When I was younger, I was never without a book, but somehow in the craziness of high school and college, I’d lost my passion for reading due to other interests and lack of free time. This year, with the help of “BookTok” and “BookTube”, I finally got back into my reading. Personally, I enjoy any type of contemporary romance, young adult, or mystery/thriller. Once I discovered the genres of books I liked, my interest in reading came back instantly.
Shifting into Autumn, the trees changing color and the weather getting cooler, it feels like the perfect time to curl up with a good book. I figured I’d share a few books and series I’ve read this year that are perfect for a weekend read.
Mystery/thriller for the Halloween season:
The Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware
If you’re looking for a good mystery thriller with some shocking plot twists, this might be the book for you! I found this book over the summer, and I wanted a break from my plethora of romance novels! It was the first mystery/thriller I read in a while, and I really enjoyed it.
The story is set in the Scottish Highlands and is told from the main character, Rowan Caine’s point of view. Rowan is currently in prison, on trial for murder, writing what you read to a lawyer in hopes of getting out. You follow the story of how she ended up there! The author Ruth Ware is pretty well known for writing these types of books and they usually are rated very high!
Second chance adult fiction/romance:
Funny You Should Ask by Elissa Sussman
If you’ve ever had a dream that you’d end up meeting a famous celebrity and they’d end up falling in love with you, read this book! Some have also told me that if you were a Wattpad person, you’d like this story. While there was no actual they fall in love and live happily ever after, there is a second-chance romance!
Main character Chani Horowitz is hired to write a profile of the movie star Gabe Parker. This book is told in a then-and-now sequence, and we follow the events in their first meeting to the end. In the “now” parts, Chani, some years later, is picked yet again to write another piece on Gabe after he’s had some challenges in his personal life and career. We read about their reconnection and follow along to see what might happen between the two of them as they finally discuss what happened all those years ago!
Romantic Series:
The Off-Campus Series by Elle Kennedy
If you’re looking for a sports-romance book, the Off-Campus Series is for you! This series was actually the series that got me back into reading! I got it after seeing it all over “BookTok” and “BookTube”!
In the five-book series, we follow the romantic relationships of guys and girls from the same friend groups. They go to Briar University and the guys in the books are hockey players! In each book, you follow a story about a guy on the Briar University hockey team with a girl who goes to their school! My favorites in the series were the first book, The Deal, and the third book, The Score!
Anna and the French Kiss Series by Stephanie Perkins
This series is a young adult series I started last month! While I’ve only read the first book so far, I loved it! Also, all three books in the series can be read as a standalone if one story interests you more than the others, which I liked! If you were like me and didn’t have a high school romance, reading these books makes you feel like you did!
Anna and the French Kiss is the first book in the series and it follows Anna, a senior in high school who is being forced by her father to go to an American boarding school in France for her last year. At first, she’s upset by this as she has all her friends at home and thought one of her crushes might have become something more if she didn’t leave. At her new school, she starts to make friends with a friend group and particularly with Étienne St. Clair. Throughout the book, you follow their friendship and see the trials and tribulations of dating in high school.
I hope some of these books interest you enough to give them a read this Fall! Follow me on Goodreads to see what else I’m reading! :)