Autumn, as a season, has a very particular feeling. The days are getting colder, and the evenings are getting darker, and there is no better time to get cozy and dive into a good book. The Write for Harlequin team has read endlessly this season, and we’re here to share our favorite books of the last couple months with you. Hopefully you’ll find something to add to your to-read list for the last couple weeks of the season before winter arrives.
Natalia Castano is reading…
I’ve been enjoying Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa. It’s a cozy story about the transformative power of books from the point of view of Takako, a twenty-five-year-old who is a little bit lost in life and takes refuge in her family’s bookstore. At first, she is a little hesitant to live in the bookstore, but she eventually comes to appreciate the value of human connections and the joy of reading. I’m loving the descriptions of the Jimbocho book town in Tokio, famous for its second-hand bookstores, and the literary references. Overall, a very heartwarming read to enjoy during the autumn months, with a cozy blanket and a cup of coffee.
Emma Cole is reading…
Whalefall by Daniel Kraus is simply stunning. I read this in a day, heart in my throat and hand to my mouth. At once an incredibly stressful thriller and a moving meditation on grief and loss, Whalefall is an intricate and lyrical story of a son, Jay, coming to grips with his dad’s suicide while simultaneously trying to escape from the sperm whale who swallowed him. It sounds completely wild, and it is. But Kraus has constructed a story that reads as possible and plausible, backed up by quite a lot of research. The book is plotted in such a way that readers are counting down Jay’s air along with him, and I felt more and more frantic as Jay’s oxygen depletes.
While this would be a page turner with nothing but the whale aspect of the story, Kraus’s depiction of Jay’s fraught relationship with his father is what really resonates. It’s a moving and ultimately bittersweet exploration of family’s responsibilities to one another. Go read this. I absolutely loved it. One of the best of the year for me.
Also Out There Screaming: An Anthology of New Black Horror. From top to bottom, this short story collection is excellent. The best voices in horror are included here, from Tanarive Due to N.K. Jemisin to Nnedi Okorafor. I particularly enjoyed Ezra Claytan Daniels’ Pressure and Lesley Nneka Arimah’s Invasion of the Baby Snatchers. This is an incredibly strong collection of stories, and while they cover vastly different subjects and styles, nothing feels out of place. It’s a book that you can easily dip into randomly or read from cover to cover. I was glad to read stories from authors I’ve read before, like P. Djeli Clark and Rebecca Roanhorse alongside authors who were new to me like L. D. Lewis. I really enjoyed this and look forward to seeking out more work from all of these authors.
Johanna Raisanen is reading…
I read Sunshine Nails by Mai Nguyen recently. It’s technically a summer read (published in July by Atria Books), but I read it in September—does that count? Sunshine Nails is about Vietnamese refugees Debbie and Phil Tran who own a family nail salon in Toronto. When a trendy new chain salon opens across the street it threatens their livelihood. The book follows their struggles in a neighborhood that is becoming gentrified and the lives of their adult children. It’s a quick, engaging read and the fact it’s set in Toronto was appealing to me. But while it does seem like an easy read there are some deeper elements that leave you thinking about right v. wrong, racial discrimination, immigration, and how far you’d go to protect your family.
Caroline Timmings is reading….
Since I was young I’ve been an Agatha Christie fan. This Fall I decided to make my way, chronologically, through all the Hercule Poirot mysteries. There are a huge number of Poirot stories and I’ve read them as I’ve come across them over the years, so it’s been a really fun experience to read them in order from the start. It definitely gives me an appreciation for little hidden mentions in later books from earlier ones. So far I’ve read The Mysterious Affair at Styles, The Murder on the Links, and Poirot Investigates. Of these 3 my favorite has been the first. Christie’s stories are reliably good reads and I never tire of them. Also, if you find you like the Poirot stories, I highly recommend Kenneth Branagh’s adaptations of the books—He has made 3 movies so far (Murder on the Orient Express, Death on the Nile, and A Haunting in Venice, which is based on Christie’s Halloween Party). Additionally, the 1974 rendition of Murder on the Orient Express is phenomenal and has a stellar cast.
I also finally finished the Elements of Cadence Duology by Rebecca Ross this Fall, which is comprised of A River Enchanted and A Fire Endless. These stories are packed with world building, strong characters, an excellent and engaging plot, and subtle but powerful romances. I listened to these as audiobooks and thought the narrator was fantastic. I personally think her talents really added something to the story and would definitely recommend listening to them if you can.
Deirdre McCluskey is reading…
Looking for a break from world events and “serious” reading, I recently picked up The Firefighter’s Rescue by Anna Grace, one of our Harlequin Heartwarming titles from May 2023. It’s a sweet and funny romance between a sexy, sensitive firefighter who regularly puts his life on the line, and a risk-averse young doctor who needs to control every aspect of her life after a tragic incident in her past. Maisy and Bowman’s goals, expectations and boundaries are put into question when they’re thrown together to run a cowboy camp for kids. Note-perfect secondary characters, an appealing small-town setting, and a sprinkling of Taylor Swift adds to the charm. Delightful!
We hope that you’ve found a recommendation or two and that you are as excited for your upcoming reads as we are!
