Fall is here which means it’s time to cuddle with a cup of warm cider in your comfiest sweater and read! Something about reading in the fall gives the best vibes. Here are some of my all-time favorites to read this fall!
1. Comfort Me With Apples by Catherynne M. Valente
Comfort Me With Apples is one of my favorites and matches the fall aesthetic perfectly. I love books that make me think about the world a bit differently, which Comfort Me With Apples does while maintaining a sense of mystery that draws you to love the main character, Sophia. Sophia adores her husband and loves her life with her friends in their gated community. Her husband goes to work each day while Sophia maintains their home and entertains their neighbors. However, when her husband starts to get home late Sophia realizes that something may be off in their perfect world. While from the outside this book’s plot appears to be cut and dry with a predictable ending, I found myself drawn into Sophia’s thoughts and experiences. The ending came fast and I was absolutely shocked by how the whole story came together as I was rooting for Sophia down to the last page. Comfort Me With Apples will definitely have you thinking the next couple of weeks, especially every time you pick up an apple.
2. Circe by Madeline Miller
Circe is for everyone that had a Greek Gods obsession growing up. This is for all of the Percy Jackson and Son of Achilles fans that need a more adult version of the stories. Circe is the son of Helios (the god of the sun) and is born without power but soon develops her love for witchcraft. The story takes us through her entire “childhood” and into her “adult” life which spans the lifetime of many humans. We see her interact with humans and gods alike until she is banished to an island to live in isolation forever. Here we see her experience with different people that visit the island and watch her grow as she learns different lessons that many of us can relate to. The story speaks on the connection we have with others and the importance of being true to ourselves. The story also includes many other famous characters such as Odysseus and the Minotaur, from Daedalus to his Icarus that flew too close to the sun. This book will have you intrigued on every page and bring you back to the importance of humanity.
3. The House Across The Lake by Riley Sager
The House Across The Lake is a spooky mystery that would be perfect to read right around Halloween. Casey Fletcher, a famous actress, resides in her lake house while struggling with alcoholism after the death of her husband. The Lake is a quiet place with only five houses around it, one of which is empty. One morning while Casey is sitting on her porch she sees someone drowning and proceeds to save her, meeting her neighbors that recently moved in, the famous Tom and Katherine Royce. Casey and Katherine have an instant connection which builds until Katherine goes missing. Casey must figure out who she can trust and what’s happened to Katherine before anyone finds out that Casey is looking into her disappearance. The House Across The Lake had so many twists and surprises that it had me saying “wow” every couple of pages. As the reader, you think you have a grasp of what’s going on, and in a single sentence, Riley Sager has your whole perception pulled out from under you. This book was absolutely crazy in the best way possible and is definitely one that I will be recommending for years to come.
4. In Five Years by Rebecca Serle
If you’re a Colleen Hoover fan, this book has the same sort of tortured love that you seem to enjoy. In Five Years centers around Dannie Kohan, an uptight lawyer whose life is on track to marry her boyfriend, get her dream job, and live the life she’s always wanted. However, one morning Dannie wakes up in a completely different bed with a handsome stranger in what appears to be her life, just five years in the future. Dannie spends one hour in this other life that seems to be hers before waking up again in her normal apartment. The coming weeks, she tries to push it off as a dream, but when she meets the man from the future she can’t ignore it any longer. Dannie has to learn how to adapt as her life changes from her fully planned past to her emotionally-driven future. In Five Years is an enthralling yet heartbreaking novel that will have you constantly incorrectly guessing how Dannie arrives at her future. This book made me text my friends and family how much I love them because your life could change at any moment.
5. The Diamond Eye by Kate Quinn
While I’m not a huge nonfiction reader, this book fictionalized Mila Pavlichenko’s life in a way that made me turn the pages. Mila was a Russian sniper during WWII and is accredited as having the most kills of any woman of all time. However, she wasn’t trained in battle from a young age as you’d expect a soldier of her caliber to do. Mila was a history student and wife to a horrible man who enrolled in the army as a way to show her son that she could be everything that he needed. Her training and war experiences are told from her perspective, allowing the reader to see both the history nerd mother’s intuition but also the deadly killer that made her so successful in combat. The story extends past her life in the military into her campaign across America to gain American support in WWII and her close friendship with previous First Lady Elenor Roosevelt. The Diamond Eye is a novel that inspires woman empowerment while also emphasizing that you don’t have to be confined to one identity in your life.
6. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo is a classic that needs to continue to be adored. Evelyn Hugo is a Hollywood movie icon and sex symbol that’s gone through seven husbands in her lucrative career. She calls upon Monique Grant, a reporter trying to get back in the good graces of her boss, to tell her story. Everyone is shocked, no one more so than Monique herself, but agrees to write Evelyn’s story. From the first few lines of Evelyn’s recollection, I was absolutely captivated and the book did not lose my attention through the last page. I felt Monique’s admiration and annoyance for Evelyn. I understood her love but also her suspicion as Evelyn’s story tells so much more than what the public knows about her. This book is one that’s been adored for years and one that will be appreciated for more to come.
These books have been my favorites to read and were a good cure when I was bored of the classic book plots. Happy reading! :)