12 Fall Books That You Can Easily Read In One Sitting
The time has come to set aside our beach reads and piña coladas in exchange for cozier reads and warm spiked cider. From hints of spookiness to dysfunctional family dynamics to paranormal romances that make you want to cuddle up with your favorite oversized sweater, these books are fairly quick reads and perfect for your fall TBR list.
1.Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi
If you had the opportunity to revisit the past, would you? A century-old café nestled in Tokyo offers its customers just that, but with some serious rules, of course — and a ghost that occupies the only seat in the cafe that makes time travel possible. This warm read journeys readers through stories of customers who desperately desire to take up this unique experience. What we can expect is a deeper, underlying message from each patron that challenges us to reflect on our own relationships and experiences.
Get it from Bookshop or from your local indie book store via Indiebound. You can also try the audiobook version through Libro.fm.
2.In Five Years by Rebecca Serle
Years of planning and hard work seem to finally pay off when Dannie Kohan lands an important job interview and is proposed to by her boyfriend. She falls asleep feeling content with life, but when she awakens, she's in the future with a different apartment, wearing a different ring, and lying next to a completely different man. Although her involuntary visit to the future was for only an hour, Dannie struggles to shake what has happened.
Get it from Bookshop or from your local indie book store via Indiebound. You can also try the audiobook version through Libro.fm.
3.The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
There exists a library with books that detail alternate realities — one of your life as it is and one of the life you could have had if you had made different choices. Nora is transported to this library one midnight and has the opportunity to change her life forever. This could mean undoing a breakup or pursuing the career of her dreams. After experiencing several life blows and struggling with her mental health, the temptation to pursue any of the alternate lives before her is intense. This chance to undo her regrets and life choices takes her on a journey that teaches valuable life lessons in return.
Get it from Bookshop or from your local indie book store via Indiebound. You can also try the audiobook version through Libro.fm.
4.Layla by Colleen Hoover
In this paranormal romance, Leeds is absolutely head-over-heels for Layla. Unfortunately, their relationship spirals downhill after Layla experiences a life-threatening attack. In order to rekindle what they once had, Leeds takes Layla to a bed-and-breakfast, the very place where they first met. While there, Layla’s behavior begins to change in odd ways, and Leeds becomes intensely curious about another mysterious woman. This book features a life-changing decision and a mind-boggling plot twist that will force your jaw to hit the floor.
Get it from Bookshop or from your local indie book store via Indiebound. You can also try the audiobook version through Libro.fm.
5.Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata
What does it mean to be normal? Keiko is 18 years old and has never been one to fit in. That all changes when she begins working at a convenience store. She becomes so liberated with her position, where she learns what normalcy is by studying and mimicking coworkers, that she stays for 18 years. At 36, she finally feels a sense of peace and purpose with this job. She feels she has found her place in society, but she runs into the pressures of friends and family who think she should desire more, like a more acceptable career and marriage.
Get it from Bookshop or from your local indie book store via Indiebound. You can also try the audiobook version through Libro.fm.
6.Recitatif by Toni Morrison
In Toni Morrison’s only short story ever, every reader’s personal biases are tested in this thought-provoking experiment on what it means to be Black or white. We meet best friends, Twyla and Roberta, who met as children in a shelter. Once inseparable, they lose touch with one another only to meet again as adults during three separate occasions. What readers know is one is Black and the other is white and their racial identity is crucial in the story, however, which is which intentionally remains a mystery.
Get it from Bookshop or from your local indie book store via Indiebound. You can also try the audiobook version through Libro.fm.
7.The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
Spooky season wouldn’t be the same without this classic. Four seekers arrive to investigate Hill House and the supposedly paranormal activity that happens there: Dr. Montague, a scholar determined to discover evidence of the haunted estate; Theodora, Dr. Montague’s assistant; Eleanor, the narrator of the story, is invited by Dr. Montague because of her alleged experiences with poltergeists as a child; and Luke, the future heir of Hill House. What they don’t know is Hill House is ready to take one of them as its own. Although a short read, there is so much to unpack here.
Get it from Bookshop or from your local indie book store via Indiebound. You can also try the audiobook version through Libro.fm.
8.Red at the Bone by Jacqueline Woodson
Melody has turned 16 and is preparing for her coming-of-age party. She slips on a dress that was supposed to be worn by her mother, for her own party, but an unexpected pregnancy prevented that from happening. The story follows events that transpired before, during, and after Melody’s birth, and the role that those events played in shaping the present day. Each chapter follows a different person’s perspective on how two families from altering social classes came together.
Get it from Bookshop or from your local indie book store via Indiebound. You can also try the audiobook version through Libro.fm.
9.Embers on the Wind by Lisa Williamson Rosenberg
Whittaker House was once a safe house for the Underground Railroad in Massachusetts. Little Annie and Clementine hid here as they sought freedom but never got the chance to meet it — and their spirits still linger on the grounds. History and the supernatural are intertwined when three Black women visit the house, which is now a vacation rental. Each woman has a specific reason for visiting, but at the core is the hunger for liberation that can only be possible by uncovering history.
Get it from Bookshop or from your local indie book store via Indiebound.
10.If Beale Street Could Talk by James Baldwin
In this moving love story, Tish and Fonny have plans of marriage and are expecting their first child, but when Fonny is falsely accused of a crime, everything goes downhill. Their families come together out of desperation and pure love to prove Fonny’s innocence. We travel back and forth between the couple’s sweet moments together and the present day where all bets are on the table to defeat a flawed system. The mixture of hope, passion, and engaging prose of this story exude warmth and togetherness.
Get it from Bookshop or from your local indie book store via Indiebound. You can also try the audiobook version through Libro.fm.
11.The Ex Hex by Erin Sterling
Nine years ago, Vivienne Jones got over the biggest heartbreak of her life just as anyone else would — except she also put a curse on her ex. She’s not worried about this causing any serious harm, and it seems to be okay when her ex, Rhys Penhallow, descendent of the town’s ancestors, returns looking just as good as before, and just in time for the annual fall festival. However, things prove otherwise as one disaster happens after the next, putting Rhys into dangerous situations. Vivienne and Rhys must put their differences aside so they can work together to break the curse.
Get it from Bookshop or from your local indie book store via Indiebound. You can also try the audiobook version through Libro.fm.
12.Blackout by Dhonielle Clayton, Tiffany D. Jackson, Nic Stone, Angie Thomas, Ashley Woodfolk, and Nicola Yoon
Six bestselling young-adult authors came together during the 2020 pandemic to write this collection of stories about Black teens in love during a blackout in New York City. Each teen is navigating the city during the blackout to make it to the same block party in Brooklyn. Love and connections are built and rekindled, truths are uncovered, and friendships bloom all while the lights are out.
Get it from Bookshop or from your local indie book store via Indiebound. You can also try the audiobook version through Libro.fm.
