What to Read This Fall (2026): Jen Shoop’s Fall TBR and Book Club Pick

# What to Read This Fall (2026)

Jen Shoop lays out a concise fall reading list built around one enthusiasm and several high-priority picks for her book club and personal TBR. The list mixes contemporary releases, bookish memoir, and a few classics she finally wants to read.

Top pick: the Emma Lion series

September Book Club Pick: Understory by Chloe Benjamin

Other notable books on Shoop's fall TBR

Shoop lists several other titles she plans to read this season, with brief notes that indicate why they made the list:

• Taipei Story by R.F. Kuang — a coming-of-age novel set during a summer in Taipei, dealing with grief, language, and culture shock.

• Writers & Lovers by Lily King — a portrait of a young artist navigating a pivotal moment between youth and the next stage of life.
• Tartt — a classic Shoop admits she hasn't read and feels the season suits it.
• My Salinger Year by Joanna Rakoff — memoir-like premise about a young assistant answering J.D. Salinger's fan mail while finding her own artistic voice.

Tone and reading mood

Shoop's selections favor atmospheric, literary, and bookish narratives. The list blends modern voices and timely releases with canonical works she wants to catch up on. She signals a preference for novels that provoke strong emotional or intellectual engagement—books that invite late-night reading and linger in thought.

Quick practical notes

• If you want to match Shoop's reading pace, expect a mix of heavier literary books and plot-forward thrillers.
• Understory is being added as the book-club pick and is available in hardcover.
• Murder at the Grand Alpine Hotel has a specific release date (Sept 22) and suits readers who like closed-circle mysteries.

Shoop frames her fall TBR as both personal pleasures and communal reads for her book club, offering options for readers who want atmospheric novels, classic literary fiction, or a modern mystery to carry them through autumn.