The quieter months between summer and the festive period have left many readers looking for fresh page‑turners, and the literary calendar is buzzing with the upcoming Booker Prize announcement. While the prize‑winning novel will be revealed on 9 November, the current shortlist is already providing ample inspiration for autumn reading, according to The Standard’s shopping editor Daisy Lester.

Among the highlighted titles is Maggie O’Farrell’s sweeping historical epic Land, which traces a post‑famine Irish family across generations, and Elizabeth Strout’s Booker‑nominated The Things We Never Say, a standalone novel set in Maine that follows a high‑school history teacher confronting a decade‑long secret.

The guide also points to Douglas Stuart’s John of John, a contender for the Booker, which moves from Glasgow to the remote Isle of Harris to explore masculinity, duty and religion in a tight‑knit Scottish community.

Marlon James returns to the Caribbean with The Disappearers, a novel set in 1988 Kingston that examines the fallout of a violent mob attack on a group of gay men, while R.F. Kuang’s Taipei Story follows a Chinese‑American student navigating language, culture and family loss during a summer in Taiwan.

Non‑fiction offerings include Patrick Radden Keefe’s investigative thriller London Falling, which unravels a mysterious death and the hidden world of Russian oligarchs in the capital, and David Sedaris’s new essay collection The Land and Its People, blending humor with reflections on ageing and travel.

The feature rounds out its autumn roster with a mix of genres – from Ann Patchett’s emotionally resonant Whistler, to Hannah Murray’s memoir The Make‑Believe about a cult‑like wellness group, and Jem Calder’s debut novel I Want You To Be Happy, described as the “new Sally Rooney” for its sharp take on modern London life.

Prices for the highlighted books are listed on Amazon UK, ranging from £11 for I Want You To Be Happy to £16.36 for The Disappearers, giving readers a clear guide to budget‑friendly options as they curate their TBR piles.