Ep 495: Fall Book Preview sneak peek

Summary

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What Should I Read Next? – Ep 495: Fall Book Preview Sneak Peek

Host: Anne Bogel
Date: September 23, 2025

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Episode Overview

In this special episode, host Anne Bogel opens the doors to her highly anticipated Fall Book Preview, offering listeners a sneak peek into her process, the Modern Mrs. Darcy team’s ethos, and an authentic taste of the live book unboxing event. Anne discusses the evolution and purpose of the Fall Book Preview, reveals her thoughtful selection process for this season's 35 handpicked titles, and transparently addresses the increasing influence of artificial intelligence in the literary world. The episode concludes with Anne introducing the first three books in the "Literary and Contemporary Fiction" category.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Spirit and History of the Fall Book Preview

• Anne recounts the origins of the Fall Book Preview—born in 2019 after a publishing trade event—which has grown into a trusted seasonal tradition for the community.
  • “Back then I just returned from...a big publishing trade show...and I thought, gosh, our community would love to hear more about what it was like for me to go to this insider publishing event.” [00:45]
• The event gives readers an insider’s glimpse into publishing buzz, under-the-radar gems, bookseller recommendations, and personal favorites.
• Importance of cutting through noise: As book lists grow longer each year, Anne aims to offer “gentle guidance” that helps readers find what’s truly right for them.

Authenticity and Team Values

• The episode reflects the interactive and community-driven nature of Modern Mrs. Darcy, with behind-the-scenes banter, introductions, and genuine reactions from the team.
  • Surprise cameo by Lee Kramer, the team’s editor and social media manager, highlights the close-knit, grassroots feel of the event. [02:43]
  • Anne highlights, “There’s so much love in there...If it comes and...there’s a little bit of extra love, it’s because Will and Lee were doing [the shipments] together while I was signing cards.” [13:00]
• Transparency is emphasized throughout, with Anne openly discussing logistics, team roles, and the process for accessing the Fall Book Preview booklet.

Reader Engagement & Live Event Vibe

• Live polls and chat interactions are woven throughout, e.g.:
  • “We want to see your comments, we want everybody to respond with bookish enthusiasm...” [15:42]
  • A real-time poll reveals literary/contemporary fiction as the crowd favorite (with mystery/thriller and historical fiction also highly anticipated). [19:09]
• The playful, bookish energy is tangible—Anne describes it as a “big book party.” [13:36]

Anne’s Book Selection Process

• Anne meticulously curates ~35 titles from “literally thousands,” using publisher catalogs, personal reading, and recommendations—but not including series installments this year.
• She shares that 26 of the 35 titles have been fully read by her, underscoring the integrity and depth behind her recommendations. [22:11]
• The guiding value: Respect for readers’ time and trust.
  • “We really see a huge part of our work is equipping you to thoughtfully approach your reading life and select books that feel good for you right now.” [29:49]

Stance on Artificial Intelligence

• Anne makes a clear, public statement regarding the team’s policy on AI:
  • “We do not use generative AI around here. Period. The end.” [03:27]
  • She explains concerns about plagiarism, the devaluation of creative work, and requests listeners not to input their content into AI tools: “Every word we write and every book we recommend comes out of our brains the old-fashioned way, not from generative AI tools or algorithms.” [25:35]
• The team published an official AI statement to reinforce transparency and trust within the community.

Community Q&A and Ongoing Conversation

• Emphasizes collaboration with readers: “Let my team and I, in our human fallible, thoughtful, readerly brains, be your collaborators in this endeavor of the reading life.” [30:08]
• Readers are encouraged to ask questions during the event, with a promise of a bonus Q&A Patreon episode (free for all Fall Book Preview participants this season). [30:51]

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Memorable Quotes

• “You want all the behind-the-scenes details. And I thought, can I bring back like a dispatch and tell you what I learned? And I did.” —Anne Bogel [10:19]
• “We want to be really transparent about how we work...Every word we write and every book we recommend comes out of our brains the old-fashioned way, not from generative AI tools or algorithms.” —Anne Bogel [25:35]
• “Let my team and I, in our human fallible, thoughtful, readerly brains, be your collaborators in this endeavor of the reading life.” —Anne Bogel [30:08]
• “We’re going to have a good time talking books and you’re going to recognize possibilities for your reading life in an hour and a half that you don’t know about right now.” —Anne Bogel [10:43]

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• [00:08-02:00] – Anne introduces the episode and context for the Fall Book Preview
• [03:00-03:40] – Overview of the event experience, team introductions, and live chat references
• [13:00-15:00] – Shipping, physical preview booklet logistics and fun team anecdotes
• [15:42-19:46] – Housekeeping, live polls, genre category popularity results
• [22:11-25:00] – Anne’s book selection process and preview structure
• [25:35-29:49] – Direct statement on artificial intelligence, plagiarism, and respect for creative work
• [32:56-38:32] – Introduction and mini-reviews of the first three literary/contemporary fiction picks

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Featured Books: Literary and Contemporary Fiction

1. To the Moon and Back by Eliana Ramage

Published by Avid Reader, September 2
Anne’s take:

• A sweeping debut featuring a Cherokee woman striving to join NASA.
• “Those threads are largely relational...the wannabe astronaut...navigating tricky relationships, especially with her college girlfriend, her influencer sister, and a mother with big secrets…” [33:19]
• Praised for its “sweep and heft...at 448 pages, I appreciated how it has that room to flesh them all out.” [33:47]

2. Mercy by Joan Silber

Published by Counterpoint, September 2
Anne’s take:

• “Going to be on my best of the year list...top 10.” [33:59]
• Novel opens with a haunting confession about “the worst thing [the father] ever did” in 1974 New York, echoed through connected short stories in shifting POVs.
• Grapples with big questions: “How much should our lives be defined by the worst thing we ever did? And how might we all be connected in ways that are mysterious and invisible to us...?” [35:58]
• “Silver is introspective, thoughtful, and in my opinion, these may be a little quiet, ish, but never boring...” [35:37]

3. The Academy by Ellen Hildebrand and Shelby Cunningham

Published by Little, Brown, September 16
Anne’s take:

• A boarding school novel co-written with Hildebrand’s daughter.
• “This reads very much like her Nantucket novels—gossip, scandal, relationships going terribly...both platonic and romantic.” [36:48]
• First print run of 750K+ reflects publisher excitement.
• Includes “tons of name chats, locations...restaurants and bars and clubs and fashion designers and other luxury brands and elaborately described meals. So fun.” [37:31]
• Set up as the start of a series: “Oh my gosh, you’re gonna make me wait for what is clearly going to be book two...” [38:16]

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Tone and Energy

Anne's signature warmth, approachability, and gentle authority shine throughout. The episode is packed with bookish enthusiasm, transparency, and the spirit of community that has characterized What Should I Read Next? since its inception. The language is conversational, welcoming, and engaging, peppered with humor and genuine emotion—especially when tackling tough topics like AI.

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Summary Takeaways

This sneak peek immerses listeners in the joyful, collaborative world of Modern Mrs. Darcy’s Fall Book Preview, blending practical advice, literary passion, and candid reflections on digital publishing realities. Anne Bogel’s hand-curated recommendations and her emphasis on trust, transparency, and community offer reassurance amid the overwhelming abundance of new books, making this episode a unique, reader-first guide to the coming season.

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For access to the full list and more details:
Join the Modern Mrs. Darcy community or purchase the Fall Book Preview at modernmrsdarcy.com/FBP.

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Transcript

[A]

Hey readers. I'm Anne Boeckle and this is what should I read next? Welcome to the show that's dedicated to answering the question that plagues every reader. What should I read next? We don't get bossy on this show. What we will do here is give you the information you need to choose your next read. Every week we'll talk all things books and reading, and today we're talking Fall books with an excerpt from our live Fall Book Preview Unboxing event.

[B]

I've always been enthusiastic about fall reading.

[A]

And I know it's not just me. We first started sharing our Fall Book Preview back in 2019. This is our seventh year, but back then I just returned from a big publishing trade show to promote my forthcoming book, Don't Overthink it, and I thought, gosh, our community would love to hear more about what it was like for me to go to this insider publishing event. So I came back with insights like which titles were publishers excited about? Which under the radar titles would be harder to discover? But would people really want to know existed? Which books were booksellers gossiping about over lunch? And which books were highest on my own reading list because of that fall book?

[B]

My Own Fall Book Preview Back then.

[A]

I thought it might be fun to talk about the buzzy fall books because there wasn't that much happening in the literary landscape for fall season. It wasn't anything like summer back then, but those types of insights are even more helpful these days when we're searching for ways to cut through the noise of what feels like endless reading lists. I hope you'll find our Fall Book Preview continues to offer the gentle guidance you're looking for in selecting your fall reads. This Preview and its 35 books are all hand selected by me from among hundreds I could have considered including, and I tell you about why I chose every title and why it might or might not appeal to you in our preview. We recorded our preview live last week, so it's now available for you to download and enjoy immediately on your own time. And when I say our preview around here I'm typically talking about the 12 combo package of our 12 page digital PDF booklet and our 90 minute book party in which I describe each of the 35 titles and answer reader questions. You can use each of these resources separately, but they really work well together. My team and I decided that for the sneak peek into our 2025 preview today, we'd let the tape roll for you so you can listen in live to the first 20 minutes to get a like truly authentic taste of what that experience is like. You'll hear me welcome readers and introduce my team. You'll also hear me react to team.

[B]

Member Lee's surprise cameo where she pops.

[A]

Onto my screen for a moment because readers understandably did not know she was here in my house with me. And you'll hear me talk back to.

[B]

The Zoom Chat a little bit when I see somebody say something like why am I waving at Zoom? I know nobody can see me. And I laughed and replied, you'll also.

[A]

Hear me showing our gorgeous fall merch on video. I'm holding up my beautiful ampersand embossed Leuchttam journal and our literary pencils. We thought about deleting the brief housekeeping lowdown from your audio today, but I decided to leave it because the point of this sneak peek is to give you a taste of what it's like to attend live or to watch the video yourself. And that felt like the most authentic way we often poll our readers at the beginning of live events if we're hosting them for, say, the Patreon community or modern Mrs. Darcy Book Club. So we left that in the audio too. But if you don't want to listen, just flick forward about three minutes after that, I dig into what many of you consider to be the really good stuff. I describe my process for choosing these 35 books out of the literally thousands of titles I could have chosen to highlight for our fall preview. Any conversation about how and also why we do what we do around here takes me back to our guiding modern Mrs. Darcy vision and values. It does it every time, even though I don't always talk about that publicly. But tonight I talk about it publicly. You'll hear me talk specifically about our core value of trust and how it influences what we make and how we make it, and our general philosophy of how our work fits into the literary landscape today. Because this is 2025, that leads to reflections and clear statements on artificial intelligence, something we've gotten an increasing number of questions about lately about how AI works and how it might be impacting our work and also the general readerly experience. Little spoiler alert here. We don't use generative AI around here. Period. The end. Despite that, we are feeling the impact of its increasing prevalence, and I say more about that in our event. If you want to know how I comb through the options to choose the books for our preview.

[B]

And also it's the same process I.

[A]

Use for the 2025 Summer Reading Guide. I answer that question here as well. I love answering reader Questions and Fall Book Preview Q and A is one of my very favorite things. We answer reader questions live in this preview video, and then Shannon and I are airing a bonus Patreon episode on Friday in which we answer more questions. Now, typically it's only our patrons who have access to that bonus episode, but we're making this Q and A episode free for everyone who opted in for the 2025 Fall Book Preview. Whether that's as a patron, a book club member, or a la carte purchaser, a crucial element of our Fall Book Preview is talking about the actual included books. And so this sneak peek concludes with me describing the first three books in our Literary and Contemporary Fiction category. It's not the first category we talked about that was memoir and nonfiction, but you are going to hear literary and contemporary. And I'll tell you right now, those three books I discuss are to the Moon and Back by Eliana Ramage, Mercy by Joan Silber, and the Academy by Ellen Hildebrand and Shelby Cunningham. If you'd like to accompany me as I survey the literary landscape for the season to come, you can get the Fall Book Preview and also access to all our historic seasonal previews and guides by joining one of our membership communities, our modern Mrs. Darcy Book Club or our Patreon Community. These memberships start at just $5 a month or with no commitment, no membership. You can purchase a la carte access, get those details and choose your best fit [e-mail] FBP that's for fall book preview modernmrsdarcy.com FBp EPIC summer plans call for adventures, sun soaked days and getting together with friends and loved ones. One thing that doesn't belong on your summer to do list is stressing about your wireless bill. Fortunately, that's where Mint Mobile comes in with their offer of three months of unlimited service for 15 bucks a month. Mint Mobile is here to rescue you from overpriced charges and unexpected bills. No compromise necessary. You'll get the coverage and speed you're used to, but for way less money. Bring your phone, your phone number and your existing contacts. Everything transfers over to Mint Mobile, where you'll enjoy high speed data, unlimited talk and text, and the nation's largest 5G network. When it comes to value, Mint Mobile's offer is really attractive. The next time our family's phone contracts expire, I'll definitely look into making the switch this year. Skip breaking a sweat and breaking the bank get this new customer offer in your 3 month unlimited wireless plan for just $15 a month at mintmobile.com readnext that's mintmobile.com readnext upfront payment of $45 required equivalent to 15 bucks a month limited time new customer offer for first 3 months only. Speeds may slow above 35 gig on unlimited plan taxes and fees extra. See Mint Mobile for details. We've got a small agile team here at what Should I Read Next hq, so when it's time to bring in a new person, we like to act fast. If hiring quickly is on your wish list, Indeed may be just what you are looking for. When you list a post on Indeed's Sponsored Jobs, it jumps to the top of the page for your relevant candidates so you reach the people you want faster. No more struggling to get your job post seen on other job sites Indeed Sponsored Jobs helps you stand out and hire fast. Having a tool like Indeed on your side can make hiring feel less hectic and overwhelming, especially when you are under pressure. Something I've for sure experienced in hiring is the process always ends up taking much, much longer than I at first anticipated. I can see how using Sponsored Jobs would have made a difference in some of my past hiring experiences and I'll be sure to check it out the next time we need to make a quick hire. And even better, Indeed helps keep your business budget on track because you only pay for results. There are no monthly subscriptions and no long term contracts. So exactly how fast is Indeed in the minute? I've been talking to you. 23 hires were made on Indeed according to Indeed Data Worldwide. There's no need to wait any longer. Speed up your hiring right now with Indeed and listeners of this show will get a $75 sponsored job credit. To get your jobs more visibility at indeed.comreadnext just go to indeed.comreadnext right now and support our show by saying you heard about Indeed on this podcast. Indeed.com readnext terms and conditions apply. Hiring Indeed is all you need. Now. Without further ado, let's get to it.

[B]

Hello everybody. Welcome to Fall Book Preview. Welcome Ginger Hi Hello. Thank you all so much for joining us tonight. We are so glad you are here. Thank you for supporting our work in this way. This is one of the favorite things we do all year. Like putting this together this summer Reading Guide team. Best books of the year coming up around the corner. We're so glad we get to share it with you. Not just share it, but thank you for making it possible for us to do what we do. Me and as a team we are so appreciative. And we are so glad you are here for fall book preview for the seventh time. Quick origin story. Maybe you'll be like, oh, Ann, a familiar tale do tell. And maybe you have no idea. But in 2019, I went to a publishing trade show to promote don't overthink it because it was coming out six months later and I thought, you know, not everybody gets to do this. But it's so cool to hear months in advance and also about the season starting right then. Cause this happens in September.

[A]

What publishers are talking about?

[B]

What are booksellers actually reading? What do they know they're supposed to promote, but what are they whispering about in the corner that they actually loved? Like you all want to know all that stuff. We describe you to like podcast guests and readers who come talk to us in book club as delightfully nerdy. You want all the behind the scenes details. And I thought, well, can I bring back like a dispatch and tell you what I learned? And I did in 2019? And this event has evolved over the years because we've done it every year since then. But the thing that never changes is we are going to have a good time talking books and you're going to recognize possibilities for your reading life in an hour and a half that you don't know about right now. And if I'm wrong, please tell us because we want to know all that. Maybe the thing you recognize is, you know, peace out. I'm going to read that new Jane Austen Folio Society, $1,200 set. But still, you're going to discover new possibilities and answers for your reading life.

[A]

And we're going to have fun doing that.

[B]

It so hi, I'm Anne Bogle. Anybody here the first time. So glad you're here. You're, you know, coming into my home. This is MMDHQ conference table. Forgot to shut the bathroom door all the way. Books I haven't read yet. That's what you're seeing behind you. Journals that will bogle and no, I'm gonna say I'm save that for a sec. Are shipping out if you order from our shop. And I'm so glad you're here. And I am joined tonight on screen by Ginger Horton, our modern Mrs. Darcy Book Club community manager since 2016. And Ginger's joining me up top after I tell you about the 35 books, most of which are stacked next to me. Shannon Malone, our what should I Read Next? And Patreon community manager will join me for Q and A. Leigh Kramer, our modern Mrs. Darcy editor and social media manager is in my house, and she'll be in chat tonight. Okay, y', all, Lee's here. She comes to visit sometimes. It makes my heart so happy. She and Will put together. Oh, my gosh, I saw that. Why am I waving it? Zoom. You know, when I'm waving, I'm waving at you all. We feel ya. She and Will put together so many shipments that are already en route to you with your physical fall book previews and your other goodies. Look, this is my own personal journal, so I won't manhandle one. Somebody's gonna buy. And I got these cute little pencils, so they're mailing all this stuff to you. If it comes and you're like, oh, there's a little bit of extra love, it's because Will and Lee were doing them together while I was signing cards. So much love in there. Let me see. Lee is actually here to. I mean, you know, she's here to hang and talk books, but she's also here tonight to answer questions, share relevant links, like, I've got a New Yorker piece and a playlist and good stuff like that. She'll share those links in chat, and she's going to basically make sure everyone.

[A]

Has what they need.

[B]

Okay, I know Bridget's here. Who else is here? Team, would you say hi? And readers, please say hi to our fabulous team members. And, you know, like, give her a round of applause or wave at your screen. Hi, Holly. Holly's here.

[C]

So fun.

[B]

I'm just looking for team names.

[C]

It's a big book party.

[B]

It's a big book party. Will's running carpool, but he'll be here in 10 minutes. They make everything happen. Oh, hi, Donna. Y', all, these are the people who make everything happen around here. And, team, we're so glad you're here. And book lovers, thank you for that. Thank you. Okay, your fall Book Preview PDF is in your inbox as of noon Eastern today. ConvertKit Caves and Book lovers, a little bit of confusion for a few minutes. We figured it out. Thanks for your help with that. Here's my booklet. Some of you have already poured over every page. If you haven't looked yet, I'm not going to show you. But is the back not gorgeous? The covers this year with the pinks and oranges and the way Brenna laid them out, gorgeous. So some of you have already read every page three times, and some of you have only, like, snuck a peek and you're waiting to hear from me. And, like, you're the boss. Whatever you want to do totally works for the rest of us. I'm excited.

[A]

I'm excited to hear.

[B]

I'm not going to be reading the chat live, but I will read every word when we are wrapped tonight. But our team members are reading answering all your questions, getting you what you needed. If you ordered a printed delivered by snail mail booklet like I'm holding in my hand. Okay. Will said, everyone who ordered before this week definitely shipped. Most of the other ones shipped. The rest are going in the mail first thing tomorrow. We are sold out of the ones we pre ordered in the extras, but we're placing one more order tomorrow. I thought I was going to have to tell you you're out of luck, but if you want a copy, order it. Like now would be really good. Order it later tonight or first thing in the morning and we'll make sure you get yours. Those are going to be in stock, I think the first, the very beginning of October, I think Will said, but he's the boss of this. And then we will ship them out with you. But look, Lee is not actually going to physically touch those. I am so sorry. Okay, what else? Ginger, would you tell us our housekeeping lowdown so we're all ready for the best experience?

[C]

That's right. We want you to have the best experience and that means a few little housekeeping things Lee is reminding you in chat. So one of the best tips that I've got is to make sure you take a minute right now to change your chat to everyone because we want to see your comments, we want everybody to respond with bookish enthusiasm and we want to see all the fun stuff you say. Similarly, if you have a question, put that in Q and A. You can do that throughout the event. You don't have to wait to the end. And we do have the helpful but imperfect but really useful closed captioning turned on. So if you'd like to use that feature, you absolutely can. Also, we do know that the zoom experience works a little bit better if you can join from a laptop or computer. If you're on your mobile device, that's just fine. But you might not see all the polls and things like that that we've got coming at you, but we will read those for you. So exactly. Paige is rustling. Stephanie, speaking of polls, can I start us one in? I am so curious. I want to know what categories you guys are looking forward to the most. Okay, so for those of you that are joining us for mobile, we didn't.

[B]

Place our bets yet.

[C]

We didn't. Okay. I had a theory. I'm not going to say which I. Which I bet it on, but I had a theory that the way these are ordered this year might impact how people are thinking about them.

[B]

Because.

[C]

Let me read them really quickly. Memoir and nonfiction, literary fiction and contemporary fiction, science fiction and fantasy, love stories, historical fiction or mystery, thriller and crime. And do you want to give your prediction or is that unfair to ask you?

[B]

I will just say I'm not surprised by what I see coming in because we can see it live. But. Okay, let's see if this puts a wrinkle in things. I went in behind Ginger and I changed it to multiple choice. Does that change anything? You can answer.

[C]

I love a superlative. I love to make people pick on one. And you love to. Yeah. We contain multitudes.

[B]

Historical just went up.

[C]

Oh, my goodness. Okay.

[B]

Sorry. This is fun. Thanks. We're really enjoying this. Thank you, everybody.

[C]

Like real time. I really think that in the fall that mystery, thriller and crime comes through a little bit stronger because it's the season. So that's my prediction before I look too closely at them.

[B]

You know what's so funny, though, is some years there just aren't any in a genre in a certain season. Now, look, there's never not going to be literary fiction, and there's never not gonna be historical in, like, the spring and early summer. And there's never not gonna be mystery, thriller and crime in October, November. But, you know, some years there just aren't a lot of whatever in a certain. And some years, my favorite books are from a category I wouldn't have expected, which the one I always expect is, like, the Family sagas. That's what I love. But I think that lets me get surprised and blown away by, like, a great memoir or a great science fiction fantasy book.

[C]

I was gonna say. I'm gonna tell you something really surprising right now, Ann, that you probably have not heard me say, but all I can read right now is fantasy and kid lit because I am doing school work for my other reading. All I wanna read is, like, Vanderbeekers and Susanna Clarke. And so I'm kind of looking forward to that. Science fiction and fantasy. I wanna leave the world, as Shannon says.

[B]

I got some for you.

[C]

Okay.

[B]

Yeah. I love to hear new stuff about your reading life. And, y', all, Ginger's referencing her return to grad school. School at nights. And there's going to be a class on that and book club coming up soon. There is. Okay.

[C]

All right, let's end this and let's share these results 3, 2, 1 all right, so I'm going to share these with you all and you will not be surprised to see that literary fiction and contemporary fiction is always perennially popular around here. It is one of my favorite genres, so you are in good company. But sizable proportions for all of these that mystery, thriller and crime comes in at 38%. Historical fiction did see a little bump 31%. And memoir and fiction, love stories, science fiction, fantasy. All super respectable. 211915 yeah, there's a lot of us who want to read all the books, apparently.

[A]

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[B]

Okay, speaking of all the books, tonight in your preview we are talking 35 books that I've read and loved that I can't wait to read. And this is not like the summer reading guide. I have read 26 of the 35 in full. I've read a healthy to almost the whole thing. Healthy, chunked, almost the whole thing of all of them. But I haven't read every word of everyone. Not the same as the summer reading guide. These are books publishers are hyping hard this fall. Books that I think will be perfect for some of you that are more.

[A]

Under the radar that you're not gonna.

[B]

See everywhere and know. Oh, that one sounds like it's for me. It's always interesting to see what happens to be published and what the themes are that emerge this fall. Continuing what we've seen the past year or two. We've got genre benders galore, books about books, books about and by writers, nonfiction, four days campus novels, redemption stories, lots of organized crime, and two Thanksgiving stories. My parameters for choosing these books because you gotta know like there's so many that seem so interesting. So how do you get down to 35? I always say fall book preview covers the beginning of September through the end of the year, but it just happened to shake out that the last release date of this bunch is November 25th. I read some December books. We're not talking about them tonight. There are no series installments in our 35 books, though there are some that are connected to previous works from their authors, like shared characters. We'll talk about that. I'm always remembering key principle that I took away from don't overthink it. This is not my only opportunity to tell you about fall books. We share great titles day in and day out across our constellation of related stars. You'll hear about more in Book club and the podcast Patreon Bonus Episodes is a prime place. And also I'm certain there are great books coming out this fall that are not on my radar yet as of tonight. But it's all good. We're gonna keep talking books like our summer reading guide. We're gonna take these category by category and within each category I'm going in publication date order. We'll talk that were already published like September 2nd, and then we'll move forward to November. You'll hear me drop in publishing tidbits along the way like, hey, keep an eye on this publisher if you love this kind of book. Or like I have the print runs. Like how many copies did they print at the first? Go for some titles if that's especially interesting. I'll tell you. Okay, now about why these 35 books. I'm gesturing because they're right. Look, these are my stacks right here. Once again, I pick them by hand and it's so hard to choose. And I know I'm always going to labor over this list with my brain and pick the books that I most want to talk about. And I think you'd be most interested in hearing about according to my fallible but hopefully well informed and thoughtful judgment. Actually, this is a good time to talk about artificial intelligence. Not something I thought I'd do this time last year, but we've gotten a lot of questions recently. I've always resisted do all the personality type hashtags right here. Talking about the more like just like unpleasant realities of our work over the years. But my team has pushed me to talk about the realities of things like plagiarism and AI and how they impact us. Team, I love you. I'm grateful.

[A]

You're right.

[B]

I'm not sure if you know this, but AI has been an increasing topic of conversation amongst authors and writers and all kinds of people who make stuff. And the same is true for me and my team. And one result from those conversations is we just recently published an AI statement that we can reference and refer to and Lee's going to share that in chat. You've heard me say before, or maybe you haven't. We have a set of core team, well, business values that govern everything we do and we're not sure about how to answer a question. We've run it through the values. One of those is trust. And one of the things that means is we want to be really transparent about how we Work, meaning to make things like podcast episodes and blog posts and this fall book preview. And we also want to be transparent about our place in the literary landscape and how AI is impacting us. And specifically how when our work is fed into large language models like ChatGPT and Claude, how that devalues our work. So I want you to know our team doesn't use that stuff. We do not use generative AI tools like ChatGPT or Gemini, like period. The end. Lee put our statement in chat so you can check it out for yourself. But every word we write and every book we recommend comes out of our brains the old fashioned way, not from generative AI tools or algorithms. This also means that we do not knowingly publicize work that's AI generated. I don't believe this has happened yet, but if we find out that we have, we will yank it and apologize and let you know. I curated the books in our fall book preview by hand, and I did so using the exact same process I used for our summer reading guide, because.

[A]

It worked really well for me and.

[B]

I think for you that process was really simple. I like complicated systems, but my process was simple and it looks like reading thoroughly. The fall publishing catalogs, or for summer, it was spring and summer catalogs from.

[A]

A wide variety of publishers.

[B]

Like where they say, this is what's coming out. This is how we're gonna describe it.

[A]

This is what the author says.

[B]

This is the page count.

[A]

Do you maybe wanna check it out.

[B]

Or do I wanna, like, beg?

[A]

Can I check that out?

[B]

That sounds fascinating. Sometimes I learn of a book because I already follow the author or I heard about it from another reader. But for the vast majority of these books, I'm gonna say like 32 of the 35. The first place I encountered it was in the publisher's catalog. And when it caught my eye, there I was like, I gotta find out.

[A]

More about this one.

[B]

Maybe it'll be good for fall. This fall book preview is very much from me because it's my eyes on those catalogs. It's my own readerly sensibility that I'm vetting those titles with. I want you to know that my team and I, we work hard to create good stuff that you enjoy reading and listening to, and we ask that you respect the work that went into it. It takes our time, our energy, our effort, our financial investment, and we hope you can understand why we get a little salty when our work is copied or misused, whether that's by obvious plag. I talked about that more in depth. A couple years ago than I ever have or being fed for free to large learning models like ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini. We would be grateful if you would please refrain from any action that results in our work being used for AI training. Copyright training. Nope. Copyright law should make this request redundant. But that means we are please asking you to not copy paste our stuff or type our booklet or how I described it. The original photos I took that they not be put into any kind of Claude or ChatGPT situation. This preview that we're sharing tonight does not live on the Open Web and ChatGPT can only get a hold of it if somebody puts it in there. I've already been made a part of the class action lawsuit against Anthropic for misusing my books and I really, I don't want to give them my words for free. I really don't. I really hate talking about this stuff.

[A]

Thank you for listening.

[B]

I know you have a lot of questions. I hope this answers some of them. And I also want you to know we respect the heck out of you and your time and we would not presume to tell you about books you could find out about from any old algorithm. Like we really see. A huge part of our work is equipping you to thoughtfully approach your reading life and select books that feel good.

[A]

For you right now.

[B]

From people who love books to you.

[A]

People who love books.

[B]

That is deeply human work. It can only be done by you. But thank you for letting my team and I, in our human fallible, thoughtful, readerly brains, be your collaborators in this.

[A]

Endeavor of the reading life.

[B]

I know I could not possibly have answered all your questions about my process or AI or anything else, y'.

[A]

All.

[B]

I love questions. It's my favorite part, which you might not believe because I keep talking about, you know the categories that are gonna be here. But ask your questions in the Q and A feature, not in chat. We'll answer as many as we can as we go along. And then our pressure release valve as Shannon and I are gonna record a bonus episode where we answer lots of questions and we're gonna put it in Patreon next Friday. And we know not all of you are patrons. A lot of you came because you're book club members or you're an a la carte ticket holder. Thank you. We're so glad you're here. We're going to make that episode available to everybody.

[A]

We'll email it to you.

[B]

You can listen for free. You don't need to pay anything extra. You don't need to join anything. You'll just be able to hit play, so I hope that helps. Okay, finally, Paige is riffling. That's our bookish drum roll. Bye, Ginger. We'll see you in chat. I mean, you all will see you in chat. I can't chat. I can't chat and talk, folks. Follow along in your PDF if you'd like. We are talking about these categories in this order. Memoir and nonfiction, literary fiction and contemporary fiction, Science fiction and fantasy, love stories, historical fiction and mystery, thriller and crime. Y', all, we tried to have some fun. I. I tried to have some fun with the categories this year and make.

[A]

Them not genre, and it got a little messy.

[B]

But you'll see that core catalog in your preview. And that's where I had fun with our loose back to school theme. So I hope you enjoyed that. Yes, that's my actual handwriting in the preview. It's not that great, y', all, but I do have better handwriting days than some. Okay, without further ado. Are we ready?

[A]

This episode is brought to you by Swiped a Hulu original from 20th Century Studios. Meet the woman who made the first move. Starring Lily James as Whitney Wolf, the visionary founder of Bumble. Through extraordinary grit and ingenuity, Whitney breaks into the male dominated tech industry and launches an innovative, globally lauded dating app. Forever changing dating culture. A Hulu Original Swiped now streaming on Hulu and Hulu on Disney for bundle subscribers. Terms apply. When did making plans get this complicated? It's time to streamline with WhatsApp, the secure messaging app that brings the whole group together. Use polls to settle dinner plans, send event invites and pin messages so no one forgets mom 60th and never miss a meme or milestone.

[B]

All protected with end to end encryption.

[A]

It's time for WhatsApp message privately with everyone. Learn [e-mail] Next, we're doing literary and.

[B]

Contemporary fiction that so many of you said was your top category.

[A]

Or at least it was. Going in.

[B]

Starting with to the Moon and Back by Eliana Ramage, out from avid reader on September 2nd. This is an exciting debut with a fantastic premise. It's about a young Cherokee woman determined to join NASA and be an astronaut.

[A]

Which would make her the first Cherokee astronaut.

[B]

Rama just said that she had enough material for three whole books in here, but it's all packed into this one. And those threads are largely relational. So my catnip, Steph is the wannabe astronaut. She wants to go to the moon, but she's also a young woman navigating these tricky relationships, especially with her college girlfriend, who's dealing with family of origin struggles. Her sister, who's a social media influencer, and her mother, who's keeping big secrets about her past.

[A]

This story has a lot of sweep and heft to it, and at 448 pages, I appreciated how it has that room to flesh them all out. You get to know these characters really well.

[B]

Next is a book that's gonna be on my best of the year list. Some of these other ones might as well, but I'm positive two will be there. Top 10 Mercy, by Joan Silber, out from Counterpoint on September 2nd. I hadn't read Silber before this year.

[A]

And now she might be one of my favorite authors.

[B]

To me, this new release is the best of the ones I've read so far, and if early critics are right.

[A]

Maybe her career best to date.

[B]

This book begins with a conversation between a father and his teenage daughter. She's like, dad, it's late. We're chatting. What's the worst thing you've ever done? Do you know? And, you know, he, like, laughs it off and, you know, giggles with her, but he knows the worst thing he ever did. And he says, I'm gonna carry that to my grave. That, like, sickly, deadly, horrible thing will destroy us all. So the next chapter we hear about the worst thing he ever did in 1974 New York.

[A]

It is sad, sad.

[B]

Oh, gritty. Just gruesome. Opening. I thought, Joan Silber, I've read you before. Can I do this?

[A]

Some of the details about drug use.

[B]

And Ivan's story and more of the medical details just made me like, where Will's like, what are you reading? Are you okay? Because I just. But I could do it. And then, as Joan Silber does, she gives you first person rotating points of view, like interconnected short stories where you pop in time and space to. Usually it's half a dozen to 10 different characters, all of whom were affected in ways both big and, like, pretty peripheral by the first thing that happened here. It was by Ivan's terrible decision that night in 1974, New York City.

[A]

And then her books make a loop and come back and you get a.

[B]

Kind of sort of resolution. Silver is introspective, thoughtful, and in my opinion, these may be a little quiet, ish, but never boring, because she's asking big questions, like, how much should our lives be defined by the worst thing we ever did? And how might we all be connected in ways that are mysterious and invisible to us, though we're.

[A]

These are our Lives and our decisions.

[B]

There's a chapter in Mercy that first.

[A]

Appeared a few years ago in the New Yorker.

[B]

And if you wanted to read a snippet and you can access the New Yorker subscription or through your library, Lee's.

[A]

Going to drop it in chat.

[B]

Okay, next. I don't have it to show you, but the Academy by Ellen Hildebrand. When I read this, I had no idea how big the publisher was expecting this book to be. They printed all read. Actually, maybe they've already printed more, but the first print was 750,000 copies, which is an outrageous number of books.

[A]

I read this because I was strictly.

[B]

Curious and like, it was so fun. I'm telling you about this because I want to, not because you're not going to know about it otherwise. This is a boarding school novel co written with Ellen Hildebrand's daughter Shelby, who just graduated from boarding school not that long ago. Did I say little brown?

[A]

September 16th.

[B]

The students here are in high school. It unfolds over the course of one academic year. And there are many boarding school novels, name checked in the text, which I thought was a lot of fun. So why a boarding school novel from Hildebrand? She said her daughter attended this boarding school in Newport, Rhode Island. She went as a sophomore the year after Covid, and when she got there, she started calling home like four or five times a day, having a wonderful time. But also Ellen said the stories were so mind blowing that at a certain point she was like, daughter, we have to write a novel. And they did. This reads very much like her Nantucket novels. There's gossip, scandal, relationships going terribly that are both platonic and romantic.

[A]

There are tons of name chats, locations.

[B]

That I couldn't help but google like I always do, reading Ellen Hildebrand. Restaurants and bars and clubs and fashion designers and other luxury brands and elaborately described meals. So fun. There are occasional first person plural sections voiced by the school community. The actual story here is basically fish out of water over and over and over. This is not remotely ya don't think because it's boarding school. You hear a lot from the teachers as well as the kids. Some of the behavior that is so scandalous is parents. Some is oh gosh, it's so juicy. And I was a little disappointed, but mostly like gimme when I got to the end and was like, what happened with that plot? Oh my gosh, you're gonna make me wait for what is clearly going to be book two that has to be coming soon. I really want to tell you one of the big things happening in the book, but I also like I want you Hilder babes identifying yourself to discover it for yourself.

[A]

Hey readers, I hope you enjoyed listening to this sneak peek of our Fall Book Preview Unboxing experience. If you'd like to unlock the entire experience and get Your very own 12 page fall book preview downloadable booklet and access to the entire unboxing, head to our website at whatshouldireadnextpodcast.com to get the lowdown. Did you you tune into the fallback preview we would love to see, share your setup, your choice of drinks, shots of your favorite reading journal, whatever you got over on Instagram and tag us in your story. We are at whatshouldireadnext. Join our email list to stay up to date with all our latest news and happenings. Sign up at whatshouldireadnextpodcast.com newsletter and please make sure you're following along in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Spotify, Overcast, or wherever you like to get your podcasts. Thanks to the people who made this special episode happen. What Should I Read Next Is created by Executive Producer Will Bogle, Community Manager Shannon Malone, Modern Mrs. Darcy Book Club Community Manager Ginger Horton, Media Production Specialist Holly Wilkachewski, Social Media Manager and Editor Lee Kramer, Community Coordinator Brigid Misselhorn, and our whole team here at Wilson. What Should I Read next in modern Mrs. Darcy HQ? Plus the audio whizzes at Studio D Podcast Production Readers, that's it for this episode. Thanks so much for listening. And as writer Maria Rilke said, ah, how good it is to be among people who are reading. Happy reading everyone.