Welcome to fall! The chill in the air means one thing to a bookworm: time to stay indoors and curl up with a good book. This month has so many incredible books to choose from, it was difficult to narrow this list to only five books. But we are so excited for these books to debut, we just had to include them on our must-read lists, and you’ll want them on your lists, too:
The Rooster Bar, by John Grisham (October 24): This year, we are lucky enough to see not one, but two John Grisham books hit the shelves: first came Camino Island last June, and in October we get The Rooster Bar (formerly Untitled Legal Thriller). Here, three young, idealistic law students discover that their expensive law school is nothing but a scam – but they don’t get mad. They decide to get even, and get rich in the process.
Perfect if you love: Grisham’s early novels about lawyers who want to do the right thing, like those in The Rainmaker and A Time to Kill. Brad Meltzer, David Baldacci, and Steve Martini are must-reads for Grisham fans, and fortunately, these authors are just as prolific, so you’ll always have a new book to try!
Uncommon Type, by Tom Hanks (October 17): Yes, THAT Tom Hanks! Who knew that one of America’s most beloved actors had a short story collection in him? Early reviews are positive, and we are definitely eager to read Hanks’s first foray into fiction. Plus: Uncommon Type is a Library Reads pick for October 2017!
Perfect if you love to see how well acting skills translate to writing skills. Try One More Thing, by B.J. Novak, Bream Gives Me Hiccups, by Jesse Eisenberg, or Actors Anonymous, by James Franco.
The Last Ballad, by Wiley Cash (October 3): This is bestseller Cash’s third novel, but it’s already poised to be one of his best, a Depression-era tale of a hardworking single mother, who becomes the (reluctant) face of a union labor movement – something that will have disastrous consequences for her family and even her life. All of Cash’s novels are set in Appalachia, where the beautiful setting is a sharp contrast to his characters’ harsh lives, and his books are building buzz. Definitely an author to watch: The Last Ballad is also a Library Reads pick for October.
Perfect if you love: Gritty, well-researched historical fiction. Try Lilli De Jong, by Janet Benton, or Serena, by Ron Rash.
Origin, by Dan Brown (October 3): Robert Langdon is back! The heroic symbologist from Brown’s Da Vinci Code, Angels and Demons, and Inferno, returns to unravel another of history’s mysteries…and we do mean mystery, as the description of Origin’s plot is being kept closely under wraps. All we know is that Langdon is about to make a discovery that will change everything he knows about human life – and that Brown knows how to keep an audience on the edge of its seat!
Perfect if you love: Thrillers that blend history and mystery. If you have yet to find a series as appealing as the ongoing adventures of Robert Langdon, try the Gabriel Allon series, by Daniel Silva, or the Order of the Sanguines series, by James Rollins.
Manhattan Beach, by Jennifer Egan (October 3): Pulitzer Prize-winning author Egan (A Visit from the Goon Squad, 2011) is finally back with a new novel that’s already garnering high praise: a work of historical fiction set in World War II, where a young woman works in the Brooklyn Naval Yard and dreams of becoming one of its divers, this may be Egan’s most traditional novel, but it’s also shaping up to be one of her most powerful.
Perfect if you love: character-driven stories with large casts of incredible, unforgettable characters. Try Special Topics in Calamity Physics, by Marisha Pessl, and The Emperor’s Children, by Claire Messud.
