If you’re anything like me, you’re looking forward to wrapping up in a fluffy blanket, nursing warm drink, and indulging in a book that serves up all the right spooky or cozy vibes for Autumn. As the temperature drops and we find ourselves spending more time inside, this season is a great opportunity to catch up on the reading you put aside or to pick up a new book and dig in.
Below you will find five book recommendations perfect for cozying up with as we venture into Fall. I hope you enjoy!
The Binding by Bridget Collins
Set in a place much like 19th century England, Emmet Farmer finds himself working for a book binder, one capable of erasing the haunting and painful memories of the past. Book binders are sought out to capture stories and transfer them into books, only to be locked away forever and forgotten.
The book room is off limits to Emmett, the farmer turned apprentice, but that doesn’t stop him from perfecting the craft of book binding or taking an interest in passing customers, especially Lucian Darnay.
The North Wind by Alexandria Warwick
The Four Winds have existed since before the Gods and have been banished to the four corners of the Earth. For 300 years, the land known as the Gray has been iced over and surrounded by the Shade, a protective barrier for the people living there. But the Shade is growing weak and the only way to stop it from completely dematerializing is for a mortal woman to marry the North Wind, the king of the Deadlands that lays beyond the Shade.
This enemies-to-lovers story follows Wren of Edgewood, a survivor living in the Gray even after her parents have gone, in a tale akin to the story of Hades and Persephone.
Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
One day Noemí Taboada receives a distressing letter from her cousin, who has recently married a dangerous Englishman in a region unknown to Noemí. Noemí knows she will stand out with her debutante look, but she’s intelligent and has an unshaken will as she sets out to help.
She finds herself in the High Place, home to her cousin’s new family and built on a mining empire. She forms an alliance with the youngest son of the family, a shy boy who seems to want to help but who may also be hiding something. The further Noemí digs, the more she uncovers the family’s twisted secrets and finds herself unable to pull away from the alluring house.
What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher
A retelling of Edgar Allen Poe’s The Fall of the House of Usher, this novel follows a retired soldier, Alex Easton, after he discovers that his childhood friend Madeline Usher is dying in her family’s ancestral home.
He sets out to the remote countryside of Ruritania, where he finds bizarre fungus, possessed animals, and a disturbing lake. Alex tries to uncover the house’s secrets with the help of a British mycologist and an American doctor, whilst Madeline speaks in strange voices as she sleepwalks and her brother suffers from a strange malady of the nerves.
Will they make it out of the diseased house alive?
The Library of the Dead by T. L. Huchu
Ropa is a ghosttalker, a messenger between the living and the dead. When she learns that there is a local bewitching of children in Edinburgh, she finds herself pulled into the investigation.
Ropa will have to use her Zimbabwean magic and Scottish pragmatism to discover an occult library, deal with forbidden black magic, and uncover dark secrets hidden within Edinburgh, all to put an end to the hollowing out of bewitched children.
Closing Thoughts
Just writing this article made me want to head out to my local bookstore and find more stories to send shivers down my spine! I hope you’re able to find a new book on this list and will enjoy the crisp pages and fall weather.
Stay curious and happy reading!