The Book Review: A fall reading bounty
With memoirs, novels and plenty more.
Books
September 12, 2026

Dear readers,

Though the peaches are gone at the farmer’s market, I suggest taking this shoulder season to catch up on the best reading that late summer and early fall can offer. There’s a bounty to choose from — here are just six examples. And if you have a more prodigious literary appetite, might I suggest taking a spin through our lists of the new novels and nonfiction to watch for this autumn? Save any that catch your eye, and stock your reading pantry for the colder months to come.

WHY DON’T YOU …

A color photo of half a dozen young men on an urban pier overlooking water. One man is captured mid-dive. Another is in the water.

Alain Le Garsmeur/Alamy

Join the hordes of readers tempted by what our critic called “the novel of the decade”?

An illustration of a small gray dog with a long pointy nose and floppy ears sticking straight out to the side. The background is blue.

Lola Dupre

Learn how to be human from a rescued Italian greyhound?

An image of a man in a suit, holding his phone and standing near a mirrored wall, which creates the illusion of his body split in two.

Tom Huber / Connected Archives

Ponder the end of a life with the author of “The Guest”?

Article Image

Samplerman

Re-examine the legacy of the war on terror?

A color illustration of three women lying on a green floor with their heads touching. One wears a nun’s habit, one a red sweater and one a pink-and-orange striped shirt.

Kimberly Elliott

Bunk with three adult sisters caring for their stubborn mother with dementia?

A man wearing a crown, a regal red cape and a white fur stole stands on a bridge in front of a gray stone castle with arched windows and turrets.

Calla Kessler for The New York Times

Plunge into the delusions and baronial fantasia of one Connecticut man?

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