Fall Reads

New York Times bestsellingauthor Ann Patchett returns with a provocative andassured novel of morality and miracles, science and sacrifice set in the Amazon rainforest.

Infusing the narrative with the same ingenuity and emotionalurgency that pervaded her acclaimed previous novels, Patchett delivers anenthrallingly innovative tale of aspiration, exploration, and attachment in State of Wonder— a gripping adventurestory and a profound look at the difficult choices we make in the name of discovery and love.

Mislaid was on the longlist for the 2015 National Book Award, and it's one emotional, overwrought story of family history and drama. If you're looking for some tears, redemption and resolution, then this is it.

It starts off like a dream - when two lovers elope. Then into a nightmare when they find out that they can't stand each other as the years roll into eternity. When the couple takes a kid each, the siblings in their later years must find each other again and reconcile.

Not sure if it's the balmy weather cooling, or the drop in temperatures, but sometimes, it makes us all nostalgic and reminiscent of the past.

From memories of her relatives, to those of a charming bond with a special red hen on her family farm; from her first friendships to her earliest experiences with death, The Lost Landscape is a powerful evocation of the romance of childhood, and its indelible influence on the woman and the writer she would become.In this exceptionally candid, moving, and richly reflective account, Oates explores the world through the eyes of her younger self, an imaginative girl eager to tell stories about the world and the people she meets.

In Tokyo, sixteen-year-old Nao has decided there’s only one escape from her aching loneliness and her classmates’ bullying, but before she ends it all, Nao plans to document the life of her great-grandmother, a Buddhist nun who’s lived more than a century. A diary is Nao’s only solace—and will touch lives in a ways she can scarcely imagine.

Across the Pacific, we meet Ruth, a novelist living on a remote island who discovers a collection of artifacts washed ashore in a Hello Kitty lunchbox—possibly debris from the devastating 2011 tsunami. As the mystery of its contents unfolds, Ruth is pulled into the past, into Nao’s drama and her unknown fate, and forward into her own future.

Ruth Ozeki manages to masterfully manipulate the past and the future into a ball of present, and it's so delightful to read the intertwining fates of these two women. The search for home is a strong one, and Ozeki, with a lot of intensity and honesty, makes it a tale we can all identify with.

Go Set a Watchman features many of the characters from To Kill a Mockingbird some twenty years later. Returning home to Maycomb to visit her father, Jean Louise Finch—Scout—struggles with issues both personal and political, involving Atticus, society, and the small Alabama town that shaped her. Exploring how the characters from To Kill a Mockingbird are adjusting to the turbulent events transforming mid-1950s America, Go Set a Watchman casts a fascinating new light on Harper Lee’s enduring classic. Moving, funny and compelling, it stands as a magnificent novel in its own right.

Heir of Autumn is one great YA novel to get lost in.

Children of the Seasons rule the city-state of Ohndarien, a bastion of freedom and justice in a brutal world. But their brightest star, Brophy, the Heir of Autumn, has been falsely accused of murder, and the utopia falls to treachery and deceit. Exiled to an enemy kingdom, Brophy's only hope for survival lies in the deadly gladiatorial game of Nine Squares—and in the uncertain favors of a beautiful queen. And Ohndarien's struggle for peace and liberty falls under deeper shadow when evil powers, lost for centuries, wake in the wilderness, and an ancient terror walks the world again.

Amy Poehler is one of the funny girls in Hollywood who are intelligent, outspoken, and no bullshit. Girls? Funny? Yes - she's proof.

Full of the comedic skill that makes us all love Amy, Yes Please is a rich and varied collection of stories, lists, poetry (Plastic Surgery Haiku, to be specific), photographs, mantras and advice. With chapters like “Treat Your Career Like a Bad Boyfriend,” “Plain Girl Versus the Demon” and “The Robots Will Kill Us All” Yes Please will make you think as much as it will make you laugh. Honest, personal, real, and righteous, Yes Please is full of words to live by.

A young love is unforgettable, and most of the time, so is its story.

Autumn Rose (such an appropriate name for the shelf) lives in a sleepy seaside town, but buried deep under the surface of her quiet life are dark secrets. At her new school she is shunned and condemned––all because of the swirling marks on her skin that prevent her from blending in with the crowd. Then the appearance at her school of a handsome young man—who has the same curious markings as Autumn—sends her world into turmoil. Suddenly the marks are deemed cool, and Autumn is thrust into the limelight. But her sudden popularity brings danger as her secrets threaten to come to light. Dramatic? Yes. But that's young love.

You probably know Daphne du Maurier from "Rebecca" and "The Birds" - those were also Hitchcock movies.

Celebrated novelist Daphne Du Maurier and her sisters, eclipsed by her fame, are revealed in all their surprising complexity in this riveting new biography. The middle sister in a famous artistic dynasty, Daphne du Maurier is one of the master storytellers of our time. Her stories were made memorable by the iconic films they inspired, three of them classic Hitchcock chillers. But it was her sisters, writer Angela and artist Jeanne,who found the courage to defy the conventions that hampered Daphne’s emotional life. In this group biography they are considered side by side, as they were in life, three sisters who grew up during the 20th century in the glamorous hothouse of a theatrical family dominated by a charismatic and powerful father.

Call this a coming of age, romantic, wartime novel if you will, but it remains one of the most, if not best teenage love stories in our books.

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet is about the love and friendship between Henry Lee, a Chinese American boy, and Keiko Okabe, a Japanese American girl, during the internment in World War II. The characters defy stereotype with their earnestness and realism, making this novel an even more heartbreaking one.

On a searing hot day in 1919, a young Russian soldier shoots another in self-defence. As the other man lies dying, the young soldier takes his horse and rides away.

But wait, it's just a story. A story that a young man picks up and one that should not exist. The Spectre of Alexander Wolf is a psychological thriller and existential inquiry into guilt and redemption, coincidence and fate, love and death. It's a formidable piece that will stay with you for days.

Fall means one thing: warm beverages, amazing fresh produce, comfort food and lots of parties and get-togethers. But for those of us who live in small apartments (thanks urbanization!), organising a plentiful kitchen is tough, and organising a party is even harder.

Urban Pantry focuses on small-batch preserving for home owners and apartment dwellers Urban Pantry is a smart, concise guide to creating a full and delicious larder in your own home. It covers kitchen essentials, like what basics to keep on hand for quick, tasty meals without a trip to the store, and features recipes that adapt old-fashioned pantry cooking for a modern audience. Avid chef and gardener Amy Pennington demystifies canning and pickling for the urban kitchen and provides tips for growing a practical food garden in even the smallest of spaces.