Fall Releases I Can’t Wait To Read

I’m honestly not sure how we’re here talking about fall reading lists when it was, like, just last week that we were making our spring ones, but apparently, time means nothing anymore?

I can’t remember even what was on my summer TBR, because it somehow simultaneously feels like ten years ago and two days ago. And now I’m supposed to come up with a fall one? Pshaw. Y’all are tripping.

Today’s Top Ten Tuesday is books on my fall TBR, and I have to say that right now, my “possibility pile” is looking more like a leaning tower of Pisa than anything else. If you feel the Earth shudder, Pisa has fallen, send help.

This time of year is a busy one for me, and so even though I go into it with the best of intentions, who knows what my stack will look like going out the other end. No, wait, scratch that. My birthday and Christmas are both mixed in there somewhere, which means my TBR will multiply like a gremlin in a bathtub. Welp, I’m doomed. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

So here are 10 books that I hope to read before my imminent and inevitable demise.

Odder

Release date: September 20

Meet Odder, the Queen of Play:

Nobody has her moves.
She doesn’t just swim to the bottom,
she dive-bombs.
She doesn’t just somersault,
she triple-doughnuts.
She doesn’t just ride the waves,
she makes them.

Odder spends her days off the coast of central California, practicing her underwater acrobatics and spinning the quirky stories for which she’s known. She’s a fearless daredevil, curious to a fault. But when Odder comes face-to-face with a hungry great white shark, her life takes a dramatic turn, one that will challenge everything she believes about herself—and about the humans who hope to save her.

Inspired by the true story of a Monterey Bay Aquarium program that pairs orphaned otter pups with surrogate mothers, this poignant and humorous tale told in free verse examines bravery and healing through the eyes of one of nature’s most beloved and charming animals.

DO YOU HAVE EYES? CAN YOU SEE THAT COVER?! *flails* The publisher was kind enough to provide me a copy of this book, and let me tell you, it is even cuter in person. I’m honestly not sure how.

Listen, my philosophy is you’re never too old for a Katherine Applegate book. I started reading them around 7 or 8, and I don’t intend to quit anytime soon. Books in verse are a little hit or miss for me, but Applegate’s books in verse are easily some of my favorite! I absolutely love her wordplay. Plus, she somehow manages to pack a whole ton of emotions into so few words? I don’t know how. I suspect black magic is involved.

First Lines:

It Rides A Pale Horse

Release date: October 4

From a new star in horror fiction comes a terrifying novel of obsession, greed, and the shocking actions we’ll take to protect those we love, all set in a small town filled with dark secrets.

The Larkin siblings are known around the small town of Wofford Falls. Both are artists, but Peter Larkin, Lark to his friends, is the hometown hero. The one who went to the big city and got famous, then came back and settled down. He’s the kind of guy who becomes fast friends with almost anyone. His sister Betsy on the other hand is more… eccentric. She keeps to herself.

When Lark goes to deliver one of his latest pieces to a fabulously rich buyer, it seems like a regular transaction. Even being met at the gate of the sprawling, secluded estate by an intimidating security guard seems normal. Until the guard plays him a live feed: Betsy being abducted in real time.

Lark is informed that she’s safe for now, but her well‑being is entirely in his hands. He’s given a book. Do what the book says, and Betsy will go free.

It seems simple enough. But as Lark begins to read he realizes: the book might be demonic. Its writer may be unhinged. His sister’s captors are almost certainly not what they seem. And his town and those within it are… changing.

And the only way out is through.

Fall means spooky reads, right? What can I say? I’m a horrible mood reader, and right now the mood is scare the bejeesus out of me right now, thanks. The cover is definitely what first caught my eye on this one. There’s something eerie and sinister about this horse, and I want to get to the bottom of it.

Remember when no harm ever came from reading a book? Hahahaha, yeah, that’s definitely not a thing. The characters in this aren’t exactly bringing sexy old guys back to life, but it seems thrilling all the same. A demonic book? Where do I sign up?

First Lines:

Flight 171

Release date: October 4

Devon Marsh is haunted by secrets. Like the identity of the person who killed her twin sister, Emily, in a hit and run accident last Halloween, which Devon has vowed to uncover. Like the things Devon said to Emily just before she died.

But she’s determined to start fresh when she boards a four-hour flight along with her classmates for their senior class ski trip. Devon never could have guessed those secrets would surface in the most terrifying way when a supernatural creature hijacks their flight and gives the students a deadly ultimatum:

Choose one among them to sacrifice before the end of the flight. Or the plane will crash.

As the clock ticks down, the creature slowly unearths the passengers’ deepest, darkest secrets—and reveals that one of the teens on the plane is responsible for Emily’s death. The students must agree on a sacrifice, or there won’t be any survivors. But can Devon find a way to stop the creature, or will she give in to her anger and let revenge take control?

Listen. I warned you that I was going to be on a horror book kick. So don’t blame me for this one. I am inherently terrified of airplanes, due to severe anxiety and a ridiculously overpowering fear of heights. Well, not so much the height as suddenly no longer being that high up . . . and the subsequent stop at the end. Combine that with a mysterious creature, dark secrets, and a deadly ultimatum and this sounds like the perfect horror book.

Actually, the first time I read this synopsis, I got the feeling that this is almost a YA retelling of The Perfect Storm. Considering how much I love that movie, I’m curious to see how this one plays out.

First Lines:

Gleanings

Release date: November 8

There are still countless tales of the Scythedom to tell. Centuries passed between the Thunderhead cradling humanity and Scythe Goddard trying to turn it upside down. For years humans lived in a world without hunger, disease, or death with Scythes as the living instruments of population control.

Neal Shusterman—along with collaborators David Yoon, Jarrod Shusterman, Sofía Lapuente, Michael H. Payne, Michelle Knowlden, and Joelle Shusterman—returns to the world throughout the timeline of the Arc of a Scythe series. Discover secrets and histories of characters you’ve followed for three volumes and meet new heroes, new foes, and some figures in between.

Gleanings shows just how expansive, terrifying, and thrilling the world that began with the Printz Honor–winning Scythe truly is.

It’s no secret that I absolutely loved the Arc of a Scythe series. Okay, sure, I didn’t absolutely love the way the trilogy ended, but hey, can’t win them all. One thing’s for sure: I was not ready to leave that world. Luckily, I don’t have to! Shusterman is teaming up with some other big-name authors for this collection that delves further into the background of the series, and I cannot wait.

First Lines:

You Only Live Once, David Bravo

Release date: September 20

Middle school is the worst, especially for David Bravo. He doesn’t have a single class with his best (and only) friend, Antoine. He has to give a presentation about his heritage, but he’s not sure how—or even if—he wants to explain to his new classmates that he’s adopted. And after he freezes up at his first cross-country race, causing an accident that leaves Antoine with a busted ankle, he’s 100 percent sure he’s cursed.

David wishes he could do it all over. He doesn’t expect his wish to summon a pushy, annoying talking dog who claims to be his new timeline guide. According to Fea, somewhere in his past, David made a choice that put his life on the wrong track. And she can take him back to fix it.

David knows exactly what he wants to undo: the accident that hurt Antoine. But when his first try (and the second, and the third) is a total disaster, he and Fea are left scrambling through timeline after timeline, trying to figure out what she’s really here to fix—a quest that may lead them to answers in the most unexpected places.

This one isn’t, on the surface, a book that I would necessarily rush out to read, right? It definitely stands out from the rest of the list. However, I’ve been having good luck with contemporary middle grade lately, and this one skirts the line between contemporary and fantasy, what with a “pushy, annoying talking doggo” (which, frankly, is the best kind of doggo). Honestly, this book just sounded too cute and wholesome to pass up. I mean, not everything can be stabbiness and dragons, can it? No, it cannot. Probably.

First Lines:

Spells For Forgetting

Release date: September 27

A deeply atmospheric story about ancestral magic, an unsolved murder, and a second chance at true love.

Emery Blackwood’s life changed forever the night her best friend was found dead and the love of her life, August Salt, was accused of murdering her. Years later, she is doing what her teenage self swore she never would: living a quiet existence on the misty, remote shores of Saoirse Island and running the family’s business, Blackwood’s Tea Shoppe Herbal Tonics & Tea Leaf Readings.

But when the island, rooted in folklore and magic, begins to show signs of strange happenings, Emery knows that something is coming. The morning she wakes to find that every single tree on Saoirse has turned color in a single night, August returns for the first time in fourteen years and unearths the past that the town has tried desperately to forget.

August knows he is not welcome on Saiorse, not after the night everything changed. As a fire raged on at the Salt family orchard, Lily Morgan was found dead in the dark woods, shaking the bedrock of their tight-knit community and branding August a murderer. When he returns to bury his mother’s ashes, he must confront the people who turned their backs on him and face the one wound from his past that has never healed—Emery.

The town has more than one reason to want August gone, and the emergence of deep betrayals and hidden promises spanning generations threaten to reveal the truth behind Lily’s mysterious death once and for all.

Does that synopsis alone not give you all the fall vibes? It’s a bit sinister and eerie, while still being entirely mysterious and compelling. Hard to go wrong with murder and magic. Just saying. Plus, I’ve really enjoyed Adrienne Young’s other titles, so of course I was always going to give this one a try.

First Lines:

Monster Club

Release date: September 13

Like almost everything in eleven-year-old Eric “Doodles” King’s life, King’s Wonderland–the amusement park his great-great grandfather founded–was seriously damaged when a hurricane hit his beloved Coney Island neighborhood. Now hungry property developers are circling the wreckage of the once-awesome King’s Wonderland, and Eric’s family is falling apart from the threat of losing it all.

If it weren’t for Monster Club–the epic roleplaying game that Eric and his friends created–Eric’s life would be pretty terrible. Drawing his favorite monster battling with his best friends’ creations is the one thing that still gets Eric excited. So when his friends start to think of Monster Club as a kid’s game and get more interested in other things, Eric just can’t deal. But then Eric happens across a long-lost vial of magic ink that brings their monster drawings to life, and suddenly, Monster Club isn’t just for fun anymore.

The monsters Eric and his friends created are wreaking havoc across Coney, and it’s on the Monster Club to save their city, the amusement park, and maybe, just maybe, Eric’s family, too. It’s a hilarious, heartfelt adventure from the creative minds of Darren Aronofsky and Ari Handel that fans of Last Kids on Earth and Spy School are sure to love.

A bit of a lighter fall read, anyone? For those scaredy cats among us. I don’t always want to be on the verge of having a heart attack. My doctor says that’s bad for my health. So I slip in these cute little feel-good books like this to give my blood pressure a chance to level out a bit before taxing my poor heart again.

This book has two things going for it right off the bat. One, I grew up on Goosebumps and horror stories, so any sort of abandoned theme park is terrifying. It’s basically engrained in me by this point. Two, a roleplaying game called Monster Club? Where do I get instructions on how to play this game? And who wants to start a roleplaying group with me?! Because I am in.

First Lines:

The Girl in White

Release date: September 6

Sweet Molly once lived in Eastport
Sweet Molly once loved the sea
Sweet Molly lost Liam to the shadows
Now Sweet Molly is coming for ye …

Mallory hasn’t quite adapted to life in her new town of Eastport yet. Maybe it’s because everyone is obsessed with keeping the town’s reputation as one of the most haunted places to visit.

And thanks to the nightmares she’s had since arriving, Mallory is having a hard time sleeping. Combined with the unsettling sensation of being watched and losing chunks of time, she’s worried that maybe the ghost stories she’s been quick to dismiss might actually be real.

When Mallory has a terrifying encounter with the same old woman from her dreams, she’s not sure what to do. With Eastport gearing up to celebrate the anniversary of their first recorded legend Mallory is forced to investigate the one legend she’s always secretly been afraid of . . . Sweet Molly.

Lindsay Currie is one of my go-to MG horror authors. I’ve enjoyed every one of her books that I’ve read so far, and I imagine this one will be no different. This sounds like a delightfully creepy fall read, but also a little bit milder than some of the other books on this list. I’ve got a soft spot for local legends and folklore, so I’m really interested to learn about Sweet Molly and see how this story unfolds.

First Lines:

New Dragon City

Release date: October 4

Set off on a high-stakes, action-packed adventure in this story about friendship, survival, and fighting for ones you love, perfect for fans of Wings of Fire and How to Train Your Dragon.

No one predicted the dragon apocalypse. The dragons came suddenly and decimated the world as we knew it, including New York City. Now, three years later, Noah, his hardcore survivalist father, and a ragtag group of survivors are barely scraping by in this new reality. Kids scavenge not only for materials in abandoned homes but also for leftover books at the library. Adults spend their time establishing a make-shift society and defending their shelter… with any means available. At least for the few months the dragons are hibernating, until it’s no longer safe aboveground.

Noah has seen the damage these creatures can do firsthand. When it comes to dragons: It’s kill or be killed. But a chance encounter between Noah and a young dragon forces him to question everything he thought he knew. With rumors spreading that there’s a group of survivors living in harmony with dragons instead of hiding underground, Noah teams up with his fire-breathing ally to find out if peace between humans and dragons is really possible. But the division runs deeper than scales versus skin because trying to follow his heart might just cost Noah his family too. If Noah and his father can’t see eye to eye, can he really get humans and dragons to?

I mean . . . it has dragon right there in the title. Enough said? This also happens to be the author of Dragon Ops, which I really enjoyed, so I know she can do dragon books. What really caught my attention with this one (you know, other than the dragons) is the fact that it’s basically middle grade dystopia, which is something I don’t see very often. In YA, yeah, sure, but not as often in middle grade. So I’m really curious to read this book!

First Lines:

The Luminaries

Release date: November 1

From Susan Dennard, the New York Times bestselling author of the Witchlands series, comes a haunting and high-octane contemporary fantasy, about the magic it takes to face your fears in a nightmare-filled forest, and the mettle required to face the secrets hiding in the dark corners of your own family.

Hemlock Falls isn’t like other towns. You won’t find it on a map, your phone won’t work here, and the forest outside town might just kill you.

Winnie Wednesday wants nothing more than to join the Luminaries, the ancient order that protects Winnie’s town—and the rest of humanity—from the monsters and nightmares that rise in the forest of Hemlock Falls every night.

Ever since her father was exposed as a witch and a traitor, Winnie and her family have been shunned. But on her sixteenth birthday, she can take the deadly Luminary hunter trials and prove herself true and loyal—and restore her family’s good name. Or die trying.

But in order to survive, Winnie enlists the help of the one person who can help her train: Jay Friday, resident bad boy and Winnie’s ex-best friend. While Jay might be the most promising new hunter in Hemlock Falls, he also seems to know more about the nightmares of the forest than he should. Together, he and Winnie will discover a danger lurking in the forest no one in Hemlock Falls is prepared for.

Not all monsters can be slain, and not all nightmares are confined to the dark.

I feel like this one should go without saying. I mean . . . that cover? That author? That blurb? Duh. This was always going to be on a list of books I want to read. How could it not be? This book sounds delightfully creepy and disturbing. Not gonna lie, Hemlock Falls sounds like somewhere I need to visit. Especially if it’s got a murder forest. I mean, COME ON. What better spot for a fall vacation?! It’s perfect!

First Lines:

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