The fall is the most popular publishing season, and the year’s most anticipated books are released from September to November each year.
In an effort to help you find the best reads of the season, I am sharing my Fall Minimalist Reading List. I narrowed my original list of 28 books down to the 12 that I am most excited to read. I have read and enjoyed books by seven of the authors in the past, and five are new to me. Three books are debut novels, and one was published in 2023.
Contemporary Fiction
The Academy by Elin Hildebrand and Shelby Cunningham
- 432 pages/13h 22m
- September 16, 2025
- Written with her daughter and set at a boarding school (ADULT content)
Family Drama
The Irish Goodbye by Heather Aimee O’Neill
- 288 pages/8h 35m
- September 20, 2025
- Debut
Historical Fiction
The Lost Story of Eva Fuentes by Chanel Cleeton
- 353 pages/10h 28m
- September 30, 2025
The Wilderness by Angela Flourney
- 304 pages/12h 8m
- September 16, 2025
Literary Fiction
The Correspondent by Virginia Evans
- 304 pages/8h 36 m
- April 2025
- Debut
- Epistolary novel
Theo of Golden by Allen Levi
- 399 pages/13h
- October 2023
- Debut
Memoir
Awake by Jen Hatmaker
- 320 pages/7h 30m
- September 23, 2025
Paper Girl: A Memoir of Home and Family in a Fractured America by Beth Macy
- 368 pages/8h 37m
- October 7, 2025
Mystery
Sisters in the Wind by Angeline Boulley
- 384 pages/12h 24m
- September 2, 2025
Romance
A Merry Little Lie by Sarah Morgan
- 368 pages/10h 42m
- October 7, 2025
- Holiday Romance
Never Over by Clare Gilmore
- 352 pages/10h 40m
- October 28, 2025
Thriller
Boom Town by Nic Stone
- 288 pages/7h
- October 14, 2025
Make your favorite autumn beverage, grab a blanket and find a cozy spot to read. Let me know what books you read from my Fall Minimalist Reading List.
Look for these recommendations and other books at Knox County Online Library or your local independent book store each week.
Linda Sullivan is an avid reader and wants to inspire you to become one, too. For more recommendations or to talk books, reach out to her at thebookwhisperertn@gmail.com. She can also be found @thebookwhisperertn on Instagram.
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