14 Books Readers Can't Wait To Read This Fall, According To Goodreads

New books to read while you sip a PSL.

Ah fall: the season of sugary lattes, cozy reading weather, and a new slew of amazing books. This year there are *so* many fall books to choose from that it can be overwhelming. Luckily, Goodreads helped us round up the books readers are most excited to read this fall, according to their "want to read" shelves. Happy reading!

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1. Beautiful World, Where Are You by Sally Rooney

Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Genre: Fiction

Release date: September 7

What it's about: The newest book by the bestselling author follows Alice, a novelist, who meets a warehouse worker named Felix and promptly invites him to travel to Rome with her. Back in Dublin, Alice's best friend Eileen is getting over a breakup by flirting with her childhood friend Simon. This cast of characters is young, but life is quickly catching up with them as they desire each other, break each other's hearts, have sex, worry about having sex, and search for the illusive "beautiful world" they've been looking for. 

Get it from Bookshop, Target, or from a local bookstore via Indiebound.

2. The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina by Zoraida Córdova

Atria

Genre: Fantasy

Release date: September 7

What it's about: The Montoya family knows better than to ask why their pantry never seems to run low or why their matriarch, Orquídea Divina, refuses to leave their home for any reason. So when Orquídea invites the family to her funeral, they're looking for more than just an inheritance; they want answers. Instead, the matriarch transforms, leaving them with more questions. Years later, her gifts have passed on to her descendants, but something — or someone — is picking people off the family line. Determined to save their family, the four descendants travel to Ecuador — to the place where Orquídea buried all her secrets.

Get it from Bookshop, Target, or from a local bookstore via Indiebound.

3. Matrix by Lauren Groff

Riverhead Books

Genre: Historical Fiction

Release date: September 7

What it's about: When 17-year-old Marie de France is kicked out of the royal court, she ends up the new prioress of what appears to be England's most impoverished abbey, its nuns on the brink of starvation and disease. Despite this, Marie finds herself falling in love with her new life, one of devotion to her sisters and conviction in her own visions. Marie is determined to lead (and protect) her new sisters, but in a constantly changing world that pushes women like her aside, will her faith be enough?

Get it from Bookshop, Target, or from a local bookstore via Indiebound.

4. Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty

Henry Holt and Co.

Genre: Mystery

Release date: September 14

What it's about: The Delaneys are a superstar tennis family, but after 50 years of marriage and 4 adult kids, Stan and Joy have sold their acclaimed tennis school. Retirement should be great...so why are they miserable? When a mysterious bleeding woman shows up on their doorstep, they welcome her in as a much-needed distraction. But months later, Joy goes missing, the woman is nowhere to be found, and Stan Delaney is the most likely suspect — even to some of his children. Told in alternating timelines, this is a wild ride from start to finish.

Get it from Bookshop, Target, or from a local bookstore via Indiebound.

5. Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead

Doubleday

Genre: Historical Fiction

Release date: September 14

What it's about: In 1960s Harlem, we meet Ray Carney, a furniture salesman without a lot to his name besides a loving pregnant wife and a happy life. Few people know about his past, but as money gets tighter, the cracks in Ray's façade begin to widen. When he gets pulled into a heist that naturally goes wrong, Ray will suddenly have to navigate his past and present — can he avoid getting killed, collect his share of the loot, and keep his clean-shaven reputation?

Get it from Bookshop, Target, or from a local bookstore via Indiebound.

6. My Sweet Girl by Amanda Jayatissa

Berkley Publishing

Genre: Thriller

Release date: September 14

What it's about: Paloma, adopted from a Sri Lankan orphanage, grew up in the US with everything, including perfect parents she's worried she'll never live up to. But at 30, she's been cut off from their money and is forced to sublet her second bedroom in pricey San Francisco to Arun, a recent immigrant from India. She feels good about herself — until Arun discovers her darkest secret, one that could threaten her life here. Before she can pay him off, Paloma discovers him dead and flees the apartment, but by the time police arrive there's no sign of Arun at all. Did her secret die with him? Did he ever even exist at all?

Get it from Bookshop, Target, or from a local bookstore via Indiebound.

7. The Ex Hex by Erin Sterling

Avon

Genre: Fantasy Romance

Release date: September 28

What it's about: Nine years ago, Vivienne Jones got over her breakup the way any witch would: with vodka, bubble baths, and a teeny-tiny harmless hex on the awful ex. But when Rhys — descendant of the town's ancestors and annoyingly handsome as ever — returns to Graves Glen, Georgia, Vivienne realizes her spell might have been a bit stronger than she thought. Soon, the town is under siege by murderous toys, an angry ghost, and a talking cat while Rhys and Vivienne are forced to work together — trying to ignore their chemistry — to save it from destruction.

Get it from Bookshop, Target, or from a local bookstore via Indiebound. 

8. Light From Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki

Tor Books

Genre: Science Fiction

Release date: September 28

What it's about: Shizuka and the devil have a deal: If she can entice seven violinists to sell their souls for success, she can avoid eternal damnation. She's already collected six when she runs into a trans runaway with an amazing talent. But then, in a donut shop nestled in the San Gabriel Valley, Shizuka meets Lan Tran, a retired starship captain, mother, and intergalactic refugee. Shizuka doesn't have time for crushes — not with her soul on the line — but Lan's kind eyes are making her rethink everything, including her decision to sacrifice souls.  

Get it from Bookshop, Target, or from a local bookstore via Indiebound. 

9. The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles

Viking

Genre: Historical Fiction

Release date: October 5

What it's about: It's 1954, and 18-year-old Emmett Watson is being driven home to Nebraska by the warden of the work farm where he just spent a year working off an involuntary manslaughter charge. With his parents dead and the family farm foreclosed upon, Emmett just wants to pick up his young brother and head west for a new life. But it turns out two of Emmett's friends have stowed away in the warden's trunk and have hatched a very different plan for Emmett's future. 

Get it from Bookshop, Target, or from a local bookstore via Indiebound. 

10. A Carnival of Snackery: Diaries 2003–2020 by David Sedaris

Little, Brown Company

Genre: Nonfiction

Release date: October 5

What it's about: A sampler of stories ranging from "sweet" to "savory," but always leaving the lingering taste of a laugh on your tongue. This collection of diary entries hilariously reminisces on pop culture (and life in general) both recent and from what feels like a lifetime ago. Sedaris expertly pulls stories from his surroundings — which are ever-changing — as he moves from desk to plane to hotel and, of course, through decades. From topical reminders about Trump to a dirty joke at a dinner party, each bite is a little different. 

Get it from Bookshop, Target, or from a local bookstore via Indiebound. 

11. A Spindle Splintered by Alix E. Harrow

Tordotcom

Genre: Fantasy

Release date: October 5

What it's about: Zinnia Gray's 21st birthday is approaching — the last one she'll ever celebrate after an accident leaves her with a mysterious illness that predetermines her untimely death. Zinnia's best friend Charm is determined to make her last birthday party a big one, complete with a "Sleeping Beauty" theme. But when Zinnia pricks her finger, she finds herself falling into another world with another sleeping beauty by her side. 

Get it from Bookshop, Target, or from a local bookstore via Indiebound. 

12. Carefree Black Girls by Zeba Blay

St. Martin's Griffin

Genre: Nonfiction

Release date: October 19

What it's about: Back in 2013, Zeba Blay was one of the first people on Twitter to coin the term "carefreeblackgirls" — a space for the celebration of Black women online. Now, in a series of thought-provoking essays, Blay elaborates on this idea by pulling together personal anecdotes alongside a look into influential Black women, from Josephine Baker to Michelle Obama to Cardi B. This poignant collection is both a celebration of Black women's influence on American culture and a sharp insight into the struggles and stereotypes facing them throughout history. 

Get it from Bookshop, Target, or from a local bookstore via Indiebound. 

13. The Sentence by Louise Erdrich

Harper

Genre: Magical Realism

Release date: November 9

What it's about: Told over the course of exactly one year, this story follows the haunting of a small independent bookstore in Minneapolis by its most annoying customer. When Flora dies on All Saint's Day 2019, she simply refuses to leave the store. The newest bookseller, Tookie, is determined to solve this mystery, despite still reeling from years of recent incarceration that she only survived by throwing herself into books. Over a year of grief, isolation, and drastic change, the bookstore, Tookie, and Flora will go through the ups and downs we now know all too well, but with just a hint of magic.

Get it from Bookshop, Target, or from a local bookstore via Indiebound. 

14. Beasts of a Little Land by Juhea Kim

Ecco

Genre: Historical Fiction

Release date: December 7

What it's about: Set against the Korean independence movement in 1917, a local hunter on the brink of starvation saves a young Japanese officer from a tiger attack. This moment cements their intertwined fates that will span half a century. Meanwhile, a family sells their young daughter, Jade, to Miss Silver’s courtesan school. There, she befriends an orphan boy named JungHo and, as they come of age, JungHo is swept up in the independence revolution, and Jade becomes a performer with a new suitor of noble birth. In a world where the lines between enemies, lovers, saviors, and beasts are blurred, this vivid cast of characters will have to decide who they're willing to risk it all for.

Get it from Bookshop, Target, or from a local bookstore via Indiebound. 

What are you most excited to read this fall? Let us know in the comments below!