It’s officially fall! Temperatures are dropping, days are shorter, and the leaves are changing colors. Even better, you have every excuse to curl up, get comfortable, drink a cup of warm apple cider and read a book! If you’re anything like me, during the colder months, you go tend to go into to hibernation mode. To me, it’s the best time to relax and read (one of my favorite things to do). If you’re looking for some new books to fall in love with… I’ve got your covered! Here’s a list of all the books that I plan on reading this fall. You should add them to your bookshelf too!
Books to Add to Your Fall Reading List
“The Testaments” by Margaret Atwood
Any fans of the popular book (and now series) “The Handmaid’s Tale”? Well here’s the sequel to the modern classic…
“More than fifteen years after the events of The Handmaid’s Tale, the theocratic regime of the Republic of Gilead maintains its grip on power, but there are signs it is beginning to rot from within. At this crucial moment, the lives of three radically different women converge, with potentially explosive results. Two have grown up as part of the first generation to come of age in the new order. The testimonies of these two young women are joined by a third voice: a woman who wields power through the ruthless accumulation and deployment of secrets.”
Get your copy here
“The Memo: What Women of Color Need to Know to Secure a Seat at the Table” by Minda Harts
Harts – author, speaker assistant professor, and founder of The Memo LLC, a career-driven company for WOC is making it her business to drop some great career advice for my fellow boss ladies! In “The Memo” Harts uses her own entrepreneurial experience to provide a guide for women of color on how to address issues ever-present in Corporate America (micro-aggressions, systematic racism, and white privilege just to name a few).
Get your copy here
“Confessions of Frannie Langton” by Sara Collins
Ok y’all… I LOVE a good murder mystery novel. Try adding to the mix a black woman (and former slave, I might add), that is on trial for the murder of her employers! Well, SIGN ME UP.
“All of London is abuzz with the scandalous case of Frannie Langton, who is accused of the brutal double murder of her employers, renowned scientist George Benham and his eccentric French wife, Marguerite. Crowds pack the courtroom, eagerly following every twist, while the newspapers print lurid theories about the killings and the mysterious woman being held in the Old Bailey.
The testimonies against Frannie are damning. She is a seductress, a witch, a master manipulator, a whore. Frannie claims she cannot recall what happened that fateful evening, or how she came to be covered in the victims’ blood, even if remembering could save her life.
But she does have a tale to tell: a story of her childhood on a Jamaican plantation, her apprenticeship under a debauched scientist who stretched all bounds of ethics, and the events that brought her into the Benhams’ London home—and into a passionate and forbidden relationship.
Though her testimony may seal her conviction, the truth will unmask the perpetrators of crimes far beyond murder and indict the whole of English society itself.”
Get your copy here
“Things We Didn’t Talk About When I Was a Girl: A Memoir” by Jeannie Vanasco
The premise of this memoir is captivating! Can you imagine being raped, and then fourteen years later interviewing your rapist? Well, that’s exactly what Jeannie Vanasco did.
“Jeannie details her friendship with Mark before and after the assault, asking the brave and urgent question: Is it possible for a good person to commit a terrible act? Jeannie interviews Mark, exploring how rape has impacted his life as well as her own. She examines the language surrounding sexual assault and pushes against its confines, contributing to and deepening the #MeToo discussion.”
Get your copy here
“Dominicana: A Novel” by Angie Cruz
Dominicana has been highly anticipated by The New York Times, Entertainment Weekly, O Magazine, The Washington Post, and now…me! This story paints a picture of the immigrant coming-of-age story that’s right on time.
“Fifteen-year-old Ana Cancion never dreamed of moving to America, the way the girls she grew up with in the Dominican countryside did. But when Juan Ruiz proposes and promises to take her to New York City, she has to say yes. It doesn’t matter that he is twice her age, that there is no love between them. Their marriage is an opportunity for her entire close-knit family to eventually immigrate. So on New Year’s Day, 1965, Ana leaves behind everything she knows and becomes Ana Ruiz, a wife confined to a cold six-floor walk-up in Washington Heights. Lonely and miserable, Ana hatches a reckless plan to escape. But at the bus terminal, she is stopped by Cesar, Juan’s free-spirited younger brother, who convinces her to stay.
As the Dominican Republic slides into political turmoil, Juan returns to protect his family’s assets, leaving Cesar to take care of Ana. Suddenly, Ana is free to take English lessons at a local church, lie on the beach at Coney Island, see a movie at Radio City Music Hall, go dancing with Cesar, and imagine the possibility of a different kind of life in America. When Juan returns, Ana must decide once again between her heart and her duty to her family.”
Get your copy here
Happy reading! Let me know how you guys like the books by shouting me out on Instagram, or commenting below! What books are you reading this fall?
A Bonus
As a bonus, and if you haven’t heard, I also have written and published a few books! This season is the perfect time to catch up with and fall in love with the “Dilemmas of a Damsel” series, written by, yours truly! You can check out a free sneak peek here.
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