Our Favourite Fall 2024 Books

If you need yet another reason to adore fall—aside from cooler weather, crisp leaves and way better hair days—consider the books. Oh, the books. September and October are typically bumper months for new releases, as booksellers start stocking up for the upcoming holiday season. Whether you’re looking for a guaranteed-to-be-good page-turner, some heavy-hitting non-fiction or a smart and sexy vampire saga, one of our 12 favourite books of the season will be just the ticket.

Our Top Fall 2024 New Releases

Intermezzo by Sally Rooney

Sally Rooney can create sexual tension anywhere, including—in her fourth novel—a community-centre chess tournament. Intermezzo follows two brothers as they navigate their respective relationships in the aftermath of their father’s death. (September 24)

The Blue Hour by Paula Hawkins

“I thought perhaps you ought to be made aware,” reads a letter to the Tate Modern. The author notes one of the gallery’s exhibit labels contains an error: the bone on display is human, he says, not animal. A delicious mystery ensues. (October 29)

Miss Kim Knows by Cho Nam-Joo

Each of the stories in this collection focuses on the experiences of a different Korean woman—experiences that are simultaneously personal and universal. Much like Nam-Joo’s 2020 bestseller, Kim Ji-young, Born 1982, this book is an absolute gem. (September 17)

Peggy by Rebecca Godfrey

I couldn’t put down this fictionalized first-person account of the colourful life of American heiress Peggy Guggenheim. It was written by Rebecca Godfrey, the late Canadian author of Under the Bridge, and finished by her friend and fellow writer extraordinaire Leslie Jamison. (Out now)

Heart on my Sleeve by Jeanne Beker

The iconic Fashion Television host tells the story of her life in short chapters themed around wardrobe items, including a pair of black velvet Anna Sui bell bottoms she wore to interview Madonna in 1992. (Spoiler: Madge was wearing the same pair.) (October 8)

The Lightning Bottles by Marissa Stapley

Stapley’s latest novel is inspired by the ’90s grunge scene. Jane Pyre, surviving half of husband-and-wife duo the Lightning Bottles, moves to Germany to disappear. Her new neighbour? A Lightning Bottles superfan who swears Pyre’s husband is still alive. (September 24)

Blue Sisters by Coco Mellors

Mellors’ 2022 debut, Cleopatra and Frankenstein, cemented her as an edgier Sally Rooney. (Fun fact: Carrie Bradshaw was spotted reading it in season two of And Just Like That...) Her sophomore release follows three distant female siblings who are thrust together again while coping with addiction issues and the sudden loss of their fourth sister. (September 3)

Real Ones by Katherena Vermette

In this warm, incredibly timely and at times rather funny novel, two Michif sisters deal with the ripple effect of their estranged and “very white” mother’s claims that she’s Indigenous, alongside other family trauma. (September 3)

The Knowing by Tanya Talaga

Named after the term used by Kamloops Indian Residential School survivors to refer to traumatic memories often dismissed by others, the newest release from Indigenous journalist Talaga explores her family’s history alongside this country’s. (August 27)

So Thirsty by Rachel Harrison

In this fun, fast-paced read, BFFs Naomi and Sloane convene at a cottage to celebrate Sloane’s 36th birthday. After Naomi meets a guy at the local bar, he invites them to a vampire orgy. A bloody good and surprisingly empowering romp ensues. (September 10)

What Have You Done? by Shari Lapena

When Diana Brewer is found dead in a field, her high-school boyfriend is suspect number one. He seems innocent enough...until his mother catches him in a lie. And thus this whodunnit—told from multiple perspectives, including a deceased Diana’s—kicks off. (Out now; read an excerpt)

In Exile by Sadiya Ansari

Pakistani-Canadian journalist (and former Chatelaine editor) Ansari investigates a “black box” in her family history—her grandmother’s nearly two-decades-long abandonment of her family—as well as her own attitudes toward marriage and motherhood. (Out now; read an excerpt)