10 Must-Read Books Coming Fall 2025 — Novels of Memory, Love, and Change
As autumn settles in, there’s something magical about opening a new novel just as the leaves begin to turn. Here’s what we’re reading now this fall — upcoming titles that echo the emotional tenor of The Emperor of Gladness in their exploration of grief, memory, society, and wonder.
These titles represent more than new books: they’re conversations with our moment. Photo: Vlada Karpovich, 2021
A Few Standouts to Watch
Shadow Ticket by Thomas Pynchon
Set in 1932 Milwaukee, private detective Hicks McTaggart chases a missing heiress and uncovers a complex conspiracy. Pynchon again blends history, anxiety, and surreal tangles of meaning.
King Sorrow by Joe Hill
Horror, myth, and dread: after making a Faustian pact, a group of friends must choose sacrifices over survival. Hill’s first standalone in years, the novel cradles terror and grief in striking emotional boldness.
The Rose Field by Philip Pullman
The final of The Book of Dust trilogy reunites Lyra Silvertongue with her dæmon amid dust’s mysteries. Pullman’s atmospheric prose, speculative worldbuilding, and moral weight make this a fall landmark.
Wild Reverence by Rebecca Ross
A deep romantasy rooted in mythic stakes — Matilda, a young goddess, must choose between mortal love and divine duty. The tonal hybridity — magic, passion, suffering — echoes what many of us seek in contemporary fiction.
The Irresistible Urge to Fall for Your Enemy by Brigitte Knightley
Romance and politics collide: a forced-proximity tale between a healer and assassin in enemy Orders, set against a pox-plague disaster. Sharp, tender, and full of layered tension.
The Impossible Fortune by Richard Osman
A twisty, character-rich mystery: when a wedding guest vanishes, the Thursday Murder Club steps in—intelligence, warmth, and wit come together in Osman’s signature voice.
Cursed Daughters by Oyinkan Braithwaite
A wickedly entertaining novel of family curses, rivalry, and identity — blending humor and darkness in surprising ways. Braithwaite’s voice is sharp and layered.
A Guardian and a Thief by Megha Majumdar
Set in a near-future Kolkata, bracing for climate collapse and social fragility, the fates of two families become intertwined in a political and emotional reckoning.
Bad Bad Girl by Gish Jen
Set in 1947 New York and beyond, this novel traces a woman’s life across generations — demands of art, family, belonging — with Jen’s elegant, emotionally observant prose.
© Penguin Random House, 2025
These titles represent more than new books: they’re conversations with our moment. They resist flattening grief into catharsis, they let memory tangle and unravel, and they ask how society must change. Each one carries a voice — dense, fragile, electric — reminding us that literature remains one of our most intimate ways to reckon with time.
What are you reading this fall? Share your upcoming favorites — let’s grow our autumn reading list together.
