Already well into November, and with winter just around the corner, we’re enjoying the final days of fall with our favorite fall activity: reading of course! There’s just something about this time of year especially that seems to encourage us to curl up with a book. However, if you’re like us, the challenge isn’t when to read it’s what. So whether you’re recovering from a huge Thanksgiving meal, hiding out from frigid autumn winds, or just really wanting a night in, we’ve compiled some wonderful reads to match your Autumn vibes.
If you’re looking for a cozy read…
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by JK Rowling
I know. This one’s a classic choice, but sometimes you just need a warm and familiar book. The first in the famous series, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone tells the story of twelve-year-old Harry Potter, who learns that he is a wizard (and a famous wizard at that) when he receives an invitation to attend Hogwart’s School of Witchcraft and Wizardly. He now faces a world of strange magic, dangerous enemies, and his own hidden past. To make matters worse, the dark forces and evil wizard that killed Harry’s parents are returning, and they’ve put a target on Harry’s back. With the help of his new friends, Harry must work to defeat these forces, as well as just pass his classes. A quintessential story, Rowling balances fun and fantasy, comfort and excitement, in a way that makes even a rereading of the text enjoyable. Furthermore, she fills the pages with plenty of pumpkins and other fall imagery to make it perfectly appropriate for November.
If you want light-hearted adventure…
The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien
Hobbit Bilbo Baggins is torn from his comfortable life in The Shire and swept into a grand adventure when a wizard recruits him as a burglar for a party of dwarves. The dwarves’ mission? Travel through dangerous, magical lands to reclaim their home, the Lonely Mountain. If that wasn’t difficult enough, they also have to kill the vicious, gold-obsessed dragon currently living there. With misadventure after misadventure, Bilbo must use his wit, his courage, and a good amount of luck to get the group out of trouble, from savage wolves to giant spiders, ultimately going on both personal and literal journeys that stay with the reader long after they end. Although not for readers craving more realistic fiction, it is a perfect light-hearted escape with enough dragon fire to keep the cold of fall away.
If you’re interested in a fall romance…
Shiver by Maggie Stievfater
Grace Brisbane has watched the wolves outside her house all her life, connected with a single wolf with yellow-eyes that saved her during a wolf attack when she was little. When she finds an injured boy on her deck that has those same yellow eyes, she quickly learns that the wolves are not what they seem. They are in fact humans who mysteriously, uncontrollably transform into wolves when winter begins. As Grace helps the yellow-eyed boy, Sam, recover, she grows ever closer to him and eventually becomes entangled in the lives of these individuals and their pack. She and Sam eventually fall in love, and begin to search for a cure before winter causes him to transform back into a wolf, all while tensions between the locals in her town and the wolves continue to escalate with more and more wolf attacks. Told through the perspectives of both Grace and Sam, the novel is a thrilling romance that keeps the reader clinging to every word and rooting for the couple’s happiness. It is especially great for fans of paranormal romance that want twists on classic mythical creatures, or just want to see their favorite genre set in autumn.
If you need a post-apocalyptic story…
Life as We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer
Miranda Evans’s humble Pennsylvania life disintegrates when what was supposed to be a dazzling celestial event, a meteor colliding with the moon, actually moves the moon much closer to the Earth, causing irreversible ecological damages. Steady tides become tsunamis, dormant volcanoes become active, and tectonic plates shift to form devastating earthquakes. Miranda and her family are thrust into a fight for survival in this changed world. Told through Miranda’s diary entries over the fall and winter following the collision, the novel is a terrifyingly grounded perspective of a post-apocalyptic planet, giving space to the frequently unconsidered day-to-day aspects of living in that reality. However, although definitely bleak, Pfeffer also showcases some of the most wonderful parts of the human spirit, and reminds us how grateful we should be for our loved ones and our lives. In all, Life as We Knew It is a compelling novel, and a great way to get in the mood of Thanksgiving.
