The Reading Lounge: Fall New Release Books
A few fall 2023 books I've enjoyed, plus upcoming releases I'm anticipating
Hello!
How’s your fall reading going so far? It feels like mid-October is a great time to do a fall reading check in with myself to see if I’m happy with my fall reading. A couple questions I like to ask myself are: what has been working in my reading, and what books are coming out this season that I want to make sure I add to my tbr.
What Has Been Working in My Reading Life
This fall I can clearly say that thrillers and character driven (specifically female centered main characters) literary fiction have been working for me. To deep dive that a little further - the new books that have worked for me all have very specific settings/time periods that enhanced the stories by creating tension, increasing suspense, making things more difficult for the main characters to survive etc. Here are 3 new release books I’ve enjoyed…
Holly by Stephen King (thriller) This is part of his Mr Mercedes series (also loved) which has veered into his Holly Gibney series. In this thriller, Holly sets out find the gruesome truth behind multiple disappearances in a midwestern town. King has created some truly unique and evil serial killers. This is perfect for October creepy reading, I loved it on audio 🎧
The Vaster Wilds by Lauren Groff (literary fiction) - A servant girl escapes from a colonial settlement in the wilderness. She carries nothing with her but her wits and a few possessions. I love a wilderness survival story, especially when I feel invested in the main character like I did with this story, and the writing is filled with life reflections along with a hefty dose of conflict and tension. I listened to this and it’s one of my favorite audiobooks of the year- January LaVoy narrated and she was brilliant
An Honest Man by Michael Koryta (literary thriller) This story opens with a yacht full of bodies, a woman hiding from killers on a nearby island, and a man trying to prove his innocence and save his life. The sea plays an important role in this literary thriller by one of my auto read authors. I love the way this author crafts his thrillers- there’s mystery, characters to root for and worry about, and surprising twists along the way.
What continues to work for me- freely not finishing a book if I decide it’s just not working for me - aka I DNF with abandon:) Something I always tell myself when I set a book aside- if I’m meant to read it, at some point in the future it will call me back, bit no matter what that book will still be there
Upcoming Releases I’m Anticipating
Call Me Hunter by Jim Shockey - Releases October 17 - An elite secret society of killers has controlled the world’s treasures for hundreds of years…until one member tears himself free to salvage his soul and protect his daughter’s life
The Fiction Writer by Jillian Cantor - Releases Nov 28 - a writer is hired by a handsome billionaire to write about his family history with Daphne du Maurier and finds herself drawn into a tangled web of obsession, marital secrets, and stolen manuscripts.
All the Little Bird Hearts by Viktoria Lloyd-Barlow -Releases Dec 5, 2023 Longlisted for the 2023 Booker Prize, this poetic and often funny debut by an author with autism is written from the point of view of an autistic mother as she and her headstrong adolescent daughter are befriended by a glamorous, charismatic couple with dark ulterior motives.
Let’s chat- how’s your fall reading going? Are you following a tbr, reading backlist, reading buzzy new releases? What upcoming new release books are you looking forward to reading?
Fiction Writer sounds so good!
I hit my reading goal for the year a month ago so i feel like i can relax and go with the flow. So i settled in with two 30 plus hour books. I felt no anx over reading more books than just one 34-hour long book. Now i am catching up on books that i have already purchased instead of buying more. All The Little Bird Hearts sounds right up my alley. Can’t wait for its release. I am also on the hunt for good stories/books that are not “buzzy” books. I don’t want to be reading what all the cool kids are reading unless it really appeals to me. I want to read more of what i enjoy. I want to discover new authors. My first step was to take a chance on a book mentioned in Audible Listeners Club called The Funny Thing About Norman Forman vy Julieta Henderson. I had never heard of this book vefore and i am really enjoying it.