As the sun sets earlier in autumn, we want to spend more time curled up reading fall books. It’s even better if we’re in a cozy sweater with apple cider or a pumpkin spice latte.
- Our Approach to Autumn Reading
- Contemporary Books to Read in the Fall
- Books About 9/11
- Historical Fiction Fall Books
- Fall Historical Fiction with Paranormal or Fantasy Elements
- Mystery and Thriller Books for Fall
- Fall Novels with Back to School Themes
- Fall Romance & Rom Com Books
- More Fall-ish Authors
- More Autumn Book Recommendations
Our Approach to Autumn Reading
While both Book Girls always look forward to reading in our favorite season, we initially struggled to articulate our favorite types of books to read in the fall. So, we polled our Read with the Book Girls Facebook group! They helped us come up with a list of characteristics that make the best fall books. Of course, anything set in the fall was the easiest qualifier.
We also agreed that fall is a season of deeper reads after the light beach read season. Thrillers and books with fantasy elements for Halloween, back-to-school themes, and books with cozy fall vibes also made it to our fall reading list. Additionally, the anniversary of September 11th, 2001 is a good time to read 9/11 books in remembrance of the lives cut too short that fall day.
Contemporary Books to Read in the Fall
Our book recommendations include both 2023 new release books with autumn vibes as well as some of our favorites from the past few years.
Take It From Me
Book Summary
Harper is a young author with one major best-seller under her belt, but now she’s in need of a career comeback. At the suggestion of her agent, she rents a house in New Canaan, Connecticut. Hiding her author identity from everyone she meets, Harper seeks to draw inspiration for a new novel about women in the suburbs.
Soon Harper befriends her empty-nester neighbor. It’s October, and Wendy’s son just moved away for college. She’s struggling with being all alone. But not just because she misses her son. Wendy is keeping a secret of her own – her struggle with kleptomania.
The Book Girls Say…
Angela was initially drawn in by the kleptomania/mental health focus of this novel, which was very well done. Ultimately, however, it was the intergenerational relationship element of this story that she enjoyed the most.
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A Brighter Flame
Book Summary
Vale has long-searched for a sense of belonging, and at twenty-nine, she was starting to hit her stride in the Pittsburgh bar she opened with her father, Bo. However, when the bar has a fire and she learns the insurance hasn’t been paid, she’s back to square one.
Her grandmother, Iris, lets Vale return to her home in Philadelphia. However, she learns that her half-sister, Blythe, has already moved into the guest room amidst problems in her marriage. Everyone in the family brings their own complications, including Vale’s mother, Audrey, whom she hasn’t seen in years. This poignant novel is about family secrets, healing, and the hope of second chances.
Hello Beautiful
Book Summary
Charlie greets the women in his family, including his wife and four daughters, by saying “Hello, Beautiful” and truly sees something special in each of them. Unfortunately, Charlie is resented by his wife, Rose, because he’s an alcoholic, which also impacts his ability to provide for the family.
Their oldest daughter, Julie, is smart and ambitious. When she meets William, whose family couldn’t be more different than her own, he’s at college on a basketball scholarship. For William, the sport has been his saving grace and a substitute for the love of family. At least until he meets Julie and her family embraces him in their family unit when they become a couple. Once that happens, the family refuses to give up on him.
While you’ll get some fall vibes when Julie heads to college, Hello Beautiful also follows the characters for nearly four decades. The book begins in the main character’s childhood, in the 1960s, and spans into their middle age years.
The Book Girls Say…
This slow-paced character-driven family drama from the author of Dead Edward pays homage to Little Women, including references to the classic.
Heads Up: Themes in this book include depression and suicide.
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Eliza Starts a Rumor
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Book Summary
Eliza is a suburban wife secretly struggling with a new, intense fear of leaving her house. She forces herself to go to the store in preparation for a visit from her college-age children. While there, she hears younger moms talking about a new local online forum for women. Eliza has run a similar group for years, but these strangers are calling her original group boring.
In a moment of desperation and weakness, Eliza starts a rumor about a new neighbor on her board to liven it up. But soon, the rumor has reached further than she expected.
The Book Girls Say…
This book is a great mix of comedy and drama about a group of neighbors overcoming their individual problems when they’re willing to share them and lean on other women.
Most of this book is set in the fall leading up to Thanksgiving, which ends up being the setting of a major revelation.
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A Season for Second Chances
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Book Summary
When Annie’s 26-year marriage ends suddenly, leaving her single for the first time in her adult life, she’s not sure how to start over. Her kids are grown, and there’s nothing keeping her in the city where she and her ex-husband were successful restauranteurs. So, she answers an ad for a temporary position as a winter caretaker of a historic home in the small English seaside community of Willow Bay. This decision turns out to be even more impactful than she expected.
Annie is immediately charmed by the house, and the quirky but friendly villagers welcome her with open arms. All except the grumpy nephew of the home’s owner, who sees her as a roadblock to his plans. But as fall turns to winter, Annie begins to formulate her own plan for the next season of her life.
The Book Girls Say…
While this is largely a book about finding herself, it only happens through her relationships with her new friends in town. There is a romance thread later in the book, but there’s a more significant focus on female friendships. If you are looking for books set in autumn with more emphasis on romance, check out our full Fall Romance book list.
Book lovers will especially love the way these women bond over books!
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One Two Three
Book Summary
The Mitchell triplets, Mirabel, Monday, and Mab, live in a small town with a terrible past of water-quality issues, which have led to numerous health issues.
Because the town has spent years in the national news, everyone is shocked when a new family decides to move in. When the family’s past connection to the town is revealed, it affects everyone, including all three sisters.
The Book Girls Say…
This novel was a Goodreads Choice Award nominee for Best Fiction in 2021.
If you enjoy audiobooks, this one is well done, with different narrators for each sister.
Books About 9/11
As we get closer to the 25th anniversary of September 11th, those of us who remember that day vividly feel like it’s impossible to forget. However, as with other tragedies, we believe that books are a vital connection to deepen our knowledge and share it with younger generations. We gathered a list of non-fiction and fiction titles for you to consider reading this year.
The Day the World Came to Town: 9/11 in Gander, Newfoundland
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Book Summary
While this book takes place on September 11, 2001 and the following days, it’s not the constantly devastating story you would expect. Instead, this heartwarming book recounts the experiences of countless passengers from some of the 38 planes that were unexpectedly diverted to Newfoundland – an island in Canada’s easternmost province – when US airspace was closed on 9/11. On that day, the small town of Gander, with a population of just 10,000, received more than 6,600 passengers from 92 countries. Ganderites, along with residents of the surrounding towns, opened the doors to the local churches, schools, and even their own homes.
Throughout this book, you’ll not only learn the personal stories of the passengers, but you’ll also learn a lot about life on this tiny, remote island and about the unexpected hosts who welcomed strangers from around the world with open arms and generous hearts.
The Book Girls Say…
We’ve both seen and loved the musical Come From Away, so we already knew some of the story, but we learned so much more from this book. The selflessness of the residents of Gander and the surrounding towns will warm your heart page after page. It is one of the most uplifting, faith-in-humanity-restoring books we’ve ever read. The audiobook, narrated by Ray Porter, is especially well done.
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When I Ran Away
Book Summary
On the morning that the Twin Towers collapsed, Gigi fled her office building and escaped from Manhattan via the Staten Island Ferry. Among the crying, ash-covered-shoeless passengers, Gigi spots a man she recognizes. Harry Harrison is a Brit who frequents her favorite coffee shop. Gigi takes Harry home to her parents’ house, where they spend hours watching the media coverage of the planes crashing. All the while, Gigi waits for a phone call from her younger brother that will never come.
A decade later, Gigi is now an overwhelmed single mother. After another chance meeting with Harry, the two fall in love. They have a baby and move to London, but rather than providing Gigi with a fresh start, she feels lonely and isolated. In order to find the light at the end of the tunnel, Gigi will first have to face the rage and grief she feels about her brother’s death and the challenges of motherhood.
The Book Girls Say…
This raw and emotional novel deals with postpartum depression and mental health issues with honesty and sensitivity, while also infusing a bit of unexpected humor.
The Only Plane in the Sky
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Book Summary
Compiled by an award-winning journalist and best-selling historian, The Only Plane in the Sky paints a human portrait of 9/11, telling the story of the day as it was lived and in the words of those who lived it.
This oral history brings together never-before-published transcripts, recently declassified documents, original interviews, and oral histories from nearly 500 people – including government officials, first responders, witnesses, survivors, family members, and friends.
The Book Girls Say…
While you can certainly read this book, this audiobook version, read by a 45-person cast, is the most powerful way to experience this oral history. It won the 2020 Audie Award for Audiobook of the Year, and it was also a 2019 Goodreads Choice Award Nominee in the category of History and Biography.
Fall and Rise by Michell Zuckoff is another extremely highly rated minute-by-minute account of the events of 9/11 told through the eyes of those who lived it. At 625 pages, this book makes Only Plane in the Sky’s 485 pages seem short, but it’s an extraordinary work that’s well worth reading.
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A Fall of Marigolds
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Book Summary
September 1911. On Ellis Island in New York Harbor, nurse Clara Wood cannot face returning to Manhattan, where the man she loved fell to his death in the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire. Then, while caring for a fevered immigrant whose own loss mirrors hers, she becomes intrigued by a name embroidered onto the scarf he carries…and finds herself caught in a dilemma that compels her to confront the truth about the assumptions she’s made.
September 2011. On Manhattan’s Upper West Side, widow Taryn Michaels has convinced herself that she is living fully, working in a charming specialty fabric store and raising her daughter alone. Then a long-lost photograph appears in a national magazine, and she is forced to relive the terrible day her husband died in the collapse of the World Trade Center Towers, which was the same day a stranger reached out and saved her. But a chance reconnection and a century-old scarf may open Taryn’s eyes to the larger forces at work in her life.
The Book Girls Say…
Melissa chose this book during the first year of our Decades Reading Challenge, and since that time, nearly 100 of our readers have read it, with nearly all rating it highly. One reader states, “I really appreciated the juxtaposition of the fire in the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory and the 9/11 attack on the Twin Towers.”
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Book Summary
One Saturday night, 28-year-old Cecily sits at a bar in NYC’s East Village feeling homesick. She’s uncertain if she’ll ever be able to make it as a reporter in the big city, and she’s second-guessing her decision to break up with her longtime boyfriend. She’s just about to call her ex when a man on a nearby barstool tells her not to do it. “You’ll regret it,” he says, and for some reason, she listens to him.
Several and hours and several shots of tequila later, Cecily and Grant have sparked a connection. But it’s bad timing because Grant is preparing to change jobs and move overseas. Nonetheless, the two continue to form a relationship over the coming months.
But then, on 9/11/2021, Grant goes missing. When Cecily spots his face on a missing-person poster, she realizes she’s not the only one searching for Grant. Her investigative reporting instincts kick in, and Cecily is determined to find out whether Grant is really the man she thought she was falling in love with.
The Book Girls Say…
Historical Fiction Fall Books
If you’re a fan of historical fiction, these perfect autumn reads cover a wide range of moods. Some take place in the fall, and others are extremely compelling with deeper topics. All are regularly rated five stars by readers!
Lady Tan’s Circle of Women
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Book Summary
This historical novel is based on the real-life and memoir of a 15th-century female physician in China. Tan Yunxian was raised in the Ming Dynasty era by her grandmother, also a physician, who taught her the art of Chinese medicine. Additionally, she learned about female conditions from her best friend, Meiling, who was training to be a midwife. While Yunxian was on the path to be a success in her own right, she was still sent into an arranged marriage.
Her new mother-in-law was a traditionalist who forbade her from seeing Meiling and stopped her from helping the girls and women in their household. Instead, she is supposed to be a “proper wife,” learning poetry, embroidering foot-binding slippers, and staying within the walls of their compound.
How did Yunxian break free and go on to treat women from all classes of society and create remedies that are still used over 500 years later? Lisa See tells her compelling life story in this novel.
The Book Girls Say…
While Melissa loves historical fiction, she prefers anything from the Gilded Age to the present and usually avoids earlier settings. However, she was drawn to Lady Tan’s Circle of Women as her Book of the Month pick in June. While she was compelled by the description, the book was even better than expected and often left her awestruck as she learned about what it was like for women in Ming Dynasty era China.
It was fascinating to see what was “normal” at the time within a wealthy and revered family. Knowing the book is based on a real woman adds to the page-turning nature of the novel!
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Book Summary
This novel transports you to 1940s rural Colorado and the home of teenager Victoria Nash. Despite her young age, she runs the household as the sole female in a family of troubled men. One day, she meets Wilson Moon, a mysterious young drifter who has been displaced from his tribal land. Their sudden and passionate connection is full of danger and secrets.
Victoria ends up fleeing to the harsh mountain wilderness in a small hut, where she struggles against impossible conditions. As the Gunnison River rises and threatens her homeland, she begins a quest to fight for all she has lost.
The Book Girls Say…
This is a great pick if you enjoy deep and descriptive, character-driven reads. While much of the book is slower-paced, the final chapters are said to be the best.
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West With Giraffes
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Book Summary
West With Giraffes is a charming tale of adventure that takes you on the ride of a lifetime from the East Coast of the US to the West, alongside a rowdy 17-year-old, a grumpy older man, and two giraffes. It’s the autumn of 1938, and no American zoo has successfully housed giraffes before. The female zoo director of the San Diego Zoo believes she can do it. The giraffes have just survived a hurricane en route to the East Coast, and Riley Jones, the curmudgeonly head zookeeper, is responsible for safely transporting the giraffes from New York City to San Diego.
America is still in the throes of the Great Depression, and the Dust Bowl conditions continue to ravage the drought-stricken Southern Plains states. A coast-to-coast trek with giant animals is no easy feat. Jones begrudgingly teams up with a starving teenager named Woody to help him make the journey. The adventures along the way include run-ins with circus con artists, being tailed by a female photographer looking for a big scoop, an emotional visit to Woody’s hometown, and so much more.
At its heart, this is a coming-of-age story. Now, at the age of 105, Woody recounts his 12-day cross-country trip with Jones and the giraffes and how it shaped his life.
The Book Girls Say…
After we both gave this book 5 stars, we recommended it to others in a variety of age ranges. Everyone else has loved it too! In fact, Angela’s husband recently listened to the audiobook, and her 10 and 11-year-old sons begged to listen with him. It’s now a family favorite!
From the insights it gives to life across America in the late 1930s to the growing relationships between characters, including the humans and the giraffes, we can’t recommend this book highly enough!
The audio is included with the Kindle Unlimited.
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PS: We also have a printable West with Giraffes book club guide available on Etsy, including discussion questions, bonus giraffe content, a custom bookmark, and more!
Take My Hand
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Book Summary
Civil is fresh out of nursing school and has dreams of making a big difference in her post-segregation African American community. She works for the Montgomery Family Planning Clinic, and she’s sent to a rural cabin during her first week on the job. When she arrives, Civil is shocked to find that her patients are children, only 11 and 13 years old.
The girls, Erica and India, are innocent and not even thinking of boys. However, because they are poor and Black, those handling their benefits have requested the children be on birth control. Civil struggles with this unexpected aspect of her new career. Despite the shocking reason for meeting the sisters, Civil is endeared to them and their family. However, one day when she arrives for her visit, something unthinkable has happened, and Civil soon finds herself involved in a legal case.
You’ll also see Civil years later, at the end of her career, with a daughter of her own, as she tries to find peace without forgetting those she encountered along the way.
The Book Girls Say…
While this historical fiction, based on the 1973 legal case of Relf v. Weinberger, takes place over more than a season, it’s a heavy read that matches our fall reading style. It’s a book all women should read, so this fall is the perfect time to pick it up. In fact, this book would be ideal for a fall book club. Just be sure to grab a cozy blanket and box of tissues before you start.
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The Great Alone
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Book Summary
When a Vietnam POW returns home, he carries new anger and impulsiveness. Determined to stand by her husband, his wife agrees with his plan to move his family to Alaska to live off the grid. Soon after arriving, the harsh reality of rural Alaska sets in for 13-year-old Leni and her mom.
For a while, things are better with her dad as they spend the fall season preparing for their first Alaskan winter, but she fears his more balanced self is only temporary.
The Book Girls Say…
If you don’t have time to add this book to your reading list this fall, it also makes a great winter read!
WARNING: This book includes descriptions of domestic abuse.
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Fall Historical Fiction with Paranormal or Fantasy Elements
If you prefer spooky books for fall as we approach Halloween, this is the section for you! The historical fiction novels on this list all include magical, paranormal, or other fantasy plot points. Most have a darker feel.
Weyward
Book Summary
Weyward weaves together the stories of three extraordinary women across five centuries, using a bit of magical realism along the way.
In 1619, Altha is awaiting trial after being accused of using witchcraft to murder a local farmer. She knows that she’ll need to use all her deep knowledge of the natural world if she wants to remain free.
In 1942, the world is at war. Violet longs for the education her brother receives in their grandfather’s crumbling estate, but as a girl, she’s not entitled to knowledge. Her mother was rumored to have gone mad, and the only connection Violet has to her is a locket and the word Weyward carved into the wooden floor.
In 2019, Kate is fleeing London in the dark and heading to Weyward Cottage. She inherited the ramshackle home with its overgrown garden from an aunt she barely knew. It’s given her the much-needed opportunity to escape her abusive boyfriend. However, she doesn’t know that the cottage has secrets dating back to the witch-hunts of the 17th century.
The Book Girls Say…
While most readers rate this book highly, some have found the dark and atmospheric novel too heavy for their current state of mind.
HEADS UP: This book contains several themes that could be upsetting, including rape, abuse, stillbirth, and suicide.
The Witch’s Lens
Book Summary
While Petra’s husband is off fighting at World War I’s eastern front, she spends her nights roaming the city with her camera. Petra was born a witch, and she discovers that she can capture the souls of the dead on film. When Josef Svoboda begins recruiting a team of sorcerers to infiltrate the front lines, Petra’s supernatural skills do not go unnoticed. He needs her unique abilities to help identify the most dangerous enemy of all – the undead.
Venturing deep in the cursed Carpathian Mountains, the horrors Petra photographs are beyond anything she could have imagined. She wants to turn back, but not before she discovers her husband’s fate.
The Book Girls Say…
The Carpathian Mountains span Central and Eastern Europe and are the subject of many myths and legends. The most popular myth of this region places the castle of Bram Stoker’s Count Dracula in Transylvania on a Carpathian mountaintop.
This unique novel is a mix of paranormal and historical fiction that’s perfect for fall reading in the lead up to Halloween.
Alchemy of a Blackbird
Book Summary
This is a story of tarot cards and the way they impacted the dynamic female friendship between two now-revered real-life painters, Remedios Varo and Leonora Carrington. Both women began their careers as a muse for a man but managed to become icons in their own right.
Remedios and her lover, a poet named Benjamin Peret, fled from the Nazis in Paris for Villa Air Bel, a safe house for artists on the Riviera. Along with Max Ernst, Peggy Guggenheim, and others, the two anxiously waited for exit papers to travel outside Europe. However, the longer they stay at the house, the more Remedios realizes that the others don’t see her as an artist, just as Benjamin’s beautiful inspiration. She begins to find refuge in a mysterious bookshop, where she stumbles into the world of tarot.
When Remedios and Benjamin finally receive the paperwork to travel, they head to Mexico and are reunited with fellow painter, Leonora Carrington. Together, the women tap their creativity, stake their independence, and each finds their true loves. Tarot assists them in finding their true subconscious and in achieving success as Surrealist painters.
The Book Girls Say…
The narrator changes through the book, so be sure to watch the tarot cards within a chapter. The name of the person retelling the story in the following pages is under each card.
Embers on the Wind
Book Summary
This book weaves together a haunting tale of past and present. In 1850 Massachusetts, Whittaker House was a stop on the Underground Railroad. Sadly, some people seeking freedom didn’t make it out alive – including Little Annie and Clementine.
More than a century and a half later, Whittaker House is now a vacation rental in the Berkshires. But many of those who visit the house are not there merely as tourists – they are contemporary Black women struggling to reconcile the legacy of slavery.
This haunted story is described as the perfect mix of history and paranormal suspense.
The Book Girls Say…
This is a short novel at just over 200 pages, but it covers a lot of ground – with many shifting points of view and storylines. If you prefer books written in a linear style, this one might not be a good pick for you.
HEADS UP: This book deals with many difficult topics, including rape and stolen babies.
The Once and Future Witches
Book Summary
Historical fiction meets magic and fantasy in this unique novel from the author of The Ten Thousand Doors of January.
The story centers around the Eastwood sisters – Juniper, Agnes, and Bella. They’ve been estranged from one another for most of their lives. But on the day of the equinox in 1893, the sisters all find themselves at the same suffragist rally in New Salem. Reunited, the sisters now fight for women’s rights, as well as the right to practice witchcraft.
Intermixed within this historical fantasy are a few well-known, real-life historical women from the Suffrage Movement, which lends a layer of realism to the fantasy elements.
The Book Girls Say…
This dark and moody novel is over 500 pages, so be sure to pick it up when you have the time to devote to it.
The Night Circus
Book Summary
The black-and-white striped tents appear overnight. There are no announcements or advertisements, and the circus- with its breathtaking amazement – is only open at night.
Two young magicians – Celia and Marco – have been trained since childhood by their two mentors. The Night Circus is the stage on which the two will compete for superiority, using all the powers they have been perfecting over the years.
This is a heart-wrenching love story with magical fantasy elements and memorable quotes throughout.
The Book Girls Say…
We also highly recommend The Magician’s Lie, which combines the historical fiction elements of Water for Elephants with the fantasy and magical realism elements of The Night Circus. In this novel, the country’s most notorious female illusionist is accused of her husband’s murder and has one night to convince a small-town policeman of her innocence.
Mystery and Thriller Books for Fall
While the historical books above have fantasy elements, the thrillers and mysteries in this section are contemporary. If you prefer cozy mysteries to thrillers, you’ll find one below and more on our seperate list of Halloween cozy mystery books.
Before She Finds Me
Book Summary
This psychological thriller features two strong female main characters trying to understand a murder. Julia is helping her daughter Cora move into her new college dorm. While she is on campus with Cora, a tragic shooting occurs. Julie is able to get her daughter to safety, but she’s not sure this was a random act.
Ren is an assassin and soon-to-be mother. Her husband Nolan is also an assassin, but they live by a strict set of rules. They only target the guilty while remaining dedicated to protecting the innocent and their own family. However, Nolan went rogue for his last assignment.
The story is told in the alternating viewpoints of Julia and Ren as they try to figure out who ordered the assassination at the college, and why.
The Book Girls Say…
If you enjoy the fall college setting of this psychological thriller, be sure to check out the other back-to-school themed books further down on this list.
Wrong Place, Wrong Time
Book Summary
Jen is waiting up for her 17-year-old son to come home one night in late October. Through the window, she witnesses the unthinkable. Her son kills a man right there in the street outside their home and is taken into custody.
She goes to sleep that night, wishing it was all just a bad dream, and then she wakes up yesterday. The next day she wakes up the day before yesterday.
Day after day, she wakes up another day earlier and has another opportunity to stop the murder if only she can figure out what caused her son to commit the crime in the first place.
The Book Girls Say…
This time-loop book was a 2022 Goodreads Choice Award nominee for Best Mystery & Thriller.
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Books Like The Midnight Library
Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore
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Book Summary
Looking for an eerie mystery that’s perfect for book lovers wanting to read something a bit haunting around Halloween?
This highly-rated debut novel follows a bookshop employee named Lydia, who ends up investigating the suicide of one of her bookshop regulars. As Lydia delves into his past, she also uncovers a buried memory from her own violent childhood.
This is a twisty crime thriller with a very creative puzzle element that will keep readers guessing.
The Book Girls Say…
Colorado-based readers will recognize the Bright Ideas bookstore as The Tattered Cover. The author was a bookseller at this Denver book institution during the 1990s and used the store as his inspiration.
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A Cryptic Clue
Book Summary
In this new cozy mystery series, we meet sixty-year-old Jane, who has just been forced into early retirement from her job as a librarian. She needs something to keep her busy and supplement her meager pension. Working for Cam, an eccentric 33-year-old collector, might be perfect.
He’s looking for an archivist to document his rare books and artifacts, and Jane is thrilled to be able to explore the unique books. However, soon after starting her new job, a body is discovered in Cam’s library. It’s the heir to a pharmaceutical fortune, whom Cam had recently dated. Cam is suspect number one. He wants to clear his name, but agoraphobia, rampant anxiety, and limited social skills make it difficult for him to complete an investigation alone.
Can Jane help clear her boss’s name? And more importantly, is he as innocent as he says?
The Book Girls Say…
This book is said to bring the golden age of detectives into the 21st century. Several reviewers mentioned enjoying the narration of this mystery and that they are looking forward to the release of the next book in the series in April 2024.
If you love cozy mysteries, you may also enjoy our list of Halloween-themed cozies. And if it’s the bookish theme of this novel that grabbed your attention, be sure to check out our list of must-read books for book lovers.
Fall Novels with Back to School Themes
For students, parents, and teachers, the fall back to school period is one of the most defining periods of the year. New opportunities and struggles abound each autumn. The fall books below span from kindergarten to college, so you’re sure to find something relatable to a memorable period in your own school experiences.
Play for Me
Book Summary
Sophie had it all – a dream job as the head athletic trainer for the Red Sox, a handsome boyfriend, and a great life in Boston. But when she loses all three (along with the World Series), she is desperate for another job.
She takes a position as a trainer at an arts-focused boarding school in New Hampshire. She’s completely out of her element. To these high school students, a “play” is A Chorus Line, but when she hears “play,” she only thinks of a walk-off homer. Sophie is used to working with pro athletes, but she soon discovers that these students also have big-time talent and equally big-time problems.
After moving to the campus, she’s forced to live with three male roommates in a closet-sized bedroom. To make matters more complicated, one of the men is a very handsome grump.
The Book Girls Say…
If you’re looking for more romance books set in the fall, we’ve got a full book list just for you! Additionally, if you love the New England boarding school setting of this book, you may also want to check out our list of books set in New England. And finally, if you enjoy the theatre element of this story, be sure to check out our full list of theater fiction.
Speech Team
Book Summary
Tip Murray and his best friend Natalie were members of the Speech Team back in high school. Now in their 40s, they are shocked to learn that one of their former teammates has committed suicide. This leads Tip and Natalie on a nostalgic journey down memory lane. But not all of the memories are good ones. They uncover a common wound inflicted by their speech coach, who is now retired in Florida.
They decided to travel south with two other teammates. While they are calling the trip a reunion, they are also hoping to find the courage to confront their old teacher.
The Book Girls Say…
We were so excited to see a post by Melissa’s favorite independent bookstore calling this book “a literary mashup of The Breakfast Club and The Big Chill fueled by 80s nostalgia.” However, it’s important to note that this book isn’t all fun. It focuses on how the now-adults were affected by a terrible teacher in high school.
Schooled
Book Summary
Jack Parker became a stay-at-home dad after his career went up in smoke (he accidentally burned down his office building). His daughter has just started school, and Jack finally feels like he’s gotten the hang of parenting. Things are going smoothly until his high school nemesis, Chad, moves to town.
When Jack learns that Chad is running for a seat on the school board, it brings up memories of their old high school rivalry. Jack decides to run against Chad, but parent politics prove more cutthroat than he ever imagined.
The Book Girls Say…
We were excited to find a school-themed novel written from a dad’s point of view. Reviewers praise the laugh-out-loud moments in the book and specifically enjoy that the ending is not predictable.
The Gifted School
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
Book Summary
This juicy contemporary drama focuses on four families that have been friends since their children were born. However, secrets and resentments were buried along the way.
Early in the book, we are introduced to each of these families as they discuss a new, exclusive school that will be opening in the town of Crystal, Colorado (which many readers will recognize as a slightly fictionalized version of Boulder, CO). What starts as good intentions is quickly derailed by very questionable actions as they each fight to get their kids into the new school. These ambitious parents will go to any length to secure a spot for their children. Along the way, secrets and lies will resurface in explosive ways.
This novel explores issues of talent versus privilege, achievement versus potential, and the pursuit of prestige at any cost.
The Book Girls Say…
This book is on the longer side, and it may take several chapters to keep the large cast of characters straight, but it’s worth sticking with it, and the narration is well done! The storyline may be most relatable to parents of school-aged kids. Angela and her husband both enjoyed it!
Also Featured on These Book Lists:
Books Set in Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming
Best Audiobooks for Road Trips
Best Thanksgiving Books for Adults
Class Mom
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
Book Summary
Class Mom is a light and entertaining novel about the life of a 40-something mom in a large suburb southwest of Kansas City. She also has two daughters in college, as well as a son in kindergarten.
If you’ve ever done a little eye-rolling when dealing with other parents at your child’s school, this is the book for you. Former rockstar groupie Jen is bamboozled into being the class mom for her daughter’s kindergarten class. Her emails recruiting other parent volunteers are full of the things you wish you could say, but hopefully wouldn’t.
The Book Girls Say…
This fun, irreverent book will make you laugh out loud as long as you don’t take it too seriously. If you’re not a fan of snark, sarcasm, or adult language, skip it. It’s total satire and not a deep novel, but sometimes, that’s just what we need!
If you enjoy the book, you’re in luck because it’s the first in a series of four books that follow the main character up through the years as her son goes through elementary school and on to middle school.
If you’ve ever watched Live with Kelly & Ryan (or Regis/Michael) in the mornings, the author of this book is Gelman’s wife, Laurie.
Also Featured on These Book Lists:
Books With Characters in Their 40s
Books Set in Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, and Nebraska
Fall Romance & Rom Com Books
We also have a separate list of fall romance & romantic comedy books that range from clean reads to steamy selections. We found so many good options when putting together the main fall list that we separated the autumn romances into a list of their own!
More Fall-ish Authors
The list above includes our favorite cozy autumn books, along with the books at the top of our fall reading lists. However, there are a few other authors that consistently come up as winners for this season. If you need more fall reads for your TBR pile, try Anthony Doers, Colson Whitehead, and Sally Rooney. Some even find fall the perfect season for romance novels by Nicholas Sparks.
More Autumn Book Recommendations
For even more cozy books to read in autumn, check out our other fall-themed book lists:
Halloween Romance Books and Rom Coms for 2023
Wednesday 6th of September 2023
[…] As Halloween approaches, September and October are the perfect months to pick up some fun ghost love stories and witchy rom books! We curated a list of highly rated Halloween romance book recommendations to fill your TBR. These novels offer the perfect escape between your deeper fall reads. […]