Spine-tingling thrillers, gorgeous love stories and page-turning memoirs — see our picks for the must-read books of fall 2024 chosen by our staff of reviewers and books editor.
With new releases from old favorites like Jami Attenberg, Richard Powers and Roddy Doyle, plus a spate of fabulous newcomers who might become your new author to watch, readers of all ages can spend the fall hitting the books, even if their school days are far behind them.
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‘How to Fall in Love in a Time of Unnameable Disaster’ by Muriel Leung
In postapocalyptic Manhattan, acid rainstorms have ravaged the city, and Mira’s stranded in a building with ghosts, a headless man and talking roaches. A moving exploration of grief and survival. — Lisa Greissinger
‘Olive Days’ by Jessica Elisheva Emerson
Orthodox Jewish wife Rina has embraced hard work and self-sacrifice, but when the men of her community engage in wife-swapping, she breaks. Stunning, steamy and unique. — Marion Winik
‘Don’t Be a Stranger’ by Susan Minot
Single mom Ivy Cooper, 52, falls hard for sexy younger musician Ansel until his unwillingness to commit gets to her. A searingly honest portrayal of obsessive attachment. — Mary Pols
‘The Women Behind the Door’ by Roddy Doyle
Dubliner Paula Spencer is 66, sober, rid of her abusive husband and finally content. But when her daughter moves in with her, she must confront secrets and shame. A riveting, indelible portrait. — Robin Micheli
‘A Reason to See You Again’ by Jami Attenberg
The Cohen women’s lives diverge in dramatic ways after the death of their patriarch. As each makes life-altering choices to escape the past, they discover there’s no running from who you are in this dramatic page-turning novel.
‘The Mighty Red’ by Louise Erdrich
A wedding between terrified North Dakota farmer Gary and former goth Kismet—notwithstanding aspiring home-wrecker Hugo— forms the crux of this heart-wrenching story of how human lives are susceptible to nature’s impact.
‘The Secret War of Julia Child’ by Diana R. Chambers
The celebrated chef’s zest, humor and generous spirit come through brilliantly in this captivating fictional take on her WWII work in Asia for a U.S. spy agency. – Robin Micheli
‘The Colony Club’ by Shelley Noble
After she’s turned away from the Waldorf for being an unaccompanied woman, Daisy Harriman hires Gilded Age architect Stanford White to design a clubhouse for women. — Lisa Greissinger
‘Our Evenings’ by Alan Hollinghurst
The wry, charming gay actor David Win, the half-Burmese son of a single mom, begins his story with a prep school scholarship. As his star ascends, England changes too, in dangerous ways. — Marion Winik
‘Playground’ by Richard Powers
History unspools in this luminous journey that interweaves a 3,000-year-old board game, AI and floating cities. It’s part history of how we got where we are today, part futuristic warning of where we might be headed, and all-around delightful.
‘Gather Me’ by Glory Edim
Raised by Nigerian immigrant parents, Edim finds solace in the words of Black authors while dealing with her parents’ divorce, her mother’s depression, her father’s absence and her own love life. — Wadzanai Mhute
‘Frighten the Horses’ by Oliver Radclyffe
A Connecticut parent can no longer resist becoming the person he’s always been in this singular memoir of transition. Full of unexpected heroes and heart. — Marion Winik
‘I Will Do Better’ by Charles Bock
After his wife, Diana, dies of leukemia, Bock must navigate solo parenting and love after loss, while preserving his wife’s memory for the dynamo at the center of this moving family love story — his daughter. — Andy Abrahams
‘Kingmaker’ by Sonia Purnell
Pamela Harriman, who became Winston Churchill’s daughter-in-law, a Democratic Party powerhouse and U.S. ambassador to France, aimed to “live a life on her own terms”—and certainly did. — Richard Eisenberg
‘A Thousand Feasts’ by Nigel Slater
In this delightful collection of keenly observed and elegantly written vignettes from The Observer’s food writer, he invites us all to embrace those “small moments of joy.” — Lisa Greissinger
‘The Bog Wife’ by Kay Chronister
A hauntingly compelling gothic about five reclusive siblings grieving their mother. They’re stubbornly entrenched in their Appalachian bog, until an unsettling secret comes to light. — Caroline Leavitt
‘Guilt and Ginataan’ by Mia P. Manansala
When the mayor’s wife is murdered at the Shady Palms Corn Festival, one of the Brew-ha Cafe crew is a suspect. Her friends decide to investigate in this witty cozy mystery. — Wadzanai Mhute
‘Madwoman’ by Chelsea Bieker
When Clove’s mother is imprisoned for murdering her spouse, Clove starts a new life. But with a possible new trial approaching, Clove is forced to revisit the past in this smart, whiplash suspense. — Caroline Leavitt
‘The Life Impossible’ by Matt Haig
After an acquaintance dies mysteriously and leaves her a house in Ibiza, lonely retired math teacher Grace Winters sets off on a life-changing journey in this wise, inspirational tale. — Mary Pols
‘Curdle Creek’ by Yvonne Battle-Felton
In this back-to-the-future noir set in the all-Black Curdle Creek, widow Osira is catapulted into the past to do penance for the town’s crimes — and her own. Funny and terrifying. — Caroline Leavitt
