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I love a good seasonal read! I think it is fun when you are reading or listening to a book that takes place in the season you are currently in!
I put together a list of books that makes me think of fall! Some of these books take place in the fall and some just give me a cozy feel that gets me in the mood for fall!
There is just something about fall that makes me want to settle in with a good book! The cooler days, the colorful leaves, and those evenings when it gets dark a little earlier all seem like a good excuse to get cozy and settle in for some reading time.
When it comes to fall reading, I don’t think every book has to be spooky. Sometimes I want a little mystery, sometimes a cozy story, and sometimes a book that simply has that fall feeling. You know the kind! I personally think of romance, spooky but not scary, and books of letters-if you click on those, it will take you to other lists I have with those genres.
I’ve gathered some books to help you find your next fall read. Hopefully, you’ll spot an old favorite or find something new to add to your TBR list. Mine certainly doesn’t need any help growing, but that has never stopped me!
Books That Make Me Think of Fall
Olivetti by Allie Millington
Mystery
Olivetti is a typewriter who remembers every word the Brindle family has ever typed on him. These days, though, a computer has taken his place, and he mostly sits forgotten. Twelve-year-old Ernest has his own interests, too, and would rather spend time with his dictionary collection.
When Ernest’s mother, Beatrice, leaves Olivetti at a pawn shop and then disappears, he realizes those old memories might help bring her home. There’s just one problem. To share what he knows, he’ll have to break a very important typewriter rule and type a message to Ernest himself!
The two follow clues across San Francisco, uncovering family memories along the way. But finding Beatrice means facing a painful past the Brindles have tried to avoid. It’s a mystery about family, memories, and finding a way back to each other.
The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion by Beth Brower
Fiction
If you have been around here long you know I LOVE this book series, it has been one of my all time favorites. Book 4 is the months September-October but on this one you have to start from the beginning. Book 4 is great to get you in the fall season though.
The Year is 1883 and Emma M. Lion has returned to her London neighbourhood of St. Crispian’s. But Emma’s plans for a charmed and studious life are sabotaged by her eccentric Cousin Archibald, her formidable Aunt Eugenia, and the slightly odd denizens of St. Crispian’s.
Emma M. Lion offers up her Unselected Journals, however self-incriminating they may be. Armed with wit and a sideways amusement, Emma documents the curious realities of her life at Lapis Lazuli House.
Falling for Autumn Book Series (8) Books by Cindy Steel
Romance
I have not started these yet but I am very excited to. I have heard great things.
A cozy crime writer knows exactly what to do with a murder mystery, but writing a fall romance? That’s another story! Her production company wants pumpkin patches, cider, and a happily-ever-after. Meanwhile, she’s dealing with a stalker whose behavior is becoming more frightening by the day.
She returns to her hometown of Autumn Ridge, Vermont, where she stays on a hay farm under the protection of Tate Walker. He’s a cop recovering from an undercover operation, her older brother’s best friend, and someone who has always gotten on her nerves.
Between self-defense lessons, tractor rides, and fall outings that start feeling a lot like dates, she finds a little unexpected inspiration for her screenplay. But as her feelings for Tate grow, the danger draws closer, too.
84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff
Non-Fiction
There is something about books of letters that make me think of fall!
These are real letters between a freelance writer living in New York City, and a used book deal in London at 84 Charing Cross Road. My husband bought me this book because he knows how much I love a good book of letters. In these letters they form a friendship based around their love of books. You also get to know the other workers at the book shop. This was the basis for a film starring Anthony Hopkins and Anne Bancroft.
Autumn at the Cat Cafe by Kathleen Fuller
Romance
Via Dalton is happy focusing on her cat café and life in Pecan Corner, Ohio. Men aren’t part of the plan! But when the owner of the bookstore next door passes away, she hopes to buy the shop and keep a special part of her town going.
Then Leo Brewster arrives from LA. He’s inherited the bookstore, and his plan is simple: sell it and head home. His uncle’s will has other ideas, though, requiring him to stay in town for a month.
Via sees her chance to show Leo why the bookstore—and the town—deserves a second look. She challenges him to work through her Autumn Bucket List, complete with corn mazes, pumpkin patches, and fall festivals. Somewhere along the way, spending time together starts to feel like more than a mission to save the shop.
With Via determined to stay single and Leo planning to leave, can a little fall fun turn into something neither of them expected?
Parnassus on Wheels by Christopher Morley
Fiction
At 39, Helen McGill is ready for something besides keeping house for her brother on their New England farm. So when the chance comes to buy a horse-drawn traveling bookshop, she takes it! Its eccentric owner, Roger Mifflin, agrees to show her how things work before retiring, and the two set off on a bookish adventure.
This edition also includes the sequel, The Haunted Bookshop. This time, Parnassus has a permanent home in Brooklyn, where a young advertising man named Aubrey Gilbert finds himself caught up in mysterious disappearances, suspicious visitors, and some very strange happenings around the shop.
Authentically, Izzy by Pepper Basham
Romance
Izzy is a book-loving librarian who dreams of opening her own bookstore. Her love life hasn’t exactly been a fairy tale, but her matchmaking cousin is determined to help—even if that means signing Izzy up for online dating herself!
Much to Izzy’s surprise, she meets Brodie, a fellow book lover who seems like a wonderful match. The only problem? He lives across the ocean. Then a local author and professor named Eli asks her out, making things a little more complicated.
With romance finally moving beyond the pages of her favorite books, Izzy has to decide whether she’s ready to take a chance on a love story of her own.
The October Country: Stories by Ray Bradbury
Horror
Short stories can be a fun fall read!
The October Country by Ray Bradbury is a collection of eerie short stories that explores the fears and darkness hidden inside us. Best known for Fahrenheit 451, Bradbury brings his gift for storytelling to these unsettling tales, where human nature can be just as frightening as anything lurking in the shadows. 19 short stories!
If you like to have a list to print out to take to your library of the books mentioned in this post sign up below:
Olive, Again by Elizabeth Strout
Fiction
Can’t you just picture life in Maine in the fall?
Olive Kitteridge can be stubborn, sharp-tongued, and set in her ways, but she also has a caring side. In the small town of Crosby, Maine, she tries to make sense of her own life while crossing paths with neighbors facing grief, unexpected changes, and difficult decisions. Elizabeth Strout brings humor and heart to these everyday moments, showing how much we can still learn about ourselves and each other.
Attachments by Rainbow Rowell
Romance
This one starts in the fall time. There are many references about the coming new year and Y2K. It has a lot of emails back and forth. If you love the letter books you might like this one too because it has that feel. The book is not all emails so you get a good mixture of conversation also! I really enjoyed this one.
Beth Fremont and Jennifer Scribner-Snyder know that somebody is monitoring their work e-mail. (Everybody in the newsroom knows. It’s company policy.) But they can’t quite bring themselves to take it seriously. They go on sending each other endless and endlessly hilarious e-mails, discussing every aspect of their personal lives.
Meanwhile, Lincoln O’Neill can’t believe this is his job now—reading other people’s e-mail. When he applied to be “internet security officer,” he pictured himself building firewalls and crushing hackers—not writing up a report every time a sports reporter forwards a dirty joke.
When Lincoln comes across Beth’s and Jennifer’s messages, he knows he should turn them in. He can’t help being entertained, and captivated, by their stories.
September by Rosamunde Pilcher
Fiction
This was my very first Pilcher book and it gives all the great vibes of fall time! I love Pilcher and I’m obsessed with Winter Solstice. I’m reading Coming Home now and it is also wonderful.
Set in the beautiful Scottish countryside, September by Rosamunde Pilcher captures the moment when summer gives way to fall. Purple heather covers the hills, lochs reflect clear blue skies, and a chill settles into the air. As the season fills with hunts, elegant balls, and dinner parties, the setting offers a lovely escape into Scotland’s beauty and traditions.
Wrong Place Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister
Thriller
This was a fun one and a pumpkin is a key part of the story and the timeline.
In Wrong Place Wrong Time, Jen stays up waiting for her teenage son to come home, only to witness him stab a stranger. She has no idea who the victim is or what could have led her son to kill him.
Then Jen wakes up the day before the murder. Each morning takes her further into the past, giving her a chance to uncover what happened—and perhaps prevent it. This twisty thriller follows a mother determined to save her son, even as she discovers how much she doesn’t know about his life.
The Secret History by Donna Tartt
Fiction
At a New England college, a close-knit group of unconventional students becomes captivated by their charismatic classics professor and the ancient world he teaches them about. Eager to escape ordinary college life, they become caught up in ideas that push them toward dangerous choices, blurring the line between right and wrong.
Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman
Fantasy
For generations, the women of the Owens family have been treated with suspicion in their small Massachusetts town. Sisters Gillian and Sally grow up longing to leave behind the gossip, the teasing, and their aunts’ unusual household. Sally hopes marriage will give her a fresh start, while Gillian runs away to find her own life. But escaping their family’s reputation doesn’t mean escaping their connection to each other, and their paths eventually lead them back together.
Coraline by Neil Geiman
Fantasy
In Coraline by Neil Gaiman, a young girl discovers a door in her new home that leads to a world much like her own. At first, everything seems better there—even her other parents seem more attentive. But their affection hides something frightening, and they have no intention of letting her leave. Coraline must rely on her courage and quick thinking to find her way home in this spooky story for children and adults alike.
A Fall of Marigolds by Susan Meissner
Historical Fiction
In September 1911, nurse Clara Wood stays on Ellis Island, unable to return to the city where she lost the man she loved in the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire. While caring for an immigrant grieving his own loss, she notices a name stitched into his scarf that leads her to question what she believes about her past.
A century later, Taryn Michaels is raising her daughter and working in a Manhattan fabric shop after losing her husband on September 11. When an old photograph resurfaces, it brings back memories of that day—and the stranger who helped her survive. An unexpected reunion and a scarf connect these two women’s stories of grief, love, and finding a way forward.
Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen
Romance
If you love romance you have to love Pride & Prejudice. I was excited to see Read with Jenna made it a pick this last December! You rarely see the classics on the celebrity book clubs. This is my favorite Jane Austen book hands down!
I always seem to want to watch this over and over in the fall time.
When Elizabeth Bennet meets the wealthy and reserved Mr. Darcy at a ball, neither is impressed. She finds him proud and distant, while he looks down on her lively family. Though Elizabeth knows her future depends on marriage, she refuses to settle for anything less than love.
As misunderstandings mount, Darcy is unexpectedly drawn to Elizabeth’s wit and independence. It takes a shocking scandal for both to confront their own pride and assumptions, finally seeing each other for who they truly are. Jane Austen’s beloved novel blends sharp humor with deep emotion in a timeless story of love, growth, and self-discovery.
I love the movie so much, I have seen in a million tines and I’m team #ColinFirth all the way!!
Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney
Mystery
In Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney, a family with years of tension and secrets reunites to celebrate Nana’s 80th birthday at her aging island home. Once the tide rises, they’ll be stranded together for eight hours.
Then Nana is found dead at midnight, and another family member dies an hour later. With a storm outside and a killer among them, the family must untangle old secrets to discover who’s responsible before someone else becomes the next victim.
The Dutch House by Ann Patchett
Historical Fiction
In The Dutch House, Cyril Conroy’s growing fortune allows him to buy an impressive home outside Philadelphia, but the gift he hopes will please his wife becomes a source of family heartbreak. Years later, his children, Danny and Maeve, are forced out by their stepmother and left to depend on each other.
In conclusion
If you are wanting to feel the fall vibes this season this is the book list for you!
What book makes you think of fall?
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