Recommended Reading: Fall Releases
It feels like summer only just began, but fall is already around the corner! As we all hurry to pack in as much time on socially distanced walks and bike rides while the sunny weather lasts, that doesn’t mean there aren’t things to look forward to, even as the changing weather brings another change to our pandemic routines. Luckily, this fall is packed with wonderful new books to keep you company! This is just a short list of the titles that we can’t wait to share and can’t wait to read.
What Happens at Night by Peter Cameron (August 4)
Surrealism? Inexplicable happenings? Strange characters? This checks my boxes and I'm excited to see how it all comes together. –Danni
Unwitting Street by Sigizmund Krzhizhanovsky (August 18)
I discovered Sigizmund Krzhizhanovsky through the collection Autobiography of a Corpse, and I’ve never turned back. Fantastical, philosophical, satirical, and truly wild, Krzhizhanovsky’s stories were never published in his lifetime due to Soviet censorship. Unwitting Street is the latest story collection to be published by NYRB in English, and with a story about ideas (literally) resisting entrapment in a book via type, I can’t wait to dig in. –Nika
Sisters by Daisy Johnson (August 25)
I loved Johnson's first novel, Everything Under, a reimagining of Oedipus Rex, and am so excited for her new novel, Sisters. In this book, two sisters experience "something terrible" (so vague, I love it!) and move across the country with their mother to an abandoned house by the water. I just know Johnson will nail the dreary, creepy atmosphere this novel promises and I am excited to see how the sister's relationship evolves under these new circumstances. First tackling Greek mythology, now a gothic novel, Johnson is hitting all my favorite genres! –Lindsay
Everything Sad is Untrue by Daniel Nayeri (August 25)
I’m excited for everything that Levine Querido is publishing this fall (truly, everything), but I’m most excited for this middle grade autobiographical novel. It’s smart and sophisticated but still super approachable for 10 to 12 year old readers, and I would go so far as to say that this is possibly the best middle grade novel of 2020. Mock Newbery committees, pay attention to this one! –Abby
The Frightened Ones by Dima Wannous, trans. Elisabeth Jaquette (August 25)
The second I heard about this novel I knew I must read it. Why is it not in my hands? Why am I not at this very moment reading it?
This translated novel is about how the crisis in Syria affects a person and about what oppression does to a person. I’m here for it. I’m BEYOND excited for it. –Danni
Having and Being Had by Eula Biss (September 1)
I read On Immunity during lockdown and LOVED IT. I cannot wait to read her thoughts on Capitalism—fingers crossed she condemns it. –Danni
Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi (September 1)
A powerful story from the bestselling (and personal favorite) author of Homegoing, Transcendent Kingdom confronts depression, addiction, and the quest for understanding mental illness as a way to cope with its trauma. Gyasi is a masterful storyteller and this book asks us to consider, how can we break these patterns of pain? Is it something we can find and fix in the brain? Or is the caring and community for one another enough to battle entrenched systems of disparity and racism? –Colleen
Mad and Bad: Real Heroines of the Regency by Bea Koch (September 1)
Bea is my sister in bookselling–she and her actual sister, Leah, own The Ripped Bodice, a romance bookstore in Los Angeles, and so I'm extra excited to read her first book, which is about real women in the regency period. –Emma
Box Hill by Adam Mars-Jones (September 1)
A strange mix of Aciman’s Call Me By Your Name and Greenwell’s Cleanness. Box Hill is a short, sizzling novella charting the relationship between a naive teenager and an older sadistic man who meet in the 1970’s gay-biker community. It’s not exactly a love story… but you’ll for sure experience haunting passion. –Jacque
Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas (September 1)
A queer trans Latinx boy accidentally summons a ghost and THEY FALL IN LOVE. As someone who desperately wants to accidentally summon and fall in love with a ghost, this is easily my Most Anticipated of 2020. –Abby
The Bass Rock by Evie Wyld (September 1)
Continuing the gothic theme with this second novel. Here we follow the lives of three women, from three different eras, who all live within view of a rock off the Scottish mainland. Max Porter calls this novel "spectacularly well-observed, profoundly disquieting, and utterly riveting. Like all Evie Wyld’s work it is startlingly insightful about psychological and physical abuse. It is a haunting, masterful novel." –Lindsay
Some Are Always Hungry by Jihyun Yun (September 1)
Mark this one under: I-Can’t-Believe-It’s-Debut! This lacerating, lyrically-exquisite collection sings down to the syllable. Simply delicious. I will be needing several more read-throughs, a handful of highlighters, and a bucket of water next time. –Serena
Punching the Air by Ibi Zoboi and Yusef Salaam (September 1)
Co-written by the ever-incredible Ibi Zoboi and Exonerated Five member Yusef Salaam, this is a powerful YA novel in verse that follows the story of a young Black boy who is facing wrongful incarceration. –Abby
Anxious People by Fredrik Backman (September 8)
I LOVED A Man Called Ove and Beartown so I’m very ANXIOUS to read this one (bad joke). Like with Backman’s previous novels he truly captures what it means to be human. I don’t want to reveal too much, but it is about a bank robbery gone wrong. Cue the suspenseful music. –Jacque
Arrow by Sumita Chakraborty (September 8)
In a word: monumental. In another: how? Preorder it now. –Serena
The Selected Works of Audre Lorde (September 8)
This selection of Lorde's poetry and prose, with an introduction by Roxane Gay, is a tome to be treasured, and will no doubt act introduce an even wider readership to Lorde's massive contribution to Black feminist writing, intersectionality, and twentieth centurey literature, full stop. –Emma
World of Wonders, Aimee Nezhukumatathil (September 8)
Nothing has made me appreciate the importance of our relationship with nature like months of being locked up in quarantine. Aimee’s collection of beautiful vignettes based in the natural world is filled with the beautiful prose of a poet examining how we can decolonize our relationship to nature. Take it with you on a hike, to the beach, in the park, wherever you can get outside. –Colleen
What Are You Going Through by Sigrid Nunez (September 8)
Sigrid has moved from a dog to a cat! On the cover, at least. If you, like me, loved The Friend and are feeling very starved for human interaction, this new novel about making connections is just the ticket. –Emma
Just Us by Claudia Rankine (September 8)
Using essays, poems, and images, Rankine's new book is sure to join Citizen as a seminal book on the subject of race in America. In this, she tackles whiteness, community, blond hair, and the voting booth. Buy six. –Emma
Home: New Arabic Poems by Multiple Authors and Translators (September 8)
This book—the second installment in Two Lines Press’s Calico series—showcases work from all over the Arab-speaking world, from Egypt to Palestine to Iraq and beyond! Featuring both the original Arabic and the English translations, I love this anthology for the way it places reverence-for-the-ordinary at the center, and for the evident care taken in the curation, translation, and of course, poem-crafting. A delighting, life-giving collection that locates and exalts the meaning in mundanity. Perfect for those, like myself, wishing to dip into the world of translated Arabic literature, but unsure where to start. I look forward to the next in this series. –Serena
I couldn’t put it better, so I’m just here to emphatically second Serena’s blurb! –Nika
Straight from the Horse’s Mouth by Meryem Alaoui (September 15)
An irreverent sex worker chronicling her everyday life in Casabanca, plus energetic and vibrant writing? Meryem Alaoui’s debut novel was immediately intriguing and I can’t wait to read it when it’s out in a few weeks. –Nika
Pirensi by Susanna Clarke (September 15)
Published 15 years after her smash hit Jonathan Strange and Dr. Norell, Susanna Clarke is back with a book so wild that David Mitchell calls it a "puzzle box." If the most puzzle-box-y writer thinks it's a puzzle box, it's sure to be a miraculous and mysterious reading experience. –Emma
Grown by Tiffany D. Jackson (September 15)
Once again, the cover! This book is loosely based on the R. Kelly scandal so there are many trigger warnings to be aware of. Grown answers the question of how girls and women end up in these seemingly inescapable situations with men without romanticising or glossing over any of the horrible elements of the story. Yes, this will most likely be an uncomfortable read, but I don't think we should shy away from these types of stories. –Daisy
Watch Over Me by Nina LaCour (September 15)
Nina LaCour’s We Are Okay took me out at the knees–needless to say, I can’t wait for this follow-up. –Abby
Each of Us a Desert by Mark Oshiro (September 15)
Oshiro’s debut novel was incredible, so of course I’m excited for their sophomore release–Each of Us a Desert promises to be as beautiful as it is fantastical, & I cannot wait to be swept away. –Abby
Vampires Never Get Old, ed. Zoraida Cordova & Natalie C. Parker (September 22)
I just–I love vampires, so much. So much. And this is an anthology of short stories about vampires by other vampire-lovers & includes wildly skilled authors such as Dhonielle Clayton, Victoria Schwab, Rebecca Roanhorse, Samira Ahmed, Heidi Heilig, and Mark Oshiro (more from them later!). If you, like me & half the booksellers at Books Are Magic, were frothing with excitement for Midnight Sun, you need to get this book. –Abby
Jack by Marilynn Robinson (September 28)
I’m a huge fan of this series and cannot wait for this fourth installment! Marilynn Robinson is one of those authors who holds so much wisdom in very subtle and restrained ways. Honestly, it’s been a while since I’ve read a book from this series, so I’m very excited to jump back into the world of Gilead. Plus, this cover! ::heart eyes:: –Colleen
Bestiary by K Ming Chang (September 29)
This debut novel, about generations of Taiwanese women, sounds wild, pun intended, with a girl growing a tiger tail and another with a stomach full of snakes–when the real world is this scary, I think it's high time for some queer, inventive fabulism, don't you? –Emma
All This Time by Mikki Daughtry (September 29)
Author of Five Feet Apart (made into the 2019 film) has written her second novel & it’s similarly a tragic romance. Young, reckless love + car crash = arguably the best heart-wrenching, angst YA romance of 2020. –Jacque
Leave the World Behind by Rumaan Alam (October 6)
Rumaan is my friend but I say this impartially: the book is creepy as hell, a truly gripping page-turner with excellent food writing and interior design to boot. You will love it unless you don't like being scared, in which case, buy it for someone else, or wait for Julia Roberts and Denzel Washington to help shoulder the burden in the film adaptation. –Emma
Cardinal by Tyree Daye (October 6)
Daye’s big-hearted CARDINAL probes and lilts in its questioning around whose movements are free in this country, and whose are not. While the true center of the collection is the poet’s home region of northeastern North Carolina, the poems travel to various cities, coastal and midwestern, though always maintaining a particular soft spot for the Small-Town South. A ruminative, defiant collection that honors lineages while resisting confinement, declaring: “I still watch / what I sing, but I sing.” –Serena
A Cuban Girl's Guide to Tea and Tomorrow by Laura Taylor Namey (October 6)
First and foremost, this cover!!! The pastel hues, the sweaters, the food! I am a sucker for YA stories filled with Latina culture and so so so much food. Lila is a Cuban baker who gets sent to live with her family in Winchester, England for the summer after too much heartbreak. She meets a British boy who loves tea and drives a motorcycle, need I say more?? The overflow of positive reviews on Goodreads is making me even more excited to get my hands on this one! –Daisy
The Magic Fish by Trung Le Nguyen (October 13)
This is a gorgeously (GORGEOUSLY) illustrated coming out, coming of age novel told through the lens of fairy tales. I could get lost in these pages forever, this book is so beautiful. –Abby
White Tears / Brown Scars, Ruby Hamad (October 16)
We need to talk about white women, specifically how they have acted (and continue to act) as an extension of white supremacy and have been a very effective tool for keeping systems of oppression (i.e. white cis men) in power and silencing people of color. In White Tears, Hamad gives global historical context and details the insidious and intricate ways white women have upheld white supremacy for centuries. This book serves to break open a conversation that we, as white women, have been dismissing and ignoring and refusing to engage in for far too long, and is essential for those looking to understand how to challenge this legacy of violence, and engage in true intersectionality with our sisters across the globe. –Colleen
Snapped (Playbook #4) by Alexa Martin (October 20)
I practically breezed through the first two books in the series and immediately devoured the third when it released! I am so excited for Snapped, especially because it covers heavier topics than the other books. With all the political and social movements being discussed in sports, stemming from Colin Kapernick taking a knee, Alexa touches on racism, racial disparities, tokenism, microaggressions and more in the quaint package of sports romance. –Daisy
Among the Beasts & Briars by Ashley Poston (October 20)
I’m the vice president of the Ash Poston fan club, so when I heard that she was putting out a standalone fantasy (!!) about a headstrong gardener’s daughter and her hot snarky foxboy companion (!!!) who have to save everyone they’ve ever known from the vicious and unrelenting bone-eaters that have come crawling out of the cursed wood (!!!!), obviously I lost my mind with excitement. This is Wilder Girls meets Beauty and the Beast; it’s what would happen if Diana Wynne Jones wrote a dark fantasy. It’s lovely. –Abby
Memorial by Bryan Washington (October 27)
This book is mesmerizing–a love story about a couple, but also about their damaged fathers, and their complicated mothers, and about love, and Texas, and heat. It's sexy and sad and I loved every page. –Emma
We Keep The Dead Close by Becky Cooper (November 10)
True crimes junkies, RED ALERT! If you enjoyed I’ll Be Gone In The Dark, I highly recommend this one. In 1969, Jane Britton, an ambitious 23-year-old graduate student, is found bludgeoned in her apartment. Forty years later Becky Cooper hears about the story and her addiction to solve it begins. This novel uniquely explores her own interest and involvement with researching the crime. –Jacque
At Night All Blood Is Black by David Diop (November 10)
I don’t normally read books about war, but when I do they’re like this one: deeply existential, horrifying in its clarity, damning in its portrayal of the way humanity and inhumanity go hand in hand, eviscerating of colonialism, and beautifully written. David Diop restores the Senegalese history of World War I intertwined with the French in this powerful and incisive novel. Though At Night All Blood Is Black surely falls into the ‘Do Not Read unless prepared for deep, existential dread’ category, I can’t wait to read it. –Nika
The Office of Historical Corrections by Danielle Evans (November 10)
Danielle is the author of one of my all-time favorite story collections, Before You Suffocate Your Own Fool Self, and if she's on the Donna Tartt publication schedule, it's okay, because her stories are worth the wait. –Emma
Inheritance by Taylor Johnson (November 10)
A rigorous, prismatic collection that rewards the reader with the gifts of the poet’s deep attention to landscape, language, and bodies. These poems are invested in the act of witnessing, in how witness intersects with wildness, and where we might find, and transcribe, the music in all of this. By turns noetic, mystical, and erotic—I’m thinking, here, of Lorde’s version of erotic, though they are certainly very interested in pleasure and desire—these poems reach for, and touch, what is most sacred in us, refusing falsity as they honor ferality: “No, I’d like to be as animal as language.” –Serena
Picador Singles (November 10)
These are the cutest covers ever! And perfect for short story lovers, or anyone interested in an author who isn’t ready to commit to a whole collection yet. Holiday gifts for everyone! –Colleen
These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong (November 17)
A deliciously dark twist on Romeo and Juliet that is modern and edgy. What really makes this book truly amazing is the setting: 1920s Shanghai. YA fantasy fans who love the Folk of Air trilogy should give this one a shot! It comes out a week before The King of Elfhame. It will be a fun-filled fantasy month! –Jacque
Oak Flat by Lauren Redness (November 17)
This graphic history of indigenous land in Arizona is so beautifully illustrated and just the decolonized history of indigenous land we need, especially as Native lands and populations continue to fight for resources, representation, and survival across North America. –Colleen
How the King of Elfhame Learned to Hate Stories by Holly Black (November 24)
If you love the Folk of Air trilogy just as me, get hyped! The previous three books are in Jude’s perspective, and this one is told wholly from Cardan’s perspective. Swoon! 2020 has so far been the year of female-to-male perspective switches (aka Midnight Sun). Who's next? –Jacque
Mediocre by Ijeoma Oluo (December 1)
This new title by the author of So You Want to Talk About Race dissects the violent legacy of the white patriarchy. Can’t wait to read this one! –Colleen
