10 Books Inspired by Television’s New Fall Season

The Pearson family is one that has gone through their fair share of trials and tribulations, so we’re positive that this book about family, estrangement, and reconciliation is one that would hit especially close to home for brothers Kevin and Randall, who were estranged from each other for the majority of their lives. With some work to do on their relationships from all sides, Lisa Jewell’s novel about an event that calls the estranged Bird family all back home together is one that we know the Pearson family would appreciate.

Kate Pearson has been a champion for those of us who appreciate genuine, sincere stories that deal with body image in a realistic way, and we’re sure that like us, Kate would love Roxane Gay’s Hunger. This brutally honest memoir about body image and weight touches not only on being bigger in a world that values women being skinny, but also on the psychological struggles that can come from eating. The vulnerability and honesty in this memoir is one that Kate could definitely relate to.

Olivia Pope has for sure had her ups and downs in the political spotlight, and she could definitely relate to Emma Barry’s Millie Frank, a smart and determined Union organizer, who ends up being the evening news after a being the victim in a hostage situation. Still suffering from PTSD, Millie gets back to work in Washington D.C., meeting senator’s aide Parker, who would do anything to close a deal for the Senate Majority Leader, even if that means selling out union labor. This political romance is one that any fan of Olivia’s trials and tribulations in politics and love will want to read.

Full of political and family drama, unapologetic feminism, and a twisting storyline, we know that fans of Scandal will be rooting for Lisbeth with every page of this novel. The first book in the original trilogy, hacker Lisbeth Salander and journalist Mikael Blomkvist team up together to uncover the truth about a decades-old mystery, and take down a serial killer in this psychological bestseller. Dark and thrilling, this novel is one we know you’ll love.

Okay, this book made us afraid of clowns, and the current season of American Horror Story is really not helping with that. With children being murdered in their hometown in Maine, seven adults have to return home to finally confront the evil “being” that terrorized them as teenagers. From the classic and terrifying novel that brought us Pennywise the Clown, this is must for anyone watching this season. It was also just released as a movie, if you want to double up on your horror intake.

American Horror Story loves to play mind games with us, simultaneously creeping us out, and making us doubt what’s really going on. For fans of the psychological aspects, Before I Go to Sleep is the perfect book. When an accident causes Christine to lose all of her old memories and lose her new ones when she goes to sleep, she wakes up each day with a stranger telling her that he’s her husband. When she starts to keep a journal, determined to find herself, she starts to notice inconsistencies in the things her husband tells her – and her paranoia is only made worse when she finds a note she wrote to herself, telling her that she can’t trust him.

From former CIA analyst Francine Mathews comes a novel that includes everything we love about The Blacklist. Just as CIA analyst Caroline Carmichael is about to hand in her resignation, the terrorist neo-Nazi 30 April Organization strikes, assassinating top officials and kidnapping a child. When her husband Eric is arrested in Germany for being a member of the 30 April Organization, Caroline is forced back into the game once again. With Caroline as one of the toughest female leads we’ve ever seen, we can’t help but draw parallels between her and Liz.

Liz Keen has been dealing with the secrets surrounding her childhood and her family for a long time, and we’re sure she could appreciate the situation that Hazel Nash finds herself in. When Hazel was six years old, her father told her that all mysteries should be solved – and Hazel loved the mystery stories her father would tell her. But when Hazel wakes up in the hospital she can’t remember anything – not even the car accident she was in that killed her father and injured her brother. Back at home, Hazel finds guns she doesn’t remember buying, and scars from fights she doesn’t remember having. When a corpse shows up in a manner right out of one of her father’s stories, Hazel has to dig for the truth about her father, and her childhood.

Izzy Spellman is the definition of a walking human disaster, with her background in vandalism, excessive drinking, and addiction to the TV show Get Smart. In the family business of private investigation, Izzy very carefully and very badly walks the line between employee and family member. Deciding that she has to leave the business, she’s assigned one last case – which, of course, is where everything goes disastrously, yet hilariously wrong. The first novel of Lisa Lutz’s series, we can’t help but draw parallels between Mickey and Izzy, and we know if you love one, you’ll love the other, too.

This memoir from humorist David Sedaris is one we had to recommend for fans of The Mick. Filled with humor that’s one toe over the line, Sedaris’ collection of essays cover every situation imaginable, from attempting to make coffee with no water, to recommending moving to Japan to stop smoking. Drawing parallels to The Mick, Sedaris is able to find humor in even the most mundane tasks. With his trademark edgy writing, combined with biting humor, fans of The Mick will not be disappointed in this hilarious memoir.