Ten Books to Read This Fall

Unsure of what books to read during this chilly fall season? Here are a few that may grab your attention!

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

If you like the dark academia aesthetic, The Secret History is the book for you. The book follows a group of six misfits at a prestigious liberal arts school in Vermont. Through the influence of their eccentric classics professor, the students find a new way of thinking that separates them from the like-minded individuals they live amongst.

When the group takes their thinking too far and exceeds the normal expectations of morality, they find themselves slipping further away from their morals into evil. 

This Dead Poet Society-esque book will have you on the edge of your seat and will have you romanticizing the crisp air around you. 

The Picture of Dorian Gray by oscar wilde

In this haunting classic, readers will find themselves fearing the blurred lines of morality. The Picture of Dorian Gray follows a young and beautiful man who trades his soul to stay young forever. Though Dorian Gray remains young and beautiful on the outside, he becomes increasingly ugly and corrupt on the inside, leading him to commit evil things. 

As Gray maintains his youth, a painting of him does not, showing him his sins and true age leading Gray to have to come to terms with his wrongdoings and take accountability for his actions. 

if he had been with me by laura nowlin

If you like a heart-wrenching story in the fall, If He Had Been With Me is the perfect book. The book follows the main characters Autumn and Finn from childhood to the tail-end of their teenage years. All throughout the book Autumn has to grapple with her grief and wonder if things would have ended differently if Finny had been with her. 

Autumn’s name holds weight in If He Had Been With Me because fall is often associated with death and things coming to an end which is an underlying theme throughout the book. 

Truly Devious: A Mystery by Maureen Johnson

If you want to read a mystery book that will have you completely obsessed, Truly Devious is the perfect place to start. The book follows the main character, Stevie Bell, a teenager at a boarding school in Vermont, famous for its riddles, pathways, gardens and games. 

Stevie chooses to research an unsolved mystery of a kidnapping and murder case involving the school’s founders’ wife and daughter. 

While Stevie is trying to solve a riddle from the past, history repeats itself when one of her classmates is murdered leaving Stevie to figure out who was truly devious enough to get away with murder. 

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

The Night Circus is a forbidden romance following star-crossed lovers Celia and Marco, two young magicians tasked with a dual. Only one of them can be left standing which proves difficult when Celia and Marco find themselves deep in love. However, the show must go on and the game must play out leaving the fates of everyone involved in limbo.

Does Celia and Marco’s love save them from loss? Read this perfect fall fantasy and find out. 

The Crave Series by Tracy Wolff

A cross between Harry Potter, Twilight and The Vampire Diaries, the Crave series is an unforgettable tale about love and the supernatural. The Crave series follows teenager Grace Foster who tragically loses her parents in a car accident.

Grace is then sent to live with her Uncle Finn and her cousin Macy at Katmere Academy, a boarding school in Alaska. Grace notices that nothing about Katmere is normal and that she is an outcast amongst her peers until she meets Jaxon Vega, a vampire prince.

Grace then has to figure out if her and Jaxon’s love is genuine or if she is being used as a pawn in a very large game of chess. 

I hunt Killers by Barry Lyga

In this twisted story, I Hunt Killers follows Jasper Dent, the son of a serial killer. Since Jasper was little, his dad would take him to witness murders and crime scenes the way police wish they could. 

In an attempt to cover his tracks, Jasper helps the police find a new serial killer which leads Jasper to wonder if he is more like his father than he thought. 

The Invisable Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab

In this dazzling historical fiction, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue follows a young woman who makes a makes the choice to live forever and be forgotten by everyone she had ever known. The book follows Addie, the young woman, as she travels all around the world, leaving her mark everywhere. 

Things get complicated for Addie when she runs into a young man and he remembers her name. 

Normal People by Sally Rooney

Normal People follows main characters Marianne and Connell as they navigate their way through school as total strangers. In school, Connell is popular and quiet whereas Marianne is loud and lonely. Despite their social differences, Marianne and Connell discover an unexplainable connection between them when Connell picks his mother up from working at Marianne’s house. 

Everything changes when Marianne and Connell attend Trinity College in Dublin. Marianne now has a place in the world and Connell is lost. During their time at college, Marianne and Connell always find their way back to each other but have to decide if their love is worth destroying themselves. 

Normal People is the perfect light, fall read that will have you in tears.

The inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynne Barnes

The Inheritance Games is a quick read that will have you wrapped up in a love triangle and a mystery all at once. The book follows the main character Avery Kylie Grambs whose goal in life is to survive high school and not be homeless. Avery’s life changes when Billionaire Tobias Hawthrone dies and leaves his inheritance to her. 

In order to receive her inheritance, Avery must move to the game and riddle-filled Hawthrone House in which she will live with Tobias’s four grandsons who are not pleased with her. Grayson Hawthrone thinks Avery is a fraud and Jameson Hawtrone thinks Avery is just another riddle his grandfather left him to solve. Avery realizes she will have to play the games Tobias left for her if she wants to survive 

• books
• fall
• Kent State University
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• Mallory Hughes