Best 2016 Fall Books For Women

The famed Barbizon hotel takes center stage in this novel where a present-day journalist becomes obsessed with the secrets of one of the Barbizon hotel’s oldest residents. Told in alternating chapters of present day and 1952, The Dollhouse is a coming-of-age story, mystery, and love story, all rolled into one.

A Paris apartment, abandoned for years, and the young woman who closed the door on it at the dawn of World War Two. Who lived in this apartment? Why would anyone leave it shuttered for decades? Richman’s latest novel, The Velvet Hours, is a beautiful novel about two women, the choices they make, and love in its many forms. A must read for fans of The Nightingale.

In the long-awaited sequel to Girl Waits With Gunon, Constance has to take matters into her own hands. Lady Cop Makes Trouble, based on actual events, is another irresistible madcap adventure featuring the Kopp sisters.

One kiss is all it takes to change the course of history for two families. Marriages are crumbled, families are joined, and six children will grow up with a bond based on the shared disillusionment of their parents.

Commonwealth is a smart, thoughtful novel about the ties that bind us.

Nina Redmond loves being a literary matchmaker, finding the perfect book for each person. As a librarian in the city, that’s what she does all day. But when she loses her job, she heads out to the country, where she sets up a mobile bookshop, driving from town to town, sharing her love of reading.

The Bookshop on the Corner is a sweet read for all bibliophiles.

POPSUGAR founder Lisa Sugar writes her first book this Fall, and it’s got everything you could possibly want from the creator of a multimillion dollar media company: stellar advice, strong encouragement, and the tools you need to help you figure out what you truly want to do with your life and how to make it happen. Power Your Happy is told in Sugar’s signature style and will motivate you to figure out what’s working for you and what’s not, all designed to set you on your own course to happy.

Eleven-year-old Anna O’Donnell hasn’t eaten in months and believes herself to be living off manna from heaven. When a nurse is sent to care for the child, she finds herself responsible for the child’s very survival: is she witnessing a miracle or a murder?

The Wonder is a haunting novel about good vs. evil from the author of the bestselling novel Room.

Novelist Julie Prentice moves cross country with her family to get away from a stalker. She doesn’t know anyone in her new town, but then she meets a neighbor. When an accident happens on their street, she finds herself the target of unsettling harrasment once again. Fractured is a tense thrill ride that asks the question: do you ever really know your neighbors?

When 16-year-old Lucy runs away with her older teacher to rural Pennsylvania, she looks forward to her new life. But her decision will have far-reaching repercussions for her older sister, Charlotte, who she leaves behind, and for her, once she discovers the true nature of her relationship. Cruel Beautiful World is a mesmerizing story about love, family, and obsession.

Eleanor wants to do things differently today.

Today Will Be Different. She will do better with her husband. She will do better with her son. She won’t swear, and she will shower. But then life happens. From the acclaimed author of Where’d You Go, Bernadette comes a smart, laugh-out-loud funny, and thoughtful novel about how we reinvent ourselves and how we need to face the truth about our lives before we can truly change.

The Wangs had it all: a cosmetics empire and a huge fortune, but the financial crisis ruined all that. Now Charles Wang is taking his family on a road trip across America so that he can get his children safely stowed away and start his life anew in China. The Wangs vs. the World is a funny and touching novel about what it means to belong in America.

"We were the Guineveres, and we could do anything we wanted." Four girls named Guinevere, all dropped at the doorstep of The Sisters of Supreme Adoration during wartime. When four soldiers come to the convent in need of care, the Guineveres dream of getting out, falling in love, and finding their old families. The Guineveres is a beautiful debut literary novel by an author to watch.

It all begins with a secret. Nadia Turner, a senior in high school, is mourning her mother’s suicide when she starts seeing the pastor’s son in secret. The Mothers, the elders from Church, weigh in on what they hear, what they see. Time passes, and we see how young love and secrets can change our lives. The Mothers is a gorgeous, layered novel that I couldn’t put down, one that you won’t want to end. Perfect for book clubs; the book everyone will be talking about this Fall.

We love Jen Weiner’s fiction, and we love her op-eds for The New York Times. For the first time, Weiner releases a collection of essays, and they are just as warm and funny as you’d imagine (and want) them to be. In Hungry Heart, she takes on marriage, love, parenthood, and that one Summer that she was called “the fat Jennifer” with grace, humor, and intelligence.

Jodi Picoult is never afraid to take on hot topics, and in

Small Great Things, she tackles race and discrimination in a way that will grab hold of you and refuse to let you go. Meet Ruth Jefferson: she’s the best nurse in the labor and delivery ward of a Connecticut hospital. Meet Turk Bauer, he’s a new father, and also a white supremacist who does not want Ruth, who is black, touching his baby. When the hospital grants his request to keep Ruth away from his child, this decision will have far-reaching implications that change both of their lives. This page-turner is perfect for book clubs.

We all know about Albert Einstein and his genius, but history has forgotten another great mind with the same name. In The Other Einstein, we take a look at the life of Mitza Maric, Einstein’s wife, who was a brillian physicist in her own right, whose contribution to the special theory of relativity has been debated for years. Is there room for more than one genius in a family?

Scandal brings Reed Stewart back to his hometown, a small town he’d rather forget. But once there, he encounters the one who got away, his first love, Becky Flowers, whom he hasn’t spoken to in 10 years, since prom might. Told through emails, text messages, and journal entries, The Boy Is Back is Meg Cabot at her best — giving us her trademark humor and heart while tackling sensitive issues like aging, hoarding, and fraud.

The fabulous JoJo Moyes is back, this time with the short story, Paris For One, about a woman who finds her way in the most romantic city in the world. It’s paired with a collection of sweet short stories that are sure to satisfy.

After her adoptive mother’s death and a recent divorce, Nina Popkin decides to find her biological mother. She finds out that she has a younger sister, but she doesn’t share the same enthusiasm for finding their mother. And once she finds her, she’s in for a few surprises.

The Survivor’s Guide to Family Happiness is a warm-hearted novel about love and happiness.

Shelby and her best friend are in a horrific car accident. Shelby walks away, but her best friend remains in a coma. She soon begins receiving mysterious letters, urging her to move on with her life in inspirational ways. Faithful is a beautiful novel about surviving and how we can forgive ourselves after the most difficult tragedies.

Two people who were never supposed to meet (or were they?) find each other one day in Manhattan. Natasha is about to be deported back to Jamaica, and Daniel has the most important interview of his life. Are they meant to be? A powerful novel about fate and our place in the universe. The Sun Is Also a Star is a deeply moving, fast-paced, un-put-downable read that is not to be missed.

We all know and love Stephenie Meyer from the

Twilight series. But this Fall, she’d back with her second standalone novel for adults, The Chemist. When an ex-agent from a supersecret government operation goes on the run, she’ll need to use her unique skill set in ways she never imagined.

Critically acclaimed novelist Zadie Smith is back with a highly anticipated novel about friendship, race, and class. Two brown girls dream of becoming dancers. Tracey has the talent, and our unnamed narrator has the big ideas. Their fraught relationship ends abruptly in their 20s but reverberates throughout their lives. Swing Time is smart and challenging, powerful and complex.

Family secrets, old-forgotten memories, and death-bed confessions form the basis of Pulitzer Prize-winning author Michael Chabon’s latest book. “An autobiography wrapped in a novel disguised as a memoir,” Moonglow is a novel about truth, lies, and family legends based on a visit to the author’s own terminally ill grandfather.

Film professor Felix Funicello runs a Monday night film club in a former vaudeville theater. When the ghost of Lois Weber, former actress, producer, and director from the silent film era reveals itself, her ghost becomes a guiding spirit to Felix, inviting him to revisit scenes from the past, as they are projected onto movie screen. I’ll Take You There is an imaginative novel about the life of a man and the three women who are most important to him.