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Tuesday, September 22, 2015

My Fall Reading List


Today is the last day of summer. The autumnal equinox is tomorrow and the days are already getting shorter. When late afternoons and evenings are darker and cooler, I tend to read more. This fall I'm looking forward to several new releases and a couple of classics, too.

Top Ten Tuesday, hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, asks us to share our fall TBR (to be read) list this week. As always, this is today's list... next week, or even tomorrow, it might look a little different.



 Did You Ever Had a Family  by Bill Clegg
Longlisted for both the Man Booker prize and National Book Award. I borrowed this from the library and will get started as soon as I finish The Story of the Lost Child.




Purity  by Jonathan Franzen
People either love him or hate him. He's one of my favorites... I can't help myself.




 Infinite Home  by Kathleen Alcott
Recommend by several trusted bloggers, I'm on the library hold list for this one.




 Fates and Furies  by Lauren Groff
This book is a getting A LOT of buzz right now, and the author is practically a local.




After You  by Jojo Moyes
Me Before You  destroyed me (in a good way) and I must know what happens next!




The fifth book of our #6Barsets project, I'll begin this as a read/listen combination within the next week or two.




The Last Chronicle of Barset  by Anthony Trollope
The last book in the Barsetshire series is on tap for November. Finishing will be bittersweet, I'm sure.




by Jessica Fechtor
Because Audrey recently shared a passage, and it was wonderful.




 The Things They Carried  by Tim O'Brien (audio)
I've been meaning to read this for years and recently downloaded the audio.




The Gates of Evangeline  by Hester Young (audio)
Included because it is reminiscent of Dollbaby  by Laura Lane McNeal, which I loved. Both novels are narrated by January LaVoy... and she is amazing.


What books are you looking forward to this fall?


62 comments:

  1. I just got After You yesterday and can't wait to read it. I need to get to Did You Ever Have a Family too.

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    1. Kathy- Can't wait to hear what you think of After You... my expectations are pretty high.

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  2. What a great list of books.

    I have heard great things about Did You Ever Have a Family? though it sounds like it can be emotionally difficult.

    I also thought that the last two books of The Chronicles of Barchester series were better then all the others except for Barchester Towers. I am looking forward to reading your thoughts on them.

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    1. Brian Joseph - There a quite a few emotional reads on this list... already thinking there may be too many. No such thing as too many Trollope novels though!

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  3. I was just working on this kind of post and Purity is definitely on the list - great choices.

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    1. Diane - I'm getting close to the top of library list for Purity now, but haven;t started Did You Ever Have a Family yet... need to read faster!

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  4. After You is on my list and now a couple more will be added!

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    1. Nise' - I'm guessing After You will be an instant best seller.

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  5. Purity is on my wish list! I've never read anything by Franzen before and am looking forward to it. I hope you enjoy the books on your list.

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    1. Whitney- Franzen's writing is not for everyone, but I just love it. Hope you do, too.

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  6. I just read Me Before You last week, and it absolutely killed me, too. So much so that I don't even know if I can read After You (though I probably will).

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    1. Krissy J - Maybe you need a little time before reading After You. Haven't seen any reviews yet, but my expectations are high.

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  7. As sad as it is...I loved the Bill Clegg book. I have Fates And Furies...I read Gates Of Evangeline...so I will be interested in all of your thoughts about these!

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    1. Patty - SO many good books coming up. Wish I could read faster!!

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  8. I'm seeing Fates and Furies along with the new Clegg book on many tbr lists. The Art of Memoir by Mary Karr and several YA/MG reads are on my list. Happy reading.

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    1. Vasilly - I've seen them on a lot of lists today,too. The Art of Memoir sounds really good.

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  9. These all look good! I did read and enjoy Did You Ever Have a Family...and I am debating about Purity. I loved The Corrections by this author, but didn't enjoy Freedom.

    Infinite Home also looks good...I added it to my TBR at Goodreads. Thanks!

    Thanks for visiting my blog.

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    1. Laurel-Rain Snow - All the positive reviews, including yours, of Did You Ever Have a Family have me very excited about that book. As for Franzen, I loved The Corrections and although I had mixed feelings while reading Freedom, I ended up giving that 5 stars, too. We'll see about Purity.

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  10. I want to read The Gates of Evangeline for the setting alone. Also hearing good things about Did You Ever Have A Family and Fates and Furies. Nice list, JoAnn!

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    1. Kay - There's just something about a southern setting, isn't there? I'm looking forward to listening to The Gates of Evangeline.

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  11. This is such a great list!! I loved Infinite Home and really enjoyed The Gates of Evangeline (it does have similarities to Dollbaby). I just started the Clegg and was immediately drawn in. And, Fates and Furies...hmm..you probably saw my review. Stir sounds intriguing...I'm going to check that one out.

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    1. Sarah - Yes, I did see your review of Fates and Furies... makes me even more curious about it!

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  12. I read Stir earlier this summer and really enjoyed it. It wasn't as foodie as I expected but it was absolutely fascinating. I can't imagine going through what she went through. I love the covers for the Trollope books! Hope you enjoy them!

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    1. Katherine - I knew I'd seen Stir somewhere else... must have been your blog! The writing in the excerpt was wonderful.

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  13. Ooh I want to read Did You Ever Have a Family and the Jojo Moyes but I'm afraid I wasn't a fan of The Fates and Furies...

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    1. Cleo - You and Sarah are tempering my expectations of Fates and Furies... and that's a good thing. Very curious about that book.

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  14. Yay for the Barsets, of course, and Stir really is lovely. I hope you enjoy them - and all your books!

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    1. Audrey - Probably another week before I get back to Barsetshire... it will be such a relief after my time in Ferrante's Naples neighborhood!

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    2. Great! Will email you when I finish :)

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  15. What a great list! It makes me want those early dark nights to come sooner.

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    1. Debbie - One of the advantages of shorter days, I guess ;-)

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  16. You have an amazing list. Fates and Furies is on my list, but so many of your others are on my wish list or Kindle. If only I could get to them all this year. :(

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    1. Kathy - I know! Unfortunately, there's no way I'll be able to read all of these.

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  17. I really fell off the wagon with #6Barsets, but at least it pushed me to read Doctor Thorne this year! Have you read Trollope's other series or his standalones? I can't recall. I've only read the first three Barsets. I like that Trollope's output was pretty sizeable and - from what I've heard - consistent in quality.

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    1. Christy - Did you hear the BBC is making a Doctor Thorne miniseries? I can't wait. The first four Barsets are the only Trollope I've read so far, but there will definitely be more in my future The 6 Palliser novels might be another year-long project at some point. And I've added several of his standalones to my wish list, too.

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    2. I'm so thrilled to hear that news about the BBC miniseries! Thanks for mentioning that as I hadn't heard. I love some of their adaptations of Austen, Gaskell and Dickens. Though Barchester Towers is my favorite so far, Doctor Thorne should translate very well to the screen. I see that Julian Fellowes is going to be the writer. I haven't always liked his writing on Downton Abbey, but since the plotting's not entirely up to him, it has the potential to be quite good. Though I see that they have turned Martha Dunstable into an American heiress? Anyway, I hope Fellowes includes some of the funniest bits, such as when the doctor's maid whaps the impertinent servant of Louis Scatcherd's.

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    3. Christy - I'm a big fan of BBC adaptations, too! Haven't seen a release date for Dr. Thorne, nor had I read that they've made Miss Dunstable into an American heiress. Not sure how I feel about that, but I trust Fellowes to get it right.

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  18. I wish we were seeing an end to summer here in Arizona, but ... nope. It's still in the 90s and 100s. We'll get cooler weather sometime in November. I hope I last that long. I miss real seasons :(

    THE GATES OF EVANGELINE is on my list as well. It looks amazing. So does FATES AND FURIES. I've been hearing a lot about that one lately.

    Happy TTT!

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    1. Susan - We'll have snow by November.... and I'll be ready to head to Florida! Hope we both get to The Gates of Evangeline before too long :)

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  19. I really loved Did You Ever Have a Family and Infinite Home, so glad to see those on your list! I had Purity out from the library, but had to take it back unread...I do hope to get to it at some point, if for nothing else than to have an opinion.

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    1. Shannon - Your reviews of both those books influenced my decision to add them to my list, and I'm really looking forward to both! I loved The Corrections and Freedom, so I have high hopes for Purity, too.... not sure I'll get to all of these books before the end of the year though.

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  20. I have three left on my summer reading list. I'm pretending the equinox isn't happening yet. The Things They Carried is a fine, fine book. Tim O'Brien is one of my favorites. Lovely writing. Hope you enjoy it.

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    1. Midlife Roadtripper - I was actually afraid to go back and look at my summer reading list, but I did and there were four. Better than expected!
      Can't wait to read The Things They Carried... I have a print copy here somewhere, too.

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  21. Your fall list looks interesting! Happy reading!

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  22. The Gates of Evangeline looks really intriguing! My TTT

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    1. Carrie - Can't wait to read it! Thanks for visiting.

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  23. I hope you enjoy your Autumnal reading. I don't have a set list of books to read in Autumn, but I love taking part in the R.I.P event so my reading will be suitably mysterious and darker.

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    1. Jessicabookworm - I love RIP, too... even though my first book is a DNF so far. Happy reading!

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  24. Looks like a great list JoAnn. Thanks for sharing it.

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  25. The Things They Carried is such a great book. I hope you like it. I enjoyed reading your list. JoJo Moyes is an author I hope to someday try. And several of the other titles you listed sound like they will be good.

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    1. Literary Feline - Another comment about The Things They Carried makes me even more excited to read/listen to it! Jojo Moyes is really wonderful. I loved Me Before You and The Girl You Left Behind, and The Ship of Brides was very good, too.

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  26. I've got a few of these on my reading list as well. The Things They Carried has been on my list of books to read for a few years now. I should check for an audio and finall get to it. Enjoy your reading!

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    1. Darlene - I added The Things They Carried after (I think) Care raved about the audio. Also have a print copy, so may read and listen.

      Hope you're having a good week. I've been thinking of you lately... take care.

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  27. I'm a bit overwhelmed with all the fall reading choices at the moment and still have to sort that out, but the Bill Clegg novel and Hester Young's are on my radar.

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    1. Thecuecard - - I know what you mean! There are just SO many new novels I want to read right now, but I want to continue with Trollope's Barsetshire series and tackle some of the many books on my shelves, too. What's a reader to do? ;-)

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  28. WHOA! So many great choices on this list!! I hope you enjoy all of them and you can just send them my way when you finish - ha!

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    1. Tara - I am totally overwhelmed this fall... don't think I've ever wanted to read so many new releases. Wish I could read faster!!

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  29. You've got some really good ones on your list!! I need to come up with a list but I am drowning in work these days. I hope to make a list soon.

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    1. Ti - There are SO many new releases I want to read this month. It'll be nearly impossible to get to them all!

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