Okay, I know it may still be offensively hot outside, but mentally? We have entered fall reading season. 🍂📚

This week on the shelf, we’re leaning ALL the way into it: dark academia, cozy fantasy, backlist books begging to be pulled off your TBR…and a beginner’s guide to one of the most iconic manga series ever written.

Basically, whatever version of fall reader you are, I’ve got you covered. 😏

📱ICYMI

Over on Instagram, we went full fall reading mode.

🍂 Dark Academia Genre Guide: If crisp air, old libraries, morally questionable academics, secret societies, and an unsettling amount of ambition sound like your ideal fall reading aesthetic…start here.

📚 Backlist Books on My Fall TBR: Because despite what Bookstagram sometimes makes us believe, books do NOT expire after release day. These are the older books I’m finally determined to get to this season.

☕ Cozy Reads for Your Fall TBR: Prefer your autumn with warm drinks, magical shops, romance, found family, and significantly less murder? I’ve got you covered there too.

And over on YouTube…

⚔️ Berserk 101: A Beginner’s Guide

If you've always been manga-curious but have absolutely NO idea where to start, this one is especially for you.

I'm breaking down Berserk: what it is, why it's become such an influential dark fantasy series, what you should know before reading, and whether it might be the manga that finally gets you to give the format a try.

And yes, this comes from someone who was once very much a manga beginner herself. 👀

🆕 NEW RELEASES

Here’s what’s hitting shelves this week!

Historical Fiction

• The Chinese Lady

• The Pirate Queen

Fantasy, Romantasy, & Sci-Fi

• Tempest

• The Dark Lord’s Guide to Honeymooning

• Wickhills

• Twig’s Traveling Tomes

• Taipei Story

Thriller & Mystery

• Fury in Death

• We Already Dug the Grave

• Wildwood

• The Wellness Retreat

• Little Red Death

• The Mystic and the Missing Girl

• Pictures of You

Horror

• She’s a Doll

Romance

• Fall Into Place

• Love Felt Like This

What are you picking up this week? 👀

💬 BOOKISH GROUP CHAT

A couple things from around the bookish internet that caught my attention this week:

🎨 “Read Your Color: The Assessment”

Okay, this was WAY too accurate. 😂 The assessment sorts you into a reading color based less on what genres you read and more on what you want a book to make you feel.

Apparently, I’m The Passionate Orange, an Orange reader who leans Red.

Orange readers chase that feeling of wonder: books that completely transport you somewhere else. So basically…yes. They got me. 😂

Especially because my personalized recommendations included Red Rising, The Hunger Games, Dune, Mistborn, The Way of Kings, and A Game of Thrones. At that point, I felt personally observed.

Take the Read Your Color assessment and PLEASE tell me what color you get. I need to know. 👀

✍️ “Pantser or Plotter: How Poe, Christie, King, and Other Greats Outlined Their Mysteries”

Ah, the age-old writing debate: meticulously plan everything…or sit down and see what chaos happens. 😂

This CrimeReads piece looks at how writers including Agatha Christie, Edgar Allan Poe, Raymond Chandler, John Grisham, and Stephen King approached plotting their stories. Christie? Plotter. King? Famously NOT.

Read the full piece via CrimeReads.

🐾 LINK’S CORNER

This week, Link wants to talk about Living with Freddie: How a Dog Taught Me to Be Human by Anna Heyward.

And listen…this one might hurt a little. 🥺

Heyward adopts Freddie, an eight-year-old rescue Italian greyhound, expecting that, with enough love and training, he'll eventually settle into her life.

Freddie has other plans.

He suffers from severe separation anxiety, and instead of simply teaching Freddie how to live in her world, Heyward gradually has to reconsider what caring for another creature actually asks of us. The book blends memoir, animal behavior, and reflections on the incredibly complicated bond between humans and their dogs.

Link’s thoughts: Humans really do love adopting dogs and thinking they’re going to be the ones doing the training. 😂

But underneath the humor, I think Link would approve of this one. Because anyone who has loved a dog knows they quietly rearrange your life, and somehow teach you an awful lot about yourself while they're doing it.

Also, Link would like it formally noted that she has trained me beautifully. 10/10. No notes. 🐾

Read more about Living with Freddie via The New York Times.

Until next week, happy reading and may your fall TBR be completely unreasonable. 🍂📚

— Brittany + Link 🐾