So long hot girl summer, hello book nerd autumn!
We don't know about you, but there's nothing like cozying up with a good book in the fall, and while the season doesn't officially begin until later this month, the start of September feels like the perfect time to begin assembling your reading list for optimal hibernation. As always, we highly encourage this behavior, offering up our list of the top new releases. This month, we've got several thrillers that are sure to get you ready for spooky season, along with a few charming AF rom-coms and several highly anticipated sequels.
So, whatever you're in the mood for, we've got something to satisfy your literary itch and will pair perfectly with your comfiest flannel shirt and pumpkin spice latte.
Here are 14 books worth checking out in September:
Historical fiction fans, we dare you to resist immediately buying the Hamnet author's new book, set in Florence in the 1550s, after reading this summary: Young duchess Lucrezia de' Medici finds herself thrust into the world of court politics and schemes after she is forced by her father to marry her dead sister's mysterious fiancé, the ruler of Ferrara, Modena and Reggio. This is what we imagine Renaissance Bravo would be! (September 6)
Looking for the perfect way to kick off your spooky season? Well, you can end your search now as the co-host of the wildly popular true-crime podcast Morbid, who is also an autopsy technician, is offering up a twisted tale of a serial killer terrorizing the Louisiana bayou. Told from the dueling perspectives of a notorious murderer and the medical examiner who is desperate to catch him, this cat-and-mouse thriller will give your goosebumps chills. (September 13)
In this devastating-in-the-best-way debut, Ky, a young Vietnamese-Australian woman, returns home after her younger brother is murdered. Desperate for answers and wracked with guilt after she was the one who convinced her parents to let him go out on the night he died, the book elegantly alternates between Ky's investigation and the perspectives of the eight witnesses who claimed not to see anything. (September 13)
After Elliott, the beloved co-owner of the Over the Rainbow Bookshop dies, his grief-stricken business partner Irma plans to sell the store to a big, bad developer. But Irma's daughters team up with Elliott's romantic partner to save the little shop and preserve Elliott's legacy, even if it means resorting to snooping and sabotage. (September 13)
In the spiritual successor to her breakout hit Sadie, Summers explores 16-year-old Georgia's struggles with poverty, body image and and a predatory power structure in this queer thriller. After she finds the body of 13-year-old girl, Georgia teams up with the dead teen's older sister to find the killer, only to discover they have feelings for each other. (September 13)
In The Pulitzer Prize winner's highly anticipated follow-up to last year's Oh Williams!, Strout continues Lucy Barton's journey by placing her in a months-long lockdown. In a small town in Maine. With her ex-husband and on-again, off-again friend, William. Oh William, indeed. (September 20)
If you loved Red, White, and Royal Blue—which, duh, of course you did!—Sass' ridiculously charming YA rom-com is the perfect read for you to smile silly throughout. Micah Summers is Insta-famous for his drawings of his numerous imaginary boyfriends (99 to be exact), but he's yet to have a real lover. And when a meet-cute with Boy 100 goes wrong, Micah embarks on a Prince Charming-like quest throughout Chicago to find true love IRL. (September 20)
Double double, our girl is in trouble! In the follow-up to her charming debut The Ex Hex, Sterling continues the banter-filled love story between exes Gwyn and Wells, who are forced to work together when a new coven of witches arrive in Graves Glen and Gwyn's powers begin to fade. (September 20)
If Guillory writes it, we will swoon. That is just science! Feel free to pour a glass of wine before diving into the beloved author's newest, which centers on the complicated dynamic between Margot, who is running her family's winery, and her hot new hire, Luke. The problem? They had what they thought was the perfect one-night stand just before his first day. Yeah, forget the glass, grab the bottle. (September 20)
If there is one rom-com trope we can't resist it is a fake relationship that slowly becomes a real one, which is exactly what the Dial A for Aunties and The Obsessions scribe is delivering. When Sharlot Citra was whisked away from LA to her mother's native Indonesia, she didn't expect to find herself pretending to be dating the son of one of the country's wealthiest families. (He's adorable named George Clooney Tanuwijaya. Swoon.) And she definitely didn't anticipate developing real feelings for him. Sure, you know where this is going, but you will enjoy every minute of it.(September 27)
Start preparing yourself now for the emotional conclusion of the popular Beartown story, with The New York Times bestselling author offering one last hurrah with the tight-knit community. Expect first loves, second chances, and last goodbyes. (September 27)
In the first book in the These Violent Delights and Our Violent Ends author's new duology, an ill-matched pair of spies are forced to pose as a married couple to investigate brutal murders in 1930s Shanghai. Crime and romance? No foul, all fortune for us! (September 27)
In this bewitching thriller, Emery Blackwood's world is turned upside down when the love of her life, who was accused of murdering her best friend, comes back to town for the first time in 14 years. Coincidentally, every single tree on their small island—rooted in folklore and magic—turned color on the same night he arrived. Unfortunately for them both, that is just the first of many strange happenings that will unearth secrets about the murder and their community. (September 27)
We can't think of better bookends for your day than by waking up with the beloved host while watching Live With Kelly and Ryan! in the morning and then cozying up with her sharp, sincere and sometimes savage collection of personal stories before going to bed. (September 27)