10 books to read this autumn

Autumn is definitely well under way where I am here, with cold crisp air, the trees turning yellow and brown, the occasional rainy days, and I just love putting on a jacket and not drowning in my own sweat. I love autumn also because it’s my birthday month in October, and I prefer colder weathers than warm ones. Rainy days are the perfect excuse to stay at home under the blanket and read, and in this post I have five books with autumn vibes that I’d recommend and an addition five books that I would love to read this autumn. Let’s get on right to it!

Recommendations

English Animals by Laura Kaye

Goodreads review | Blog post

With a uniquely simple writing that is at the same time so atmospheric and beautiful, this story is set in the English countryside and focuses on the main character Mirka who moves to a couple’s house as their helper. She develops a deep relationship with these people and the whole story felt cold, windy and wet, filled with gorgeous landscape descriptions and lots of nature.

Under the Pendulum Sun by Jeannette Ng

Goodreads review | Blog post

Though I this novel is mostly set in winter, I think it will still make for a lovely autumn read. This fantasy novel with stunning cover art is set in a world where the sun is a pendulum, and that the season is always cold. There are faes, misty places, a whale with sea inside it, beautiful Gothic writing, and overall amazing magical elements that tackle themes such as brother-sister relationships, religion, and love.

Mab threw back her head and laughed.
It was a sound that filled every nook and cranny of that tiny chapel and squirmed its way, writhing, under my skin. Reverberating, it shook the foundations of the stone and shivered through my bones, like an ote through a tuning fork.

The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters

Goodreads review | Blog post

One of the best horror-spooky reads I’ve read ever, The Little Stranger is set in the 20th century where our main character, a doctor, befriends the family living in a huge manor in England. In this large, dilapidated house in the middle of nowhere strange things start to happen and we do not know if it’s just the inhabitant’s minds that are going awry, or if there really is something sinister living within the walls of the house. Similarly to Under the Pendulum Sun, this book is quite thick is just perfect to read under a blanket on a cold windy day.

The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

Goodreads review

It is the first day of November and so, today, someone will die.

I have not raved much about Maggie Stiefvater in this blog, but you all must know that I absolutely adore her books. Though I do admit her Raven Cycle books are also perfect to be read in the autumn months, I chose this stand-alone that I enjoyed tremendously because I feel like not many people have talked about it as much. Set in a magical island, two young people meet during the Scorpio Race. The horses in this book are not normal ones – they are beautiful and wild creatures that appear in the island from the sea once a year, and it’s such an atmospheric book with amazing writing and such great characters.

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë

Goodreads review

I’m adding in a favourite classic of mine here, just because I love this book and I know people love reading this slightly creepy, very Gothic, absolutely amazing novel in the autumn months as well. I love the plot and the characters of the book, but most of all I think the setting is perfect to read about during autumn. So if you have always wanted to read it but haven’t yet, now is the right season to pick it up.

Do you think, because I am poor, obscure, plain and little, I am soulless and heartless? You think wrong! – I have as much soul as you, – and full as much heart! And if God had gifted me with some beauty and much wealth, I should have made it as hard for you to leave me, as it is now for me to leave you!

Want to Read

The Stand by Stephen King

All I know about this book is that it is a post-apocalyptic novel by the king of thrillers, and highly rated in Goodreads with an average rating of 4.3. Definitely a chunky book but something I’m highly excited to start.

The Cat Who series by Lillian Jackson Braun

I started this cozy mystery series when I was in high school and have only read three books of the series even though I highly enjoyed it. Focusing on a journalist in a small town who owns a few cats, it’s about these small funny mysteries happening in the character’s life and his efforts to solve them, with the help of his cats.

The Western Wind by Samantha Harvey

I have this book on my Kindle and have heard amazing things about it. I don’t know much about it other than that it is a historical fiction and a combination of literary fiction and mystery, and that’s all I want to know about it.

Dark Places by Gillian Flynn

I think mysteries and thrillers are perfect to be read in autumn, and as a person who has only read one book by Gillian Flynn, I feel like I am not a mystery lover if I haven’t read more of her work.

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

Another highly-raved book, this Gothic fiction sounds absolutely creepy. Not to mention the fact that a TV show adaptation will come out soon, so I’m definitely picking this up in October or November this year.

Further related links:

• Thriller novels in my TBR and Currently Reading – Ayundabhuwana’s Blog
• Autumnal Reading Recommendations – Jean Bookishthoughts
• Creeptober: Spook Reads – The Perks of Being Noura
• Autumn Book Recommendations & TBR – Pace, Amore, Libri
• Monthly recommendations: Fall reads – Ally Writes Things
• New releases: October books by Asian Authors! – Lit CelebrAsian

What are some of your autumnal reads that you love? Feel free to let me know in the comments below!