Phew. It has been a busy summer and I don’t expect things to slow down for the next couple of months. However, it has become a tradition on the blog to mark my favourite season with a dedicated post and I’ve briefly checked in to tell you about some of the books I would like to read during the autumn season.
Without too much time or energy to read, who knows how many of these I’ll actually get to, but one can always dream.
What do you want to read when curling up on the sofa on a dark and rainy day? For me, mysteries are the preferred choice. This autumn, two mystery novels in particular have caught my attention. Furthermore, I’m looking forward to Ann Patchett’s Tom Lake. It sounds like a feel-good novel, which is all about setting and characters.
Kala by Colin Walsh
Kala comes across as a slow, character-driven mystery, which I tend to love. A teenage girl goes missing without trace. 15 years later, when her friends reunite, the past comes back to haunt them and they have to confront the events that led to Kala’s disappearance. I can’t wait to read this debut novel.
Happiness Falls by Angie Kim
Being one of the many readers, who were impressed by Angie Kim’s debut, Miracle Creek, I can’t help wondering if Happiness Falls can live up to that. According to the blurb, it is a deeply moving portrait of a family in crisis. Like Kala, it all starts with a person disappearing without a trace, in this case the father.
Tom Lake by Ann Patchett
I loved The Dutch House and These Precious Days and expectations to Tom Lake are high. Goodreads say “Tom Lake is a meditation on youthful love, married love, and the lives parents have led before their children were born. Both hopeful and elegiac, it explores what it means to be happy even when the world is falling apart.”
September is the month where students go back to school after a well-deserved holiday. Even if I am not in school anymore, I quite like to pick up books which educate me and make me think during the autumn season.
Otherlands by Thomas Halliday
If you are interested in palaeobiology, Otherlands might be for you. Halliday takes the reader on fascinating journey through time, explaining about flora and fauna in six distinct geological epochs. Or maybe, I should just mention dinosaurs. Who doesn’t like dinosaurs?
Ultra-Processed People by Chris Van Tulleken
On average, I eat relatively healthily, but as a Londoner, I get my fair share of ultra-processed food. Listening to what this kind of food is really made of, may motivate me to make more of an effort avoiding it. At least for a while 🙄.
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie is part of my Best British Book project. Miss Brodie applies rather unorthodox teaching methods and the story explores the relationship, she develops with a group of her students.
I am not a horror reader, but the last couple of years, I’ve picked up 1-2 atmospheric reads such as Rosemary’s Baby around Halloween. And it has been quite fun.
The Woman in Black by Susan Hill
Shirley Jackson was high on my list of authors to try, but then I stumbled across The Woman in Black. Goodreads describes it as a “literate, first-class thriller – one that chills the body, but warms the soul with plot, perception, and language at once astute and vivid.” Sounds good to me!
These were some of my potential reads for the autumn. Do you know any of them? And what do you have lined up?
Good to see you back in the blogosphere! I loved Otherlands – one of my non-fiction reads of the year. And it’s years since I read The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie – in fact I was a teenager. Time to become re-acquainted, perhaps? As to the rest, I know none of them. Maybe it’s time for me to explore?
I am (almost) sure, I will love Otherlands as well. For now, I’ve started on Ultra-processed People, which is quite scary. Hopefully, I will get to Otherlands soon.
Ultra-processed People DOES sound scary, from what I’ve heard of it. I’d like to read it, though we’re a household that really doesn’t eat ultra-processed food.
Good for you! It isn’t easy to avoid ultra-processed food, especially not living in a big city.
I guess fruit and veg exist there too!
I guess so. Rumours are circulating, but who knows 😉
Really interested to see what you think of The Woman in Black as I was totally underwhelmed by it.I’ve had Tom Lake on my audible tbr as soon as I saw Meryl Streep was narrating, so hope you get to it!
Ah yes, now you mention it, I vaguely remember you were unimpressed by The Woman in Black. I will go into it with an open mind. Meryl Streep narrating!! I wonder if it works as well as her previous novel which was narrated by Tom Hanks. That was such a great match.
Hi. You have a bunch of good books awaiting you. I really liked the last book I read. A realistic, perceptive novel by Jami Attenberg: The Middlesteins.
Glad you enjoyed your last read!
Wow, what a lovely lot of books you have to look forward to. Tom Lake and Kala are very appealing. I suspect I am more of an Ultra-Processed (Person) than I would like to be, too.
It is super difficult to avoid ultra-processed food, which is one of the points in the book. It is everywhere, it is convenient, it is cheap and it is filled with artificial stuff, which makes you crave more. Of course, it is the responsibility of the individual person, what they eat, but the food industry also has its fair share of the blame.
I’m hoping to read Tom Lake soon too. Like you, autumn is my favourite season and your mix of comfort and gothic is perfect 😊🍁
Autumn is so cosy. This year has been strange though, with summer continuing into October. Only recently, it seems to have arrived. 🍁
You have some good picks. I’m lured to Woman in Black & Kala — which both sound good. I finished Tom Lake not long ago … and it is sort of a nostalgic kind of feel-good novel about one’s past and the choices made in life that turned out to be right. I’ve never read Muriel Spark so perhaps I should add that as well. So much to read. Happy fall to you there!
I saw your review of Tom Lake, glad you enjoyed it, even if it took a while to get into. My expectations to Kala are high. I hope it can live up to this.
Hey, thanks for sharing your suggestions 🙂 I actually just read a book by Ira Levin and reviewed it on my blog. I can’t wait to check out what you thought of his Rosemary’s Baby (and to follow along on your fall reading adventures).
Rosemary’s Baby was such a good one!
I’m also drawn to ‘Ultra Processed People’ – interested to know what you think.
I am reading it at the moment, but not too far in. So far it is interesting and a bit scary.
Enjoy!
https://wordsandpeace.com/2023/10/02/the-top-7-books-to-read-in-october-2023/
Thanks!
These were some great picks! The Woman in Black is one that has been on my TBR for ages, and I think I’d still like to try it out someday. I try to sometimes match the season/holiday with the book I read, but it doesn’t always happen hahaha
I like seasonal reads. It feels appropriate to read spooky stories in the autumn. And I often save books for the right season. You can’t read a book about summer on the beach in the middle of winter (or at least I cant 🙂 )