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Fall Reading 2026

Fall Reading

Fall Reading 2026

Fall is known as the biggest season of the year for books. The titles that release during this latter part of the year often become holiday gifts, and many are blockbusters. We spotlighted 12 of these books in our Fall Reading Contests and Feature. While our series of 24-hour giveaways have ended, we encourage you to take a look at our featured titles, which we know people will be talking about this fall and beyond.

» Click here to see the winners of this year's Fall Reading contests.

Blackout: A Jake Bendel Thriller by J. Luke Bennecke - Political Techno-thriller


When the President of the United States is assassinated in a coordinated drone strike, the country plunges into chaos. Behind the assassination stands Tracy Ciacchella, a brilliant and ruthless leader of a shadowy global cabal known only as New3. Their plan is to eliminate the president, cripple the nation's power grid, and plunge the US into darkness long enough for rival superpowers to seize the advantage. When cascading blackouts sweep across the nation and martial law looms, civil engineer Jake Bendel teams up with FBI agent Kristi Konnors to track the network orchestrating the attacks. What they uncover is far more dangerous than a cyberattack --- an international conspiracy positioned to hand America's collapse to China and Russia. Then the conspiracy becomes personal.

The Bluff by Wade Rouse - Fiction/Humor

The Chapmans do Christmas the way they do everything: impeccably, expensively, and with the unshakable belief that good lighting can conceal bad blood. Their annual Christmas card may look picture-perfect, but behind the polite smiles there’s a storm brewing. This year, at their grand lakefront cottage on Mackinac Island, a snowstorm traps generations of Chapmans --- and their schemes --- under one roof. As the snow piles up, so do the grievances. Chris and Kat’s children --- fiercely liberal Leah and conservative golden-boy Chip --- are locked in a battle of wits; Chris’ vaguely corrupt brother, Cormac, and his calculating trophy wife are stirring the pot; and Kat’s mother is holding onto a secret that could upend the entire game. 

Come Closer: Childhood Wounds, Adult Love, and the Secrets of Emotional Intimacy by Dr. Galit Atlas - Psychology/Personal Growth


What is the secret of emotional intimacy? How can understanding our childhood experiences give us the insights we need to be close to others in a truly satisfying, longer lasting and more meaningful way? In COME CLOSER, Galit Atlas invites us inside the private lives of her patients --- and into her own --- to offer new, life-changing answers to these important questions. Atlas has identified six child archetypes --- the frightened child, the melancholic child, the ashamed child, the invisible child, the guilty child, and the chosen child --- and in these pages, she shows how each childhood wound plays out in our adult relationships.

God's Country by William Kent Krueger - Mystery


Preparing for a family trip into the Boundary Waters, Cork O’Connor is troubled by ominous visions about his future. Ignoring the warnings, he uncovers signs of violence while searching for his missing friend, Cordell Bishop. Soon, he is forced to negotiate with dangerous criminals, the Kennedy brothers, who are seeking their late father’s hidden stash. Facing escalating danger and difficult choices, Cork grapples with his darkest instincts as he helps others escape and eventually takes justice into his own hands.

Home for the Homicides: A Holly & Mark Mystery by Elle Cosimano and Hannah Morrissey - Romantic Comedy/Mystery

Welcome to Christmas, a town so cozy and charming it could be the backdrop of a Hallmark movie. So when a tourist is found stabbed to death by an icicle ornament in the middle of the town nativity scene, the local police are out of their depth. Special Agents Holly Frost and Mark Shepherd are on thin ice after screwing up on the job. This assignment is their one shot at redemption, if they can put aside their bitter rivalry. And of course, it's not only their careers on the line, it's their hearts, too. Regrets of their holiday party hookup last year haunt them like ghosts of Christmas past, so they both want to wrap up this rom-com gone wrong as quickly as possible. But with just 12 days until the town's annual Jingle Bell Jubilee festival, the countdown to catch a killer --- without killing each other --- is on.

The Lady on Esplanade: A Royal Street Novel by Karen White - Mystery

Nola Trenholm is eager to launch a new murder-house-flipping business with contractor, closet psychic and part-time nemesis Beau Ryan. After a near-death ghostly encounter and the return of Beau’s missing sister, they are confident that the ghost of his mother can finally rest. Nola believes the shotgun house on famed Esplanade Avenue is a prime fixer-upper for her first project. It may have been the site of a woman’s murder and the disappearance of an entire family, but the house will be perfect for new-to-town Cooper Ravenel --- who happens to have caused Nola’s first heartbreak. In addition to the elusive spirit of an angry young woman who accompanied Cooper to New Orleans, the house on Esplanade has its own ghosts, including one that is becoming increasingly dangerous as he tries to hide his dark secrets.

The Lost Baker of Vienna by Sharon Kurtzman - Historical Fiction


In 2018, Zoe Rosenzweig is reeling after the loss of her beloved grandfather, a Holocaust survivor. She becomes obsessed with finding out what really happened to her family during the war. Vienna, 1946: Chana Rosenzweig has endured the horrors of war to find herself, her mother and her younger brother finally free in Vienna. But freedom doesn’t look like they’d imagined it would, as they struggle to make a living and stay safe. Despite the danger, Chana sneaks out most nights to return to the hotel kitchen where she works as a dishwasher, using the quiet nighttime hours to bake her late father’s recipes. Soon, Chana finds herself caught in a dangerous love triangle, torn between the black-market dealer who has offered marriage and protection, and the apprentice baker who shares her passions. How will Chana balance her love of baking against her family’s need for security?

Mother Daughter Sister Stranger by Hank Phillippi Ryan - Psychological Thriller

The sole survivors of the fiery plane crash that killed their parents, Eliza Ramsey and her sister, Bea, share an unbreakable bond. But now, on the 11th anniversary of the tragedy, Bea fails to retrieve her preteen daughter from a sleepover at Eliza’s. Eliza knows her sister would never leave her precious Piper behind, and she fears the worst. But did Bea plan her own disappearance? The Ramseys’ lives have already crashed and burned once. Now, Eliza discovers she's the only one who can protect her niece from the horrifying legacy of her family’s sinister history. Together, the two must prevent their lives from going up in flames once again.

Not a Word by Linwood Barclay - Psychological Thriller

When Reece visits his parents’ house, he’s shocked to find them in bed, dead. At first glance it looks like a murder-suicide perpetrated by his father, but on closer inspection there’s clearly more to the story. For starters, inconsistencies in the crime scene suggest his dad may not have shot himself. As Reece, shaken by his horrifying discovery, awaits questioning from the police, his phone lights up with a call. It’s the last person he ever would have expected to hear from. Reeling from the day’s events, Reece finds himself questioning everything he thought he knew about his parents --- and whether he and his own family are in danger now. While the authorities work to untangle the baffling crime scene, Reece is pulled into a web of secrets linked to the unscrupulous pharma company his father worked for years ago.

The Unstoppables by David Biro - Crime Fiction


Soon after Ivy League-educated physician Richard Kline returns to his hometown of Bay Ridge to take over his father’s medical practice, his dreams of a steady, conventional life begin to crumble. His wife leaves him; health insurance vultures have descended on his practice; a mysterious Russian woman becomes his new bookkeeper; and a patient holds him at gunpoint in his own waiting room. Kline seeks help from two long-lost childhood friends: Sal Bondini, the son of a notorious mob boss, and Sean O’Toole, a police officer at the local precinct. As boys, the three friends were constantly up to their necks in trouble. As adults, they now may be in over their heads.

Whatever Happened to Lori Lovely? by Sarah McCoy - Historical Fiction

In 1969, 23-year-old starlet Lori Lovely shocks the world by ditching a promising film career to take vows as a Benedictine nun. The media can’t get enough of the story. Why would such a beautiful girl take the veil? Did it have anything to do with her costar, heartthrob singer Lucas Wesley? In 1990, history student Lu Tibbott decides to dig into a true 20th-century mystery for her senior thesis and write about her aunt Lori, now the Mother Abbess at a cloistered convent in rural New England. For decades, Mother Lori has refused all requests for interviews --- until Lu arrives with a tape recorder in hand. To Lu’s delight, Mother Lori is finally ready to talk...but only if Lu is truly ready to listen.

The Women by Kristin Hannah - Historical Fiction


Women can be heroes. When 20-year-old nursing student Frances “Frankie” McGrath hears these words, it is a revelation. Raised in the sun-drenched, idyllic world of Southern California and sheltered by her conservative parents, she has always prided herself on doing the right thing. But in 1965, the world is changing, and she suddenly dares to imagine a different future for herself. When her brother ships out to serve in Vietnam, she joins the Army Nurse Corps and follows his path. As green and inexperienced as the men sent to Vietnam to fight, Frankie is overwhelmed by the chaos and destruction of war. But the real battle lies in coming home to a changed and divided America, to angry protesters, and to a country that wants to forget Vietnam.