The publishing industry has a well-established obsession with newness. Everyone wants to get their hands on the fresh releases people can’t stop talking about—or, better yet, discover a hot debut before anyone else does.
But it’s worth remembering from time to time that, while a lot of great books will be published this year, a lot of other great books were published last year. (And the year before, and the year before that, and so on.) And in my opinion, there’s no better time to “discover” an older book than in fall, the coziest and most nostalgic of seasons.
That’s why most of the recs I’m sharing today were published before 2024. They’re oldies but goodies, and if you haven’t read them yet, you really should. So grab your warmest scarf, pour yourself a pumpkin-spiced beverage of choice, and let’s dig in.
In Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s Mexican Gothic, glamorous Mexico City socialite Noemí is sent into the mountains to inquire after a favourite cousin, who claims her new husband's mansion is haunted and making her ill. What follows is an absorbing take on the gothic fiction genre, so often associated with Victorian England. Here, the misty moors and overgrown cemeteries have been transplanted to 1950s Mexico to tell a story about class, race, and patriarchy.
Motherthing by Ainslie Hogarth is a weird, wonderfully irreverent pick for readers who like their horror with a side of humour—and a healthy serving of gore. The book follows Abby, a loveable oddball whose (absolutely terrible) mother-in-law dies and promptly begins haunting her. Defs not for the faint of heart.
Mona Awad is perhaps best known for her novel Bunny, which was a TikTok sensation. And while Bunny is a sublime (incredibly weird) book, I personally prefer her 2021 release, All’s Well. (Last year’s Rouge was also excellent!)
It’s a dark, twisty tale about a floundering theatre professor grappling with chronic pain while trying to stage a production of Shakespeare’s All’s Well That Ends Well. Things get extra freaky when three strange benefactors offer to cure her pain with a magical golden remedy—at a cost, of course!
Speaking of Shakespeare—Maggie O’Farrell’s Hamnet and Judith is a phenomenal literary novel about the bard’s wife, Agnes, here depicted as a wild-spirited, fiercely intelligent healer with a knack for falconry. There’s a lot of grief and hardship—and bubonic plague—but also wisdom and heart. I loved it.
I’ve been a fan of Katherine Arden’s writing ever since I read her Winternight trilogy, an adult fantasy series inspired by Russian folklore. She returned for another round of historical fantasy earlier this year with the WWI-set The Warm Hands of Ghosts, which is every bit as lyrical and creepy as you’d hope—with a kickass female protag who doesn’t take shit from any man or ghost.
The year is 1922, and the governing Bolsheviks, who aren't, like, the most fond of Russian nobility, have sentenced the earnest and dignified Count Rostov to a lifetime under house arrest in Moscow's famous Metropol Hotel. He can't attend a ballet at the nearby Bolshoi. He can't visit his favourite café down the block. His family home in the province of Nizhny Novgorod might as well be the moon.
Thus begins Amor Towles’s much-loved novel, A Gentleman in Moscow, which follows the Count through decades of societal change and personal reinvention. Pure delight!
End notes
Currently reading: I just finished The Happy Couple by Naoise Dolan, a deft and funny book about two Dubliners and their upcoming nuptials. This author has such a knack for exploring how people can talk themselves in and out of things.
I also polished off Blue Sisters by Coco Mellors, which is chock full of family dysfunction, gorgeous literary writing, and characters who feel more real than half the people I know in real life. It also has a truly satisfying female-boxer-seeks-a-comeback-after-emotional-turmoil-and-crushing-defeat subplot, so say no more.
On my desk this week: I’m busy drafting a new novel, which is why the newsletter has been a bit quieter this month. I also spent the better part of last week hiking the Rockwall trail in Kootenay National Park with a bestie. Yes, we got caught in a whole day of pissing rain, and yes, the temperatures dipped so low that the tent zipper literally froze shut each night—but we were rewarded with extra cups of steaming-hot coffee, pristine views, and a lot of laughs.
What are you reading this fall? I’d love to hear about it in the comments! And thanks as always for being here.
If you enjoyed this post, please consider forwarding it to a friend. I’ll be sending these letters a few times per month in the lead-up to my book’s publication. Find me at morgandick.com or on Instagram @morgandick_author for more.
Morgan, thanks for this. I love getting recommendations.
I’m reading 2666 by Roberto Bolano, whose book is amazing (like, so good you think ‘why would I bother ever trying to write anything?) and I know it makes every critic’s “best books of the century so far” but it really is good. And since I’m the sort of person that has about six books going at one time I’m also reading Bad Cree by Jessica Johns which I would characterize as Indigenous Horror (and it is spooky) and Travels with Charlie in search of America by John Steinbeck (which has a couple of “oh no, that’s not appropriate anymore”, but is otherwise a really comfortable, relaxing drive around the 1960’s USA with a toweringly great writer. I’m enjoying all of them
I love the "if you're feeling" descriptions!
How's the second novel going???