Lists

26 Books Authors Are Reading on Instagram this Fall

This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Alison Doherty

Senior Contributor

Alison Doherty is a writing teacher and part time assistant professor living in Brooklyn, New York. She has an MFA from The New School in writing for children and teenagers. She loves writing about books on the Internet, listening to audiobooks on the subway, and reading anything with a twisty plot or a happily ever after.

View All posts by Alison Doherty

Does anyone else like to stalk what books authors are reading on Instagram? You don’t have to admit it. Now, I’ve done the work so you don’t have to. With cozy weather, back-to-school, and no excuse not to read with a cup of something warm and a soft blanket, these 25 authors are getting into the autumn reading spirit! So please be warned, reading further probably will increase the list of books you want to read.

Ta-Nehisi Coates is reading American Spy by Lauren Wilkinson

View this post on Instagram

This was really really good. Spy fiction plus allegory and a splash of pan-Africanism. What could go wrong? As it happens, very very little. Coolest part of @thrillkinson’s joint is how she extends the metaphor of a spy into so many spaces—a mother passing for white, a gay spook for straight CIA agent, and a black woman passing as an agent of empire. There’s a beautiful scene where the protagonist’s younger sister terrorizes a bully by pretending to be her friend and then beating the hell out of her for picking on her sister. That’s the second beatdown. After the first, which takes place at a public pool, the sister just remarks nonchalantly, “Made me get my hair wet.” I’m obviously not doing that moment justice, but trust me, the whole set-up and payoff is clever, bracing and darkly funny. As is the whole book. My pops was in the Panthers. The FBI spied during those years and for years after. I got a perverses thrill out of putting myself in the mind of the kind of black person who would have that done that spying. I know I’m weird. Or maybe that’s what fiction is supposed to do. Take us into alien selves. Anyway, you could do a lot worse than cracking this joint right here. Come for the thrilling open. Stay for fhe Thomas Sankara sightings. Thanks, Obama. No, seriously. Good looking out. (PS Kept thinking of Sam Greenlee while reading.)

A post shared by Ta-Nehisi Coates (@tanehisipcoates) on

Margaret Atwood is reading Empire of Wild by Cherie Dimaline

@cherie.dimaline’s deftly-written, gripping and informative Empire of Wild is a rip-roaring read! Ripping, roaring, fur flying, and More! Don’t try any of this at home.

A post shared by Margaret Atwood (@therealmargaretatwood) on

Laurie Halse Anderson is reading Internment by Samira Ahmed

https://www.instagram.com/p/B2VIF9mgy5e/

Taylor Jenkins Reid is reading Good Talk by Mira Jacob

Nic Stone is reading Slay by Brittney Morris, Red at the Bone by Jacqueline Woodson, and Who Put This Song On? by Morgan Parker

View this post on Instagram

Literal best mail day I have ever lived. •••••••• #RedAtTheBone by @jacqueline_woodson: a stunning multi-generational, multi-POV familial saga about the ties that bind us, and the seemingly small acts that loosen the knots. Out yesterday (9/17/19) •••••••• #Slay by @brittneymmorris: A racist troll infiltrates a For Us By Us virtual reality game after a tragedy pulls said game into the center of an international spotlight and debate AND #WhoPutThisSongOn by @morganapple0: An utterly immersive deep dive into the effects of anxiety, depression and tokenism on a black girl stuck in a world where she doesn't fit in myriad ways. BOTH out 9/24/19. •••••••• Get them all.

A post shared by Nic (@nicstone) on

Alyssa Cole is reading The Worst Best Man by Mia Sosa

Cheryl Strayed is Reading This Particular Happiness by Jackie Shannon Hollis and The Butterfly Girl by Rene Denfeld

Gayle Forman is reading Emergency Contact by Mary H.K. Choi

Adam Silvera is reading Frankly in Love by David Yoon

Sona Charaipotra is reading When You Ask Me Where I’m Going by Jasmin Kaur

https://www.instagram.com/p/B28HTQuAIhH/

Rebekah Weatherspoon is reading The Idea of You by Robinne Lee and How to Hack a Heartbreak by Kristin Rockaway

View this post on Instagram

Another fine Saturday at @therippedbodice ! 💕📚

A post shared by Rebekah Weatherspoon (@rebekahweatherspoon) on

Pepper Winters is reading The Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean M. Auel

Rainbow Rowell is reading Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik

Elizabeth Gilbert is reading I Might Regret This by Abbi Jacobson

View this post on Instagram

Balanced upon the palm of my hand is yet another delicious book that I wish you would all read. It’s called I MIGHT REGRET THIS, by the brilliant @abbijacobson. Many of you may know Abbi from her star-making and groundbreaking work on the TV show BROAD CITY. (A moment of silence and reverence, please, for the perfection of that show. Shhhh. Let’s just be still for a moment, for BROAD CITY is sacred unto me. Ok, thank you. Amen.) But Abbi is also a gifted and searching essayist, and a beautiful visual artist, as well. In this book, she combines her art and her words to create a funny, thoughtful, and heart-rich memoir of a long, solo drive that she took across America after a tough breakup. Studded with drawings and musings and sparkling observations, this book is what I WISH my journal looked like. It’s something very special, I think you’ll all relate to it, it’s freshly out in paperback, it would make a good gift for any cool women in your life, and I love it, and that’s all there is to say about that, except: CONGRATULATIONS, ABBI!!! Ya done good. ❤️LG #imightregretthisbook #abbijacobson

A post shared by Elizabeth Gilbert (@elizabeth_gilbert_writer) on

Aminah Mae Safi is reading Time of Our Lives by Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka

Becky Albertalli is reading Dear Sweat pea by Julie Murphy

Victoria Aveyard is reading Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo, The Beautiful by Renée Ahdieh, and Serpent & Dove by Shelby Mahurin

Beatriz Williams is reading The Christmas Spirits on Tradd Street by Karen White

View this post on Instagram

Reading Christmas books at the beach? Mischievously wonderful, especially when the book in question is an advance copy of the upcoming @karenwhitewrite Tradd Street novel THE CHRISTMAS SPIRITS ON TRADD STREET. The irresistible Jack and Melanie are back with a marvelous ghostly mystery stretching back to the Revolution, and if that’s not enough, ❄️ SNOW ❄️ is forecast in Charleston over Christmas. (I can only imagine how hard it was for my dear, cold-natured Karen to write those scenes.) If you love atmospheric Southern mysteries with lovable humans, unquiet spirits, and a masterful storytelling voice, be sure to pick this simply perfect book up when it hits bookstores in October. #bookstagram #books #mystery #ghost #southernfiction #traddstreet

A post shared by Beatriz Williams (@authorbeatriz) on

Sally Thorne is reading Viral by T. Gephart

Kelly deVos is reading The Speed of Falling Objects by Nancy Richardson Fischer

Jill Santopolo is reading The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of 9/11 by Garrett M. Graff

Jen Pastiloff is reading How to Cure a Ghost by Fariha Róisín

Megan Stielstra is reading How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi

Amanda Joy is reading Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky by Kwame Mbalia

View this post on Instagram

QOTD: 1 random fact about you 💖 Happy book release Tuesday! I’ve checked the mail like five times already looking for my copy of Ninth House lol. I’m so excited today to be a part of the blog tour for Kwame Mbalia’s TRISTAN STRONG PUNCHES A HOLE IN THE SKY! I feel like I’ve been waiting for this book forever. Even before it was announced, I’ve always wanted to read a book, particularly a middle grade fantasy adventure like PJO!, with a mythology that was distinctly Black American. My anticipation for TRISTAN STRONG has only gotten more intense since following @mbalia1 on twitter, because he’s hilarious. Here are three facts about @mbalia1: 1. Like Tristan, I grew up in the Midwest. Milwaukee Wisconsin to be exact. I actually did try to stick my hands in the freezer when I came in from the cold one snowy day just to see if it was warmer. 2. Unlike Tristan I cannot box, but I love the sweet science as it's called.  3. The idea for Gum Baby came to me in a dream, when a tiny doll ridiculed me from her seat on my shoulder. BTW Gum Baby is a TALKING DOLL, so yeah, you want to pick this one up! All the books released by @readriordan Rick Riordan Presents have been so special. And I can tell TRISTAN STRONG is no different. Tristan Strong Punches A Hole in the Sky is available for preorder now and will be out in stores next Tuesday! • • • • • • • #bookstagram #📚 #bibliophile #bookstack #bookstafeature #bookstagramfeature #influencer #bookishglee #bookish #middlegrade #mgreads #tristanstrongpunchesaholeinthesky #kwamembalia #rickriordan #rickriordanpresents #cakeliterary

A post shared by Amanda Joy | Chicago, IL (@amandajoywrites) on

Jessica Khoury is reading Assassin’s Apprentice by Robin Hobb

Dahlia Adler is Reading By Any Means Necessary by Candice Montgomery

And if your Instagram itch hasn’t been totally scratched yet, peruse one of the following: