Although fall doesn’t technically exist at Chapman, it’s still fun to wear scarves and boots and pretend that it does. In my opinion, curling up with fuzzy socks, a blanket, and a good book can be better than a pumpkin spice latte.
Here are seven books to read this fall:
1. Me Before You – Jojo Moyes
Louisa Clark has never left her tiny village in England, just got laid off from her job, and has a steady relationship with a boring guy. She is an ordinary girl who has temporarily lost her way – until she takes a job as caregiver for Will Traynor, a quadriplegic who has permanently lost his way. When Lou discovers that Will plans to end his life, she takes it upon herself to change his mind. But the roles are soon reversed. As Will is preparing to end his life, he shows Lou how to live hers – and Lou finds herself amid an epic love story, and a complicated tug-of-war between morality and emotions.
2. How to Build a Girl – Caitlin Moran
Between the ages of 13 and 21, all anyone wants to do is “find themselves.” In How to Build a Girl, Chelsea Handler struggles to find her identity. When she experiences a public embarrassment that no one ever should, she decides to transform herself. Two years later at 16, she is smoking cigarettes and drinking, sending pornographic letters to rock stars, and sleeping around. But what happens when you wake up one day, and when you look in the mirror, you don’t recognize a single thing about yourself?
3. Althea & Oliver – Cristina Moracho
It seems like the typical “boy next door” story: Althea and Oliver have been best friends since they were six, and then Althea realizes that she wants more out of the friendship. But then you discover that this is far from the typical novel, when Oliver wakes up one morning and can’t remember anything from the past few weeks- can’t remember his and Althea’s relationship finally crossing the border of “more than friends.” Oliver sets out to learn about his mind – physically and emotionally.
4. Glory O’Brien’s History of the Future – A.S. King
When we graduated high school, the opportunities seemed endless. Chapman was a goal that was finally happening and our future seemed so close. When Glory O’Brien graduates high school, she is still grieving from her mother’s suicide; her future seems almost nonexistent, until one day she is gifted with the power to see people’s pasts and futures. Suddenly, Glory’s world is opened up to infinite futures – and she doesn’t like what she sees.
5. Party Games – R.L. Stine
Remember Goosebumps? R.L. Stine is back – and just in time for Halloween. At a birthday party on Fear Island, party games get a little out of control, until the game becomes deadly. And then it’s not a game anymore, as the party-goers realize that a murderer is at large – and he or she wants everyone’s life. This book will really make you appreciate Chapman’s low-key parties.
6. Trust Me, I’m Lying – Mary Elizabeth Summer
Julep Dupree is a liar. Following in her father’s con-artist footsteps, Julep has her life laid out – and it ends with conning herself into Yale University. Then Juleps’ dad goes missing, and she pulls out every trick she knows to find him. But when she runs into family secrets, stalkers, and hit attempts, Julep realizes that she has been avoiding the truth for a reason.
7. Leaving Time – Jodi Picoult
Jodi Picoult’s books never cease to amaze me. In her newest novel, she writes about Jenna Metcalf, whose mother mysteriously disappeared in a devastating accident. A decade later, Jenna is determined to learn about her mother’s disappearance and uncover her family secrets. Jenna soon learns, though, that some secrets were meant to remain hidden.