Top Ten Tuesday: Books on My Fall 2024 To-Read List

Top Ten Tuesday is a tag hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl. This week's prompt is "Books on My Fall 2024 To-read List". 

Looking back at my summer list, I think I did pretty well! The only book I didn't manage to read was Me Vs. Brain; it was originally published in the U.K., and while it has been published here, my library still hasn't gotten it and I don't feel like buying it. It's still on my TBR, I'll just be putting it off for a bit longer. (I'm also still reading The Familiar–but I technically started it in the summer, so I'm counting it!)

Moving on to the books I really want to read this fall! There is only one nonfiction book on this list and the rest are fantasy (so much for branching out in the genres I read this year!). As with my summer list, the books are in order of release date from oldest to newest, and all covers are linked to Goodreads.

1. The Last Unicorn, by Peter S. Beagle (Release Date: March 1, 1968)

"The unicorn had lived since before memory in a forest where death could touch nothing. Maidens who caught a glimpse of her glory were blessed by enchantment they would never forget. But outside her wondrous realm, dark whispers and rumours carried a message she could not ignore: 'Unicorns are gone from the world.'" (From Goodreads)

A friend loaned me this book, so I aspire to read it soon! He described it to me as "Weird. But good weird!" So I have no idea what to expect.

2. Ash, by Malinda Lo (Release Date: September 1, 2009)

"In the wake of her father's death, Ash is left at the mercy of her cruel stepmother. Consumed with grief, her only joy comes by the light of the dying hearth fire, rereading the fairy tales her mother once told her. In her dreams, someday the fairies will steal her away, as they are said to do. When she meets the dark and dangerous fairy Sidhean, she believes that her wish may be granted." (From Goodreads)

A fellow writer from my writers group recommended this to me. I'm always down for a Cinderella retelling!

3. Splintered, by A.G. Howard (Release Date: January 1, 2013)

"Alyssa Gardner hears the whispers of bugs and flowers—precisely the affliction that landed her mother in a mental hospital years before. This family curse stretches back to her ancestor Alice Liddell, the real-life inspiration for Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Alyssa might be crazy, but she manages to keep it together. For now." (From Goodreads)

Take me to Wonderland! Especially a dark and creepy Wonderland where not all is as it seems on the surface!

4. The Golem and the Jinni, by Helene Wecker (Release Date: April 13, 2013)

"Marvelous and compulsively readable, Helene Wecker's debut novel The Golem and the Jinni weaves strands of Yiddish and Middle Eastern literature, historical fiction and magical fable, into a wondrously inventive and unforgettable tale." (From Goodreads)

Another loan from the same friend. (I told him that I really enjoyed Ariel Kaplan's The Pomegranate Gate, and he gave this to me because it also has Jewish folklore inspiration.)

5. The Wrath and the Dawn, by Renée Ahdieh (Release Date: May 12, 2015)

"In a land ruled by a murderous boy-king, each dawn brings heartache to a new family. Khalid, the eighteen-year-old Caliph of Khorasan, is a monster. Each night he takes a new bride only to have a silk cord wrapped around her throat come morning. When sixteen-year-old Shahrzad's dearest friend falls victim to Khalid, Shahrzad vows vengeance and volunteers to be his next bride. Shahrzad is determined not only to stay alive, but to end the caliph's reign of terror once and for all." (From Goodreads)

Let's see how this retelling of One Thousand and One Nights stacks up to Cameron Dokey's!

6. Peter Darling, by Austin Chant (Release Date: February 9, 2017)

"The Lost Boys say that Peter Pan went back to England because of Wendy Darling, but Wendy is just an old life he left behind. Neverland is his real home. So when Peter returns to it after ten years in the real world, he’s surprised to find a Neverland that no longer seems to need him. The only person who truly missed Peter is Captain James Hook, who is delighted to have his old rival back. But when a new war ignites between the Lost Boys and Hook’s pirates, the ensuing bloodshed becomes all too real – and Peter’s rivalry with Hook starts to blur into something far more complicated, sensual, and deadly." (From Goodreads)

Who fancies a romp to Neverland? (Me. I do. Always.)

7. Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries, by Heather Fawcett (Release Date: January 10, 2023)

"A curmudgeonly professor journeys to a small town in the far north to study faerie folklore and discovers dark fae magic, friendship, and love in the start of a heartwarming and enchanting new fantasy series." (From Goodreads)

I've been seeing so many good things about this book across the blogosphere as well as on Bookstagram!

8. Tress of the Emerald Sea, by Brandon Sanderson (Release Date: January 10, 2023)

"The only life Tress has known on her island home in an emerald-green ocean has been a simple one, with the simple pleasures of collecting cups brought by sailors from faraway lands and listening to stories told by her friend Charlie. But when his father takes him on a voyage to find a bride and disaster strikes, Tress must stow away on a ship and seek the Sorceress of the deadly Midnight Sea. Amid the spore oceans where pirates abound, can Tress leave her simple life behind and make her own place sailing a sea where a single drop of water can mean instant death?" (From Goodreads)

The same friend who loaned me The Last Unicorn and The Golem and the Jinni told me that the prose in this book reminded him of mine, so I'm quite intrigued. While putting it on this list, I noticed that it's the 28th in a series, but hopefully it can stand alone as well.

9. The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Caused an Epidemic of Mental Illness, by Jonathan Haidt (Release Date: March 26, 2024)

"After more than a decade of stability or improvement, the mental health of adolescents plunged in the early 2010s. Rates of depression, anxiety, self-harm, and suicide rose sharply, more than doubling on many measures. Why?" (From Goodreads)

The token nonfiction. I put this on hold at the library on August 29 and I'm currently 82nd on the waitlist. I'm interested to see if it lives up to the hype!

10. The Spellshop, by Sarah Beth Durst (Release Date: July 9, 2024)

"The Spellshop is Sarah Beth Durst’s romantasy debut–a lush cottagecore tale full of stolen spellbooks, unexpected friendships, sweet jams, and even sweeter love." (From Goodreads)

This sounds like the perfect cozy fantasy. I'm pleased my library got it so fast! (I'm only 9th on the waitlist for this one.)

So, apparently I'm in a fantasy mood. What about you? I'd love to hear all about your reading plans for fall!