RYE if you dare.
Catch and Kill Ronan Farrow
The book details Farrow’s attempts to break the Harvey Weinstein story for NBC News. He had all of the pieces, but NBC executives essentially did everything in their power to prevent the story from running because of their business connections to Weinstein. Farrow depicts the ways Weinstein’s people tried to follow and silence him. The last quarter of the book also talks about breaking the Matt Lauer sexual abuse story. This book is a fascinating behind the scenes look at power in the media today. You have Farrow, a well-respected journalist and lawyer, being silenced because of business interests. The Weinstein content takes up the bulk of the book. I understand why Farrow spends so much time on Weinstein, but I wished that the Matt Lauer section had been a little more extensive because the book just felt a little unbalanced in that regard. CATCH AND KILL feels like both a real-life thriller and a really strong discussion about today’s media landscape and the way these important stories about sexual predators and abuse are handled.
This biography is a dream for journalism lovers and music fans. If you pick it up, prepare yourself because it’s a long one, but it’s well worth the read. It follows the life of Jann Wenner, the founder and publisher of Rolling Stone magazine, which is arguably one of the most iconic publications of all-time. This book has all of the elements of the perfect rock biography but with a writer’s spin. It follows Wenner through it all, drugs, sex and rock and roll included. There are so many names dropped in this one from Mick Jagger to Bruce Springsteen and you won’t be able to put it down. Wenner is also the mastermind behind Us Weekly, and I thought reading about that pivot was fascinating.
Sticky Fingers Joe Hagan
The Girls
Abigail Pesta
This is one of the most powerful books I have ever read. For three decades, Larry Nassar was one of the faces of U.S Gymnastics, a prominent team doctor who every athlete wanted the chance to work with. In 2016, a bombshell report accusing Nassar of sexually abusing dozens of minors, most young gymnasts in his care changed the gymnastics world forever. In this book, some of these stories are revealed, detailing how young girls had their trust and innocence stolen from them, often right under their parents’ noses. This book gets into the heads of the girls and helps the reader understand why this happened to them: they believed it was a medical procedure and they deeply trusted Nassar. At first I thought a lot of their stories sounded similar and was worried the book would be repetitive. However, after finishing the book I realized why Pesta told the story this way: she wanted to hammer in exactly how many victims there were and how eerily similar their stories were, proving exactly how much of an evil manipulator Nassar is.
history, hu
h?
The Warmth of Other Suns
Do you like books about history? Read this book. How about sweeping stories that span place and time? Read this book. Enjoy narrative nonfiction that is as factual as it is beautifully written? Read this book. THE WARMTH OF OTHER SUNS is narrative nonfiction, following three Black Americans as they left the South in the twentieth century in pursuit of lives away from the prejudice of the Jim Crow South. Wilkerson deftly weaves their stories together, charting their lives from the racism they faced in the South, to their journeys north and west, to what life was like once they actually got there. I enjoyed reading about all three of our mains, but I especially loved Pershing’s sections as he moved from Monroe, Louisiana to Los Angeles to open up his own medical practice. While this one is 600+ pages, it never feels quite that long because Wilkerson masterfully blends narrative sections with more fact-based passages that show the true cost of migration for so many Black Americans.
Isabel Wilkerson
FALL AND RISE dives deep into the events of 9/11, taking a narrative approach to focus in on the stories of specific people. It’s divided into several sections: one about the events in the air, one about the events on the ground and a final short look at the aftermath in the days following. Most of the book is centered on a minute-by-minute account, with the bulk focused on the morning’s events. When I read books like this, I am always astounded by the bravery and sheer will of the first responders & the people on the planes and in the Towers and the Pentagon. Zuckoff really nails the emotion throughout. The way he weaves together their stories to form a powerful account of 9/11 is both inspiring and heartbreaking. While at times graphic, with subject matter that’s hard to read about, Zucker handles these stories with respect and sensitivity, delivering what feels like a near-complete portrait of the day.
The Library Book
Fall and Rise Mitchell Zuckoff
In 1986, Los Angeles’ Central Library caught on fire, burning for seven hours and damaging over a million books. Investigators searched for answers, stopping on Harry Peak, an aspiring actor who had been spotted throughout the library that day. In this book, Susan Orlean traces the story of what happened on that April day, as well as the history of how Central Library came to be, and the day to day of life for its many employees. But most importantly, Orlean chronicles exactly why libraries are so important in our communities, something I loved so much as the library is literally like sacred ground to me. This truly reads like a love letter to libraries and explores why they are such integral parts of our communities. As a library lover myself, I really appreciated the way she spoke so fondly about libraries throughout, and showcased all that libraries provide our communities, going beyond just books.
Susan Orlean
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THE ART OF THE
Milk Fed
Melissa Broder Rachel is a young woman living in Los Angeles who has let her Jewish faith lapse, instead focusing her devout attention to calorie restriction and obsessive food rituals. She allots part of her calories to a treat from a frozen yogurt shop every day, until one day at the shop, Miriam, a new employee disregards Rachel’s food requests. Rachel soon becomes enthralled by Miriam, and begins to fall for her, allowing Miriam to share her Jewish faith and traditions with her. This one is not for the faint of heart: some of the scenes get rather graphic, while other elements (especially the food scenes) might be a little triggering for anyone who deals with their own food issues. I think that Broder is an incredible writer and I am eager to read more of her work.
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With Teeth
Cheat Day
I devoured this character study, which I’m slowly learning might just be my favorite kinds of novels. WITH TEETH follows Sammie, who stays home taking care of her son Samson and grows resentful of her wife for leaving her home with Samson, who begins to display violent tendencies. This one was darkly funny — I laughed out loud several times and thought Arnett nailed the twisted humor. I loved the writing and really enjoyed how the narrative followed Sammie + Samson from his childhood through his college years. I would call this one compulsively readable. Highly recommend, especially because it caused me to break out of my literary comfort zone!
Kit is obsessed with fad diets and cleanses, attempting a new one every few months in her quest to achieve her perfect body. She doesn’t feel fulfilled in her career as a manager at her sister’s bakery and her marriage feels stagnant. When she falls for a carpenter doing work at the bakery, she embarks on an affair that could have detrimental consequences for her life. I loved the writing in this one (very character-driven with the perfect amount of plot to move the story along) and the themes this one explored. I particularly loved the threads about dieting and food. A true 10/10 for me!
Kristen Arnett
Liv Stratman
NOVEL
Ever crave a novel that you can just dive into? I tend to read a lot more literary fiction in the fall and these six picks are standouts on my shelves.
The Dutch House
The Interestings Meg Wolitzer
Aidan Donnelley Rowley
Every Ann Patchett book I read reminds me of how much I like Ann Patchett and also makes me want to read everything she’s written. She writes with the perfect blend of character and plot, allowing her books to shine for both character-driven novel lovers and the plot-driven fans out there. Patchett follows the Conroy family through decades as Cyril Conroy buys The Dutch House, the first piece of his real estate empire puzzle. Little does he know that the house is going to ruin everything that he’s spent his life working towards as his family begins to unravel at the seams. In a decades-spanning story told by Danny, Cyril’s son, he and his sister Maeve are exiled from the house by their stepmother, sending them back into a life of squalor and poverty.
Six friends meet in the 1970s at a New England summer camp for the arts. They form a close bond, each fueled by ambition to succeed in their chosen field. Four of the six remain close after the group splits after one member accuses another of rape. As they form their careers and enter new relationships in New York City, their bonds will be tested as some excel creatively and financially, while others wonder what could have been. Wolitzer really utilized New York as the perfect backdrop to the novel. The payoffs in this novel were very rewarding. It’s smart, it’s funny and it strikes the perfect balance between being super character-driven and having a rewarding plot.
This is my quintessential Thanksgiving book rec, so add it to your list for some postparade, pre-dinner reading (we all know you’re gonna be PTFO after all of that turkey, so forget after dinner reading!). Clio is a birdwatcher who is trying to reconcile her difficult childhood with her relationship with a charming hotelier; Smith seems to have her entire life together but is really falling apart; and Tate is an artist who has returned to the city after a devastating heartbreak. Their stories all converge over the week leading up to Thanksgiving. The writing is really strong while still being extremely readable and the whole thing reads like a love letter to New York City.
Ann Patchett
The Ramblers
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what’s new in
NovemBER
A Certain Appeal Vanessa King November 2
A Marvellous Light Freya Marske November 2
Five Tuesdays In Winter Lily King November 2
Tracey Garvis Graves November 2
The Fastest Way To Fall
New York, My Village
Our Country Friends
The Collective
The Perishing
Wild Tongues Can’t Be Tamed
Wish You Were Gone
Uwem Akpan November 2
Natashia Deón November 2
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Gary Shteyngart November 2
Saraciea Fennell November 2
Heard It In A Love Song
Alison Gaylin November 2
Kieran Scott November 2
Denise Williams November 2
Doctors and Friends Kimmery Martin November 9
Start rounding up your Christmas lists because I’m pretty sure each + every one of these picks is prob going to be on it. Just a hunch, ya know?
Just Haven’t Met You Yet
The Sentence
Love In The Big City
The Singles Table
Hello, Transcriber
The Sisters Sweet
Sophie Cousens November 9
Sang Young Park November 16
Hannah Morrissey November 30
Louise Erdrich November 9
Sara Desai November 16
Elizabeth Weiss November 30
You’ve Reached Sam Dustin Thao November 9
An Heiress’s Guide To Deception and Desire Manda Collins November 16
Go Tell The Bees That I Am Gone
These Precious Days
Wish You Were Here
You’ll Be The Death Of Me
Diana Gabaldon November 23
Jodi Picoult November 30
Ann Patchett November 23
Karen M. McManus November 30
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Thrillers? For
56 Days
Catherine Ryan Howard
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I truly did not know how I was going to feel about a book set during the pandemic. This one follows Oliver and Ciera, an Irish couple who meet and fall for each other, only to have the world shut down just as they’re getting started. Oliver suggests that Ciera moves in with him so they can keep the luvvvv going, but once they cohabitate, Ciera begins to feel like something’s off. 56 days (hehe, get it?) later, and a body is found in their shared apartment. Is the pandemic + lockdown the perfect time to stage a crime? Let’s be honest, the past 1.5 years have affected us all in many ways and for some people, this will hit wayyy too close to home. That wasn’t the case for me and I personally really dug this one. I liked all of the references to lockdown and it was interesting to see how it all played out in the confines of quarantine.
The Damage
White Ivy
Nick, a college student, is brutally sexually assaulted by another man after a night out at the bar. His older brother Tony, who is more like a father figure to him, is devastated and is desperate to get revenge on behalf of his brother. This book was like a gut punch. Don’t get me wrong, the mystery/ legal proceedings aspect of the book was compelling, but the novel really shines with the level of emotion woven throughout. Wahrer really nails the character development in here. It reminded me a lot about why I loved LONG BRIGHT RIVER (one of my favorite books of all time) — it dives deep into a crime, but also charts the emotional impact the events have on the victim and those close to him.
On the surface, Ivy Lin looks like a normal young woman but deep down, she’s a liar and a thief. The daughter of Chinese immigrants, Ivy was taught by her grandmother to steal which allows Ivy to become the Boston suburban teen she’s always wanted to be. Just as she’s about to get Gideon Speyer, the son of a wealthy political family, to fall for her, she’s sent away to China, then to a new home in New Jersey. Years later, Ivy bumps into Gideon’s sister Sylvia where she finally puts her plan to become a member of their elite family in motion. This is one of those books that makes you feel a little uncomfortable because the characters are so unlikable and hard to root for — but in a good way! A slow burn, but well worth it.
Caitlin Wahrer
Susie Yang
r Fall?
Groundbreaking. I use this joke in various forms a little too often, but I can’t quite imagine the day when I’ll quit, so HERE WE ARE! Anyway, 12 thrillers that are MUSTS.
Gone Girl
A Good Marriage
Really? I’m recommending arguably one of the most famous thrillers of all time on here? YES, because there are still people on this earth who haven’t read this book and I am APPALLED. This book paved the way for ALL of those other wife/girl/marriage thrillers out there and it does it damn well. In case you haven’t read this or seen the mind-blowingly incredible movie, let me refresh your memory. GONE GIRL follows Nick and Amy Dunne, a seemingly perfect couple with some dark secrets and fractures in their marriage. When Amy disappears, Nick is the prime suspect. This book redefined and re-energized the thriller genre. Fight me on it.
Lizzie is an overworked lawyer at an exclusive New York firm, usually handling white collar crimes. She’s contacted by one of her old law school classmates with an odd request: Zach’s wife Amanda was found dead at the bottom of the stairs of their Brooklyn brownstone after attending a scandalous party and Zach is the prime suspect. He wants Lizzie to represent him in the case. Lizzie is hesitant but accepts, although Zach has a few tricks of his own up his sleeve. When looking back on the novel, I can see all of the framework McCreight laid down for the reveal and how all of the clues came together. The plotting and pacing were executed really well and the flashbacks were perfect! I really like McCreight’s novels!
Gillian Flynn
Kimberly McCreight
The Husbands Chandler Baker
Want a book that’s both thriller + social commentary? Nora Spangler is burnt out from juggling her career as an attorney and being a mother with another child on the way. Her husband, while loving, doesn’t seem to quite get why she’s so overwhelmed. When she comes across a home listing in Dynasty Ranch, an idyllic Austin neighborhood, she’s in love with the home and the lifestyle that Dynasty Ranch promises: husbands who pitch in and a close-knit group of working women. Nora agrees to help with a former resident’s wrongful death case in order to boost her profile with the neighbors. As she begins to make progress in the case, she starts to unravel a plot that might take the whole neighborhood down. A gender-swapped Stepford Wives! Genius.
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True Story
Kate Reed Petty Like a thriller with a completely mind-blowing format? Try TRUE STORY! TRUE STORY is an absolutely unputdownable whirlwind of a novel that will infuriate you and tbh, completely blow your mind by the end. In late 1990s Baltimore, a successful high school lacrosse team is plagued by a rumor of a sexual assault that took place after one of the team’s legendary parties. Over a decade later, Alice Lovett, a reclusive ghostwriter, continues to be haunted by what she can’t remember from that night. TRUE STORY plays with format in one of the most original ways I’ve seen in a long time. This novel is told in college essays, emails, memoir, audio transcripts, screenplays, a dual narrative that switches between first and secondperson— basically this one has it all + it works so well.
Finlay Donovan Is Killing It
Project Hail Mary
A thriller that will make you actually LOL? I was def skeptical too, but Finlay + crew are hilarious. Finlay is a recently divorced mom + novelist who is struggling to make ends meet. When Finlay heads off for a business lunch with her agent to discuss the premise of her next book, a woman overhears her and believes that Finlay is a contract killer and not an author spilling her latest storyline to her agent. She wants Finlay to kill her husband, a businessman with some shady secrets. A $50,000 offer later and Finlay is headed off to a bar to investigate the husband. After a mishap, he turns up dead in her car and it’s up to Finlay to dispose of the body, keep everybody off of her back AND finish her novel.
A sci-fi thriller? I know. but this one is GOOD. Ryland Grace, a high school teacher wakes up disoriented and alone on a spaceship that’s on a last-ditch mission to save the Earth. As his memories begin coming back to him, he realizes that he’s the only person left who can save the planet from extinction, something that seems possible thanks to the emergence of an unexpected ally. Where this book really shines is in the level of humanity and emotion Weir included. The level of emotion heightened with each flashback to Ryland’s past before he was on the ship as we learned how truly dire the situation was. Fast-paced and heart-pounding for sure.
Elle Cosimano
t s i w t a h t i w s r e l l thri
Andy Weir
a YA thriller m
oment
They’ll Never Catch Us Jessica Goodman
Ellie and Stella Steckler are unstoppable cross country runners. Stella is attempting to rebound and earn back her scholarship after an incident the season before left her reeling, but her comeback might be hindered by the arrival of Mila, a cross country phenom who just transferred to her school. Ellie is feeling the pressure of trying to live up to Stella’s cross country success. To make matters worse, their cross country obsessed town was also the backdrop to three gruesome murders of members of the female cross country team, a legacy the Steckler sisters are trying to overcome. When Mila is found dead, both Ellie and Stella find themselves in the middle of the investigation.
This Is Not The Jess Show Anna Carey
Jess seems like your average teenager in 1998 suburbia. She’s just trying to keep it all together, even though she might be in love with her best guy friend and her sister is struggling with some serious medical issues. When a tiny silver rectangle with an apple on it falls out of her friend’s backpack one day in the locker room, she’s taken aback. She’s never seen it before and her friend is getting a little too defensive. Why? Because it’s 1998 and the first iPhone won’t be out for nearly a decade. What follow is one of the most wild rides I’ve read in a looooong time. This is easily one of the most unique books I’ve read in a minute. The pacing was PERFECT, the 90s setting was so fun and the twists! A must-read!
Monday’s Not Coming Tiffany D. Jackson
Claudia and Monday are inseparable, so when Monday goes missing, Claudia is lost. If that’s not tough enough, Claudia is the only one who seems to notice or care that Monday’s gone. This book blew me away. It’s an emotional and intense read, but it’s completely engrossing. It’s definitely a YA book in that the characters are so young (middle school aged!) but the subject matter is so deep and intense that I think even those who don’t love YA will have a hard time putting this down. The alternating timelines might throw you for a loop, but stick with it. Jackson is an incredible writer and her novels never fail to leave me awestruck.
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CLASSICS & THEIR MODER Remember those classics in school that you would have LOVED had they, you know, If You Love A Campus Novel...
A Separate Peace
Probably my favorite book from high school. I adored this book (might actually be my OG campus novel), which follows a boy who becomes enamored by his fearless fellow classmate.
The Art of Fielding
The perfect modern-day match to this one is THE ART OF FIELDING. A lot of my campus novel recs are femalefocused, but TAoF is told from the male perspective and has a lot of similar themes!
If You’re Looking For A Book Club Pick...
Passing
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In 1920s Harlem, a Black woman reconnects with a former classmate who has been passing for white and who is married to a racist man. This classic has a lot about race and class and finding ways to fit in.
The Vanishing Half
TVH almost feels like the modernday answer to PASSING, likely because they both deal with Black women passing as white. But this book also deftly discusses gender and identity in a thoughtprovoking way.
RN-DAY COUNTERPARTS not been written centuries ago in a practically archaic language? Try these instead! If You Love Rich People Problems...
The Age of Innocence
Or really any Edith Wharton pick will do! No one writes rich people problems like the queen herself! Dive into turn of the century New York as society’s elite battle for social currency.
The Cave Dwellers
McDowell nails the social satire here. Instead of traveling to Manhattan, we head to Washington, D.C. where we meet some of the nation’s brightest political minds who have social agendas of their own.
If You Love A Family Saga...
Little Women
Fun fact: I don’t love LITTLE WOMEN. Love the plot, the characters and adore the movie, but the novel itself moves too slow! But if you’re a family novel lover who hasn’t tried this one yet, then it’s an absolute must.
Four sisters, all close but very different. Sounds familiar? This novel is sweeping in timeline and in characters. Very characterdriven, but the plot The Most Fun moves along briskly and the writing We Ever Had is divine. One of my favorite family novels!
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While I am a certified disaster in the kitchen, I love a food book. Chefs, restaurants & food writing is 100% my jam.
Kitchen Confidential Anthony Bourdain
To be honest, I didn’t really get all of the Anthony Bourdain love until I read this book, after which I subsequently snapped up copies of his others. His food writing is legendary. This memoir charts Bourdain’s rise to kitchen glory. He doesn’t leave anything out: he writes about life working in a kitchen, developing recipes and working with chefs. He also writes a lot about how restaurant kitchens work. Some of it is gross, but it’s mostly just honest and funny. He drops some kitchen gems in here, but he also shares some of the darker underbelly of life working in busy kitchens.
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Don’t cal
Save Me The Plums
Kitchens of the Great Midwest
Ruth Reichl was comfortable as a restaurant critic for the New York Times and is shocked when she’s offered the role of editor-in-chief for Gourmet magazine, working for Condé Nast. Her memoir details the decade Reichl spent at the magazine, recounting writing trips in Paris, how 9/11 affected food culture in New York and how she transformed Gourmet into a world-class food publication. I loved reading all of the behind the scenes about Condé Nast. It’s a pretty guarded place, but this book gave a really good look into Si’s holiday parties, meetings and the hiring and firing process!
Name a better combo than food and family. You can’t. KITCHENS follows Eva Thorvald, from her humble Minnesota beginnings to her rise as a star chef known for a pop-up dinner club. It’s almost a novel told in stories, a format that Stradal nails. Each chapter is centered around a single food, from habanero peppers to peanut butter bars. Each “story” follows different people in Eva’s life to explain her character. It’s funny and the food writing is pitchperfect. It’s not a complex story by any means, but it’s so uniquely told. Tbh, I’m still marveling over the absolutely incredible way Stradal is able to use food to tell a story.
Ruth Reichl
J. Ryan Stradal
ll it a cookbook
Eat a Peach David Chang
Heat
Bill Buford
Heartburn
Adding Momofuku to my NYC bucket list after reading this book! This memoir follows Chang from his childhood near DC, where he was a golf prodigy to his college years to his time in New York City as he creates Momofuku and its sibling restaurants, putting his mark on the food scene with his dishes that combine his Korean heritage with a modern spin. I loved reading about Chang’s career + thought he was very open and candid about his mental health. There’s a lot in here about restaurant life and culture, which is one of my favorite elements of food writing, but if you’re looking for something with a lot of actual description about food, you might be left a little disappointed.
Buford, an acclaimed writer, leaves his job at the New Yorker to experience life as a kitchen staffer at Babbo, one of New York’s top-notch Italian restaurants. Buford is honest and doesn’t shy away from discussing any details. This is one of those books that you don’t even realize you’re learning from as you read. I love reading about the nittygritty of chef life, so I had no complaints about this one. I will say that Mario Batali is a prominent figure throughout, as he is the founder of Babbo. Batali has since distanced himself from his restaurant empire after sexual misconduct allegations, which is important to note while reading. Recommend this one and I’m excited to read DIRT, Buford’s latest soon!
Nora Ephron is one of my idols, but you miiiight be wondering why her name is popping up on a food writer list. WELL, her fabulous novel HEARTBURN is a book about food and marriage and heartbreak. Rachel, a cookbook writer, discovers that her husband Mark is in love with another woman seven months into her pregnancy. In this emotional time, Rachel uses her love of food to cope as she wonders what will become of her relationship. Recipes are interspersed throughout this one and on an interesting note: this book is loosely based on Ephron’s own relationship with ex-husband Carl Bernstein, you know, of Watergate fame? Bonus: it’s also a movie.
Nora Ephron
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