Top Ten Tuesday: Books on My Fall 2023 To-Read List


Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

A cup of hot cocoa with marshmallows in it and four chocolate digestive biscuits are sitting on a white plate next to a closed,hardback white book. The plate and book are sitting on a white piece of fur that is in turn sitting on a white wooden surface that could be a table or floor. There are dried purple, yellow, and orange flowers arranged with their flowers pointing towards the items I described earlier. The entire scene seems like it was set up to say goodbye to summer and brace for the cold, damp winter to come. We were already asked to share the books we were looking forward to in the second half of the year, so I’ll do my best not to have too many repeats for this post.

I think it can be just as, and maybe even more, interesting to hear why someone is excited for a specific book as it is to read the blurb of that book in many cases.

You get such a fabulous peek at a reader’s personality, reading habits, thought processses, and what they value in a story that way.

Here is what I’m hoping to have time to read this autumn and why I’m curious about them.

 

Book cover for Starter Villain by John Scalzi. Image on cover shows a housecat who is sitting up and posing for a portrait. The cat is wearing a suit and tie. They have light brown fur with black streaks in it and a darling little white nose and mouth.

1. Starter Villain by John Scalzi

Why I’m Interested: Scalzi is a talented storyteller, and it’s always fun to see pets being anthropomorphized.

 

Book cover for Misbelief: What Makes Rational People Believe Irrational Things by Dan Ariely. Image on cover shows a drawing of a profile of a human head. There are grey, red, and white lines squiggled up everywhere inside of the head. At the end of each line is a little arrow the same colour as the rest of the line.

2. Misbelief: What Makes Rational People Believe Irrational Things by Dan Ariely

Why I’m Interested: I believe everyone should work to improve their critical thinking skills no matter who you are, how much formal or informal education you may already have, or what labels best describe your stances on religion, politics, etc. While some people do seem to fall for misinformation more often than others, it’s something that can fool any of us if we’re not careful. We all have blind spots, and I hope to learn how to start correcting mine by reading this book and learning more about the psychology of irrational beliefs.

 

Book cover for This Is Salvaged by Vauhini Vara. Image on cover shows a dried yellow flower - possibly a rose? - that is lying against a light yellow background. Most of the flower has been fairly well preserved, but a few petals are loose and just about to fall off.

3. This Is Salvaged: Stories  by Vauhini Vara

Publication Date: September 26

Why I’m Interested: I’m in the mood for slice of life fiction. The reference to a story about a character who decides to build a replica of Noah’s Ark also intrigued me. There were a few people in the churches my parents pastored back in the day who might have tried something like this if they had the money for such a project.

 

Book cover for The Wrong Girl & Other Warnings by Angela Slatter. Image on cover is a drawing of a short, red haired person standing in a smoky magical forest. There is a massive, about 15-foot-tall tree monster with glowing yellow eyes looking at the person as it slowly turns around.

4. The Wrong Girl & Other Warnings by Angela Slatter

Publication Date: October 17

Why I’m Interested: This looks like a great Halloween read, and you all might remember how much I love that holiday. I previously reviewed and enjoyed another book of hers, No Good Deed: A Sourdough Tale, so I’m hoping my second attempt with her work is just as worthwhile. 

 

Book cover for Like Thunder by Nnedi Okorafor. Image on cover shows a photograph of a beautiful African woman who has short hair and is wearing an intricate necklace. Her head is overlaid with another image that shows lighting striking a lightning rod on a building.

 

5. Like Thunder by Nnedi Okorafor

Publication Date: November 28

Why I’m Interested: She’s on my shortlist of must-read authors. Ms. Okorafor is such a fantastic storyteller, although I do need to read Shadow Speaker before picking this tale up!

 

90 Comments

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90 Responses to Top Ten Tuesday: Books on My Fall 2023 To-Read List

  1. Poinsettia

    Starter Villain sounds intriguing! Here is our Top Ten Tuesday. Thank you!

  2. Starter Villain does look like a fun one. Scalzi’s novels always have such great humor in them. 😀

  3. Love the cover of Starter Villain, hope you enjoy it!

  4. I’m definitely looking out for Scalzi. Will probably do the Audiobook if Wil Wheaton does the narration.

  5. The cover for that first book though… I mean if that doesn’t capture a reader’s attention, I’m not sure much else will. 😉 Thanks so much for visiting my website today. Hope you enjoy all of these fall TBR hopefuls.

  6. That Okorafor book cover looks really neat! I haven’t read the first book in the duology either, though; I’ll have to keep an eye out for it.

    Starter Villain looks like a lot of fun. I’m hoping to read it soon too!

    I went rogue with my TTT this week: https://bookwyrmknits.com/2023/09/19/top-ten-tuesday-free-short-fiction-for-fall/

  7. I’ve heard good things about Starter Villain. I have another of his works on my TBR but I’ve never read anything of his yet. I hope you enjoy your reads!

  8. I have to echo the others about Starter Villain. I may not get to it this fall, but I definitely look forward to reading it!

  9. Emily @ Budget Tales Book Blog

    They look like interesting books. It is interesting to see people’s views on a book.

    Have a great week!

  10. These are also some striking covers! Happy fall reading!

  11. Starter Villian is amazing for that cover alone. I hope you love it.

  12. The Wrong Girl & Other Warnings is definitely a strong cover buy!

  13. I agree, I think it is more interesting to read why someone is interested in the book than the blurb. If I am interested, I can go find the blurb! I hope you enjoy all of these when/if you get to them.

  14. The Wrong Girl does look interesting so I hope you really enjoy it as much as the prev ious book by the author.

  15. I see so many raves for Scalzi but have yet to read anything by him. Hope this one is a hit for you.

  16. I just finished Starter Villain, and it was AMAZING! Such a fun read. I hope you enjoy it. 🙂 I hadn’t heard of The Wrong Girl & Other Warnings, but I absolutely love that cover, and it sounds like a perfect fall read. It’s definitely going on my list. 😀

  17. Love the covers on Like Thunder and Starter Villian. Enjoy your reading! Thanks for stopping by my blog.

  18. I always love seeing WHY a blogger wants to read a certain book. 🙂

    I’m interested in that third one too.

  19. I just added Misbelief to my TBR. I’m also super interested in why people believe what they believe. I hope you enjoy all these!

  20. Nnedi Okorafor is very good! I hope you love all of these.

  21. DISBELIEF does sound super interesting. I’ve often wondered how otherwise intelligent, rational people can believe certain things and people. It boggles the mind sometimes. I hope you enjoy all these!

    Happy TTT!

    Susan
    http://www.blogginboutbooks.com

  22. I love your reasons for wanting to read Misbelief, wanting to better yourself, and recognizing we all have our own flaws. It’s a great reason to read the book, but I can’t help but want to read it to also try to understand the mindset of some of my loved ones I no longer understand.

  23. Yes, I tried not to repeat the last list (2nd half of year TTT) but I did repeat two. Oh, well. It was a similar prompt. I’ve enjoyed John Scalzi in the past. I need to look that one up. The cover is unique. Enjoy your books and thanks for visiting my TTT !

  24. I have an ARC of Starter Villian, but I haven’t been keeping up with my ARCs! The new Nkedi Okorofor almost made my list, but I haven’t been keeping up with her books, either,and I’m a few behind.
    I like your reasons! I actually wanted to write something about why each book made my list, too, but ended up rushing just to get the post done before the end of the day!

  25. I love the cover of Starter Villain. That cat really looks like a boss in that suit!

  26. Alana @ Dream Come Reviee

    These all sound great! You can never go wrong with Scalzi and Okorafor. Happy reading!

  27. Great list! I just added MISBELIEF to my TBR. I hadn’t heard of that one, but I’m also interested in understanding more about why people believe irrational things/improving critical thinking skills. Thanks for sharing these. 🙂

  28. Love The Wrong Girl & Other Warnings cover. Enjoy all those books 🙂

  29. That Like Thunder cover is gorgeous. I hope you enjoy all these!

  30. I am interested in the first two, thanks for posting them! I just added them both to my TBR

  31. Misbelief might be an interesting read to see the concept behind and how you actually decide what is rational and irrational thinking, as we all know. Something you find irrational, I might find very rational. Be interested to hear what you think after you read it.

    • Yes, exactly! I’ll try to remember to let you know my thoughts about it. 🙂

      I’ve been having trouble commenting on your posts recently, by the way. Your blog asks commenters to log in, but I don’t see a way to do that. So that’s why you haven’t seen comments from me.

      But I will keep trying!

  32. I’ve never read any of John Scalzi’s books. Just that cover alone has gotten me interested!

  33. You have a nice mix here! Spooky reads can be so fun. I try to make time for at least one or two around Halloween. Happy Reading, Lydia!

  34. Interesting list of books. I’m not familiar with any of these. I hope you enjoy them!

  35. I’m always so intrigued by your TBRs since you pick such diverse and interesting reads. Starter Villain and the Okorafor book caught my eye – can’t wait to hear what you think of them.

  36. Meezan

    Enjoy your autumn reads and have a great weekend! 🙂

  37. Love the cover for The Wrong Girl & Other Warnings! Hope you enjoy all these books when you get to them 🙂

  38. Good luck reading all of these, and I hope you enjoy them! I remember when Starter Villain’s cover was first revealed and absolutely loved the cover. The Wrong girl & Other Warnings has a super cool cover – it reminds me of a few games out there that fit the season really well!

  39. I really like the look of The Wrong Girl so I’m going to have to look that up.

  40. Misbelief looks like an important book. Thanks for bringing it to my attention.

  41. I finally posted my fall TBR list (a week late…), and I’m including Starter Villain as well. Hoping to start it by the end of the week! I’ll be interested in hearing more about The Wrong Girl — I’ve only read one book by this author, but I really liked it.

  42. I definitely want to read Starter Villain, I love that cover, our UK version is a bit boring.

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