Welcome, cozy season!
Autumn is possibly the coziest season of them all. In fact, according to Morning Consult, autumn is the most popular season in America. One thing many individuals love doing during the fall season is reading. Who doesn’t love to get comfy with a book? Not to mention the gorgeous fall foliage. I definitely won’t disagree with Morning Consult’s data. Back to books, many people struggle to find good books, so here are some of my personal fall favorites and ratings! (Don’t worry adults; I left one for you at the end.)
Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson
Synopsis
“Ellingham Academy is a famous private school in Vermont for the brightest thinkers, inventors, and artists. It was founded by Albert Ellingham, an early twentieth century tycoon, who wanted to make a wonderful place full of riddles, twisting pathways, and gardens: “A place,” he said, “where learning is a game.”
Shortly after the school opened, his wife and daughter were kidnapped. The only real clue was a mocking riddle listing methods of murder, signed with the frightening pseudonym “Truly, Devious.” It became one of the great unsolved crimes of American history.
True-crime aficionado Stevie Bell is set to begin her first year at Ellingham Academy, and she has an ambitious plan: she will solve this cold case. That is, she will solve the case when she gets a grip on her demanding new school life and her housemates: the inventor, the novelist, the actor, the artist, and the jokester. But something strange is happening. Truly Devious makes a surprise return, and death revisits Ellingham Academy. The past has crawled out of its grave. Someone has gotten away with murder.
About Truly Devious
Truly Devious is a young-adult murder mystery novel part of a five book series. It has an incredible hook and the hardcover novel sits at around 450 pages, but don’t worry. Truly Devious will keep you hooked! This book has a great plot with many plot twists that even keep unfolding as the series progresses.
Ratings
GoodReads rating: 3.91/5
Personal rating: 4/5 stars
Age rating: 12+
Small Spaces by Katherine Arden
Synopsis
“After suffering a tragic loss, eleven-year-old Ollie only finds solace in books. So when she happens upon a crazed woman at the river threatening to throw a book into the water, Ollie doesn’t think—she just acts, stealing the book and running away. As she begins to read the slender volume, Ollie discovers a chilling story about a girl named Beth, the two brothers who both loved her, and a peculiar deal made with “the smiling man,” a sinister specter who grants your most tightly held wish, but only for the ultimate price.
Ollie is captivated by the tale until her school trip the next day to Smoke Hollow, a local farm with a haunting history all its own. There she stumbles upon the graves of the very people she’s been reading about. Could it be the story about the smiling man is true? Ollie doesn’t have too long to think about the answer to that. On the way home, the school bus breaks down, sending their teacher back to the farm for help. But the strange bus driver has some advice for the kids left behind in his care: ‘Best get moving. At nightfall they’ll come for the rest of you.’ Nightfall is, indeed, fast descending when Ollie’s previously broken digital wristwatch, a keepsake reminder of better times, begins a startling countdown and delivers a terrifying message: RUN.
Only Ollie and two of her classmates heed the bus driver’s warning. As the trio head out into the woods–bordered by a field of scarecrows that seem to be watching them–the bus driver has just one final piece of advice for Ollie and her friends: ‘Avoid large places. Keep to small.’
And with that, a deliciously creepy and hair-raising adventure begins.”
About Small Spaces
Small Spaces is a middle grade horror novel part of the Small Spaces quartet that has a perfect balance of spooky-ness and light-hearted joking. As someone who is easily scared, I was able to read this book no problem. This short 250-300 page novel is extremely entertaining, and this is coming from someone who typically reads adult novels and doesn’t enjoy children’s books. This book is such a fun read and will leave you scarred for life (in a good way, I assure you).
Ratings
GoodReads rating: 4.01/5
Personal rating: 5/5 stars
Age rating: 10+
A Study in Drowning by Ava Reid
Synopsis
“Effy Sayre has always believed in fairy tales. Haunted by visions of the Fairy King since childhood, she’s had no choice. Her tattered copy of Angharad—Emrys Myrddin’s epic about a mortal girl who falls in love with the Fairy King, then destroys him—is the only thing keeping her afloat. So when Myrddin’s family announces a contest to redesign the late author’s estate, Effy feels certain it’s her destiny.
But musty, decrepit Hiraeth Manor is an impossible task, and its residents are far from welcoming including Preston Héloury, a stodgy young literature scholar determined to expose Myrddin as a fraud. As the two rivals piece together clues about Myrddin’s legacy, dark forces, both mortal and magical, conspire against them—and the truth may bring them both to ruin.”
About A Study in Drowning
A Study in Drowning is a gorgeous gothic young-adult fantasy novel and is author Ava Reid’s debut young adult novel. A Study in Drowning is a low-stakes, cozy, and short novel perfect for a rainy day of reading. This book is overflowing with folklore and mythology and has great themes. The main character of A Study in Drowning is relatable and loveable, another great plus! (Although, I’d say she is more relatable for girls.)
Ratings
GoodReads rating: 3.77/5
Personal rating: 4.5/5 stars
Age rating: 13+ (brief mentions of harassment & bullying)
Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross
Synopsis
“When two young rival journalists find love through a magical connection, they must face the depths of hell, in a war among gods, to seal their fate forever.
After centuries of sleep, the gods are warring again. But eighteen-year-old Iris Winnow just wants to hold her family together. Her mother is suffering from addiction and her brother is missing from the front lines. Her best bet is to win the columnist promotion at the Oath Gazette.
To combat her worries, Iris writes letters to her brother and slips them beneath her wardrobe door, where they vanish―into the hands of Roman Kitt, her cold and handsome rival at the paper. When he anonymously writes Iris back, the two of them forge a connection that will follow Iris all the way to the front lines of battle: for her brother, the fate of mankind, and love.”
About Divine Rivals
Divine Rivals is a high-stakes romantic fantasy novel with extremely cool magic and mythology. I mean, who doesn’t love magical typewriters and a war between good and evil gods? This book is the first in the Letters of Enchantment duology with the second book released earlier this year. Divine Rivals is cozy yet interesting at the same time, and fast-paced enough for me to finish it in under 12 hours!
Ratings
GoodReads rating: 4.19/5
Personal rating: 5/5 stars
Age rating: 13+
For the Adults:
The Secret History by Donna Tartt
Synopsis
“Under the influence of their charismatic classics professor, a group of clever, eccentric misfits at an elite New England college discover a way of thinking and living that is a world away from the humdrum existence of their contemporaries. But when they go beyond the boundaries of normal morality they slip gradually from obsession to corruption and betrayal, and at last—inexorably—into evil.”
About The Secret History
The Secret History is Donna Tartt’s debut novel which gives perfect dark academia vibes. This book explores the dangers of isolation and what lies beneath people’s innocent surface. I wish I could give more away, but I feel that the less you know, the more you will love the novel. This book is my favorite book of all time, and even though it is quite long at around 600 pages, it is worth the time and effort. This book is definitely going to be a classic in one hundred years. Lastly, to any of the children reading this recommendation, be warned as you must be very mature to read this; best to check in with a parent/guardian first.
Ratings
GoodReads rating: 4.17/5
Personal rating: 5/5 stars
Age rating: 16+
Extras:
I purposefully only chose books that I read for these recommendations so that way I could give everyone the inside scoop, but there are obviously way more! Here are some other books that fit into this season’s gorgeous atmosphere (according to the internet, at least) that have caught my eye. Some of these I have even purchased and am ready to read this month, but be warned, as I am not 100% sure of any maturity levels since I haven’t read any of these yet. Remember, do your research!
Middle Grade/YA
- Coraline by Neil Gaimen
- The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
- Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas
- The Witchery by S. Isabelle
- The Society of Soulless Girls by Laura Steven
- Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom RIggs
- A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik
- Dead Poets Society by N.H. Kleinbaum
Classics
- The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
- Wuthering Heights by Charlotte Bronte
- Frankenstein by Mary Shelly
- The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving
- The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe
- Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevski
Adult
- The Maidens by Alex Michaelides
- The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
- Babel by R.F. Kuang
