Fall Preview of Books

As many of the most anticipated books of the year start to fill our shelves, I’d like to share a Fall Preview of all the great reading this season. With more than 800 books to talk about, I’m compelled to offer you a highly selective list. The good news is local booksellers can give more recommendations for your reading (or gift-giving) interests.

Two 700-page books are making waves in the literary world this fall. “The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny” by Kiran Desai (9/23), currently on the Booker Prize longlist, is the sweeping love story of two young people navigating the many forces that shape their lives: country, class, race, history, and family. “The Wayfinder” by Adam Johnson (10/14) is one of my new favorites! It’s an epic, sweeping novel set in the Polynesian islands of the South Pacific during the height of the Tu’i Tonga Empire and explores themes of sustainability, scarcity, and indigeneity.

Some of our favorite authors are back with heavy-hitters for the season. There’s a new Ken Follett! “Circle of Days,” set at Stonehenge (where Follett was allowed to film and research – a first for anyone!). This ambitious standalone follows two tribes set against each other in war, and a forbidden romance from members of each.

“Heart the Lover” by Lily King (9/30), is a magnificent and intimate new novel of desire, friendship, and the lasting impact of first love.

In the much-anticipated second book from National Book Award finalist Angela Flournoy, “The Wilderness” (9/16) is an era-defining novel about five Black women over the course of their 20-year friendship, as they move through the dizzying and sometimes precarious period between young adulthood and midlife.

Another National Book Award Finalist, Bryan Washington’s, new book, “Palaver,” (11/4) is a life-affirming novel of family, mending, and how we learn to love.

I can’t leave out the masterful John Boyne, one of my favorite authors, and his new book, “The Elements”(9/9). His new book is a complicated but engrossing drama centered around sexual abuse, and challenges the reader’s perceptions of guilt and innocence.

If you are a fantasy or science fiction lover, I want to put two highly anticipated books on your radar. Both authors are from the Portland area and are receiving national attention for their new releases.

“Alchemised ” by SenLinYu (9/23) is the fantasy book of the season. This dark, nuanced, and over 1,000-page novel centers on a woman with missing memories who fights to survive a war-torn world of necromancy and alchemy—and the man tasked with unearthing the buried secrets of her past.

“Hole in the Sky” by Daniel Wilson (10/7) is a staff favorite! I found it to be a gripping read with all the action and imagery of a motion picture! This sci-fi thriller is a Native American First Contact story that centers around the deep mysteries of the heliopause. Come meet the author at Roundabout Books on Oct. 25.

If you’re a mystery lover, John Grisham is back with “The Widow” (10/21), his first ever whodunit, even more suspenseful than his courtroom dramas, as a small-time lawyer accused of murder races to find the real killer. “The Black Wolf” by Louise Penny (10/28) is the latest in everyone’s favorite Inspector Gamache series.

The nonfiction category is full of highlights. There’s something for everyone!

If you love a truly great memoir, get a copy of “Mother Mary Comes to Me” by Arundhati Roy (9/2). This is a raw and deeply moving memoir from the legendary author of “The God of Small Things” and “The Ministry of Utmost Happiness” that traces the author’s complex relationship with her mother. Likewise, “All the Way to the River” by Elizabeth Gilbert (9/9) is a landmark memoir that will resonate with anyone who has ever been held captive to love—or to any other passion, substance, or craving – and who yearns, at long last, for liberation.

There are two celebrity memoirs this year that might make the perfect gift. “Simply More” by Cynthia Erivo (11/18) is releasing just in time for the next “Wicked” movie. Cynthia draws from her experiences running marathons to show how each challenge can help us and urges readers to lean into the wisdom of their bodies. Don’t miss “Last Rites” by Ozzy Osbourne (10/7), who once said, “If I’d done normal, sensible things, I wouldn’t be Ozzy.”

For those who lean more toward biography, consider “Capturing Kahanamoku” by Michael Rossi (10/21), the fascinating untold story of one scientist’s pursuit of a legendary surfer who has been excluded from the historical narrative. In the quest to define human nature, 1920s scientists exploited eugenics in pursuit of the perfect human form. For readers who loved “Barbarian Days” and “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.”

History buffs will enjoy a plethora of titles releasing this season. “History Matters” by David McCullough (9/16) is a posthumous collection of thought-provoking essays affirming the value of history and how we can be guided by its lessons. “We the People” by Jill Lepore (9/16) is a stunning new history of the U.S. Constitution, for a troubling new era. “The Gales of November” by John U. Bacon (10/7) tells the story of the Edmund Fitzgerald’s sinking on its 50th anniversary. “1929” by Andrew Ross Sorkin (10/14), the bestselling author of “Too Big to Fail,”is a spellbinding narrative of the most infamous stock market crash in history.

Love a great cookbook? “Good Things” by Samin Nosrat (9/16), the bestselling author of ”Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat,” includes 125 meticulously tested, flavor-forward, soul-nourishing recipes that bring joy and a sense of communion

For the career-oriented, take a look at “Having It All” by Corinne Low (9/23), who explores how women in America today are faced with unsustainable demands in every sphere. And we cannot leave out the new Brene Browne (9/23) “Strong Ground,” who introduces a whole new set of leadership skills, including the toughest one of all, the discipline, humility, and confidence to unlearn and relearn.

I’ll end with what could be not just the gift book of the season, but the bestselling book of the whole year, “Always Remember” by Charlie Mackesy (10/14), the sequel to bestseller, “The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, and the Horse.”

“More than 800 new books are coming this fall. There’s a great read for everyone.”

—Cassie Clemans

WHAT CASSIE’S READING:

Katabasis by R. F. Kuang

Dante’s Inferno meets Susanna Clarke’s Piranesi in this all-new dark academia fantasy from R. F. Kuang, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Babel and Yellowface, in which two graduate students must put aside their rivalry and journey to Hell to save their professor’s soul—perhaps at the cost of their own.

Katabasis, noun, Ancient Greek: The story of a hero’s descent to the underworld

This article appears in the Source September 25, 2025.