The 20 Most-anticipated Books for Fall

This satisfying conclusion to the nationally best-selling "Winter in Paradise" trilogy will take readers to the Caribbean one last time. As Irene Steele and her sons start to set the foundation for their new lives on St. John, a visit from the FBI shakes up their progress. Evidence begins to mount suggesting that Irene’s husband’s death may not have been an accident, and as a storm gathers strength in paradise, at last all will be revealed about the life-changing truth that brought the Steele family to St. John.

To pre-order: amazon.com, bookshop.org, from $17 

Bestselling author of "Homegoing," Yaa Gyasi, is back with a deeply intimate novel about a Ghanaian family in Alabama. It follows Gifty, a sixth-year Stanford University neuroscience student, who is determined to find the scientific reason her family is ravaged by addiction, mental illness, and grief. This tale of faith, science, religion, and love will pull at readers’ heartstrings while examining how resilient humans can be.

To pre-order: amazon.com, bookshop.org, from $21

From the imagination of actor Lou Diamond Phillips comes a riveting science fantasy tale. When Everson’s parents force him to serve as a soldier, he winds up stranded on an enemy planet after their first battle. Now Everson must fight to survive and avoid traitors who want to use him to overthrow the king. But everything changes when a chance encounter with the king’s daughter Allegra provokes feelings between them. Will this forbidden love provide a chance to end this war?

To pre-order: amazon.com, bookshop.org, $25

Nicholas Sparks’ newest release follows Navy doctor Trevor Benson, who gets sent home from Afghanistan due to devastating injuries. He retreats to his late grandfather’s cabin for a quiet life tending beehives. He never expected to fall for a local, and her distant demeanor makes him wonder what she could be hiding. As if that wasn’t complicated enough, Trevor also meets a teenage girl with secrets of her own. In his quest to discover their hidden secrets, Trevor will learn the true meaning of love and forgiveness.

To pre-order: amazon.com, bookshop.org, from $20

In between life and death there is a library with never-ending shelves. In this library, one book tells your life how it is, while the other books show how your life could have been if you made different choices along the way. When Nora Seed finds herself with the opportunity to exchange her life for a new one, she must search within herself as she travels through the Midnight Library to decide what truly makes life worth living.

To pre-order: amazon.com, bookshop.org, from $20

Free-spirited Dolores dreamed of a love that embodied the spirit of her home in 1922 Honolulu. In search of finding this, she runs away from home and lands in an abusive marriage. But when she and her children set off for a better life with the help of family friend Alberto, her weariness to trust again is tested by the spark ignited by her escape accomplice. 

To buy: amazon.com, bookshop.org, from $16

This highly-anticipated sequel to the popular "Ready Player One," which was made into a hit blockbuster film directed by Steven Spielberg, is set to hit shelves this November. Although the plot is under wraps, this book will presumably pick up on Wade, Aech, and Art3mis now that they’re in charge of the OASIS.

To pre-order: amazon.com, bookshop.org, from $27

After abandoning her as a child, Tara’s patriarchal family pressured her to make do with a life that left her deeply lonely in an abusive arranged marriage. Despite their heavy hand, Tara clings to her newly discovered self-worth and begins building a new life, one replacing a painful arrangement with her childhood love, Cyrus. The hope of a beautiful life with him fuels her to disregard threats from her family, but will it be enough to conquer the ghosts of fear and shame from her past?

To buy: amazon.com, bookshop.org, $16

African folktales and postcolonial literature combine in this magical world devastated by a climate catastrophe. Djola, the master of poisons, usually has an antidote for everything. However, he cannot find something to fix the poison desert that is spreading across the Arkhysian Empire, killing everything in its path. Frustrated by his lack of support and others’ determination to find a cheap and easy solution, Djola is committed to finding some way to fix the crisis that plagues the world. 

To pre-order: amazon.com, bookshop.org, from $26

This collection of linked stories takes readers on a journey from New Orleans to NYC to Madrid, from 1970 to present-day; it’s perfect for fans of "Three Women" by Lisa Taddeo and Amazon’s "Modern Love." Twelve accounts bear witness to the female experience, and how the choices we make — to work or not, marry or remain single — look differently depending on when and where we live. As a whole, the collection illustrates the influence of patriarchy, especially so before the #MeToo movement. 

To buy: amazon.com, bookshop.org, from $16

This swoon-worthy rom-com follows rival neighboring business owners Blaire and Ronan as they fight for customers, the title of Best Bar in the Pacific Northwest, and against the obvious chemistry between them. They couldn’t be more opposite and neither could their bars, but when a new business threatens both of their shops, they put their flirtatious one-upping on pause and work together to help both of their businesses thrive. 

To buy: amazon.com, bookshop.org, $15

Afi Tekple is a young seamstress in a small town in Ghana. When she is presented with the life-changing opportunity to marry a wealthy man from the capital, Accra, she embraces the opportunity. However, Afi soon learns that her husband is in love with another woman that his family disapproves of, and Afi was summoned to help win him back. But in the end it is Accra that truly captures Afi’s heart and gives her a life of independence that is better than she could’ve imagined.

To pre-order: amazon.com, bookshop.org, $24

Phoenix and Orchid toe the line between professional and personal until they grow closer over a shared military campaign, and Orchid reveals trauma from her past that could change their future. For fans of "Me Before You" and "The Fault in Our Stars," this emotionally-charged debut novel explores what Phoenix would do for love, and what happens when pursuing it might mean breaking his own heart. 

To pre-order: amazon.com, bookshop.org, from $18

Noriko “Nori” Kamiza is an outsider from birth. She is the daughter of a married Chinese aristocrat and her African American lover. When her mother abandons her with these final words: “Do not question. Do not fight. Do not resist,” she is confined to her grandparents’ attic and accepts her solitary life. But when chance brings her half brother into her life, she forms an unlikely bond that awakens something inside of her, and she is ready to fight for a chance to live in a world where she belongs.

To pre-order: amazon.com, bookshop.org, from $20

Police Investigator Susan Adler and forensic investigator Liam Dwyer team up to get to the bottom of a case involving the murder of a fellow state trooper. Surprising dashboard footage leads Susan to an elderly patient and his nurse, both of whom went missing only days before the murder in question. Stakes and suspicions rise when those with connections to the missing people start to turn up dead. 

To buy: amazon.com, bookshop.org, from $12

Joseph "Ziggy" Johnson is a gossip columnist, nightclub emcee, founder and dean of a theater school, and one of Detroit’s most influential and vibrant personalities. As he nears the end of his life, he takes time to reflect on his celebrated neighborhood, Black Bottom, and the people who built it. Inspired by the Catholic Saints Day Books, Ziggy pens a list of his own neighborhood’s "52 Saints." Accompanying the story of each saint is a cocktail recipe embodying the character of each saint. 

To buy: amazon.com, bookshop.org, $25

Author of "They All Fall Down" is back with another chilling mystery. A handsome man hires private investigator Grayson Sykes to find Isabel, the woman who just left him. Though hesitant to track down someone who may want to stay lost, she persists and uncovers surprising secrets that slowly unravel the truth. The case reveals unsettling similarities between Grayson and Isabel, forcing Grayson to unearth her own long-buried truths and question how violence and fear can lead someone to trade everything for survival. 

To pre-order: amazon.com, bookshop.org, from $21

When Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of the Sûreté heads to Paris to visit his billionaire godfather Stephen Horowitz, he doesn't expect to find long-buried secrets that his godfather has kept for decades. More gruesome discoveries about Horowitz wrap Gamache and his family into a dangerous web of deceit. In order to find the truth, Gamache must decide whether to trust his family, his friends, his colleagues, or his own past. 

To pre-order: amazon.com, bookshop.org, from $21

Motivated to distance herself from her ex-husband, his new lover, and a life she wasn’t prepared to leave, Anne packs up for what she hopes is a fresh start in her childhood summer sanctuary, the bayside town of Potomac Point. But she’s not alone; her troubled daughter Katy and a slew of family secrets uncovered in her grandmother’s recipe box keep her company. This is the second book, following "If You Must Know," in The Potomac Point series. 

To pre-order: amazon.com, bookshop.org, from $10

 #1 Best-selling New York Times author Ruth Ware is back again with another suspenseful thriller set on a snow-covered mountain. When a trendy start-up company takes their team on a trip to the luxurious French Alps, it starts out as boring as any other work retreat. However, as a storm brews outside and tensions rise inside, an avalanche cuts the team off from the outside world. Each coworker has something to gain, something to lose, and something to hide — and as each hour passes the group begins to dwindle... one by one.

To pre-order: amazon.com, bookshop.org, from $21

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