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Okay, I have a story for you. I love making seasonal to-be-read posts. I like looking at my shelf of unread books, choosing 10 that I promise to read, and putting them in a stack. There's so much bookish potential! What if my new favorite book ever is in the stack? I feel very accomplished when I finish all the books I picked.
I haven't written a seasonal TBR post since winter 2024 because I ran out of books to read. For most of 2025, I owned 0 unread books. All the books I've finished in the last few months have come from the library. It's hard to make a TBR post about library books because I don't know which holds I'll get or which new releases my library will buy.
I miss my seasonal TBRs! So . . . I bought 10 books just because I wanted to write this post. They're a mix of spooky, mysterious Halloween stuff and Nonfiction November stuff. I hope they're perfect for fall.
My Autumn Reading List
Accountable: The True Story Of A Racist Social Media Account And The Teenagers Whose Lives It Changed by Dashka Slater
True Crime
When a high school student started a private Instagram account that used racist and sexist memes to make his friends laugh, he thought of it as “edgy” humor. Over time, the edge got sharper. Then a few other kids found out about the account, and pretty soon, everyone knew. Ultimately no one in the small town of Albany, California, was safe from the repercussions of the account’s discovery: not the girls targeted by the posts. Not the boy who created the account. Not the group of kids who followed it. Not the adults―educators and parents―whose attempts to fix things too often made them worse. In the end, no one was laughing, and everyone was left wondering: What does it mean to be held accountable for harm that takes place behind a screen?
Why I want to read it: The author's other book, The 57 Bus, gave me a lot to think about. Who should be held responsible when kids do terrible things?
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The Afterlife Of Holly Chase by Cynthia Hand
Young Adult Fantasy
On Christmas Eve five years ago, seventeen-year-old Holly Chase was visited by three Ghosts who showed her how selfish and spoiled she’d become. They tried to convince her to mend her ways. She didn’t. And then she died.
Now she’s stuck working for the top-secret company Project Scrooge—as their latest Ghost of Christmas Past. So far, Holly’s afterlife has been miserable. But this year’s Scrooge is different. This year’s Scrooge might change everything.
Why I want to read it: I don't usually like retellings, but I can't resist a Christmas Carol retelling! It's one of my favorite stories. I've read it several times and seen every movie version I can find.
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The Betrayal Of Anne Frank: A Cold Case Investigation by Rosmary Sullivan
True Crime
Over thirty million people have read The Diary of a Young Girl, the journal teen-aged Anne Frank kept while living in an attic with her family and four other people in Amsterdam during World War II, until the Nazis arrested them and sent them to a concentration camp. But despite the many works—journalism, books, plays and novels—devoted to Anne’s story, none has ever conclusively explained how these eight people managed to live in hiding undetected for over two years—and who or what finally brought the Nazis to their door.
With painstaking care, retired FBI agent Vincent Pankoke and a team of indefatigable investigators pored over tens of thousands of pages of documents—some never before seen—and interviewed scores of descendants of people familiar with the Franks. Utilizing methods developed by the FBI, the Cold Case Team painstakingly pieced together the months leading to the infamous arrest—and came to a shocking conclusion.
Why I want to read it: Were you forced to read The Diary of a Young Girl in school? I was. I didn't know there was more to add to the story, but I'm interested to see what modern investigators have discovered.
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The Bletchley Riddle by Ruta Sepetys & Steve Sheinkin
Middle Grade Historical Fiction
Summer, 1940. Nineteen-year-old Jakob Novis and his quirky younger sister Lizzie share a love of riddles and puzzles. And now they’re living inside of one. The quarrelsome siblings find themselves amidst one of the greatest secrets of World War II—Britain’s eccentric codebreaking factory at Bletchley Park. As Jakob joins Bletchley’s top minds to crack the Nazi's Enigma cipher, fourteen-year-old Lizzie embarks on a mission to solve the mysterious disappearance of their mother.
The Battle of Britain rages and Hitler’s invasion creeps closer. And at the same time, baffling messages and codes arrive on their doorstep while a menacing inspector lurks outside the gates of the Bletchley mansion. Are the messages truly for them, or are they a trap? Could the riddles of Enigma and their mother's disappearance be somehow connected? Jakob and Lizzie must find a way to work together as they race to decipher clues which unravel a shocking puzzle that presents the ultimate challenge: How long must a secret be kept?
Why I want to read it: Two of my favorite authors have written a book together. I never dreamed this could happen, and I know it'll be wonderful. Both of these authors are brilliant researchers and excellent at writing about little-known events from history. I can't wait.
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Bright Young Women by Jessica Knoll
Adult Historical Fiction
A Saturday in 1978 in Florida: In the middle of the night, a man breaks into a female student dormitory. He goes from room to room and kills several residents. He will soon be known as one of the most famous serial killers in the USA. But he was observed committing his crime.
The survivors, including key witness Pamela Schumacher, will be forever changed by this night. They have all become victims. But as they tell their perspectives here, they remain masters of their stories. And they hunt the perpetrator on their own—against resistance from the justice system and the police; against public opinion, which idolizes the serial killer.
Why I want to read it: This book examines society's fascination with true crime. As you can see from the other books in this post, I'm also interested in true crime. It's kind of a gross interest. Why are we so obsessed with people who harm others? I'd like to know.
Butts: A Backstory by Heather Radke
History Nonfiction
Whether we love them or hate them, think they’re sexy, think they’re strange, consider them too big, too small, or anywhere in between, humans have a complicated relationship with butts. It is a body part unique to humans, critical to our evolution and survival, and yet it has come to signify so much more: sex, desire, comedy, shame. A woman’s butt, in particular, is forever being assessed, criticized, and objectified, from anxious self-examinations trying on jeans in department store dressing rooms to enduring crass remarks while walking down a street or high school hallways. But why? In Butts: A Backstory, reporter, essayist, and RadioLab contributing editor Heather Radke is determined to find out.
Why I want to read it: The title and cover are too awesome to ignore. Yes, I judge books by their covers.
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The Cold Vanish: Seeking The Missing In North America's Wilderness by Jon Billman
True Crime
These are the stories that defy conventional logic. The proverbial vanished-without-a-trace incidences, which happen a lot more (and a lot closer to your backyard) than almost anyone thinks. These are the missing whose situations are the hardest on loved ones left behind. The cases that are an embarrassment for park superintendents, rangers and law enforcement charged with search & rescue. The ones that baffle the volunteers who comb the mountains, woods and badlands. The stories that should give you pause every time you venture outdoors.
Why I want to read it: Missing person cases are frustrating. Those people are somewhere! Why can't we find them? We should be able to find them.
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Contagious: Why Things Catch On by Jonah Berger
Business / Psychology Nonfiction
Why do people talk about certain products and ideas more than others? Why are some stories and rumors more infectious? And what makes online content go viral?
Wharton marketing professor Jonah Berger has spent the last decade answering these questions. He's studied why New York Times articles make the paper's own Most E-mailed List, why products get word of mouth, and how social influence shapes everything from the cars we buy to the clothes we wear to the names we give our children. In this book, Berger reveals the secret science behind word-of-mouth and social transmission. Discover how six basic principles drive all sorts of things to become contagious, from consumer products and policy initiatives to workplace rumors and YouTube videos.
Why I want to read it: I make Pinterest pins. Occasionally, my pins go viral. I have no idea why one pin gets 500,000 clicks and another gets 0 clicks. Maybe this book will tell me. (Also, you should follow me on Pinterest.)
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The Deep by Alma Katsu
Alternate History Horror
Someone, or something, is haunting the Titanic. This is the only way to explain the series of misfortunes that have plagued the passengers of the ship from the moment they set sail: mysterious disappearances, sudden deaths. Now suspended in an eerie, unsettling twilight zone during the four days of the liner's illustrious maiden voyage, a number of passengers— including millionaires Madeleine Astor and Benjamin Guggenheim, the maid Annie Hebbley and Mark Fletcher—are convinced that something sinister is going on. And then, as the world knows, disaster strikes.
Years later and the world is at war. And a survivor of that fateful night, Annie, is working as a nurse on the sixth voyage of the Titanic's sister ship, the Britannic, now refitted as a hospital ship. Plagued by the demons of her doomed first and near fatal journey across the Atlantic, Annie comes across an unconscious soldier she recognizes while doing her rounds. It is Mark. And she is convinced that he did not— could not—have survived the sinking of the Titanic.
Why I want to read it: Alma Katsu's The Hunger is one of my all-time-favorite horror novels. I'm excited to read more of her work.
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Deliberate Calm: How To Learn And Lead In A Volatile World by Jacqueline Brassey, Aaron De Smet & Michiel Kruyt
Self-Help Nonfiction
Drawing from a unique blend of psychology, neuroscience, and consciousness practices, as well as more than fifty years of combined international boardroom experience, three experts offer a unique approach to learning and leading with awareness and intentional choice amid even the most challenging circumstances.
Why I want to read it: I'm on a quest to find a self-help book that actually helps. I've been asking everybody for recommendations. Seriously, I even asked my doctor and a random lady at my gym who looked like she had her life together. I'm going to find a self-help book that changes me. This one is next.
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What are you reading this fall?
LOL I love that you bought books to make a fall TBR - but you're right, it can be hard with the library sometimes! I had to move something from my summer TBR onto my fall TBR because it was still on order. I found The Deep to be very atmospheric but the pacing was a bit off for me!
ReplyDeleteAccountable and Contagious both sound like great reads.
ReplyDeleteI hope all your choices work out!
ReplyDeleteI have not heard of those books. I hope you like your reads. Have a great day and a great week.https://dmhoisington.wordpress.com/2025/09/23/top-ten-tuesday-2/
ReplyDeleteOoh, you've piqued my interest with that Anne Frank cold case investigation book. I'll have to look out for a copy! 👀 I totally forgot about the Bletchley Riddle but it is on my TBR and I'm keen to read it. I have read Bright Young Women and it was one of my favourite reads last year! It was SO good. I hope you enjoy it and all the other books you got for this list (I'm shocked and amazed that you owned 0 unread books in 2025)!
ReplyDelete