Books: Fall Recommendations

Hi! It’s Annie!

This might sound kind of odd, but colder weather is definitely my favorite time to read. There is nothing better than a warm blanket, a cup of tea, and a good book. This also means there’s no better time to share some of my fall book recommendations! These are books I prefer to pick up during the colder season just because they give that feeling of fall. Whether it’s because the book also features it’s characters in colder weather or because it’s a book that lends itself well to the spooky (not scary) feeling of the season; these are hopefully all books that will help you get a little more in the fall spirit. We all sort of need someplace to go, at least in our imaginations, away from the world as it is right now; so I will only be recommending books that take you away to another world in some sense. You’ll probably find that those are my favorite types of books anyways.

‘The Graveyard Book’ by Neil Gaiman:

This is one of those books that is perfect for getting into the spooky season. After his family is murdered, a toddler wanders into the local graveyard where the orphan is adopted by the ghosts he meets. Nobody Owens is raised in the graveyard until he becomes a young teenager, when he becomes wrapped up in the mystery of his parents’ murder. Despite the dark themes of this book, I can guarantee you it’s really not scary. The ghosts are very much friendly figures and the book takes a decidedly lighthearted approach to many of it’s subjects that could have been much darker. Still, between the ghouls and a murderer on the loose, there’s plenty of spooks to get you into the spooky season. If this is too lighthearted of a story for you, I highly recommend checking out another one of Neil Gaiman’s famous spooky stories: ‘Coraline’. I still can’t watch that movie because the ending used to give me nightmares. Yes, I am, in fact, a wuss. But the book was something I did much better with. Still, if you’re anything like me, this book will be slightly more your speed. This is also the type of book you can read to kids if that’s what you’re looking for (this will be the only book like that on this list), but it’s a great book for all ages.

‘Jane Eyre’ by Charlotte Bronte:

If you’re looking at this book and wondering why it’s fall themed or spooky, you probably aren’t too familiar with the ending of this book. In that case, give it a shot! This book follows the life of Jane Eyre as she goes from school to becoming a governess in the household of a rich man. I will warn you that it can be painful getting past the beginning chapters of her school life. I found those chapters to be pretty boring. But once you get past that part you begin an incredibly complicated storyline with twists at every turn. I find that this book is often advertised to people as some sort of romance, in which case I will tell you that the romance is not the purpose of this story. If you are looking for a romantic book with amazing chemistry between the main characters, turn someplace else. What begins as a sweet romance suddenly becomes all the more disturbing as Jane finds out more and more secrets regarding the man she is falling in love with. By the end of the book you’re almost hoping she doesn’t get together with him. It is not the romance but really the ending of this book that makes this read worth it.

‘The Phantom of the Opera’ by Gaston Leroux:

This one pretty much speaks for itself, but I will warn you that it is very different from the musical you are probably familiar with. This books uncovers the mysterious identity of a man who haunts the Paris Opera House and his obsession with Christine, one of the singers. This book features a more capable Christine, better characters over-all, and is probably less spooky than you were expecting. The Phantom is much more like a child in this, but he’s also a bit more murderous. Even though this isn’t as creepy, there are still murders, kidnappings, and the regular stalking you expect from this story. It’s very different from the musical, but it’s just as good.

‘The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle’ by Stuart Turton:

Looking for a good murder mystery to read? I’ve got you covered! This book is one of my favorites that I’ve read and it’s probably because of my absolute love of a good murder mystery. This book follows Aiden Bishop, a man caught in a time loop who’s only objective is to stop the murder of Evelyn Hardcastle at the end of each day. Each day he will be placed into a different body belonging to one of the people in the Hardcastle mansion so that he may use their individual strengths to help find the killer and stop the murder. An excellent murder mystery with a supernatural twist and so many twists in the story you will never guess who the murderer is. But you also begin to discover that the identity of the murderer is not the most important of the mysteries you should be trying to solve. I highly recommend this book for anyone who is even mildly interested in murder mysteries and, trust me, it’s plenty creepy without being too scary.

‘The Night Circus’ by Erin Morgenstern:

It’s really difficult for me to not put this on any list of recommendations I ever give. You might have recognized it from my favorite books section in my intro post. This book follows a couple of different storylines all intertwined into a mysterious circus that turns up unannounced only at night. This book is quite possibly my favorite that I’ve ever read, so you will undoubtedly see this pop up several times throughout my posts. I’m justifying this addition to this list by saying that most of the book happens during colder weather and one of the characters lives near an apple orchard; which is very fall aesthetics. But really, the reason to read this book is the escapism. I have never had the wording in a book be so detailed that it literally transported me into another world. This is the type of book where you scream “No!” once you finish it because you just want to stay in the circus forever. I can almost guarantee you that you will come away from this book absolutely in love with some aspect of the book. My favorite story line in the book follows Bailey, Poppet, and Widget; but there’s a bigger and equally as lovely competition/romance in this story that you will also fall in love with. Read it all and the read it again, because I know you’ll want to. Warning; it will also make you crave churros and hot chocolate and you will most definitely want to dance in an ice garden after reading this.

There you go! My fall reading recommendations! Obviously, if nothing else I strongly recommend ‘The Night Circus’; but all of these are more than great options. Hopefully these will provide an escape and make you feel just as cozy as these books make me feel! Happy fall reading!

See you across the pond!

Sincerely, Annie