The 8 Books You Absolutely Must Read This Fall

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Summer is ending, and gone with it are the summer reading lists of yore. We got sandy love triangles courtesy of the The Summer I Turned Pretty revival, epic fantasies from A Court of Thorns and Roses, and IRL insights from new memoirs like Elliot Page's Pageboy. The warmer months have been great, and these books even greater, but all great things must come to an end. The good news is there is much more to look forward to this fall than overly sweet festive lattes and the return of the Ugg. The new season will bring with it a new batch of wallet draining trends and a brand new list of books to send BookTok into a tizzy.

From the celebrity memoirs of Julia Fox, Leslie Jones, and Ziwe, to desert survival stories, here are 8 new books to add to your list this fall.

“Black Friend: Essays” by Ziwe

If you’re still mourning the cancellation of Showtime’s Ziwe, fear not. In her new book of essays, comedian Ziwe Fumudoh explores identity and pop culture through the hilarious lens that landed her the late-night variety show.

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“The Fraud” by Zadie Smith

The Zadie Smith has gifted us with a new novel this year, The Fraud. The novel, which is based on real historical events and set in Victorian England, centers around the “Tichborne Trial” which saw a poor butcher claim that he was the rightful heir to a massive estate and fortune. The story is told through Mrs. Eliza Touchet, the Scottish housekeeper of William Ainsworth, a writer past his prime.

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“Death Valley: A Novel” by Melissa Broder

This novel explores grief through the lens of a desert survival story, following a woman who flees to California to escape the stressors of her life. While in California, she encounters a mysterious cactus with a door to another world. Think the Chronicles of Narnia, but instead of a wardrobe, it's a cactus.

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“Down the Drain” by Julia Fox

Possibly the most anticipated memoir of the year, Julia Fox’s first book Down the Drain will be released on October 10. The book gives readers a look into every corner of Fox’s life, from her early years spent between Italy and New York City, her sugar daddy experiences, overdoses, marriage and split, and rise as a street style icon.

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“Leslie F*cking Jones” by Leslie Jones

The comedian’s first memoir hits stands on September 19, tracing her early years growing up in the South and her journey to the stand up stage. The memoir joins the treasured collection of Saturday Night Live cast member memoirs, right next to Tina Fey’s Bossypants and Amy Poehler’s Yes Please.

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“Extremely Online: The Untold Story of Fame, Influence, and Power on the Internet” but Taylor Lorenz

In her debut book, internet journalist Taylor Lorenz traces the rise of influencer culture and the ways it altered society, commerce, and capitalism. This book isn’t about unearthing ancient internet history, it's a timely and current look at the internet of today, how we created it and how it changed us.

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“Bright Young Women” by Jessica Knoll

From the author of Luckiest Girl Alive, Bright Young Women follows two young women on opposite coasts, victimized by the same killer dubbed the “All-American Sex Killer.” The story is suspenseful, psychological, and based on the murder spree of Ted Bundy, told fictionally from the voice of a survivor of the infamous sorority house attack.

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“Creep: Accusations and Confessions” by Myriam Gurba

This collection of essays comes from the mother of intersectional Latinx identity, Myriam Gurba. The essays make up an “informal sociology of creeps,” a medium through which Gurba explores the things that haunt society; the creeps, from oppressors to abusers, singular and systemic.

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