Ellen Heltzel, Book Critic and author of "Between the Covers," joined us today to share her picks for the best book to read this fall.

For more information about Ellen, check out her Book Babes website.

Fall is on its way. Grab a mug of hot chocolate and one of the following great books:

"Freedom," by Jonathan Franzen -- OK, so this is the most talked about book for fall. And it's a scrumptious read: Franzen pulls you into the lives of his characters so you feel like you're getting all the gossip on people you really know. This is a commentary on contemporary life channeled through the lives of one high-minded, progressive family, the Berglunds, and it isn't pretty: As with his previous novel "The Corrections," the author is unsparing in his critique of the shallowness of American contemporary life.

"Super Sad True Love Story," by Gary Shteynhart -- Franzen's book is satirical. Shteyngart ratchets things up a notch and gives you real political satire -- set in a future that seems uncomfortably near. It's told through the diary and life of one Lenny Abramov, who chronicles a bankrupt and illiterate country where he may be the only book lover left, or at least it feels that way. The story line follows Lenny, the son of Russian immigrants, as he falls madly in love with Eunice, the child of Korean immigrants. It's a relationship in which she has the upper hand and Lenny seems the poor schmuck trying to manage in an unruly world. Do not expect a Hollywood ending.

"Let's Take the Long Way Home," by Gail Caldwell -- Enough about the sad state of society. This memoir, for all its poignancy, will clear your palate. It's the simple tale of two single women and their dogs and a friendship that lasted until suddenly, tragically, the younger woman died of lung cancer when she was only 42. Caldwell, who won a Pulitzer Prize for book criticism and wrote a well-received memoir about growing up in Texas, tells a simple and heartfelt tale that will warm your heart in spite of the sadness.

"Madame Bovary," a new translation -- When all else fails, the classics are always a good place to go, and this version of Flaubert's most famous novel has been so meticulously translated from the French that it offers a clearer picture of not only the title character but also the French society that Flaubert was trying to poke fun at (reference Franzen, above!).  The fictional Emma Bovary is billed here as the original desperate housewife. It doesn't spoil the plot to say that she finds ways to cope with her boredom.

"The Night Bookmobile," by Audrey Niffenegger -- Graphic novels are coming in all shapes and sizes these days, and this one is a book lover's treat, even if the ending brings you up short. Niffenegger, who wrote the best seller "The Time Traveler's Wife," shows off her training at the Art Institute of Chicago by drawing and telling the story of a woman who after a fight with her boyfriend encounters a bookmobile that contains every book she has ever read. She spends the rest of her life looking for it, with the search and its conclusion serving as a metaphor for how essential reading can become.