It seems every time we log onto our computers or swipe open our phones, a new national crisis has arisen and as much as I advocate for students to be in the know and to do their part with taking action- taking a break is important. So, take some time to relax with a good book and a hot cup of tea because you do not own all the world’s problems and you can best tackle days ahead when you’re not thinking in all caps. Here are our recommendations for what you should pick up to read this autumn…
1. When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon
“The Shahs and Patels didn’t mean to start turning the wheels on this “suggested arrangement” so early in their children’s lives, but when they noticed them both gravitate toward the same summer program, they figured, Why not?”
This book has gotten so much hype from the booktube community, I can’t wait to dive into this cute YA and have all the feels.
2. Dark Matter by Blake Crouch
““Are you happy with your life?” Those are the last words Jason Dessen hears before the masked abductor knocks him unconscious.”
I can personally vouch for this one, IT IS SO SO GOOD. If you want a book that you will get completely engrossed in and have you freaking out every step of the way- this is it. This sci-fi thriller is for you even if the words “sci-fi thriller” make you cringe a little.
3. Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
“An atmospheric, gritty, and compelling novel of star-crossed lovers, set in the circus world circa 1932 illuminated by a wonderful sense of time and place.”
Unfortunately, I saw the movie before reading the book, but this is still on my TBR. This is the perfect escapist fiction to dive into!
Recommended by Claire Richey (follow her on Instagram: @clairehascurlyhair)
4. Difficult Women by Roxanne Gay
“Gay returns with Difficult Women, a collection of stories of rare force and beauty, of hardscrabble lives, passionate loves, and quirky and vexed human connection.”
After reading Gay’s collection of short essays in Bad Feminist, I’m SO excited to see what this book holds from one of my new favorite writers. In addition, she has also released Hunger, which has also received tons of praise and I’d recommend that one as well even though it didn’t make this list.
5. Animal by Sara Pascoe
“Take a funny and illuminating tour of the female body with award-winning comedian Sara Pascoe. Women have so much going on, what with boobs and jealousy and menstruating and broodiness and sex and infidelity and pubes and wombs and jobs and memories and emotions and the past and the future and themselves and each other. Here’s a book that deals with all of it.”
Also recommended by Claire Richey @clairehascurlyhair
6. What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty
“Alice Love is twenty-nine, crazy about her husband, and pregnant with her first child. So imagine Alice’s surprise when she comes to on the floor of a gym and is whisked off to the hospital where she discovers the honeymoon is truly over — she’s getting divorced, she has three kids and she’s actually 39 years old. Alice must reconstruct the events of a lost decade, and find out whether it’s possible to reconstruct her life at the same time.”
Recommended by Meredith Bussell (follow her on Instagram: @mabussell)
7. Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
“Hurled back in time by forces she cannot understand, Claire is catapulted into the intrigues of lairds and spies that may threaten her life, and shatter her heart. For here James Fraser, a gallant young Scots warrior, shows her a love so absolute that Claire becomes a woman torn between fidelity and desire—and between two vastly different men in two irreconcilable lives.”
This is part of a series, so if you love it you’re in luck- there’s more!
Recommended by Maddie Cohen (follow her on Instagram: @mcohen117)
8. The Chilbury Ladies’ Choir by Jennifer Ryan
“Told through letters and journals, The Chilbury Ladies’ Choirmoves seamlessly from budding romances to village intrigues to heartbreaking matters of life and death. A timid widow worried over her son at the front; the town beauty has drawn to a rakish artist; her younger sister nursing an impossible crush and dabbling in politics she doesn’t understand; a young Jewish refugee hiding secrets about her family, and a conniving midwife plotting to outrun her seedy past — we come to see how the strength each finds in the choir’s collective voice reverberates in her individual life.”
If you were a fan of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, this is the book for you!
9. This Was Then This Is Now by S.E. Hinton
“Does growing up have to mean growing apart? Since childhood, Bryon and Mark have been as close as brothers. Now things are changing. Bryon’s growing up, spending a lot of time with girls, and thinking seriously about who he wants to be. Mark still just lives for the thrill of the moment. The two are growing apart – until Bryon makes a shocking discovery about Mark. Then Bryon faces a terrible decision – one that will change both of their lives forever.”
If you loved The Outsiders, you’ll love S.E. Hinton’s other lesser known novel- This Was Then This Is Now.
Recommended by Kameron Brooks (follow him on Instagram: @kambrooks21)
10. The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
“Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter moves between two worlds: the poor neighborhood where she lives and the fancy suburban prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. Khalil was unarmed.”
Ranking in as one of 2017’s best new releases, this is not a light read by any means, but a necessary one and I can’t wait to pick up this timely and powerful story.
All excerpt/summary quotes from Goodreads