The Best Books of Fall 2019

By Kim Hubbard
August 28, 2019 09:30 AM

1 of 20

Olive, Again by Elizabeth Strout

Maybe you read the wonderful Olive Kitteridge — or saw the HBO series — and thought you’d had enough of Strout’s dour, prickly heroine? Guess again: Her return is a stunner. (October) FICTION

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2 of 20

The Testaments by Margaret Atwood 

Inspired, Atwood has said, by reader questions and “the world we’ve been living in,” this wildly imaginative sequel to The Handmaid’s Tale does not disappoint. (September) FICTION

3 of 20

Red at the Bone by Jacqueline Woodson

An unplanned pregnancy irrevocably alters the lives of two black families in this stirring novel that explores the burdens of class, intergenerational trauma and unfulfilled dreams. (September) FICTION

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4 of 20

The Dutch House by Ann Patchett 

A palatial home, abandoned children, a greedy stepmom ... Patchett’s modern fairy tale centers on two siblings who’ve journeyed from riches to rags. Enchanting. (September) FICTION

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5 of 20

All This Could Be Yours by Jami Attenberg

As a nasty real estate developer lies dying, his relatives consider their past. There’s no epiphany here, just the dawning relief that they’ll soon escape him. A richly drawn pleasure. (October) FICTION

6 of 20

Wild Game by Adrienne Brodeur 

When Brodeur was 14, her mother, the exotically named Malabar, enlisted her help in facilitating Malabar’s extramarital affair. Shocking, poignant, unputdownable. (October) NONFICTION

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7 of 20

Life Undercover by Amaryllis Fox

A riveting account of the decade the author spent risking her life in the CIA’s most clandestine unit. (October) NONFICTION

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8 of 20

Janis: Her Life and Music by Holly George-Warren 

How Janis Joplin, an unconventional tomboy from Port Arthur, Texas, became rock and roll’s gravel-voiced queen. (October) NONFICTION

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9 of 20

Radical: The Science, Culture, and History of Breast Cancer in America by Kate Pickert

Diagnosed with breast cancer at 35, health care journalist Pickert started asking questions. The result is this exhaustive, unflinching, deeply personal report. (October) NONFICTION

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10 of 20

Wildhood by Barbara Natterson-Horowitz and Kathryn Bowers 

Adolescence isn’t just for humans. Here an evolutionary biologist offers up rollicking tales of young animals navigating risk, social hierarchy and sex with all the bravura (and dopiness) of our own teenage beasts. (September) NONFICTION

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11 of 20

The Stranger Inside by Lisa Unger

Abducted as a child, Rain Winter escaped and now has a contented life as a journalist and new mother — until a vigilante strikes close to home, awakening long-buried ghosts. (September) MYSTERY/THRILLER

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12 of 20

Imaginary Friend by Stephen Chbosky 

When second grader Christopher Reese returns home after six days lost in the woods, he and his hometown are completely changed, and things get creepy. A wild horror tale. (October) MYSTERY/THRILLER

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13 of 20

A Better Man by Louise Penny 

In Three Pines, the Quebec village at the center of Penny’s fine whodunit series, the murder of a pregnant woman tests now-demoted Chief Inspector Gamache’s faith in legal justice. (August) MYSTERY/THRILLER

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14 of 20

Heaven, My Home by Attica Locke

In Locke’s sequel to Bluebird, Bluebird, Texas Ranger Darren Matthews is again pulled into racial turmoil after the son of local white supremacists goes missing. Captivating. (September) MYSTERY/THRILLER

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15 of 20

The Long Call by Ann Cleeves 

Cleeves’s acclaimed Vera and Shetland series may be history, but her newest detective — buttoned-up, gay, married ex-evangelical Matthew Venn — is a righteous successor. (September) MYSTERY/THRILLER

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16 of 20

Unpregnant by Jenni Hendriks and Ted Caplan 

Veronica, 17, finds herself pregnant in a state where abortion requires parental consent. The road trip that ensues is hilarious — and highlights the stakes for girls in similar straits. (September) YOUNG ADULT

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17 of 20

Pumpkinheads by Rainbow Rowell and Faith Erin Hicks 

As their last shift at the local pumpkin patch winds down, high school seniors Deja and Josiah reminisce and worry about their futures. A sweet ode to friendship. (August) YOUNG ADULT

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18 of 20

Juliet Takes a Breath by Gabby Rivera

Juliet comes out to her family just before leaving to intern with a feminist scholar — who might not have the answers Juliet seeks. A refreshingly honest coming-of-age story. (September) YOUNG ADULT

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19 of 20

The Hive by Barry Lyga and Morgan Baden 

In the not-too-distant future, a popular social media platform allows posts to be liked, disliked — or condemned, subjecting the poster to punishment meted out by a mob. Yikes. (September) YOUNG ADULT

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20 of 20

Slay by Brittney Morris 

Kiera never expected the Black Panther-inspired game she created to go viral — or to cause a dispute that results in a death and charges of racism. Gripping and timely. (September) YOUNG ADULT

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By Kim Hubbard