New fall releases to add to your TBR
Each month over on my Bookstagram page, I do a monthly reading wrap and give fun “superlative” awards to the books I read. This month, I commented that I don’t remember the last time I thought the fall releases were so stellar.
I think most readers agree that there is something unique about reading in the fall. It’s the time of year to get cozy, the days get shorter and cooler and often there is more time to devote to the love of books.
It’s also the very best time for publishing - all the big name authors and buzzy new ones seem to pop up in Autumn and it’s the perfect storm for those of us who love nothing more than to curl up and read.
To that end, here are five of the best fall of 2022 reads, in a variety of genres.
I am a sucker for literary fiction. Every time I try to break out of that mold, I come running back. The Book of Goose by Yiyun Li was absolutely pitch perfect if that too is your bookish jam. In the footsteps of Elena Ferrante, Li weaves a very unique story of two childhood best friends, Agnes and Fabienne. And while their friendship reminded me of Elena & Lila from the Neapolitan novels, Li’s writing is so unique - I’ve never read anything like her prose. Her style is sparse and direct, classic and yet never flowery. But at the same time it’s moody and evocative - I was totally transported into this coming of age story that takes us from post war France to Paris and a British boarding school. Literary fiction at its best.
Ever since Donna Tartt’s The Secret History wowed the reading world in 1992, I’ve been looking to replicate that experience - and I’m not the only one - she really created the dark academia genre. And while I know there won’t ever be another Secret History, The Cloisters by Katy Hays is a strong debut that gave me some reminiscent vibes. My followers know I love an NYC setting and art centric plots, and The Cloisters has both - and does them well. There is a bit of the occult, an academic mystery, and a murder to round it out. And all of this in about 300 pages. I was pleasantly surprised and really was transported. This hits shelves 11/1/22.
I think Maggie O’Farrell is one of the best authors out there right now. She can do no wrong in my world and although I am not typically drawn to historical fiction, if she writes it, I’m all in. With Hamnet she proved that historical fiction doesn’t have to be dry or formulaic. She gave us multilayered characters and a unique look at some figures who history passed over but whose story was anything but dull. In her second historical fiction novel, The Marriage Portrait, O’Farrell brings Renaissance Italy to life and it has the most unexpected ending - she makes stepping back in time an art form and keeps me turning pages fast and furiously.
I’ve loved Southern fiction long before moving to the south. When I was in college in Massachusetts, I took a seminar on William Faulkner and was entranced with the gothic tones, the dark themes, the bigger than life characters, and the family dramas. I feel as though southern fiction has been looking for new voices to carry the torch that Faulkner ignited and Pat Conroy left behind. Perish, by LaToya Watkins, is a new novel that is brimming with all the themes that makes southern writing it’s own niche, but because Watkins is from Texas she gives a unique and local flavor to the dark family drama genre. This is another debut that felt debut in name only - her prose is confident and unapologetic. Southern fiction isn’t warm and fuzzy, it’s often downright disturbing, but Watkins created a page turner with unforgettable characters and I see great things coming from her in the future.
I was so excited to see a new book by Ian McEwen because Atonement is one of those novels that never left my consciousness. It was both unsettling and unforgettable, and wow - can he write. But Lessons was a tough one for me because while I loved the ambitious scope of if, I found that this fell prey to what I call “book bloat” - just too long and meandering and honestly very dull. McEwen punctuated the main character’s life with just about every global event in the 20th century and even into the 21st, right up to the pandemic; at times it was just overwhelming. I include it here because I do think in many ways it’s a feat of writing to produce a book with this type of scope and I cannot quibble with his prose. And I’m a sucker for a gorgeous cover.
This is just a sampling of what’s out there on shelves right now! If you have a question about any other fall releases or would like a recommendation, send me a DM on my IG page @lonestarwords
