11 NYC books perfect for your fall reading list

There's something about autumn in New York...

When I think seasonally about my reading life, several themes emerge in what I’m typically drawn towards in the fall: big, chunky books, campus novels, family sagas, and deep, introspective reads. I’m also especially drawn to setting, and in addition to a classic New England autumn, NYC is right up there as a favourite. So, here’s a book list for your weekend perusal.

Vintage Contemporaries by Dan Kois. In 1990s New York City, Em, a literary agent’s assistant, and her best friends, Emily—a theatre director—and Lucy—a novelist and single mother—navigate their new senses of self while embarking on vastly different professional trajectories. As they confront issues of desire, ambition, friendship, and creative fulfillment, their paths diverge and converge in unexpected ways how the choices we make shape us and our relationships over time.
Read if you love: Katherine Heiny, warm & quirky characters, the 90s.

Lorna Mott Comes Home by Diane Johnson. Returning to the United States after years in France with her husband, Californian Lorna Mott Dumas leaves her second marriage and finds herself adjusting to the complexities of midlife in a place that feels both familiar and foreign. As she reconnects with her adult children and faces new challenges, she reflects on the choices that have shaped her life, grappling with the ambiguities of starting over in mid life. The story unfolds as a tender, whip-smart exploration of personal reinvention, the intersecting dynamics of family, cultural identity, and the search for meaning.
Read if you love: Edith Wharton, All Adults Here by Emma Straub, The Hopefuls by Jennifer Close.

Morningside Heights by Joshua Henkin. Spanning the life of Pru Steiner, the wife of a renowned Columbia University professor, the novel delves into the emotional and existential weight of her husband’s early-onset Alzheimer’s disease. As Pru confronts the slow decline of the man she once knew, she is forced to navigate the shifting dynamics of her marriage and family while also finding space for her own desires.
Read if you love: Claire Lombardo, The Latecomer by Jean Hanff Korelitz, Monogamy by Sue Miller.

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith. Set in early 20th-century Brooklyn, this classic coming-of-age tale follows Francie Nolan as she grapples with the hardships and hopes of her working class family. Francie’s experiences, from growing up poor to finding solace in her beloved books, tells a hopeful story of strength, resilience, and the power of what can be possible when you dream of a life beyond the circumstances you’re born into.
Read if you love: classics, coming-of-age stories, timeless historical fiction.

One Woman Show by Christine Coulson. This unique novel is told entirely in the form of museum labels, a fitting homage to author Christine Coulson’s 25-year career writing the wall labels at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s British Galleries. The story follows Kitty Whitaker’s rise through the ranks of the art world in NYC at the turn of the century, in which Kitty herself is the “object”—a prized possession to be viewed, critiqued, and desired. In this way, the novel unfolds as a satirical commentary on the power dynamics, pretensions, and cultural aspirations that characterize the unique intersections between NYC’s elite society and the fine art world.
Read if you love: art & collecting, epistolary novels, literary fiction.

A Likely Story by Leigh McMullan Abramson. Isabelle Manning, the daughter of a famed novelist and society hostess, struggles to carve out her own identity as a writer amid the shadows of her father’s literary legacy and her mother’s societal expectations. As she grapples with personal and professional setbacks, she uncovers family secrets that force her to confront the myths she has built—and been led to believe—around her parents, her upbringing, and her way forward.
Read if you love: Pineapple Street by Jenny Jackson, main characters in their mid-30s, bookish books.

Belle Greene by Alexandra Lapierre. Based on the life of Belle da Costa Greene, this novel traces her journey towards becoming J.P. Morgan’s personal librarian and eventually the director of one of the world’s most prestigious cultural institutions. Greene, who physically passes as white, navigates the complexities of racial identity, social mobility, and the pursuit of cultural influence in early 20th-century America, all while leaving her family behind and keeping her African-American and Portuguese heritage a secret.
Read if you love: historical fiction, Europa Editions, works in translation.

The Best of Everything by Rona Jaffe. Set against the bustling backdrop of the 1950s New York publishing world, this novel explores the intertwining lives of five young women as they navigate a field in which they do not yet feel they truly belong. Their stories unfold amidst the ongoing generational tension between their personal desires, professional aspirations, and the sociocultural expectations that impact both.
Read if you love: Mad Men, The Most by Jessica Anthony, publishing.

You, Again by Kate Goldbeck. A gender-swapped retelling of When Harry Met Sally, this is a perfect autumnal romcom. Despite their initial animosity, Ari and Josh find themselves continually running into each other around the city. Ari, a struggling comedian, and Josh, a wealthy Manhattanite with culinary aspirations, couldn’t be more different; so why do they keep crossing paths? A sparkling and sexy romp through NYC.
Read if you love: Nora Ephron, the enemies-to-lovers trope, Sex and the City reruns.

The Cloisters by Katy Hays. Amidst the moody, atmospheric halls of The Cloisters (a medieval art division of the Met Museum in New York), Ann Stilwell’s summer job as a curatorial associate turns dark when she and her colleagues become enmeshed in the study of ancient divination. As they begin their research on a 15th-century deck of tarot cards, layers of secrets about the characters—and their object of study—emerge. With hints of magic and mystery, this is literary suspense with deathly consequences.
Read if you love: light academia, campus novels, literary suspense.

Cleopatra and Frankenstein by Coco Mellors. If you recently read and loved Blue Sisters, here’s a backlist title perfect for fall. Against the backdrop of post-9/11 New York, British artist Cleo and much older businessman Frank are drawn into a whirlwind marriage that disrupts not only their lives but those of their closest family and friends. Themes of intimacy, identity, belonging, and connection in an era marked by sociocultural and political upheaval are explored through the chaos of their relationship.
Read if you love: Sirens & Muses by Antonia Angress, Dolly Alderton, Foster Dade Explores the Cosmos by Nash Jenkins.

Fleishman Is in Trouble by Taffy Brodesser-Akner. Toby Fleishman’s life spirals when his ex-wife, Rachel, vanishes one day without explanation, leaving him to juggle the demands of parenting their two young children, work, and the ongoing mystery of her absence. As he grapples with the chaos, the narrative unfolds as an incisive critique of modern relationships, marriage, sexuality, and the relentless pursuit of happiness and personal fulfilment.
Read if you love: Anne Tyler, family dramas, Scenes from a Marriage.

Do you have any favourite NYC novels? Or any particular themes/sub-genres you enjoy this time of year? Please share in the comments!

Happy weekend,