Soaking up the last of the summer sun while daydreaming about the crisp air of fall has caught me in a nostalgic conundrum.  I love the kiss of fall, with its vibrant color and its romantic flavors, but the one thing I don’t love is the loss of our warm and sunny evenings.  The approaching equinox has got me to thinking; what is the silver lining in the creeping dark?  What makes bidding adieu to the light and airy vibes of summer and welcoming the cool hints of fall?  As I put away the beach chairs and poured the last of the sand from my trusty tote, it hit me!  Although the hours I spent by the pool, sunning myself, would be traded in for plunking down on the couch with a cozy mug of apple cider – what remained my constant companion?  My latest novel, of course!  And in that realization was the thought that it was time to up my game, and transition from beachy reads to my hearty fall favorites.  Here are my top 5 recommendations to dig into this season.

Purchase Everything I Never Told You here!

If you liked Gone Girl, try Everything I Never Told You. 

Celeste Ng’s debut novel lingers with you long after you’ve read the final page.  The initial shock of the eldest sister’s disappearance and death opens up the plot to slowly reveal the dysfunctional layers of a family, unraveling as secrets are told by each member.  Like Gone Girl, it will keep you guessing as to who’s responsible, who pushed who to the breaking point.  When Ng’s intricate storytelling comes full-circle, she leaves the reader satisfied with this novel, yet hungry for what additional literary prowess she has in store for us next.

If you liked The Hunger Games, try Station Eleven. 

It’s post-apocalyptic, but unlike Katniss and friends, even the youngest characters remember what life was like before the end of the world.  Individually, they’re haunted by the lives they once had and the loved ones they lost along the way.  Collectively, their memories connect the dots as Emily St. John Mandel transports the reader from pre- to post-end of the world and back again.  Station Eleven leaves the reader questioning, who can you count on today if everything changed tomorrow?

If you liked Something Borrowed, try The Paying Guests. 

You will inject yourself in the drama of interwoven love lives with the backdrop of a tumultuous post-war London.  Sarah Waters accomplishes what Emily Giffin merely breaks ground with: an enigmatic love triangle, yet with a female protagonist as a two-timing lover both to her husband...and her secret girlfriend?  A role that we can all too perfectly imagine the enamoring Kate Hudson playing…

If you liked Wild, try The Untold. 

During a panel discussion about her novel, Courtney Collins gave aspiring writers the advice to ‘write about the idea that keeps haunting you’ and it’s clear that she accomplishes just that in her stunning debut tale.  The story is based on the life of Australian runaway outlaw Jessie Hickman, and like Cheryl Strayed, Jessie faces her demons, through a plight across the wilderness of the outback.  In an effort to find safety away from the law and locate her forbidden lover, Jessie suffers a heartbreaking loss.  Jessie’s loss is the reader’s gain: in an unexpected twist, after burying her prematurely born child, he goes on to narrate the tale from the grave. 

If you liked The Book Thief, try All The Light We Cannot See. 

These two novels are linked in triumphant storytelling, detailing the unfathomable strength of children who suffer in times of war.  Spun out of World War II, Anthony Doerr’s All The Light’s enigmatic storyline introduces us to two children with impossibly opposing pasts and eloquently spans Hitler’s Germany, a destitute Paris, and the coastal towns of France. Years later, when their previously unparalleled paths converge, the true and unshakable power of humanity is revealed.

Through her love for travel, and an enchanted six months living in Edinburgh, Scotland, Amanda discovered her calling to story-tell.  In pursuit of her writing dreams, she chose to make a cozy corner of Manhattan home.  When she’s not running loops of Central Park, you can find her tucked away in a wine bar, working on her first novel.

You can follow her blog at www.amandawowk.com and on Twitter and Instagram @amandawow_k.