Many say autumn is their favorite time of year. The leaves are turning, the days are cooler, and who doesn’t love pumpkins? We’ve selected our favorite fall book picks, from family sagas to health and happiness. Settle in with a hot cup of cider and indulge in one of these great fall reads.
Tom Lake by Ann Patchett
Family convergence during Covid in a small town in northern Michigan unearths recollections of simpler times in the heyday of the matriarch, Lara’s youth. With the pandemic raging, Lara enlists her three 20-something daughters to help with the cherry-picking on the family farm. Everyone has that sweet spot in life, the one they remember vividly, that made them the happiest.
This story is no different and centers around Lara’s theater days at Tom Lake, playing the role of Emily in Our Town and the summer when she blossomed. The girls discover more about their mother, and even though she insists she is happiest right now, they know she longs for the days of innocence. The daughters, Emily, Maisie, and Nell, struggle to find their place in this world as their mother reassures them that living in the present is the best time of all. Patchett’s artfully crafted prose and vivid descriptions are a gift to her readers in this fall pick.
Wellness by Nathan Hill
Wellness follows two Gen-Xers who struggle to find balance in a world where authenticity seems void. Jack and Elizabeth have come to a stand-still in their marriage, turning to the internet, crash diets, spirituality, and even a sex club for answers that truly only lie within themselves. Hill delves into the influence of social media algorithms and tackles the placebo effect, community politics, and child-rearing with satire, sarcasm, and a dose of reality. His writing is compelling and intellectual and undertakes self-exploration into modern American life. This portrait of a marriage, love gained, lost, and regained, will strike a chord with everyone, whether married or not, and give insight into what really matters in their own life.
The Celebrants by Stephen Rowley
A gathering of old Berkeley college friends shifts from reuniting after tragedy to celebrating friendships as “living funerals” during certain crisis points in their lives in this fall pick. Rowley’s sharp wit and sense of humor document the unfolding events over 30 years as secrets are revealed, and bonds tighten. The history Marielle, Naomi, Craig, Jordy, and Jordan share is something we can all relate to with life-long friends, like finishing each other’s sentences and giggling uncontrollably at something that happened in our youth. The story is character-driven and told with emotion in a way that will touch your heart and make you want to call up an old friend for coffee.
The Cartographers by Peng Shephard
Nell Young is both fascinated by and obsessed with maps. Her parents were cartographers; she is a cartographer, and it’s in her blood. When her father, the head cartographer at the New York Public Library, suddenly dies, she suspects foul play. An old gas station map hidden in his desk could be the clue to his death, and now possibly to hers. Someone wants this map and will kill for it, but why?
Old family colleagues surface and all become pawns in a deadly game of cat and mouse, as each one reveals a portion of a secret they collectively share that is so big, it’s unimaginable. Hidden rooms, and phantom settlements create tension and suspense, as Nell races the clock to unlock a mastermind’s purpose, to finally solve her family’s mystery. Not only a mystery, the book is also about friendships and what we do to protect each other when tragedy strikes. A must-read page-turner, The Cartographers will have you questioning what is real and imagined and if combining the two is possible. The bits about map-making tucked in here and there give insight into this fascinating but little-talked-about career.
The Coworker by Freida McFadden
For an edge-of-your-seat psychological thriller, look no further than The Coworker. In this fall pick, two polar opposites work in adjoining cubicles at a nutritional supplement company in Boston. Dawn is an introverted, somewhat strange but predictable accountant, and Natalie is popular, vivacious, and a top sales earner. When Dawn doesn’t show up to work one day, and Natalie receives a message of “help me,” she takes it upon herself to drop in at Dawn’s house to see what’s up. Have plenty of spare time to read because this is when the roller coaster ride begins.
An open back door leads Natalie into a bloodied living room with no body, and at the same time, a woman is found badly beaten in the woods and assumed to be Dawn. A nagging Columbo-type detective tries to pin the murder on Natalie, who has a history of bullying, but it seems no one at work particularly liked Dawn either. The backstory cleverly weaves a series of emails from Dawn to her friend Mia to tell Dawn’s side of the story. There’s not just one victim here. The end will test your morality compass and leave you asking yourself, “What would I do in this situation?”
Where To Find These Fall Book Picks
These books will keep you company, make you happy, give you new ideas, and possibly bring some magic into your life. Bookstore Plus has these fall book picks and other books for every taste, so drop in and discover something new in between raking leaves, chasing ghosts, and decorating pumpkins!