
A Definitive Guide to the 10 Best Fall Books of 2016

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A Definitive Guide to the 10 Best Fall Books of 2016
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Leaf piles, gorgeous late-afternoon sun, crisp mornings: It’s definitely fall again outside, and we couldn’t be happier. One of the best things about the chillier temperatures of autumn is that tons of new books are always released around this time, and we all have more time to read them, now that picnics and BBQs and rooftop hangs are not constantly going on around the clock. Love you, summer, but—hello, fall!

OK, we definitely found plenty of time to burry our heads in a book when the weather was warm too—lying on a blanket in the park reading for hours is pretty much the best summer activity ever (or on the beach, if you’re a sun goddess who also wears sunscreen, obviously)—but there’s just something about fall that inspires us to brew a pot of tea, curl up in a nook somewhere, and read all day.

MORE: Want to Work in Fashion? 16 Books to Read Immediately

As such, here are the 10 best books that have come out recently or will come out soon. Whether you’re into short stories or prefer novels, like to read memoir or enjoy straight essays, you’ll find at least one book you have to buy immediately—and don’t blame us if you want all 10. All of these are available online, of course, but don’t forget to support your local bookstore in search of these gems!

MORE: Our Editors Share Their All-Time Favorite Books

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Ann Patchett, 'Commonwealth'
Ann Patchett, 'Commonwealth'

A tale of "two families merging in the suburbs," Patchett told NPR that Commonwealth is autobiographical: "It's not a book about [my family], but definitely I am using information from our lives." Her latest novel follows Bert Cousins, who kisses a married woman, Beverly, at a christening party—and follows the pair as they dissolve their marriages and merge their families.

Release date: September 13

Price: $16.79; at Amazon

Photo: Amazon
Zadie Smith, 'Swing Time'
Zadie Smith, 'Swing Time'

What happens when two young girls are BFFs and both want to grow up to be dancers, but only one has true talent? And what of when best-friend-foreverness turns sour, and abruptly ends when they are in their early twenties? Smith's latest novel, a meditation on friendship and all that comes with it, tackles these questions—and many others.

Release date: November 15

Price: $19.07; at Amazon

Photo: Amazon
Elena Ferrante, 'Frantumaglia'
Elena Ferrante, 'Frantumaglia'

If you've gotten into Ferrante's Neapolitan novels, you'll be happy to know that she's publishing her first nonfiction work, Frantumaglia, comprised of more than 20 years of letters, essays, reflections, and interviews. In an interview with the Paris Review, Ferrante said "la frantumaglia" means “bits and pieces of uncertain origin which rattle around in your head, not always comfortably," from Neapolitan dialect. Here, those bits and pieces are all collected in one place.

Release date: November 1

Prince: $13.21; at Amazon

Photo: Amazon
Marina Abramović, 'Walk Through Miles'
Marina Abramović, 'Walk Through Miles'

Whether she's creating performative art or writing a memoir, Abramović is a force to be reckoned with. Walk Through Miles charts the artist's rise to fame and takes it back to postwar Yugoslavia, where she was raised by Communist war-hero parents. A truth-is-stranger-than-fiction tale.

Release date: October 25

Price: $21.64; at Amazon

Photo: Amazon
Phoebe Robinson, 'You Can't Touch My Hair'
Phoebe Robinson, 'You Can't Touch My Hair'

If you've ever listened to the 2 Dope Queens podcast, you know how painfully funny and uber real Robinson can be. With You Can't Touch My Hair: And Other Things I Still Have to Explain, Robinson examines what it means to be a black woman in America and addresses difficult realities with humor and grace.

Release date: October 4

Price: $10.67; at Amazon

Photo: Amazon
Anna Kendrick, 'Scrappy Little Nobody'
Anna Kendrick, 'Scrappy Little Nobody'

Apparently Kendrick has always felt a little different from everyone else, and she decided to share that with the general public with her book of personal essays, Scrappy Little Nobody. Whether she's discussing her early "dating experiments" (only get a crush on boys who don't crush back) to having the distinctive experience of reviewing a binder full of butt doubles, Kendrick's stories offer plucky fun.

Release date: November 15

Price: $16.06; at Amazon

Photo: Amazon
Leopoldine Core, 'When Watched'
Leopoldine Core, 'When Watched'

Core's stories are quiet, simple, beautifully written—and, at times, heartbreaking. The debut collection from the East Village writer, who was born and raised in NYC, includes the title story, "When Watched," that will make you ignore the buzzing of your phone, completely submerged in her prose.

Release date: August 9

Price: $9.41; at Amazon

Photo: Amazon
Nell Zink, 'Nicotine'
Nell Zink, 'Nicotine'

Whether you hated or loved Zink's last novel, Mislaid, it's undeniable that this woman knows how to write—and knows how to stir up some controversy. Her latest, Nicotine, has a straightforward premise—a lost young woman inherits her bohemian father’s childhood home—but things get complicated fast.

Release date: October 4

Price: $20.43; at Amazon

Photo: Amazon
Ian McEwan, 'Nutshell'
Ian McEwan, 'Nutshell'

McEwan is a master. That much has been established with books including First Love, Last RitesBlack Dogs; and Atonement. But with Nutshell, he delves into mostly unchartered territory: The novel is written from the voice of an as-yet-unborn child. "So here I am, upside down in a woman," the novel begins.

Release date: September 14

Price: $14.97; at Amazon

Photo: Amazon
Alexandra Kleeman, 'Intimations'
Alexandra Kleeman, 'Intimations'

You probably know Kleeman from her novel You Too Can Have a Body Like Mine. With her first collection of stories, Kleeman proves that she has range. Divided into three sections, like life itself: "birth," "life," and "death," Kleeman's tales are offbeat and surprising, and will keep you reading, promising yourself, "just one more story."

Release date: September 13

Price: $19.49; at Amazon

Photo: Amazon

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The Minimalist-Friendly Color Combo You Need to Try Now

The Minimalist-Friendly Color
Combo You Need to Try Now
  • Ann Patchett, 'Commonwealth'
  • Zadie Smith, 'Swing Time'
  • Elena Ferrante, 'Frantumaglia'
  • Marina Abramović, 'Walk Through Miles'
  • Phoebe Robinson, 'You Can't Touch My Hair'
  • Anna Kendrick, 'Scrappy Little Nobody'
  • Leopoldine Core, 'When Watched'
  • Nell Zink, 'Nicotine'
  • Ian McEwan, 'Nutshell'
  • Alexandra Kleeman, 'Intimations'

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