By Carole Reedy—

Partita by Barbara Kingsolver
(publication date October 6, 2026)

The most anticipated fall read, without a doubt, is Barbara Kingsolver’s Partita.

Kingsolver’s previous novel, Demon Copperhead, entertained and educated readers with its smooth narrative of a remote and forgotten part of the US where the pharmaceutical industry introduced addictive drugs. (To understand the facts of this tragedy, read Patrick Radden Keefe’s The Empire Of Pain.) Kingsolver received accolades around the world for her depiction of a modern-day David Copperfield.

This new novel is the story of a farm girl and her unfulfilled musical talent, class barriers, and love. At the heart of the story, however, is the importance of art and beauty.

Kingsolver herself had the talent to pursue the piano as a career, but when faced with the practicality of a life in music changed her college major to biology. She also had aspirations as a writer and studied journalism. As a child she read Tolstoy and played Bach on the piano.

Noted author Ann Patchett, whose new novel Whistler has just arrived, accompanied by rave reviews, on bookshelves, says of Kingsolver’s latest “She means to save us by telling us stories…She comes closer than anyone else I know.”

Country People by Daniel Mason
(publication date July 7, 2026)

Mason’s North Woods, published in 2024, was, for me, a mesmerizing read covering centuries of the inhabitants of a yellow house in a remote part of Massachusetts.

His latest story takes us on a family voyage to Vermont from California.

It’s described by the publisher as a “joyous, absurd, gorgeously-drawn exploration of marriage, family, friendship, storytelling and how people find connection in an increasingly fragmented world.”

We know Mason as a consummate storyteller that can deliver a story in a masterfully fluent manner.

Ply by Hernan Diaz
(publication date September 29, 2026)

How we loved Diaz’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel Trust, the story of a “successful” man and his wife told in three parts, the last part putting in perspective the first two in a most shocking way.

Though his previous novels dealt with the past, this one takes us to the distant future and questions the role of technology in our lives. It is a Dickensian-style family drama in addition to being a scientific thriller.

The novel takes place in a US city where the protagonist, an orphan, steals energy to feed the city’s vibrant music scene. This high-risk life shifts when he becomes involved in a scientific project that could change reality itself.

The Dying Light by Anne Cleeves
(publication date October 8)

Few of us will forget the isolation of the pandemic of 2020 for the gift of time that allowed us hours more to read. During the following three years many of us discovered various book series and authors that entertained and allowed us to get through those difficult days.

One such author was Anne Cleeves. Cleeves is a prolific writer, but the most striking aspect of her writing is the characterizations she creates. These people become part of the reader’s life. It may sound corny, but during the pandemic I talked by phone to friends in the US about characters in the novels as though we were discussing our own friends.

Cleeves’ Shetland series became so popular that it was made into a television series. The lure of an unknown part of the world added mystery to the mysteries! Tourists started putting the Shetland Islands on their travel bucket lists.

Cleeves recently introduced the Matthew Venn series (also called the Two Rivers series), which takes place in Devon England, where detective Venn lives with his husband. Again, the magic of these books lies in their characters rather than the plots.

Cleeves knows and understands her characters so well that she seems to describe them from memory rather than imagination.

Agrippa by Robert Harris
(publication date August 27, 2026)

Harris has always been recognized for his ability to combine personal drama and political machinations. His Conclave gripped book lovers as well as movie fans.

In Agrippa we return to the Roman Empire, where there is plenty of drama for writers. After the death of Julius Caesar, the 17-year-old Octavius becomes heir to the throne. His closest friend is Agrippa. For 20 years they rule the empire together.

Agrippa stirs up the past in his memoirs, which he is writing at age 50. Power and friendship: can they coexist? That is the question and theme.

Robert Harris’ books are very readable and offer glimpses into the political yet personal aspects of the histories he writes. I have become a recent fan of this prestigious writer of histories. His Pompeii hooked me as a new fan and follower.

The French Illusion by John Grisham
(publication date September 29, 2026)

Faithful readers to the genre have been reading John Grisham’s legal thrillers since 1991 when The Firm became an overnight sensation, spending 47 weeks on The New York Times best-seller list. I remember vividly when it hit the shelves, touted as different and sketching new material and characters for a novel. Law school admissions may have risen at this time.

Grisham’s latest veers a little off the legal thriller genre, being more an international suspense novel. It’s clear Grisham enjoys reading the spy stories of John Le Carre, Ken Follett, and Robert Ludlum. This is his first attempt in following the “craftsmanship of some of these international suspense novelists.”

This new plot starts with the kidnapping of a newlywed couple in the French countryside, which rapidly turns into an international espionage plot.

The Disappearers by Marlon James
(publication date September 1, 2026)

It would be difficult to forget James’ A Brief History of Seven Killings, which brought James the recognition he deserved when his novel won the Man Booker Prize in 2015. This new story continues in the genre. Again taking place in Jamaica, it begins with eight gay men in Jamaica during the 1980s.

These eight men, actors, are unfamiliar to each other but share the experience of being gay, including the hatred and bigotry they endure. How they handle it varies among them: some try to forget, others embrace their rage, and still others simply vanish.

James’ novels are enormous in every aspect.

Switzy by Emma Cline
(publication date October 9, 2026)

What is a life? What remains when your goals and accomplishments have been realized? These appear to be the unanswerable questions Cline explores in this story of an aging man.

It is quite an original story, probing the depths of human consciousness, “revealing what a man is left with when the accomplishments and compromises that have defined him, and the illusions he’s relied on, vanish.”

The book follows its main character, David, with his thoughts and memories, as he flies to Zurich with stops in Paris, England, etc. The unusualness of the premise is alluring, especially when tackled by a writer as deft as Cline, who we remember for her novel The Girls, which was based on the Charles Manson entourage of the 70s.

The Newer World by Sebastian Barry
(publication date September 8, 2026)

My book club in Mexico City, whose members represent a number of nationalities, enthusiastically embraces any book written by the Irish writer Sebastian Barry. His novels appeal to not only the Irish and Brits, but also to Americans and Mexicans.

Barry is a consummate storyteller. His newest takes place in the 19th century, starting in rural Tennessee where the main character, a Confederate soldier and wanted man, heads for Nashville but finds himself on a detour to Victorian England. It’s a story of how we survive and at what cost along the way.

Exit Party by Emily St. John Mandel
(publication date September 15, 2026)

This timely novel by the noteworthy author of Station Eleven and Sea of Tranquility should gain widespread attention in the literary world this fall.

Starting out in Los Angeles 2031 with the collapse of the US, the story continues not only from a splintered America but also expanding to include Paris and Greece and a colony on the moon.

Story is the lifeblood of a novel, and this year appears to be packed with novels that are faithful to this premise.

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