Autumn is the ultimate “indoor season” designed for big, substantial books across all genres. It’s a perfect opportunity to disappear into cozy mystery titles and fantasy novels, or try a completely new genre. Whether you’re a reader who picks up books only to learn, or someone who craves novels with autumnal aesthetics, there’s a lot to choose from. Here are several of the best fall reads soon to be released:

Nonfiction for all those in the back-to-school mood

Radical Surrender by Anna Lembke

If you enjoyed Dopamine Nation, you might be interested in Anna Lembke’s new book about letting go of control:

We now live with unprecedented control over almost every aspect of our day-to-day existence, which has made us highly intolerant of uncertainty. Stanford professor Anna Lembke writes about letting go in a world obsessed with certainty and control. Dr. Lembke connects neuroscience with her own personal story of loss to define a surrendered life. For her, surrender is a power greater than ourselves.

Her publisher, Dutton, describes the book as “unmissable,” highlighting its “inspiring stories and transformative tools for letting go.” Radical Surrender will be published on November 10, 2026.

Artificial Intimacy by Sherry Turkle

If you’re wondering what AI is doing to human connection, this should be your next read:

A six-year-old child depending on ChatGPT for bedtime stories. Adults using AI simulations of deceased loved ones. Doesn’t it sound eerie? MIT professor and clinical psychologist Sherry Turkle examines how our increasing reliance on human-like AI chatbots is eroding our capacity for real connection.

Kirkus Reviews praises the book for making “a strong case for why we should resist the urge to replace human bonds with AI,” while early reader reviews also laud the book. The book is set for release on September 29, 2026.

Vibe by Adam Grant

If you like psychology books about how to build relationships in an increasingly lonely world:

Wharton School organizational psychologist Adam Grant challenges the idea that successful collaboration depends purely on the individual characters involved. Using social science data and myth-busting stories, Grant shows that similarity is not required for solidarity and frequent interaction is not essential to maintaining closeness.

The book has received glowing praise: former astronaut Scott Kelly called it “a superb book, with compelling insights” and Reese Witherspoon described it as a “deep dive into science of friendship, companionship, and love”. Vibe is scheduled for publication on October 15, 2026.

And if you like Grant’s works, you might also be interested in our article with book recommendations by Adam Grant.

Situated by Angela Duckworth

If you’re into the psychology of success, this book will tell you about how our surroundings shape us:

In this new book, Angela Duckworth builds on her previous work on “grit” (if you haven’t read her bestseller, find key insights in our summary). Duckworth’s research shows that our immediate physical and social circumstances wield an enormous influence over our success. She outlines four essential strategies for shaping these environments to make them our allies.

Adam Grant praises the book as “a captivating look at what it takes to gain more control over your destiny,” while Carol Dweck calls it “illuminating and inspiring.” It was published on September 1, 2026, so you might already find it in your local bookstores!

The Art of Fighting by Priya Parker

If you want to learn how to handle disagreements without damaging your relationships, read this:

Priya Parker, a conflict facilitator and author of The Art of Gathering, argues in her new book that healthy conflict is an essential element for building long-lasting relationships. She emphasizes the need to look past surface-level arguments to find the deeper tensions.

Advance reviews praise The Art of Fighting as a “top quality guide” and an “essential tool across life’s spectrum of messiness.” The book is expected to be released on September 8, 2026.

In the mood for fiction?

Partita by Barbara Kingsolver

If you enjoy literary fiction about family, identity, and difficult choices:

Pulitzer Prize winner and author of Demon Copperhead Barbara Kingsolver releases her new novel on October 6. Partita is a dual-timeline story centered on Livia Cable, a woman shaken by a phone call from an old lover. Decades earlier, as a music conservatory student named Livia Bohusz, she had a passionate love affair and was a pianist of extraordinary promise. This sudden request to reunite forces her to confront her past.

Goodreads editors highlight it as a highly anticipated fall read that dares to tackle “the really hard stuff: love, loss, art, ambition, and fraught reunions.”

The Disappearers by Marlon James

If you read ambitious historical fiction with themes of identity and survival:

Spanning several decades, this realistic novel from Marlon James explores the tragic impact of violent homophobia in Jamaica. The story begins in Kingston on a June night in 1988, when a mob brutally attacks a group of gay men rehearsing for a play, leaving one actor dead and others severely injured. Six years later, survivors team up to search for their friends, who mysteriously vanished after the attack.

Kirkus Reviews praises the book as a “sprawling depiction of gay life in Jamaica” that is “galvanizing” even when it “stress-tests your senses.” The book is scheduled for release on September 1, 2026.

Big Little Truths by Liane Moriarty

If you’ve read Big Little Lies and were craving more:

This highly anticipated sequel to the 2014 bestseller Big Little Lies leaps ten years into the future. Readers will be reunited with Madeline, Celeste, Jane, Renata, and Bonnie, and their children now in high school. A new wave of drama begins when the school principal receives a severed human finger in the mail, forcing the characters to confront the long-term repercussions of the secrets they have kept from their children.

Book club host Reese Witherspoon called the book “such an exciting sequel” and noted, “how fun it is to go back down memory lane with these characters.” Big Little Truths saw the world on August 25, 2026, and is featured as The Reese Book Club pick of September. So you can start reading it right now!

Hollywood, Ending by John Green

If you like emotionally layered stories about relationships and life’s messiness:

Marking his first new novel in nearly a decade, John Green delivers a dual-POV love story set in the spiraling weirdness of celebrity culture and the modern attention economy. The plot follows rising young actors Kai Laramie and Juniper Castillo, who are cast in a buzzy biopic titled Andy Warhol Never Gets Old. Just as they are on the verge of breaking out and potentially falling in love, the movie blows up, sending their lives spinning in exciting but terrifying ways.

Scheduled for publication on September 22, 2026, this novel is long-awaited by all the fans (one of our editors included! ) of John Green’s writing.

Murder at the Grand Alpine Hotel by Lucy Foley

If you love atmospheric and cozy mysteries, don’t miss this one:

Commissioned by the Agatha Christie estate, Lucy Foley brings the beloved Miss Marple back to life! Miss Marple and her widowed friend Dolly Bantry’s story is set in a snowbound Swiss Alps luxury hotel in 1950. The peaceful vacation is shattered when Anthony Narracott, an ambitious Tory Member of Parliament, is predictably killed. An untimely accident cuts the hotel off from the rest of the world, leaving Miss Marple to untangle a web of secrets among four distinct narrators.

Kirkus Reviews notes that “it’s a lot harder to bring Miss Marple back to life than the higher-profile Hercule Poirot,” since the rapid shifts among narration can sometimes upstage the quiet detective. The novel is scheduled for release on September 22, 2026.

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With so many titles hitting shelves at once, it is easy for readers to feel overwhelmed. Fortunately, books don’t compete for our time the same way other media, like movies or video games, do. So, wrap yourself in a blanket, lean into the cozy seasonal vibes, and get ready to try the very best that this year’s busiest publishing window has.

Credentials:

1. Photo by Clay Banks on Unsplash