I LOVE Autumn! There isn’t anything about the fall that I don’t adore…seeing the leaves change, watching college football on Saturday afternoons, apple picking, taking brisk walks, and eating hearty, warm, comfort foods. However, I think my favorite fall activity may be snuggling up on my couch with a cup of tea/cocoa/coffee/hot cider and being transported while reading a new book. Here’s a list of some fall favorites:
Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen is an absolutely lovely book! Jacob Jankowski is a man currenlty in his 90s and living in a nursing home; through his remembrances we see what it was like for him to travel with a circus during the Great Depression. FIC GRU
Charles Dickens’ Bleak House is a lengthy book that chronicles the lives of various characters who are all affected by the convoluted legal system in 19th century London. As usual, Dickens gives the reader a look at society through the lens of a particular character, in this instance, Ester Summerson. FIC DIC
Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackerary is another large book, this one follows Rebecca Sharpe–an ambitious and complicated character who will elicit a plethora of emotional responses from any given reader. FIC THA
Empire Falls by Richard Russo interweaves the stories of two families from a small Maine town. The Whitings have owned the town for generations and are now facing their demise while the Robys (a dysfunctional blue collar family) have been hopelessly entwined with the Whitings for decades. FIC RUS
The Cider House Rules by John Irving follows the life of Homer Wells, an orphan who is raised in Maine at an orphanage called St. Clouds, a location that also acts as a clinic. He is taken under the wing of Dr. Larch, but as a young man he leaves the only place he’s ever really known to go on a journey of self-discovery. FIC IRV
Sister Mine by Tawni O’Dell is about one of my all-time favorite heroines: Shae-Lynn Pemrose–a tough-as-nails policewoman turned cabbie who lives in the Pennsylvania mining town where she grew up. FIC ODE
The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger is one of the most beautiful love stories I’ve ever read. It incorporates an element of fantasy (time travel) into a very real and incredibly poignant story. FIC NIF
J.R.R. Tolkien’s epic The Lord of the Rings should be read by everyone. Middle Earth is the most complete and stunning world I’ve ever been transported to. It’s a place I’ve revisited many times in my reading and I never get tired of going there. FIC TOL
The Shining & Salem’s Lot (both by Stephen King) should be read with the lights on. Even though Halloween has passed there is something wonderfully spooky about the fall in general, and reading scary stories seems appropriate for this time of year. These two novels are absolutely wonderful (whether you’re a fan of the King or not). FIC KIN
Happy Reading!
~ Tricia is the Youth Librarian at OWL and loves scary stories, Tim Burton movies (except for Planet of the Apes), cross-stitching, college football, taco nights, and baking oatmeal cookies.
