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Fall is the biggest publishing season, and that includes of tons of new releases that apply to the 2025 Read Harder Challenge. I’ve rounded up a few that complete different Read Harder tasks, including weird horror, a romance novel without an illustrated cover, a genre-blending book, and a book recommended by indie booksellers. From SFF to essay collections to spooky romance, here are six new books out in September that Read Harder Challengers—or any reader!—should have on their radar.
#1: Read a 2025 release by a BIPOC author.
The People’s Project: Poems, Essays, and Art for Looking Forward edited by Saeed Jones and Maggie Smith (September 9)
Much beloved poets, Saeed Jones and Maggie Smith, have curated an all-star selection of writers giving hope to readers during dark times. After the election of 2024, Jones and Smith turned to their fellow writers for hope. Now writers like Alexander Chee, Alice Wong, and Hala Alyan share their wisdom on fighting for a better future in the face of adversity. —Kendra Winchester
#6: Read a standalone fantasy book.
Fate’s Bane by C. L. Clark (September 30)
Agnir has grown up a captive of an enemy clan, a part of their world for as long as she can remember. When her love for the chieftain’s daughter reveals a magic that could bind her family and their enemy together—or destroy them—they will have to decide what they will sacrifice ot keep the peace. —Liberty Hardy
#10: Read a romance book that doesn’t have an illustrated cover.
Lassoed by a Maverick by Rochelle Alers (September 30)
Sometimes you just want a category romance about a quiet rancher who’s given up on love and a rodeo star in town to visit her family. A quiet friendship is born out of their curiosity about each other, and their respective places in life (and in love) mean neither is what the other is looking for right now. Or are they?—Jessica Pryde
#11: Read a work of weird horror.
Spread Me by Sarah Gailey (September 23)
Did you watch The Thing and think to yourself, “I wish this was scarier and sexier?” Then Sarah Gailey’s Spread Me is for you. At a remote research outpost in the middle of the desert, Kinsey and her crew discover a mysterious specimen buried deep in the sand. They do what any scientists would do in this situation and bring the specimen back to their research facility to examine it. But the longer it stays with them, the stranger everyone begins to feel. And strange desires come to the surface. —Emily Martin
#12: Read a staff pick from an indie bookstore.(Preferably, from your local indie bookstore.)
Mother Mary Comes to Me by Arundhati Roy (September 2)
Legendary writer Arundhati Roy writes about her experience growing up with a single mother in Kerala, India. Her mother, Mary, passed away in 2022, and Roy was startled by the depth of her grief. She began to write about her mother “to be able to continue to love her.” Roy’s first memoir is a stunning rumination of grieving and the messiness of truly loving someone. —Kendra Winchester
(This is a Indie Next List pick for September!)
#16: Read a genre-blending book.
The Most Unusual Haunting of Edgar Lovejoy by Roan Parrish (September 9)
Roan Parrish is back to her cozy roots in this story about Jamie, who designs haunted houses for a living and is pretty sure ghosts are nothing but bells and whistles on the human plane. But then they meet Edgar Lovejoy, who has been haunted by ghosts his entire life. It’s been a few years since we’ve gotten anything new from Parrish, and this sounds like another delightfully cozy, sob-worthy hug of a book. —Jessica Pryde
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