“Life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the Fall.” F. Scott Fitzgerald 

Fall hustled in overnight: one day 80 degrees, the next 58.  It hasn’t been Vegas-hot here, never is, but it has been unusually warm this summer.  To be honest, I’m ready for sweaters, chili with cheese a top, and fires aflicker. Oh and when it gets crisp, some of the most highly anticipated books of the year appear in print.  Feels like life is starting all over again F. Scott. Now is the perfect time to mull the cider with spices, grab your fleece throw, and cuddle up with one of these lookers. 

The World of Tomorrow by Brendan Mathews

I’ve been binging on stunning World War II novels as of late.  The World of Tomorrow takes place on the cusp of the war against Hitler. NPR raves, “The World of Tomorrow is that rarest of historical novels, a book that catches a moment in a jar, holds it aloft, and displays it for what it really is: Somebody else's day before tomorrow, the instant right before the future comes…Mathews's entire novel takes place over the course of one week in June, culminating at the World's Fair itself, in a fast-paced finale worthy of a Scorcese long-take.” Feels like a head turner to me.  

Braving the Wilderness: The Quest for True Belonging and the Courage to Stand Alone by Brene Brown

This one’s for you Rae.  (I know how you feel about Brene.) Our world seems to be increasingly disconnected—if anyone can show us how to create vital connections, it’s Brown. In her latest, the best-selling author explores what it means to truly belong. One reviewer shared this thought: Braving the Wilderness is a must read for “anyone who cares about doing their part to create a more caring and just world.” Count me in—besides, I wanna see me be brave.

Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward

In researching the best fall reads, this book appeared on every list I perused.  Every last one. I like what I have read of Ward so far.  She pinned William Faulkner’s “wonderfully cranky” Nobel Prize acceptance speech above her desk, to remind herself “to create from the heart, not the glands.” Her novel Salvage the Bones earned a National Book Award. “Sing, Unburied, Sing grapples with the ugly truths at the heart of the American story and the power, and limitations, of the bonds of family. Rich with Ward’s distinctive, musical language, Sing, Unburied, Sing is a majestic new work and an essential contribution to American literature.”  Something tells me this one may warm the English major in me.  

Posted by Tracy