Dish’s Fall & Winter Reading List

(Pssst, you can get them in the PrimeCrush Bookshop)

These are the fiction, historical fiction, and non-fiction books I’ve already bought, or pre-ordered, for my Fall and Winter reading. I’m so excited about this reading list. (We earn a nominal fee for purchases from the PrimeCrush Bookshop, which we are very grateful to you for, as it is currently our only source of income. Thank you for purchasing through our bookshop!)

Fiction

Tell Me Everything by Elizabeth Strout

A Maine reunion with beloved characters Lucy Barton and Olive Kittredge from Pulitzer Prize-winning Strout. Yes!

Olive Days by Jessica Elisheva Emerson

Orthodox Jewish woman, clandestine atheist, wife swapping, passionate affair. Is this not a brilliant set-up to contrast our twin pulls toward obligation and desire?

The Women Behind the Door by Roddy Doyle

Give me a nuanced, complicated Mother-Daughter story written by a Booker Prize winner and I’m sold.

Don’t Be a Stranger by Susan Minot

Always hungry for well-written stories about women going through a midlife erotic obsession. Vicarious thrill, anyone? 

Intermezzo by Sally Rooney

I will read anything the great Rooney writes, including this one about family, grief and love.

The Wedding People by Alison Espach

Weddings are always a good backdrop for a funny, insightful consideration of the paths we’ve taken, or haven’t, and the one we’re on.

Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar

An Iranian immigrant goes on a sojourn to discover a family secret and ends up in the Brooklyn Museum. A National Book Award Nominee.

Historical Fiction

Precipice Robert Harris by Robert Harris

A novel based on the real-life story of 26 year old Venetia Stanley’s affair with Prime Minister Asquith in 1914 on the verge of WWI.

The Secret War of Julia Child by Diana R. Chambers

As a Julia Child fan I, of course, knew that she worked in espionage and was involved in trading secrets while in Asia in WWII but I can’t wait to take a deep dive into this aspect of her absolutely fascinating life.

The Colony Club by Shelley Noble

A New York Gilded Age story about the inception of the Colony Club, the first all-women’s club.

Peggy by Rebecca Godfrey

Having read compelling biography of art collector Peggy Guggenheim and having visited her museum in Venice, I’m looking forward to this novel recreating her life.

Non-Fiction

The Demon of Unrest by Erik Larson

A big fan of Erik Larson, his latest dives into the five month period between the election of Abraham Lincoln and the start of the Civil War.

On the Edge by Nate Silver

I’m always curious about how to make decisions around risk, and how to take more risks in an intelligent, considered way.

Strong Passions: A Scandalous Divorce in Old New York by Barbara Weisberg

Be Ready When the Luck Happens: A Memoir by Ina Garten

I have most of her cookbooks - the recipes are tried and true. But I’ll be picking up this memoir to learn about her life and marriage, which — like a soufflé — has had its share of rising and falling, and rising again.

Want: Sexual Fantasies by Anonymous by Gillian Anderson

What is on your fall/winter reading list? I’d love to know. Write me at Dish@PrimeCrush.com.

The Crush Letter
The Crush Letter is a weekly newsletter from Dish Stanley curating articles & intelligence on everything love & connection - friendship, romance, self-love, sex. If you’d like to take a look at some of our best stories go to Read Us. Want the Dish?