Novels You Won’t Want to Put Down This Fall

Since I’m a stereotypical English major who reads like five novels a week, just call me the book plug. There are tons of novels out that you are going to want to devour in one sitting, let me bless you.

Dead to Her–Sarah Pinborough

If you watched Behind Her Eyes and were obsessed like me, let me introduce you to Sarah Pinborough. She is the author of the book that turned into the Netflix show we all know and love, and luckily she has more novels that you’ll be obsessed with. It follows Marcie and Jason, a Southern family loaded with money and old name ties. When Keisha, Jason’s work partner’s new and young wife from London comes in, Marcie can’t help but be suspicious of their connection. After all, Jason did leave his first wife for Marcie, so why wouldn’t he do the same to her for a newer model? Keisha is worldly, a breath of fresh air in such a strict society, so how far will Marcie go to keep the life she worked so hard to achieve? Novels like this one will keep you guessing up until the last chapter, you won’t regret it.

The Guest List–Lucy Foley

An A-List wedding on an island off of Ireland that has a daunting past, what could go wrong? Precisely. A body is found the night of the wedding, and there are about five people with a motive to kill. This is one of the novels I finished in one night’s sitting because I couldn’t put it down. Told from the perspective of each suspect, you really won’t be able to figure out who the murderer is until the end. Will and Jules are a couple that are going to make headlines with their wedding. Will, the golden boy who has always gotten his way and a television star in the making, and headstrong Jules who fought her way to success with her online magazine. Their wedding should be picture perfect, but not everything is as it seems.

Helter Skelter–Vincent Bugliosi

True crime novels are perfect for the person who watches the ID Network a lot or likes podcasts like Crime Junkie. Known as the first true crime novel, aka a book on true events that is written almost as a story, this book has survived the test of time. Vincent Bugliosi was a prosecuting attorney for the Manson murders who wrote about the murder trials, the murders themselves and the social impact the Manson cult had on 1969 America. It’s a true story obviously but won’t bore you like some nonfiction accounts of history will. Be taken back to the summer of ’69, where California dreaming was real and the horror of high-profile murders come together. It’s one of the best nonfiction novels I’ve read, and we all know how much people love a good cult story.

Ariadne–Jennifer Saint

I love novels about Greek mythology that are told like actual stories with dialogue and whatnot. This novel by Jennifer Saint is one of many she has written about different members of Greek mythology that actually brings them to life. Gone are the days you would read about Odysseus or Troy with barely any action or storyline that was not boring to follow. This one follows Ariadne, Princess of Crete, whose brother, the Minotaur, demands a blood sacrifice. Upon meeting the charming Theseus, Ariadne is able to kill her brother alongside him and hopefully live a life of love and happiness that she so craved. But, is killing her brother the way out of this torturous life, or will she come to regret it all? Novels based on stories we have been told in the past while incorporating the women in Greek mythology that were once forgotten are always exciting, this being no exception.

Imposter Syndrome–Kathy Wang

In 2006 Julia Lerner is living in Moscow, a recent university graduate in computer science when she’s recruited by Russia’s largest intelligence agency. By 2018 she’s in Silicon Valley as COO of Tangerine, one of America’s most famous technology companies. When Russia starts asking for more from Julia, she begins to worry that she will not be able to be as helpful as she could be. Alice Lu is a first generation Chinese American whose parents are delighted she’s working at Tangerine, such a successful company to live out the American Dream with. One afternoon, Alice discovers some unusual activity, and now she’s burdened with two powerful but distressing suspicions: Tangerine’s privacy settings aren’t as rigorous as the company claims they are, and the person abusing this loophole might be Julia Lerner herself. In a story of right and wrong, loyalty, and the American Dream, what could go wrong? This is one of the best novels to read this fall before your work starts back up again!

10 Things That Totally Suck At The University of Pittsburgh

The Last Thing He Told Me–Laura Dave

Before Owen Michaels disappears, he smuggles a note to his beloved wife of one year: Protect her. Despite her confusion and fear, Hannah Hall knows exactly to whom the note refers—Owen’s sixteen-year-old daughter, Bailey. Bailey, who lost her mother tragically as a child. Bailey, who wants absolutely nothing to do with her new stepmother. As Hannah’s increasingly desperate calls to Owen go unanswered, as the FBI arrests Owen’s boss, as a US marshal and federal agents arrive at her Sausalito home unannounced, Hannah quickly realizes her husband isn’t who he said he was. And that Bailey just may hold the key to figuring out Owen’s true identity—and why he really disappeared.
Hannah and Bailey set out to discover the truth. A thriller riddled with mystery and true whodunnit novels like this one are hard to come by but so worth the read.

The Maidens–Alex Michaelides

Edward Fosca is a murderer. Of this Mariana is certain. But Fosca is untouchable. A handsome and charismatic Greek tragedy professor at Cambridge University, Fosca is adored by staff and students alike―particularly by the members of a secret society of female students known as The Maidens. Mariana Andros is a brilliant but troubled group therapist who becomes fixated on The Maidens when one member, a friend of Mariana’s niece Zoe, is found murdered in Cambridge. Mariana, who was once herself a student at the university, quickly suspects that behind the idyllic beauty of the spires and turrets, and beneath the ancient traditions, lies something sinister. And she becomes convinced that, despite his alibi, Edward Fosca is guilty of the murder. But why would the professor target one of his students? And why does he keep returning to the rites of Persephone, the maiden, and her journey to the underworld? When another body is found, Mariana’s obsession with proving Fosca’s guilt spirals out of control, threatening to destroy her credibility as well as her closest relationships. But Mariana is determined to stop this killer, even if it costs her everything―including her own life. Another one of the novels that relate to Greek mythology and their rich history, you won’t put this one down.