Temperatures are cool, the couch is cozy, and the season’s greatest reads are calling your name. From Military Families Magazine’s Kate Lewis, here are 10 of the best books to curl up with this fall.
The book-club crowd
‘American Hagwon,’ Min Jin Lee
From the author of publishing phenomenon Pachinko comes another sweeping epic covering family, finances and the ways life never quite turns out how we believe it might. Following generations of the Koh family from Seoul, South Korea, to Southern California, Lee brings another masterpiece to the page. Fun fact: the audiobook is read by Bridgerton’s Yerin Ha!
‘The Half Life,’ Rachel Beanland
Beanland brings her own experiences growing up off the coast of Sardinia as a daughter in a Navy family to this novel inspired by the political complexities of postwar Europe and the Atomic Age. Navy wife Eileen O’Malley finds herself caught between love and loyalty when the threat of nuclear contamination electrifies Sardinia and sets off a whirlwind of protests.
‘Hollywood, Ending,’ John Green
Beloved author Green (“The Fault in Our Stars”) makes his much-anticipated return to novels with this tale of two young Hollywood stars navigating the perils of fame, fortune and love in a world with more blurred lines than ever between public and private life.
The page turners
‘The Honjin Murders,’ Seishi Yokomizo
Available for the first time in English, this Japanese classic crime novel arrives to a new global audience. A powerful family. An important wedding. A samurai sword coated in blood, sunk into the snow, and a sleuth who must solve it all.
‘How to Write A Murder,’ Jessica Brody
This clever spin on a mystery novel has a singular premise: what if the perfect murder was committed by those who know the genre best? Seven whodunit writers gather for a mysterious conference in a remote locale, and when someone winds up dead, the twists never end.
The romantics
‘Mutual Discord,’ Liana De la Rosa
Romance powerhouse De la Rosa brings her signature fierce feminism to her first contemporary romance novel. Sofia Mendoza runs a popular video series honoring historical women whose ideas and inventions were stolen from them. Yet when she falls for her best friend’s boyfriend, she must decide whether some secrets are worth keeping.
‘You’re The One That I Haunt,’ Katie Jung
A family curse. A forbidden crush. A ghost … and a romance? When Libby Lokoski finds herself embroiled more closely in a family drama than she ever expected, she must confront not only whether her feelings are real but whether she can ever act on them.
The modern classics
‘The True Confessions of First Lady Freeman,’ Deesha Philyaw
Since Philyaw’s first collection of stories, “The Secret Lives of Church Ladies,” became a breakout hit, the literary world has eagerly awaited her follow-up. The book follows megachurch pastor’s wife Scharisse Freeman as she participates in a pageant alongside other prominent pastor-wife “first ladies.” With this novel, Philyaw delivers another searing, intricate look at the intimate levers of power.
‘Avalon, Rise,’ Madeline ffitch
Author ffitch’s extraordinary work focuses on anti-fascist movements in Appalachia and the communities that sustain them. In her latest, two lifelong friends and an eclectic group of townspeople must confront a growing white nationalist movement within their town.
‘Outrageous Acts and Everyday Rebellions,’ Gloria Steinem
With the passing of feminist icon Steinem in September, this fall is the perfect time to revisit her earliest essay collection, which gathered together her most prominent pieces from the ‘60s onward and was originally published in 1983. Now on its third edition, with a foreword by activist and actress Emma Watson, the book has sold more than half a million copies over the past 40 years.
