42 Fabulous Fall Reads

The international literary world has never been as diverse — or downright interesting — as it is today. That’s why we’ve collated some of the best newer reads from Argentina to Zimbabwe and from Japan to America, and many fascinating places in between. These books delve into personal demons and supernatural demons, race relations and family relationships, unspoken love and loving out loud. Some are nominated for awards, and some are simply rewarding reads.

Immigration brings with it new literary voices. Many in this new generation aren’t mourning their exile, the way an earlier generation of immigrant writers has been portrayed, says Michael Jacklin of the University of Wollongong in Australia; rather, these are authors using their own ethnic experiences to “construct a new way of being, of thinking about themselves.” Here are three books he recommends, in translated Arabic, Spanish and Vietnamese.

We hear a lot about male chefs. We’re happy to tell you there’s a sumptuous array of memoirs and fiction penned by women who are chefs and front-of-house staff at high-end restaurants. Whether you’re curious about what it takes to create a restaurant empire as a woman, how to deal with pushy customers as a female sommelier or navigating post-shift waitstaff drinking politics, these fearless women serve up some delicious reading.

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As the U.S. and Cuba began making amends in 2015, we looked to its contemporary literature for shifts in focus. From a collection penned by underground Generation Zero authors that intentionally departs from stereotypical tropical tales, to a story of women trapped in a hurricane where one must tell her life story before she dies … Here are four new and familiar literary voices from the island and its diaspora.

Turkey: beautiful, historic, evolving. And all of this surfaces in the nation’s literature. One of Turkey’s best-known authors, Orhan Pamuk, will take you from Istanbul all the way to the country’s eastern borders. Other writers weave unique Turkish mythology with a distinct cosmopolitanism — much like its most famous city, at the crossroads between East and West — in books about rebellion, architecture and curious human-animal conflicts. This is our bookworm guide to Turkey.

Once known for its tradition of magical realism, Mexican fiction has embraced transnationalism, showing that Mexico is not just a place, but a way of considering the world and observing how the world is reflected in your home country. From the collection New Voices, Old Traditions by writers under 40 to a humorous, well-textured novel about the “theft” of Mexico from the U.S., these four books will get you well acquainted with some of the best lit in the country.

In the literature of a language that even has a word for piles of unread books that accumulate on shelves and bedside tables — tsundoku — it can be hard to know where to start. Here are four compelling reads, ranging from a two-volume historical novel that follows a 400-year-old fracas between Japanese pirate clans to a short story that revisits the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster. Of course, there’s also a Haruki Murakami book on the list.

Now almost three decades after the end of apartheid in South Africa, the country’s writing scene is buzzing with great stories. The Thunder That Roars is a tale about a traveling reporter unsettled by the discoveries of troubling stories about his country and his family. Songeziwe Mahlangu’s debut novel explores life’s in-between states. And the ambitious An Imperfect Blessing tackles both the historical and personal in a crucial year for the protagonist and the country.

These novels are packed with the usual steamy storylines. They just happen to feature queer or non-gender-conforming characters of color. Here are some of the best reads on the rack with LGBTQ leads and plots that include religious and cultural diversity.

Yes, the rom-com novel is a thing (just check out The New York Times bestseller list). And, yes, it can be even more satisfying to read a rom-com than to watch Love Actually for the 12th time. We’ve compiled a list of romance novels to substitute for a rewatch of When Harry Met Sally, Bridget Jones’s Diary or Sweet Home Alabama.

Royal romance may not be new, but novels about it have been flourishing — royally. (Harry and Meghan may have been responsible for that.) These recent romances will have you swooning over bed-hopping princes and duchesses, and oohing and aahing over their monarchical moves. All that grandeur and folly might be the titillating read you need to escape those long autumn evenings.

Described by some as a cult classic as well as a “gentle romance satire,” Love, Stars and All That brings together romance and astrology and features Indian leads. Considering how ethnically diverse characters and astrology are hot topics these days, this book (first published in 1994) was ahead of its time. Author Kirin Narayan, an Indian-born American anthropologist, tells us what her novel meant then, and what it means now.

What book do you love or think everyone should read? Let us know!