Wondering what to read now? Here are all the hot new September 2023 book releases for you. I’ll let you know what I’ve read, what I can’t wait to read, and what’s getting all the attention this month.
In case you’re new to Booklist Queen, every month I cover all the hottest new book releases. I try to read as many new book releases as I can to give you an honest perspective on what to read and what to skip.
However, I realize that my to-read list might not exactly match yours. That’s why I’ve also included some of the most popular September 2023 book releases from your favorite authors.
Enough from me. Let’s get on to the September 2023 book releases so you can fill up your to-read list.
Top September 2023 Book Releases
The Phoenix Crown
Kate Quinn and Janie Chang
In 1906 San Francisco, Gemma desperately needs a refresh of her singing career, and Suling, a Chinese embroideress, needs to escape an arranged marriage. Soon, they are both caught up with charming railroad magnate Henry Thornton, owner of the fabled Phoenix Crown, an ancient Chinese relic. After an earthquake tears the town apart, Henry disappears. When the crown reappears at a Paris ball five years later, Gemma and Suling are determined to solve the mystery.
The River We Remember
William Kent Krueger
In 1958, Sheriff Brody Dern investigates the murder of a disliked wealthy landowner in a small Minnesota town. The rumor mill is quickly ablaze, accusing the murder on Noah Bluestone, a Native American WWII vet who just returned to town with his new Japanese bride. As Brody tries to find the truth, the physical and emotional wounds from World War II bring up old grievances in the community.
Just as with his acclaimed coming-of-age dramas Ordinary Grace and This Tender Land, Krueger presents a masterclass in developing complex nuanced characters in this beautifully written historical fiction novel. Sheriff Brody Dern and the citizens of Jewell, Minnesota, are complicated and messy and, for the most part, doing the best they can. Krueger makes the small town come alive while hitting on deep themes and expertly painting human nature in all its flaws. The River We Remember is a must-read for any fall reading list.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from Atria Books through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
My Rating:
Publication Date: 5 September 2023
Amazon | Goodreads | More Info
Evil Eye
Etaf Rum
When she marries a charming entrepreneur and moves to the suburbs, Yara thinks she has finally escaped her conservative Palestinian upbringing. Yet even her dream job with her dream family doesn’t seem to fulfill Yara. Yet as Yara’s world begins to implode, she realizes that the upbringing that she thought she left behind has lasting consequences for her and her daughters.
Build the Life You Want
Arthur C. Brooks and Oprah Winfrey
You don’t have to wait for the world to hand you the life you want, you can build it yourself. Using inspiring anecdotes and scientific research, Brooks and Winfrey show you how to use emotional self-management to improve your family, friendships, work, and faith, regardless of the hardships and setbacks life throws at you.
The Running Grave
Robert Galbraith
Private Investigators Cormoran Strike and Robin Ellacott take on another case in the 7th book of the series. A worried father seeks Strike’s help when his son joins a religious cult in Norfolk. When Strike uncovers sinister secrets and unexplained deaths, Robin joins the group undercover, a task that might be much more dangerous than she anticipates.
The Traitor
Ava Glass
In a sequel to her high-action spy thriller, Alias Emma, British spy Emma Makepeace returns with another Russian investigation. When an MI6 operative is assassinated, Emma determines to find the killer without becoming a victim herself. Before his death, he was investigating two Russian oligarchs he believed were spies with ties to a mysterious third man. But MI6 told him to drop it. As Emma goes undercover on a Russian oligarch’s yacht, she finds the killer might be closer to home than she ever imagined.
Alias Emma was one of my favorite thrillers of 2022, so my expectations were high for The Traitor. Emma is just as brilliant a character this time around, a fearlessly competent spy unafraid to make bold moves to save the day. Although the tight quarters of the yacht made for excellent tension, the overarching mole hunt had hardly any complexity, leaving you disappointed in the big reveal.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from Random House Publishing Group through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
My Rating:
Publication Date: 19 September 2023
Amazon | Goodreads | More Info
Holly
Stephen King
When Holly Gibney receives a call at the Finders Keepers Detective Agency, she should decline the job. Her mother just died and her partner has Covid. But Holly can’t help but want to help Penny Dahl find her missing daughter. Yet Holly’s search leads her to an octogenarian couple – two ruthless professors with an unholy secret in their basement that may lead to Penny’s daughter.
Book of the Month – September 2023
Receiving my blue box from Book of the Month Club is a highlight of every month.
Here’s how it works – each month, they pick 5 books and you get to choose one book or skip until the next month. If you want to add any extra books, then you get them at a discounted price.
Each month is usually a mix of new releases and advance copies of unreleased books. If you are interested in joining, right now you can use my Book of the Month Club affiliate link to get your first book for $5!
The September Book of the Month selections are:
See the Complete List of Upcoming Releases!
GMA Book Club September Pick
Happiness Falls
Angie Kim
Twenty-year-old Mia isn’t particularly concerned when her father and brother are late coming home from a walk. Until her little brother walks in covered in blood. With autism and a rare genetic condition, Eugene can’t communicate what happened. Now Mia must race to find answers. Did her father walk away? Did something happen to him? And could Eugene be responsible? Happiness Falls powerfully hits on the family dynamics of having a nonverbal sibling and the ableist views of society.
Read With Jenna September 2023 Book Club Pick
Amazing Grace Adams
Fran Littlewood
On a hot London day, Grace Adams finds herself stuck in traffic. Desperate to deliver a birthday cake to her estranged teenage daughter, Grace ditches her car and sets out on foot. As Grace continually runs into various obstacles, you learn more about her journey from an amazingly successful woman to a nearly invisible 45-year-old on the brink of divorce.
Reese’s Book Club September 2023 Pick
Mother-Daughter Murder Night
Nina Simon
Spending her life building an L.A. real estate empire, Lana Rubicon is not prepared to convalesce in a sleepy coastal town with her daughter Beth and granddaughter Jack. After Jack discovers a dead body while kayaking, she becomes the prime suspect. Determined to find the truth, Lana and Beth become amateur detectives, discovering a web of family disputes and shady land deals permeating the town.
The Most Anticipated September 2023 Book Releases
The Fraud
Zadie Smith
in 1873, Scottish housekeeper Eliza Touchet is skeptical of the literary community. Her cousin, once famous William Ainsworth, and his friend Charles Dickens are far from the moralists they claim to be. Soon Eliza becomes enthralled with a case where a man claiming to be the heir to an estate is possibly a fraud. Former Jamaican slave Andrew Bogle is the star witness, but in a land where hypocrisy runs riot, how do you decide what’s real?
Chenneville
Paulette Jiles
John Chenneville spends the last year of the Civil War recovering from a traumatic head wound. When he finally returns home, he finds his sister and her family have been murdered. With undaunted determination, John vows to track down the killer, a man who thinks his badge gives him a free license to kill indiscriminately. Warned that his revenge will land him in prison and begged by a beautiful telegraphist to give up and build a life with her instead, John must decide how far he is willing to go for justice.
The Armor of Light
Ken Follett
In his latest entry into the Kingsbridge series, the Industrial Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars highlight the ever-changing world. With a large cast of characters, The Armor and the Light follows a widow whose husband died in an industrial accident; a young woman seeking funding for a school for impoverished children; a young man who unexpectedly inherits a failing business; and a man ruthlessly clinging to his wealth at all costs.
Elon Musk
Walter Isaacson
Award-winning biographer Walter Isaacson takes on the life story of the richest man on Earth, shadowing Elon Musk for two years. From his difficult childhood in South Africa, Musk developed into a risk-taking entrepreneur with unpredictable mood swings and hyperintensity. But are the demons that drive Musk what drive his innovation?
Foul Heart Huntsman
Chloe Gong
In the sequel to Foul Lady Fortune, Rosalind Lang is desperate to save Orion, whose memories of her were wiped when his mother abducted him. Now that she has been exposed as an immortal spy, Rosalind proposes to embark on a national tour to bring unity to the countryside. When the tour goes wrong and under threat of an imminent Japanese invasion, Rosalind must turn enemies into allies if she wants to save Orion and China.
Killing the Witches
Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard
The 13th book in the Killing series takes on the Salem Witch Trials and the mass hysterical that gripped the town in the 1690s. When young girls began having violent fits, three young women were arrested, accused of being witches. Soon the mania swept the entire New England town, with hundreds accused and almost two dozen executed.
Popular September Upcoming Releases
What September 2023 Book Releases are You Most Excited to Read?
What books can you not wait to get your hands on this month? Did I miss any September 2023 book releases that you are anticipating? As always, let me know in the comments!
More New Book Releases:
Ann says
Hi Rachael!
First of all Happy Fall (early)! I am so waiting for something to give with the awful heat/drought here in Texas. We got rain yesterday. Fast & furious and not quite enough, but better than nothing.
Yours is one of my favorite book blogs!! Just love getting these emails. Hope all is well with you and yours.
I do not have kids in school any longer. I am much, much older, lol. I do have a recently graduated college age “child.” She is still sleeping at almost 10 a.m. Happy to have her home for now. We have been reading lots & always fun to share our reading thoughts.
Our goal is to read Madeline Miller’s Song of Achilles together, but like me, she has a lot of TBRs at the moment. Nothing makes me happier. I think she has come back around to reading, now that she does not have assigned school reading.
I recently won my first Goodreads giveaway!! Yay!!! That is Lauren Groff’s The Vaster Wilds, a September release. So excited to finally win & a new release to boot!
I am in that awkward in between books phase at the moment. Have not quite kicked off my September reading. I did crossover from last day in August to first day of September with The Invisible Hour by Alice Hoffman. It was kind of “Fallish.” Unfortunately I have mixed feelings about it. I have a strong suspicion that she is starting a series with this one, so maybe that will make it more satisfying. It started off well enough, but then the second half of the book fell flat for me. Strange bc that was the romantic part, which I usually like.
I am on a wait list for Evil Eye & believe it or not I have a copy, but have not yet read A Woman Is No Man. I am probably one of the very few. My daughter sped through it and liked it.
My favorite books recently were an odd mix. Small Mercies , Nora Goes Off Script and a reread of The Cutting Season (an older Attica Locke) and a much older (1950) Mothering Sunday by Graham Swift. Also stumbled upon a newly translated Austrian author Monika Helfer and The Last House Before The Mountain (original German title Die Bagage). Those last two were shorter, but very good reads.
Looking forward to new Fall books and hopefully a change in this weather pattern very soon.
Rachael says
Lucky duck! Congrats on winning your Goodreads giveaway. I’m glad to hear your daughter is getting back into reading. I rarely read for pleasure during the semester when I was in college, but I would devour books whenever I was on break. All that required reading really does throw you off. I hope read some amazing books this fall and get some more rain!
Lori Call says
I read The River We Remember as an ARC and loved it. Held true to his other stand alone books.
I picked Evil Eye as my September book from BOMC.
I’m also excited to read The Long Game by Elena Armas. I picked that from Aardvark Book Club.
Mother Daughter Murder Night looks fun. I’m going to have to get that one too.
Ann says
Just a follow up: The Vaster Wilds is so good!!
And we may get rain tomorrow.