How I winnowed down my Fall wishlist to just three books

my teeny tiny To Be Purchased list

If there’s one thing readers love as much as (more than?) talking about what they’re reading, it’s talking about their reading lives. Today’s newsletter mixes both passions as I share my book buying strategy for an overabundant publishing season along with my most anticipated book releases.

When it comes to filling my bookshelves, I guess you could call me a mood buyer. I rarely put any formal thought into which books I buy, I go entire seasons relying on the library, and, in most cases, I’m content to wait for paperback releases. Even though I technically can (and do) write off my book purchases as business expenses, I almost never buy with abandon.

I like tidy bookshelves with curated favorites, pretty editions, and re-readable stories, and up to now, I’ve been able to keep them in this condition with very little effort. 

However, give me an unprecedented publishing season in which the book releases range from time-tested favorite authors to highly appealing debut fiction, and I turn into a reader with a PLAN. (But no spreadsheets—that’s just a tad too far for me). For my future reference, and your bookish enjoyment, here’s the step-by-step process I used to turn my initial wishlist of about 20 books into a tiny To Be Purchased triad. 

Four Lists

When readers say, “it’s on my To Be Read list,” some mean an actual physical (or digital) list and others (like me) mean a vague idea of thousands of titles I might like to read someday. I record what I read, not what I want to read—but this season, I need something more tangible to track and prioritize tons of tantalizing titles, so I make four lists: Order/Pre-Order, Librofm, Library, and Save for Later. Working off of the New York Times, Publisher’s Weekly, Fiction Matters Fall Compendium, and Novel Pairings Fall Preview Episode, I pluck the books I’m most excited for and drop them in the categories based on the following questions:

1. Will I want to read this right away, or can I wait?

2. Is this a title from a small press that my library might not acquire?

3. Is this book already in my Librofm queue?

An important note: I almost exclusively read romance on my Kindle, and I rarely buy romance novels I’ve already read in eBook format. I’m previewing plenty of fall romance books via NetGalley, which will surely make appearances in future newsletters; those titles get a separate list. 

My Sorting Process

With a quick glance, I noticed both Wellness by Nathan Hill and Rouge by Mona Awad on the Librofm Influencer ALC list. Bonus: I heard that Wellness is excellent on audio, and I’ve adored Awad’s previous books in that format, too.

Next up, the tricky part in my estimation: cutting the Order/Pre-Order list down to five or fewer titles (an arbitrary number based on our tight budget and my need for a specific goal). I start by looking at the list, judging how badly I want to read each book and checking my library to see if it’s available for holds. I know I want to read The Vaster Wilds by Lauren Groff, but it’s got a short holds list at my library, so I move it to the Library list–same with Bluebeard’s Castle by Anna Biller, The Fraud by Zadie Smith,  and America Fantastica by Tim O’Brien. I’m not sure if those last two titles will be right for my taste anyway, so it’s safer to go with the library. One Woman Show by Christine Coulson isn’t available for holds yet, but I’ll keep checking for it, along with Flores and Miss Paula by Melissa Rivero and The Loneliness Files by Athena Dixon.

At this point, I still have seven titles on my Order/Pre-Order list. I need to move a few titles to Save for Later, a spot meant for books I likely won’t read in the next three months but don’t want to forget about. It’s a murky category, I know. But it makes sense to my organized chaos center of a brain, so we’re sticking with it and entering the following titles:

• Desertion by Abdulrazak Gurnah

• Vengeance is Mine by Marie NDiaye

• Lies and Sorcery by Elsa Morante

• Cross Stitch by Jazmina Barrera

Ta Da!

That leaves (drumroll please) THREE titles on my Order/Pre-order list, and my wallet rejoices. As a Jesmyn Ward superfan, Let Us Descend was always going to be a pre-order for me. I keep Company by Shannon Sanders and Peach Pit: Sixteen Stories of Unsavory Women on the list because they’re from small presses I want to support (and less likely to arrive at my local library anytime soon). 

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I adore all the excitement and buzz around this season’s bountiful publishing catalog. We’re getting spoiled with literary historical fiction from some of our greatest living authors! Inventive sophomore novels! Works in translation galore! If you can’t wait to fill your shelves with brand new hardcovers or stack your nightstands with glossy library copies, I love that for you. I’m prone to overwhelm, so I’m going to stick with my little list and see how it goes. 

(I reserve the right to edit, add, and shake things up as needed based on bookstore trips or bad days.)

Which titles are on your immediate purchase list this season? How are you organizing your book lists? The bibliophiles need to know.

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