“Autumn carries more gold in its pocket than all the other seasons.”
As the leaves turn golden and the air outside gets crispier, fall is the perfect season to cosy up with a great read. Whether you’re a fan of deliciously dark thrillers, swoon-worthy romances or poignant literary fiction, there’s something truly magical about fall reading that makes it even more enjoyable. Even better is that 2024’s lineup of upcoming and new fall books promises captivating plots and characters that will keep you hooked right from the start. Which is why we here at What We Reading thought we would compile some of our favourite fall books to read this year, taking you on tour across genres to suit whatever mood the longer nights conjure up. From returning bestsellers to hotly-anticipated debuts, grab a blanket, pour a cup of tea and freshen up your fall reading list with these new releases!
Intermezzo – Sally Rooney
Kicking off our list of fall books is Sally Rooney’s new release, Intermezzo. The story centres around two brothers: Peter and Ivan Koubek, two men who appear to have little in common. Peter is a successful, put-together Dublin-based lawyer in his thirties. However, in the wake of his father’s death, he’s been forced to medicate himself to sleep and struggles to keep a hold of his relationships with two very different women. Ivan is a twenty-two-year-old competitive chess player. Having always viewed himself as a social outcast, he soon meets an older woman named Margaret, whose life becomes rapidly and intensely intertwined with his own.
For these two bereaved brothers, and the people closest to them, their lives are about to enter an era of desire, despair and possibility; offering them a chance to see how much a life can handle before breaking.
The Mighty Red – Louise Erdrich
In her new fall book The Mighty Red, Pulitzer Prize winner Louise Erdrich whisks readers to Argus, North Dakota where a group revolve around a fraught wedding. Garry Geist is an anxious young man set to inherit two farms and is desperate to marry a goth girl named Kismet Poe. Hugo is a gentle-natured giant who is also in love with Kismet and hopes to be a homewrecker. Kismet’s mother, Crystal, hauls beets for Gary’s family and worries about both her own future as well as her daughter’s.
One of the most anticipated 2024 fall books, The Mighty Red is a touching and humorous exploration of ordinary people and their lives dreams, growth, loves and struggles. As powerful forces upend each of them, it is a story that captures the complexity and contradiction of individuals beautifully.
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Adam & Evie’s Matchmaking Tour – Nora Nguyen
Evie Lang’s life is a disaster. After losing her beloved aunt, she finds herself fired from her poetry professorship by her secret boyfriend. Then, she receives an unexpected letter of inheritance informing her she has been left her aunt’s San Francisco row house. The only catch? To claim it, she must go on a pre-arranged matchmaking tour in Vietnam.
An entire world away, Adam Quyen has been working round-the-clock for his sister’s acclaimed matchmaking business, despite his claims that he knows nothing about love. Desperate to prove himself, he agrees to attend their inaugural tour. From the bustling streets of Ho Chi Minh City to the cascading waterfall in Da Lat. Nora Nguyen’s Adam & Evie’s Matchmaking Tour is one of the best fall books for readers looking for a heartwarming enemies-to-lovers escapist tale.
The Bog Wife – Kay Chronister
Since time immemorial, the Haddesley family has tended the cranberry bog. In return, the bog keeps them sustained. Each generation of the family partakes in the sacrifice of their patriarch, where the bog returns them a ‘bog-wife’, who is supposed to keep the family lineage going. In the present, middle child Wenna is summoned to the family estate as her marriage is starting to collapse. She is convinced that the family must move on from tradition, but her sisters are less convinced.
When the bog either fails or refuses to honour the bargain, each one of Wenna’s siblings finds themselves thrown into chaos. And, as the warring siblings struggle to keep themselves together, fledgling patriarch Charlie discovers a disturbing secret that threatens to destroy everything the family believed about themselves in Kay Chronister’s hauntingly atmospheric new horror novel, The Bog Wife.
Playground – Richard Powers
From the New York Times bestselling author of The Overstory and Bewilderment, Richard Powers’ Playground opens with twelve-year-old Evie Beaulieu sinking to the bottom of a swimming pool strapped to one of the world’s first aqualungs. Ina Aroita is a woman who grows up in naval bases with art as her only home. Meanwhile, Rafi and Todd bond over a three-thousand-year-old board game at their elite high school, destined to have lives of greatness.
The four meet on the history-scarred island of Makatea in French Polynesia which has been selected for humanity’s next great leap forward: jettisoning floating autonomous cities out onto the open sea. Playground is an epic sweeping novel set against a backdrop of the world’s largest ocean where Powers’ breathtaking writing offers a tantalising exploration of technology, the environment and our shared humanity.
We Solve Murders (We Solve Murders #1) – Richard Osman
Steve Wheeler is enjoying retired life. He still does the occasional bit of investigative work, but prefers his familiar habits and routines; his local pub quiz, his favourite bench, the cat waiting for him at home. Amy Wheeler is Steve’s daughter-in-law and believes that adrenaline is essential for the soul. As a private security officer, she doesn’t have time for any habits and routines. Currently, she’s been posted on a remote island with the task of keeping world-renowned author Rosie D’Antonio alive. It was meant to be an easy job.
A bag of money, a dead body and a killer with their sights on her makes Amy trigger a mayday call to the one person in the world she trusts. But, as a frantic race around the world gets underway, can Steve and Amy stay ahead of a lethal foe? We Solve Murders is one of the most anticipated crime fall books by Richard Osman, bestselling author of The Thursday Murder Club.
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A Song To Drown Rivers – Ann Liang
Xishi’s beauty is considered a blessing for the villagers of Yue, who are steadfast in their belief the best fate for a girl is to marry well and support her family. When she encounters the young military advisor Fanil, Yue is presented with the unique opportunity of using her beauty as a weapon. A weapon that could be used to challenge the neighbouring kingdom of Wu, improve the lives of her family and finally deal with justice for her sister’s murder. All she has to do is infiltrate the enemy palace, seduce their immoral king and weaken them from the inside.
Xishi is trained by Fanil in everything from classic instruments to concealing emotion, though the attraction they feel for one another soon becomes undeniable. As she makes her way into the enemy court and begins to earn the gentle king’s favour, the stakes in play become more deadly. If she is unmasked as a traitor, both she and her kingdom will fall. Inspired by the legend of Xishi, Ann Liang’s 2024 novel A Song to Drown Rivers is an epic tale about womanhood, war, sacrifice and love against all odds.
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Part-time reader, part-time rambler, and full-time Horror enthusiast, James has been writing for What We Reading since 2022. His earliest reading memories involved Historical Fiction, Fantasy and Horror tales, which he has continued to take with him to this day. James’ favourite books include The Last (Hanna Jameson), The Troop (Nick Cutter) and Chasing The Boogeyman (Richard Chizmar).
