Autumn 2021 TBR: 10 Books I Hope to Read

Happy Tuesday y’all! This week for the Top Ten Tuesday post from That Artsy Reader Girl, I am sharing my autumn 2021 TBR. Included will be 10 books I hope to read, mainly in October and November.

I was looking at my Summer TBR post and was pleasantly surprised to see I managed to read most of the books I listed there. I read seven, DNF two, and didn’t get to one of the ten physical books listed. Of the five audiobooks, I finished two and DNF three. Check out my monthly wrap-ups to learn more. Here’s hoping my Autumn TBR is just as successful! All descriptions are from Goodreads.

My Autumn TBR

Book 1: Daughter of the Deep by Rick Riordan

Ana Dakkar is a freshman at Harding-Pencroft Academy, a five-year high school that graduates the best marine scientists, naval warriors, navigators, and underwater explorers in the world. Ana’s parents died while on a scientific expedition two years ago, and the only family she’s got left is her older brother, Dev, a student at HP. Ana’s freshman year culminates with the class’s weekend trial at sea, the details of which have been kept secret. She only hopes she has what it’ll take to succeed. All her worries are blown out of the water when, on the bus ride to the ship, Ana and her schoolmates witness a terrible tragedy that will change the trajectory of their lives.

But wait, there’s more. The professor accompanying them informs Ana that their rival school, Land Institute, and Harding-Pencroft have been fighting a cold war for a hundred and fifty years. Now that the cold war has been turned up to a full boil, the freshman are in danger of becoming fish food. In a race against deadly enemies, Ana will make amazing friends and astounding discoveries about her heritage as she puts her leadership skills to the test for the first time. 

Book 2: French Coast by Anita Hughes

Serena has the job she’s always dreamed of, and Chase, the man her heart never dared to. As a new editor at Vogue, she bags the biggest interview of the year with Yvette Renault, the infamous former editor of French Vogue, in The Carlton-InterContinental Hotel during the Cannes Film Festival. She eagerly jets off to France while Chase stays home, working with her father, a former senator, on his upcoming mayoral campaign.

Everything feels unbelievably perfect…until it doesn’t. The hotel loses her reservation hours before her big interview. Serena fears that she’ll have to go home without her story, but then she meets Zoe, a quirky young woman staying in the suite below Yvette’s, who invites Serena to stay with her. Serena is grateful for her mysterious roommate’s generosity, but it seems that there’s more to her story than meets the eye. To make matters worse, soon after arriving in Cannes, Serena learns a shocking secret about her parents’ marriage, and it isn’t long before she begins to question her own relationship. With her deadline looming and pressure mounting, Serena will have to use her investigative journalism skills, new friendships, and a little luck to get her life and love back on track.

Book 3: Dreaming in Chocolate by Susan Bishop Crispell

At twenty-seven, Penelope Dalton is quickly ticking off items on a bucket list. Only the list isn’t hers. After her eight-year-old daughter, Ella, is given just six months to live thanks to an inoperable brain tumor, Penelope is determined to fill Ella’s remaining days with as many new experiences as she can.

With an endless supply of magical gifts and recipes from the hot chocolate café, Penelope runs alongside her mother in a small town nestled in the Appalachian Mountains; she is able to give her daughter almost everything she wants. The one sticking point is Ella’s latest addition to her list: get a dad. And not just any dad. Ella has her sights set on Noah Gregory, her biological father and the only person Penelope knows to have proved her true love of hot chocolate wrong.

Now Noah’s back in town for a few months—and as charming as ever—and the part of her that dreamed he was her fate in the first place wonders if she made the right decision to keep the truth of their daughter from him. The other, more practical part, is determined to keep him from breaking Ella’s heart too.

But as Ella’s health declines, Penelope must give in to her fate or face a future of regrets.

Book 4: All the Time in the World by Caroline Angell

Charlotte, a gifted and superbly trained young musician, has been blindsided by a shocking betrayal in her promising career when she takes a babysitting job with the McLeans, a glamorous Upper East Side Manhattan family.

At first, the nanny gig is just a way of tiding herself over until she has licked her wounds and figured out her next move as a composer in New York; she doesn’t mean to stay with the family for long. But, as the reader quickly becomes aware, Charlotte is naturally gifted with children and as deeply fond of the two little boys as they are of her. When an unthinkable tragedy leaves the McLeans bereft, Charlotte is not the only one who realizes that she’s the key to holding little George and Matty’s world together. She finds herself facing an impossible choice between her lifelong dreams and a torn-apart family she’s come to love as her own.

Book 5: By the Pricking of My Thumbs by Agatha Christie

While visiting Tommy’s Aunt Ada at Sunny Ridge Nursing Home, Tuppence encounters some odd residents, including Mrs. Lancaster, who mystifies her with talk about “your poor child” and “something behind the fireplace.”

When Aunt Ada dies a few weeks later, she leaves Tommy and Tuppence a painting featuring a house, which Tuppence is sure she has seen before. This realization leads her on a dangerous adventure involving a missing tombstone, diamond smuggling, and a horrible discovery of what Mrs. Lancaster was talking about.

Book 6: The A.B.C Murders by Agatha Christie

When Alice Asher is murdered in Andover, Hercule Poirot is already looking into the clues. Alphabetically speaking, it’s one letter down, twenty-five to go.

There’s a serial killer on the loose. His macabre calling card is to leave the ABC Railway Guide beside each victim’s body. But if A is for Alice Asher, bludgeoned to death in Andover, and B is for Betty Bernard, strangled with her belt on the beach at Bexhill, who will then be Victim C? Considered to be one of Agatha Christie’s best.

Book 7: Baking Cakes in Kigali by Gaile Parkin

As baker Angel Tungaraza busies herself with her customers’ orders, we learn about their lives: Ken Akimoto — with his penchant for partying, her best client — and Bosco, his lovesick driver; Dr. Rejoice, without whom she’d never cope with the hot flashes that send her delving into her brassiere for a handkerchief so often these days; Odile, an AIDS worker whose love life Angel has taken a keen interest in; and not forgetting young Leocadie, Modeste, and their baby boy, Beckham. Angel works her magic, solving problems for all around her, and in turn, they help her lay her demons to rest: perhaps she can finally face the truth about the loss of her son and daughter and achieve a sense of peace.

Book 8: When the Men Were Gone by Marjorie Herrera Lewis

Football is the heartbeat of Brownwood, Texas. Every Friday night for as long as assistant principal Tylene Wilson can remember, the entire town has gathered in the stands, cheering their boys on. Each September brings with it the hope of a good season and a sense of unity and optimism.

Now, the war has changed everything.  Most of the Brownwood men over 18 and under 45 are off fighting. And in a small town, the possibilities are limited. Could this mean a season without football? But no one counted on Tylene, who learned the game at her daddy’s knee. She knows more about it than most men, so she does the unthinkable, convincing the school to let her take on the job of coach.

Faced with extreme opposition—by the press, the community, rival coaches, referees, and even the players themselves—Tylene remains resolute. And when her boys rally around her, she leads the team—and the town—to a Friday night and a subsequent season they will never forget.    

Book 9: Mediums & Murder by Elle Wren Burke

Alara Beatty leads a normal, boring life—even though she’s psychic. Living in the small town of Prickly Pear in the Southwest, Alara is an accountant by day and a dog mom by night. Convinced her psychic abilities are too scary to handle; she pushes them down as much as possible. But when a close coworker turns up dead at Alara’s workplace with a knife in her chest, Alara must decide whether to use her gifts to find the murderer.

Just in time, her new Aunt Irene has arrived in Prickly Pear to connect Alara with the biological family she has never known. Irene has brought a stunning revelation with her—Alara is not alone in her abilities. Her entire family is psychic, though it looks like Alara might be more powerful than them all.

Also back in town is Alara’s hunky old friend and police officer, Rudi Rivera. Alara and Rudi have always had a fun, humorous relationship, but now that they’re both single, could something more be developing?

A lot is changing fast for Alara, but will she accept her aunt’s help to tap into her powers as a medium to solve the murder? Or will Alara run from the family who abandoned her and the gifts they passed down to her?

Book 10: Cat in the Limelight by Louise Clark

Christy Jameison’s reputation is at stake when the Dean of a local college is murdered at a fundraising gala she is attending, along with the wealthiest and most influential people from the community.

The press has a field day when it’s discovered the Dean was formerly a renowned television and movie producer. As reporters speculate over who and why the Dean was killed, they delve into past histories—including Christy’s.

With her reputation on the line, the investigation becomes personal as Christy investigates the Dean’s past and discovers more questions and an even longer list of suspects. While Christy is willing to do whatever it takes to solve the crime, it’s the cat in the limelight who possesses the clue.

I’m sure that I will be reading more books this autumn. I didn’t realize until I was writing this post how many books on my autumn 2021 TBR were mysteries. Yes, I know it’s the perfect time of year, but it still is surprising. As for the historical fiction on the list, I just had to add it. It’s about high school football, what’s more autumn-like than football?

What books are you looking forward to reading as autumn arrives this week?

Looking for some more ideas to read? Check out my monthly reading wrap-ups.