It’s time to look forward to all of the exciting new book releases for fall! My brain has definitely been in “beach read” mode, so I’m excited to take on a few books that are denser and may take a little bit longer to read. I also wanted to share some of our past posts with genres I love this time of year, including “rich person thrillers” (my version of spooky) and books set at boarding schools. I also found this amazing list of new books about witches (one of which I have included in the round up!).

As usual, I’m linking to the first quarter list, the second quarter list and the July/August list for reference - there are still so many great titles on those lists that I have in my stack ( I honestly haven’t even made it into the July/August selections yet!).

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2021 Reading List: September and October

September

Beautiful World, Where Are You by SALLY ROONEY

Publishing Date: September 7

I was so captivated by Normal People, and am very excited for this new book about Alice and Eileen, two best friends, and the two men, Felix and Simon, who come into their orbit. As they navigate young adulthood and their relationships with each other, and the world at large, they contemplate life and what the world holds for them.

Matrix by Lauren Groff

Publishing Date: September 7

Another pick from an author that we love - Groff’s Fates and Furies was so huge in 2015. I’m excited to see what is described as a “sharp left turn with Matrix, which is about a Marie de France, a former lady-in-waiting to Eleanor of Aquitaine in the 12th century, who is sent away from the French court to be the new prioress of an impoverished abbey. Through her struggles, she becomes determined to lead her sisters on a new path and follow her divine visions, with a story ultimately focused on female creativity and perseverance.

Never Saw Me Coming By Vera Kurian

Publishing Date: September 7

This sounds like a fascinating premis for a thriller, when the subjects of a hush hush program at a university that follows the lives of seven diagnosed psychopaths start to turn up dead. One of the members, Chloe tries to find out exactly who is killing her fellow members in a situation where no one can be trusted.

Apples Never Fall by LIANE MORIARTY

Publishing Date: September 14

Liane Moriarty has written some of my favorite modern mysteries, including Big Little Lies and Nine Perfect Strangers. After 50 years of marriage, Stan and Joy Delaney have finally sold their famous tennis academy and are ready to retire and enjoy their seemingly perfect marriage. One night, a stranger named Savannah knocks on their door looking for help, and soon after Joy and Savannah both go missing - with Stan as the main suspect. With their four children split on their father’s innocence, their family history starts to take on a whole new light.

A LOT LIKE ADIÓS BY ALEXIS DARIA

Publishing Date: September 14

I still haven’t read Alexis Daria’s You Had Me at Hola - but I have had it on my list for a while, as I love a cheerful romance, and Daria’s books have been endorsed by Emily Henry, Jasmine Guillory and so many others that I love. When her childhood best friend and crush returns home to New York to open up a second location of his L.A. celebrity gym, Michelle isn’t sure she should let Gabe back into life since he already left her once. When she’s called in to lead the marketing campaign for the new location, it looks like the two of them will have to confront their past. Can Gabe and Michelle really commit this time, or will their love story end with nothing more than an adiós once again?

Nice Girls by Catherine Dang

Publishing Date: September 14

Mary, the former “smart nice girl” of her small Minnesota town makes it to the Ivy League to only get mysteriously kicked out of Cornell and return to her hometown to work at the local grovery store while she navigates a downward spiral. When a local social media star goes missing, who happens to be Mary’s former best friend, she gets pulled into the mystery of what happened and starts investigating on her own, searching for a connection to another missing nineteen-year-old.

October

The Pain Gap by Anushay Hossain

Publishing Date: October 12

I am kind of obsessed with the idea of the “pain gap” and the idea that women’s pain and health concerns are routinely dismissed - especially after seeing friends struggle with migraines and chronic health issues. This book is a blend of Hossain’s personal experiences coming to the US from Bangladesh and their high maternal mortality rate and having a highly traumatic delivery, lobbying for global health legislation on Capitol Hill, and extensive research about how the American healthcare system fails women, especially women of color.

The Brides of Maracoor By Gregory Maguire

Publishing Date: October 12

A new trilogy from the author of Wicked is about Elphaba’s granddaughter, Rain, as she washes up on an island called Maracoor inhabited by a community of single women committed to obscure devotional practices. When the mainland of Maracoor is attacked by a foreign navy, the island’s leader struggles to understand how Rain’s arrival could be a threat to them all.

Dreaming of You by Melissa Lozada-Oliva

Publishing Date: October 26

Written in verse, this book centers around a Colombian-Guatemalan poet who decides to summon murdered pop star Selena Quintanilla using slightly improvised witchcraft, and actually succeeds! Instead of helping her with her stalled career and broken heart, Selena immediately becomes famous again, and causes the poet to reexamine her identity, fandom and loneliness, using love notes, party gossip, self-reflections, and imagined dialogues — with strangers, exes, Selena, and even Selena’s killer. It sounds kind of insane, but also amazing.

Miss Dior by Justine Picardie

Publishing Date: October 26

I wasn’t aware that Christian Dior had a younger sister that worked closely with him, but this book about Catherine Dior sounds amazing. The youngest of five siblings, she was born into the wealthy family in 1917, but when their fortune disappeared, she moved from their home into a dilapidated farmhouse in Provence before moving to Paris with Christian and selling accessories for a fashion house while he tried to sell his designs. She joined the resistance during WWII, ending up in a concentration camp that she eventually survived.

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