My Autumn Reading List
Autumn has always been my favorite season. I’m lucky enough to live in a place where I can watch the leaves change color and feel a slight chill on the breeze. It’s the time to break out the sweaters, boots, and other clothing staples I miss so much during the warmer months. And of course, it’s spooky season.
It is the absolute perfect season for reading, if you ask me. I know many people are big on beach reads, and that’s awesome. But I am much more into getting curled up with a blanket and a cup of tea, either on my couch or on my balcony, and diving into a cozy or scary read.
So naturally, I’ve been working on my autumn reading list for a while. Here are the books I plan to knock off my TBR list this season.
The Haunted Mansion: Storm & Shade by Claudia Gray
I plan to start off with a pretty palatable one. On the second day of autumn, I’m leaving to go on a family vacation that includes a trip to Disney World. One of my favorite parts of Disney is the Haunted Mansion.
That ride is a masterclass in tone and atmosphere. I’ve always said that the most amazing thing about this attraction (aside from the immaculate vibes) is the fact that it feels like you could open any one of those doors you see, walk through, and find an entirely new part of the Mansion. It feels that real, that fleshed-out.
I actually discussed this in a recent interview with the author of this book, Claudia Gray. We talked about how many stories the Mansion can potentially hold, and how it’s one of the only instances where divergent plot lines can actually work. “The ghosts would make sure that they were (contradictory),” Gray said. And that’s when I knew this book was going to be great.
Gray is already one of my favorite authors, but the fact that she gets the Haunted Mansion just makes me even more excited to dive into this new story.
The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
Every October, I re-watch my favorite horror series of all time — Mike Flanagan’s The Haunting of Hill House. I have never seen another piece of horror that moved me so much. From the pacing and character work, to the hidden ghosts in the background and the single most earned jump scare I’ve ever seen, that show blows me away even on the fifth viewing.
So, it’s about time that I read the book. Now, I know full-well that Flanagan was inspired by many different works to create his version of Hill House, but I am so excited to see exactly what came from Shirley Jackson’s story.
Finding the differences between books and their visual media counterparts is something I deeply enjoy. I love figuring out what was kept or replaced or forgotten, and figuring out what may be the reasoning for those decisions. How does a story best live across different mediums? It’s always a useful (and fun) experiment for a creative, and I truly think it makes me better at what I do.
And also I just want to read a good, classic ghost story.
Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune
Two of my favorite genres are horror and romance, and I love when a book can bring together elements of both.
Though this novel is not scary, at least from what I understand, this is basically a love story between the grim reaper and a man who has just died. It’s a supernatural, ghost romance. And that just sounds absolutely delightful to me.
I think this will be an excellent post-Halloween read, and an exciting way to dive into Klune’s work.
Between Two Fires by Christopher Buehlman
This one was added to my TBR as soon as a friend/former colleague told me about it. It’s set in France during the Black Plague, which in this case is also a battle between heaven and hell.
Part of the description on Amazon reads: “As hell unleashes its wrath … (the main character) will find himself on a macabre battleground of angels and demons, saints, and the risen dead, and in the midst of a desperate struggle for nothing less than the soul of man.”
From the reviews I’ve read, this medieval horror story is filled with both existential dread and emotional character work and it sounds like the tone and atmosphere will be a nice change of pace for me.
Some of the other books on my immediate TBR include Critical Role’s The Nine Eyes of Lucien, Sam Magg’s Star Wars: Battle Scars novel based on the Jedi: Fallen Order video game, and A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J. Maas, the last of which I plan to finish this week.
To follow more of my reading journey, and see what I thought of these books, check out my Goodreads!
