Top Ten Tuesday (On a Wednesday): Top Ten Books On My Fall TBR List (Part One)

I'm late to the party, but I'm here! This week's prompt is a fun one: Top Ten Authors I've Met. I've met a few. Not ten, though, so I'm going to switch things up. Next week's topic is a seasonal favorite: Top Ten Books On My Fall 2026 TBR List. Since I love these lists, I'm going to start mine early and make it a two-parter. I don't know about you, but I've got at least 20 titles I'd like to read this Fall. 

As always, Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the lovely Jana over at That Artsy Reader Girl.

Top Ten Books On My Fall 2026 TBR List (Part One)

1. Death By Demo by Callie Carpenter—My current audiobook, this is the first installment (actually, I just realized it's the only one—oops, I hope I don't like it too much) in a cozy mystery series featuring a North Carolina contractor who takes a huge financial hit when she divorces the cheater who is also her business partner. The sooner she starts renovating the rundown house that is the only asset she has left, the sooner she can stop sleeping on her best friend's couch. When she begins demo work, however, she discovers a dead body hidden behind a wall. Who's the corpse? Who put it there? And why?  

2. The Traitor in the Tunnel by Y.S. Lee—This is the third installment in the enjoyable Mary Quinn historical mystery series. It's about a young woman who's forced to live on the streets of Victorian London after losing both of her parents. As she's about to face the gallows for theft, she's rescued by two teachers who run a secret, all-female detective agency out of a boarding school. In this outing, Mary is posing as a parlormaid for the queen in order to catch a thief in the royal household. When the Prince of Wales is caught up in a scandalous killing, a personal interest in the perpetrator puts Mary on a new quest to find out what really happened.

3. The Burning Side by Sarah Damoff—I've heard nothing but good things about this family saga. It concerns April and Leo, a couple whose marriage is already fracturing when their home catches fire in the middle of the night. With nowhere else to go, they and their two young children move in with April's parents and siblings. In the aftermath of the fire, all of the adults are struggling with their own problems and concerns, which will either pull them together or tear them apart.

4. Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty—I'm on a very long waiting list at the library for Moriarty's newest, Big Little Truths. While (im)patiently waiting for my turn, I'll be rereading its prequel, Big Little Lies. The novel is about a suspicious death that occurs at a primary school fundraiser in Sydney, Australia. As the school community grapples with the shocking event, trying to figure out what really happened, their secrets and lies will out.

5. The Séance Garden by Juliet Blackwell—Harper Grae may be an occult historian, but that doesn't make her a believer. When a lost bet leads her to attend a corny ghost tour in Monterey, California, she witnesses something she cannot explain in any rational way. Not only does the tour stumble across a dead body on the grounds of a mansion, but Harper could swear she saw a ghost. The more she learns about the strange history of the Perles Mansion, the more intrigued she becomes. She can't let it go until she understands what killed the women who died at the mansion and what she really saw on the night of the tour.

6. The Ending Writes Itself by Evelyn Clarke—When six struggling authors are invited to spend the weekend on a private Scottish island belonging to a world-reknowned writer, they're elated. Then, they find out that the author is dead. His editor and agent desperately need to publish the man's last, unfinished novel. Whichever of the invited authors can write a perfect ending to the book will not only earn a huge cash prize, but the agent and editor will ensure they're launched on a successful writing career. With six competitors eager to win, murder may not stay fictional...

7. No One Saw a Thing by Andrea Mara—I just received an e-ARC of this thriller, which appears to have been originally published in 2023. It's about a mom who's traveling on the Tube in London with her three young children. Her daughters, four and six, squeeze onto the train, but the mother can't follow in time. Panicked, she races to the next stop, only to find that one of her daughters is not there. Is Faye hopelessly lost? Has she been abducted? No one is telling the truth. Where is her daughter?

8. Reach by Celesta Rimington—This MG novel revolves around a young boy who feels invisible after acquiring a pesky little stepbrother. Tired of being ignored by his parents and badgered by his stepsibling, Denver retreats to the woods, where he encounters a bit of forest magic. An old tree named Spiro offers to turn Denver's pesky problem into a tree for a few hours. Delighted, he agrees, only to become alarmed when no one remembers that little Harlan ever existed. Can Denver save the stepbrother he never asked for? Does he even want to?

9. The Pirate Queen by Ariel Lawhon—I'm a little higher up on my library's waitlist for Lawhon's newest than I am for Big Little Truths, but it's still going to take a bit to get the book into my hands. I'm excited to read this one, which is about Grace O'Malley, an infamous Irish pirate who risked everything to protect her people against the Elizabethean regime.

10. What Happened to the Bennetts by Lisa Scottoline—Delaware is a small state and it's not easy to find books that are set there. I need one for a reading challenge I'm doing; purportedly, this one fits the bill. It's about a family whose lives are changed forever when they become victims of a car-jacking by members of a dangerous drug-trafficking gang. They're taken into witness protection, a tense, unfamiliar situation that causes them to slowly unravel. When the dad discovers a shocking truth, he decides to find a solution to the situation on his own.

There you go, ten books I'm hoping to read this Fall. Have you read any of them? What did you think? What's on your list for the next season? I'd truly love to know. Leave me a comment on this post and I will gladly return the favor on your blog.

Happy TTT (on a Wednesday)!