It’s that time of year again when the trees shed their colorful leaves, the air turns crisp and the scent of pumpkin spice fills coffee shops everywhere — fall is officially here. For book lovers, it’s the perfect season to cozy up and get lost in the pages of a magical novel. Here are five must-read books to dive into before the chill of winter sets in. So, grab your favorite drink, find a comfy spot and let the reading begin.
1. “Before the Coffee Gets Cold” by Toshikazu Kawaguchi
The book’s brilliance lies in its simplicity. Kawaguchi’s prose is short and delicate, with the words wrapping around the reader like a soft blanket. In a tucked-away cafe in Tokyo there’s a special seat, and drinking brewed coffee in that spot that will transport the customer to a moment from the past that took place within the cafe’s walls. But there is a catch: one can only stay in that moment until the coffee grows cold, and no matter what they cannot change the present.
“Before the Coffee Gets Cold” explores a simple question: If you were given the opportunity to revisit a loved one, what would you say? The novel delves into the emotional weight of words left unsaid, offering a bittersweet glimpse of how fleeting yet precious those moments truly are.
2. “Foster” by Claire Keegan
“Foster” is a deceptively straightforward 128-page book. The narrative follows a young girl sent to temporarily live with relatives while her pregnant mother grapples with financial pressure. Despite the novella’s succinct length, Keegan’s taut, thoughtful prose livens the narrative and captures the aches and comforts of love.
The girl’s original family dynamics are stretched thin with poverty looming overhead, too many mouths to feed and an alcoholic father who gambles away all the cash he brings in. Everything changes at her relatives’ house — one that is filled with love and space to grow. Much of the novel’s emotionally charged sequences are carried by the idea of silence, especially since the story has the political backdrop of Ireland in 1980, which includes a recession and an ethno-nationalist conflict. It’s ultimately a gut-wrenching, beautiful novella.
A notable quote that captures the essence of Keegan’s novel is: “Many’s the man lost much just because he missed a perfect opportunity to say nothing.”
3. “Sorrow and Bliss” by Meg Mason
This book is a humorous yet moving story about life and the intricacies of mental illness. Yet it’s not your typical run-of-the-mill fiction about a depressed main character like “My Year of Rest and Relaxation” by Ottessa Moshfegh. It’s refreshingly mature. The book opens with the main protagonist’s husband, Patrick, leaving Martha just days after her 40th birthday and traces her life since she first met Patrick at the age of 14. The reader experiences Martha’s tumultuous battle with mental health throughout her life — a story that turns out to be surprisingly captivating through its bouts of dry, witty humor and introspectiveness. We never find out the illness Martha has, but perhaps this solidifies the book’s lasting impact, making it more universal to most readers.
It brilliantly highlights the ways we are all interconnected, often despite our best efforts, in a searingly honest way. With raw vulnerability and dark humor, the novel explores the complexities of love, identity and the delicate balance between despair and hope.
4. “Giovanni’s Room” by James Baldwin
This novel is an utterly heart-wrenching love story. No other book could prepare you for the eloquence and elegance of Baldwin’s manipulation of language. Baldwin’s words ambush you with both personal and generational grief, relating to one’s inner conflicts about identity and love and how these conflicts are greatly influenced by socio-cultural forces. The book itself takes place in 1980s France, and the main character David struggles to accept his bisexuality, especially at a time when queer people are oppressed. Baldwin’s novel should not be pigeonholed into a queer love story as it exudes a larger gravitas, proposing that society redefine love to encompass both sexual and emotional intimacy.
“The risk of loving and being free is the same for a gay or a straight man,” Baldwin wrote.
“Giovanni’s Room” is a short novel that incisively critiques the restrictive gender and sexuality societal norms, while also delving into themes of romantic love, shame, expatriation and the quest for freedom. If you only have time to read one book from this list, read “Giovanni’s Room.”
5. “Woman, Eating” by Claire Kohda
“Woman, Eating” is a delicious debut novel that explores identity, belonging and eating disorders. Allegorically, Lydia is a mixed-race vampire beginning anew in a London studio after placing her mother in a mental clinic. She yearns to fully embrace her humanity and indulge in sushi and other foods. On a literal level, Lydia grapples with her societal identity and body image, resulting in a complicated relationship with food.
Kohda masterfully combines vampire fiction and literary fiction with stunningly strange writing that ultimately underscores the importance of reconciling one’s inner conflicts to learn how to exist in society. Kohda takes us through Lydia embracing her demonic and humane sides by unlearning food fixations because she “must eat.”
