September is starting with an excellent list of new books to check out: from reimaginings of classics like The Great Gatsby and Frankenstein to young adult fantasy stories centred around deadly tournaments. Anthologies are bringing diverse stories to the front and a loved author like Stephen King has a new thrilling dark fantasy. Read on to find some titles for your shelves!
The Most Likely Club by Elyssa Friedland
Twenty-five years later, four women regroup at their dreaded high school reunion and dig out their 1997 yearbook —when these best friends were ready to light the world on fire— and make a pact to push through their middle-aged angst, asking themselves: is it too late to make their dreams come true? Buy now!
The Fortunes of Jaded Women by Carolyn Huynh
Cursed by a witch, the women of one Vietnamese-American family can never find love or happiness. When a prophecy by a psychic hints at a marriage, a funeral, and the birth of a son, soon reuniting estranged mothers, daughters, aunts, and cousins, it’s a debut magical novel where Vietnamese women emerge victorious. Buy now!
The Weight of Blood by Tiffany D. Jackson
When Maddy’s —an outcast at her small-town high school— biracial ancestry is revealed through a viral video of her being bullied, student leaders host the school’s first integrated prom as a show of unity to hide the school’s racist roots. But when the prom night doesn’t end well, everyone has the same explanation: Maddy did it. Buy now!
What We Fed to the Manticore by Talia Lakshmi Kolluri
A collection of nine stories reiterating environmentalism, all narrated from animal perspectives—from vultures to a perished antelope and from a beloved donkey to a wounded pigeon— across an ever-changing international landscape from India to Central Asia. Buy now!
Self-Made Boys: A Great Gatsby Remix by Anna-Marie McLemore
In 1922 New York City, a transgender boy Nick is intrugued by his cousin, Daisy, erasing all signs of her Latina heritage to pass seamlessly as white and his mysterious young neighbour, Jay, staging extravagant parties to impress Daisy. When he learns Jay is also a transgender while helping him reconnect with his lost love, his feelings grow more complicated. Buy now!
Ithaca by Claire North
Penelope of Ithaca has been running the kingdom ever since her husband, King Odysseus, sailed to war seventeen years ago. And with years passing by, suitors are knocking at her door, speculating the death of her husband. As fears of a civil war loom in the air, the isle’s abandoned women—and their goddesses—must make choices. Buy now!
Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn
Four women have spent their lives as the deadliest assassins for an international organisation but with sixty years of age, they can’t simply retire as they’re marked for death by the top-level members. Now they must rely on their skills and experience to work together and survive. Buy now!
The Sunbearer Trials by Aiden Thomas
Every decade, Sol selects ten of the gods’ most powerful teenage children to compete in a deadly tournament where the winner carries light and life to all temples and the loser is sacrificed to Sol—their body used to fuel the Sun Stones that protect the people of this land from evil gods. But when not-so-powerful Teo, trans son of goddess of birds, and Xio, child of god of bad luck, are chosen, their aim is to simply survive. Buy now!
Angelika Frankenstein Makes Her Match by Sally Thorne
Clever, pretty, and odd, Angelika has run out of suitors and fears she’s the exception to the family rule whereby every Frankenstein finds true love. So she takes inspiration from her brother Victor’s experiment and creates a handsome scientific miracle. But the resurrected man has total amnesia and Angelika reluctantly joins the investigation into his past—aided by a second suitor who makes her rethink her invented solution. Buy now!
Do You Take This Man by Denise Williams
RJ is a divorce attorney so becoming a sought-after local wedding officiant overnight isn’t her most strategic career move—but she enjoys it, except for the uptight wedding planner she’s forced to work with. He’s a former sports event manager betrayed by his longtime girlfriend. Both are not looking for love, but their enemies with benefits arrangement might lead to a happily ever after. Buy now!
Monsters Born and Made by Tanvi Berwah
Koral grew up battling monsters in the black seas, but the deadly chariot tournament doesn’t even compare. Her family is indentured by the ruling elite to provide maristags for the race but when she has none to sell—and her little sister is chronically ill—she must cheat her way into the Glory Race reserved for the upper class. Buy now!
Daughters of the Dawn by Sasha & Sarena Nanua
Sequel to an adventurous fantasy where twin princesses must journey deep into dangerous new lands to save their home when a sinister new prophecy uproots them once more. So a deadly search pits them against ancient mysteries, sea monsters, and trap-ridden labyrinths. Buy now!
Coven by Jennifer Dugan & Ill. Kit Seaton
Emsy is a young witch who should be honing her powers as a fire elemental, instead spends her days surfing or hanging out with her girlfriend. But when members of her family’s coven are murdered under mysterious circumstances that can only be the result of powerful witchcraft, she must master her neglected craft in order to find the killer. Buy now!
The Gathering Dark: An Anthology of Folk Horror by Tori Bovalino (Editor)
Ten stories of hauntings and horrifying secrets lurking in the places once called home. Whether it’s a cemetery full of the restless dead or a lake that allows the drowned to return, the critically acclaimed and bestselling authors have each written some of the scariest tales in this anthology full of suspense and shadow. Buy now!
Our Shadows Have Claws: 15 Latin American Monster Stories by Yamile Saied Mendez (Editor)
Fifteen short stories featuring Latine mythology’s most memorable monsters, from zombies to cannibals to death incarnate. Dark yet magical and set across Latin American and its diaspora, this anthology offers bold, imaginative stories of oppression, grief, sisterhood, first love, and empowerment. Buy now!
Fairy Tale by Stephen King
A regular high school kid Charlie meets a dog and her ageing master in a big house at the top of a big hill, with a locked shed in the backyard. When the master dies and Charlie finds a portal in the shed, he finds himself in an alternate universe where a battle of good and evil demands this heroic boy and his dog to lead. Buy now!
If I Survive You by Jonathan Escoffery
After fleeing to Miami in the 1970s, a Jamaican couple learns America is far from the promised land. As they push through racism, a hurricane, and the recession, the family remains motivated—often to its own detriment. This debut unravels traditions and forging one’s own paths or identity. Buy now!
I’m always in the mood for witchy books but in autumn especially and Coven sounds amazing! I’m also really intrigued by Killers of a Certain Age, definitely adding that to my to buy list this month
I’m so curious for The Gathering Dark, Monsters Born and Made and The Weight of Blood ! Tomorrow I’ll go visit my local indie English bookshop. I doubt they will have some of the books right away, but it’s worth a try