Fall is upon us, finally. Yes, technically, Fall doesn’t start until September 22nd. But I’ve been drinking pumpkin spice for weeks already.
Fall is easily my favorite season. And part of that is because it’s the best time of the year for reading. Warm drinks taste better. Candles burn brighter. And no one wants to be baking anything in the Summer.
I’m behind on my reading goal for the year still, but I have some fantastic books on my Fall Reading list. Some are new. Some are just new to me. We’ve got a blend of fiction and non-fiction. Hopefully, you’ll find something to interest you on this list. If you do, let me know.
And as always, you can follow along with my reading journey on Goodreads.
Halloween Tree by Ray Bradbury
Got to get this one out of the way first. It’s a yearly October read. Yes, it’s a children’s book. No, I don’t care.
Halloween Tree is the story of a magical, terrifying Halloween night. It’s the story of a group of boys flying through history to save their friend Pip. The story is wonderful, the artwork is a delight. All around a trick and treat.
House of Quiet by Kiersten White
This one was on my Summer reading list. But I still haven’t gotten my hands on it.
This is a very busy season in my life.
House of Quiet kind of feels like a cross between Ms Perrigrin’s Home for Peculiar Children and Witchcraft for Wayward Girls. Rest assured, we’ll be talking about it here as soon as I read it.
Banana Rose by Natalie Goldberg
My hero has written exactly one fiction book. And can you believe I’ve never read it?
It’s about a marriage in which two people become very different and eventually drift apart. It’s about her marriage. It’s probably also about Zen. Because everything she writes is, at its core, about writing and Zen.
They don’t seem that different.
The Great Failure by Natalie Goldberg
For some reason, I thought this book was coming out this month. Turns out it was published in 2004. Well, it’s still a Natalie Goldberg book, and I still want to read it.
The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins
This book was a recommendation from my library. Shout out to my local library. It’s about a deity called Father going missing, and his children battling to claim his power.
This seems like wild dark fantasy and a great fun book.
Rehab, an American Scandal by Shoshana Walter
Because clearly, I needed another reason to be angry.
How we treat, or neglect, people with addictions is a particular sore spot with me. I lost two people I cared deeply about to addiction. It shouldn’t happen. And the places we depend on to help our loved ones sometimes do more harm than good.
The Locked Ward by Sarah Pekkanen
This one seemed like a chilly good tale for spooky season. It’s a psychological thriller about a woman locked in a psychiatric ward and her sister who attempts to save her. I’m currently on a rather long wait list at my library for this book, so I’m assuming it’s going to be a good one.
Jesusland by Joelle Kidd
If you’re a fan of Fundie Friday (and if you’re not, you should be), you recently got to see a long interview with this author. It was fascinating. And as a former Mormon, I am fascinated by Christian culture. The Silver Ring Thing. The music that makes it sound like God is our boyfriend. The magazines that exemplify a ‘pure’ life.
It’s all a little crazy when seen from the outside. I’m partway through this book already, and I am loving seeing this weird Jesus Freak culture from someone else who grew up with it and escaped.
Banned by Weston Brown
This is another one that I learned about from Fundy Friday. But it’s certainly darker. It’s about a young man who escaped his deeply fundamental family, struggled with discovering the world, and eventually went to battle against his own mother in the world of book banning. I am sure this one’s going to upset me. I’m still going to read it.
Don’t Blow Yourself Up by Homer Hickam
I read Rocket Boys years ago. It was fantastic. And now, Hickam’s written a book about his adult life. It’s about his writing, his career, his journey to working for NASA. I am very excited about this book.
Poetry as spellcasting by Tamiko Beyer, Destiny Hemphill and Lisbeth White
This book has been on my TBR list forever. I swear, I’m getting to it. I clearly have to read this book; it was tailor-made for a writing witch who’s super into social change. I will read this book this season. I just need to get to it.
Broke Millennial Takes on Investing by Erin Lowry
I loved the first Broke Millennial book. It taught me so much about money. And with the rise of ‘trad wives’, I’m really becoming an advocate for women’s financial literacy. So expect me to talk about this book after I read it.
Look, writers don’t always make a lot of money. If you’re going to have a small income and a long career, you need to be good with money. You need to learn about investing. So, that’s the plan.
Mary Magdalene Revealed by Meggan Watterson
I have been feeling called to learn more about Mary Magdalene for a while now. This probably won’t be the last book I read about her. But it sure seems like a great place to start.
Survivor Song by Paul Tremblay
I got this book purely because I found it randomly for five dollars at Dollar General. There was no way I was passing that up. And I’ve yet to read a Paul Tremblay book I didn’t adore. Also, this book is about something I am legitimately terrified of. A rabies-like illness. No joke, rabies scares the hell out of me. So this book will likely upset me in a very deep way.
I’m stoked.
Wouldn’t Take Nothing for My Journey Now by Maya Angelou
I don’t talk enough about how much I love Maya Angelou. She is amazing. Her life is amazing. She’s taught me so much. I got this book because it was on special for just two dollars. I am very excited to read it.
As always, I might not get to all of these books. But I will almost certainly enjoy every one I get to. Assuming I don’t accidentally pack them, like I did with my can opener. (I didn’t pack the corkscrew, just the can opener. Which should tell you where my priorities are.)
Now I’m excited to hear from you. What are you reading this Fall? Let us know in the comments.
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Spooky season is coming, and it’s time for some creepy reads. Check out my horror novel Quiet Apocalypse, about a witch trapped in her apartment during a dark winter storm with a demon devoted to ending the world.
Or check out my horror short, The Man In The Woods. A man tries desperately to protect his granddaughter from the mysterious man in the woods. But his fear only grows when a new housing complex is built too close to the woods.
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