Fall Reading Guide for National Book Month!
If you’ve been following me for a while, you might remember that I used to write book reviews. If you dig back into the archives, you can even find quite a few of them. Nothing has changed, I am still a bookworm although reading has become a luxury when I have a few minutes to spare. I thought I’d go back to my book loving ways for one day to celebrate National Book Month. Currently on my bookshelf is the thrilling historical novel, The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson. Not only is the timing to read this book perfect because Halloween is coming up, Martin Scorsese has the rights to the screenplay with Leonardo DiCaprio supposedly playing the lead. If serial killers aren’t your thing, I get it. In celebration of National Book Month, we’ve put together a few books to complete your fall reading adventures from thrillers to inspiring memoirs.
Girls Who Travel by Nicole Trilivas
Feed your inner wanderlust with this hilarious novel about traveling solo as a woman. Goodreads says - “A hilarious, deftly written debut novel about a woman whose wanderlust is about to show her that sometimes you don’t have to travel far to become the person you want to be...Wise, witty and hilarious, Girls Who Travel is an unforgettable novel about the highs and lows of getting what you want - and how it’s the things you least expect that can change your life.”
Lady Killers: Deadly Women Throughout History by Tori Telfer
For all you fellow Criminal Minds fanatics, Lady Killers is the perfect pre-Halloween read. Learn about women who’ve made a name for themselves by gruesome acts of violence like those of Jack the Ripper, Ted Bundy and more. Goodreads says - “Although largely forgotten by history, female serial killers rival their male counterparts in cunning, cruelty, and appetite. Each chapter explores the crimes and history of a different female serial killer and then proceeds to unpack her legacy and her portrayal in the media as well as the stereotypes and sexist cliches that inevitably surround her.”
Scrappy Little Nobody by Anna Kendrick
All the girls want to be her and all the guys want to date her. Anna Kendrick is a Hollywood favorite for her realness and, let’s be honest, weirdness. Scrappy Little Nobody is a collection of autobiographical essays by Kendrick, no doubt so funny you’ll be laughing out loud in public. Goodreads says - “With her razor-sharp wit, Anna recounts the absurdities she’s experienced on her way to and from the heart of pop culture as only she can - from her unusual path to the performing arts to her double life as a middle-school student who also starred on Broadway to her initial “dating experiments” to reviewing a binder full of butt doubles to her struggle to live like an adult woman instead of a perpetual “man-child.” I mean, if that description didn’t sell you on it already, I don’t know what will.
Talking as Fast as I Can: From Gilmore Girls to Gilmore Girls, and Everything in Between by Lauren Graham
One of the world’s favorite TV moms, Lauren Graham provides readers with personal essays about anything and everything. We fell in love with her as coffee addict Lorelai Gilmore (can I get a coffee IV, please?) and through her book we get to know her as Lauren. As Goodreads puts it - “Including photos and excerpts from the diary of Graham kept during the filming of the recent Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life, this book is like a cozy night in, catching up with your best friend, laughing and swapping stories, and - of course - talking as fast as you can.”
The Woman I Wanted to Be by Diane von Furstenberg
One of the most influential and inspiring women of her generation, this memoir takes you through the life of DVF and the path she carved out for herself. According to Goodreads - “With remarkable honesty and wisdom, von Furstenberg mines the rich territory of what it means to be a woman. She opens up about her family and career, overcoming cancer, building a global brand, and devoting herself to empowering other women.” It’s currently sitting on my bookshelf and I can’t wait to start reading it next.
The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware
Travel, suspense and mystery all combine for The Woman in Cabin 10. I believe I discovered this novel in a book round-up over the summer and it’s the perfect read for a cold and rainy weekend or fall trip. According to Goodreads - “In this tightly wound story, Lo Blacklock, a journalist who writes for a travel magazine, has just been given the assignment of a lifetime: a week on a luxury cruise with only a handful of cabins...Lo witnesses what she can only describe as a nightmare: a woman being thrown overboard...with surprising twists and a setting that proves as uncomfortably claustrophobic as it is eerily beautiful, Ruth Ware offers up another intense read.” Maybe avoid it if you’re taking a cruise…
UNSUB by Meg Gardiner
Last but not least, we have a psychological thriller that will no doubt make your bones chill. If you think this post has a few too many killer-inspired novels, then we have very different reading interests. I watch Criminal Minds while falling asleep and then become terrified to be home alone, even with two dogs. In the spirit of fall, October and Halloween, it feels appropriate to have bone chilling thrillers dominate this list. Goodreads says - “A riveting psychological thriller inspired by the never-caught Zodiac Killer, about a young detective determined to apprehend the serial murderer who destroyed her family and terrorized a city twenty years earlier.”
What’s on your fall reading list?
