The following post contains affiliate links, which sends me a small percentage of any sales at no cost to you.
I know it’s not technically fall yet, but as someone who’s been sweating through the Texas summer, I’ll just say that we all deserve to at least pretend the air is crisp.
If the pumpkin spice latte is here, then bring on the fall reading recommendations!
Although summer and beach reads have a special place in my heart, I look forward to curating the fall reading recs (and the holiday recs) every year.
I think the “back-to-school” attitude in all of us makes us want to read more this time of year. Or maybe we’re just hunkering down and cuddling up with books.
Regardless, here are my recs for the fall season. I always try to mix genres in this list and include new titles along with backlist reads because you’ve gotta have something to get from the library!
Here goes:
‘Other Birds’ by Sarah Addison Allen
I saw this book on Instagram recommended by another author, and when I read the description, I knew it was perfect for this reading list!
Right off the South Carolina coast is The Dellawisp — a stunning old cobblestone building named after the tiny turquoise birds who, alongside its human tenants, inhabit an air of magical secrecy.
When Zoey comes to claim her deceased mother’s apartment at the Dellawisp she meets her quirky and secretive neighbors, including a young woman with a past, two estranged middle-aged sisters, and a lonely chef, and three ghosts.
The sudden death of one of Zoey’s new neighbors sets off a search that leads to the island’s famous author and to a long-estranged relative of the sisters. Each of them has a story, and each story has an ending which hasn’t yet been written.
‘The Cobbler’ by Steve Madden
I saw this book in an airport bookstore — I tend to see lots of good-looking books there — and my jaw nearly dropped. I used to be so obsessed with Steve Madden (the brand), but never knew anything about the person behind it.
Over the past thirty years Steve Madden has taken his eponymous shoe company from the fledgling startup he founded with a mere $1,100.00 to a global, multi-billion-dollar brand. But Madden’s mistakes, from his battle with addiction to the financial shortcuts that landed him in prison, are as important to his story as his most iconic shoes.
In this raw, intimate, and inspiring book, Madden holds nothing back as he shares what it took to get here and the lessons he’s learned along the way. Readers are treated to the wild ride though his rise, fall, and comeback. But they will also walk away uplifted by a man who has owned up to his mistakes, determined to give back.
‘Bastille Day’ by Greg Garrett
Greg Garrett was my cohort group leader at the AFF Writer’s Retreat the past two years. He’s written several books, and I finally bought one — this one looks so good.
Cal Jones has had a quiet ten years, by design. After surviving the loss of two people he loved in the Iraq war, which he covered as a national correspondent, he and retreated to a local news job in Texas. Cal is still wrestling with those old demons when he goes to Paris for work and encounters Nadia, a brilliant, lovely, and sad Saudi Muslim woman in Paris with plans to wed a Saudi sheikh in a family-arranged marriage.
Against his better judgment, Cal falls for Nadia, even dragging her from the Seine when she attempts to solve her insoluble problem by taking her own life. He begins to risk a heart he thought was too badly broken to ever love again, and as the wedding ticks closer, to hope that perhaps Nadia can make a choice that includes him.
Then their time rescuing each other is interrupted by the terror attack in Nice, which Cal is called out to cover. Back in that setting, Cal is thrown back into the memories of senseless violence and extremism that shattered him in Iraq—and that threaten to shatter him and his hopes now.
‘Elon Musk’ by Walter Isaacson
When I worked in higher education (my first job after college), I had the opportunity to interview Walter Isaacson when he was speaking on campus.
Since that interview, I’ve been on a mission to read his books and attend related events — he’s such. a fascinating, smart person who has a knack for uncovering big stories. So, when I saw he had an Elon Musk biography coming out (on September 12), I was happily shocked.
For two years, Isaacson shadowed Musk, attended his meetings, walked his factories with him, and spent hours interviewing him, his family, friends, coworkers, and adversaries. The result is the revealing inside story, filled with amazing tales of triumphs and turmoil, that addresses the question: are the demons that drive Musk also what it takes to drive innovation and progress?
‘You Are Here’ by Karin Lin-Greenberg
I saw this book on Instagram as a recommendation from an author and though it looked so good!
The inhabitants of a small town have long found that their lives intersect at one focal point: the local shopping mall. But business is down, stores are closing, and as the institution breathes its last gasp, the people inside it dream of something different, something more.
Exploring how the stories we tell ourselves about ourselves are inextricably bound to the places we call home, You Are Here is a keenly perceptive and deeply humane portrait of a community in transition, ultimately illuminating the magical connections that can bloom from the ordinary wonder of our everyday lives.
‘Thanks for Waiting’ by Doree Shafrir
This was another book rec I saw online, and it sounded like the perfect book to read as we head into the holiday season and the end of the year.
Doree Shafrir spent much of her twenties and thirties feeling out of sync with her peers. She was an intern at twenty-nine and met her husband on Tinder in her late thirties, after many of her friends had already gotten married, started families, and entered couples counseling. After a long fertility struggle, she became a first-time mom at forty-one, joining Mommy Me classes where most of the other moms were at least ten years younger.
Now, in her debut memoir, Shafrir explores the enormous pressures we feel, especially as women, to hit particular milestones at certain times and how we can redefine what it means to be a late bloomer. She writes about everything from dating to infertility, to how friendships evolve as you get older, to why being pregnant at forty-one is unexpectedly freeing-all with the goal of appreciating the lives weve lived so far and the lives we still hope to live.
‘Reality Check’ by Mike Sorrentino
I’m probably going to get shit for putting this on the list, but I have always loved watching “Jersey Shore,” and following Mike’s story has been an interesting ride. I have read several addiction memoirs, and I’m really excited to read his story. It comes out November 21.
In this page-turning whirlwind of action-packed, unbelievable stories, Mike paints a raw and uncensored picture of his rise to stardom, steep fall, and amazing renaissance, all told with unwavering honesty.
Alongside the comical moments, he describes more poignant events, such as the frantic searches for opiates to sate excruciating withdrawals, including one such time in Italy, which led to the infamous wall headbutt fight with Ronnie.
No punches are pulled in this unfiltered tale, relating Mike’s darkest thoughts after trying heroin, going to prison, and grieving his wife’s tragic miscarriages. However, like in all true redemption stories, Mike never gave up, and readers are sure to be inspired by his determination to get clean and sober and become a man he is proud of.
‘Girls and Their Horses’ by Eliza Jane Brazier
A fall reading list wouldn’t be complete without at least one thriller, and this one sounds like the perfect mix of money… and murder.
Heather Parker is determined to give her daughters the life she never had—starting with horses. She signs them up for riding lessons at Rancho Santa Fe Equestrian, where horses are a lifestyle. Heather becomes a “Barn Mom,” part of a group of wealthy women who hang at the stables, drink wine, and prepare their daughters for competition.
It’s not long before the Parker family is fully enmeshed in the horse world—from mean girl cliques to barn romances and dark secrets. With the end of summer horse show fast approaching, the pressure is on, and these mothers will stop at nothing to give their daughters everything they deserve.
Before the summer is over, lies will turn lethal, accidents will happen, and someone will end up dead.
‘Unscripted’ by James B. Stewart & Rachel Abrams
I’ve never watched “Succession” but I heard this is the book version of it.
Unscripted is an explosive and unvarnished look at the usually secret inner workings of two public companies, their boards of directors, and a wealthy, dysfunctional family in the throes of seismic changes, from the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists James B. Stewart and Rachel Abrams.
Through the microcosm of Paramount, whose once victorious business model of cable fees and ticket sales is crumbling under the assault of technological advances, and whose workplace is undergoing radical change in the wake of #MeToo, Black Lives Matter, and a distaste for the old guard, Stewart and Abrams lay bare the battle for power at any price—and the carnage that ensued.
‘The Escape Room’ by Megan Goldin
This is another thriller for the list, but I was really drawn to the description of this one because I started writing a book last year that had an elevator at the center of the plot.
In the lucrative world of finance, Vincent, Jules, Sylvie, and Sam are at the top of their game. They’ve mastered the art of the deal and celebrate their success in style–but a life of extreme luxury always comes at a cost.
Invited to participate in an escape room challenge as a team-building exercise, the ferociously competitive co-workers crowd into the elevator of a high-rise building, eager to prove themselves. But when the lights go off and the doors stay shut, it quickly becomes clear that this is no ordinary competition: they’re caught in a dangerous game of survival.
Trapped in the dark, the colleagues must put aside their bitter rivalries and work together to solve cryptic clues to break free. But as the game begins to reveal the team’s darkest secrets, they realize there’s a price to be paid for the terrible deeds they committed in their ruthless climb up the corporate ladder. As tempers fray, and the clues turn deadly, they must solve one final chilling puzzle: which one of them will kill in order to survive?
‘Directed’ by James Burrows
I heard about this one on a bookish podcast, and I’m also listening to the “Just Jack And Will” podcast, which really makes me want to learn more about James Burrows.
Legendary sitcom director James Burrows has spent five decades making America laugh. Here readers will find never-revealed stories behind the casting of the dozens of great sitcoms he directed, as well as details as to how these memorable shows were created, how they got on the air, and how the cast and crew continued to develop and grow.
Burrows also examines his own challenges, career victories, and defeats, and provides advice for aspiring directors, writers, and actors. All this from the man who helped launch the careers of Ted Danson, Kelsey Grammer, Woody Harrelson, Jennifer Aniston, Debra Messing, and Melissa McCarthy, to name a few.
‘The Most Likely Club’ by Elyssa Friedland
This was another rec from an author I love, and I always enjoy a good academic plot, especially in the fall.
Melissa Levin, Priya Chowdhury, Tara Taylor, and Suki Hammer were going places when they graduated high school in 1997. Their yearbook superlatives were Most Likely to Win the White House, Cure Cancer, Open a Michelin-Starred Restaurant, and Join the Forbes 400, respectively. Fast forward twenty-five years and nothing has gone according to plan.
Reunited at their reunion, the women rethink their younger selves. Fueled by nostalgia and one too many drinks, they form a pact to push through their middle-aged angst to bring their youthful aspirations to fruition, dubbing themselves the “Most Likely Girls.”
Through the ensuing highs and lows, they are reminded of the enduring bonds of friendship, the ways our childhood dreams both sustain and surprise us — and why it’s never a good idea to peak too early.
And there you have my 2023 Fall Reading Guide! What are you looking forward to reading this season?
For more book recommendations, be sure to subscribe to the blog (look to the right) and follow me on Goodreads @thebitterlemon – where I share more of my book picks. Also, check out my printable bookmarks and Book Club Journal Pages in my Etsy Shop.
The Bitter Lemon 