It’s finally fall in the Forest. Although the temperature has dropped more dramatically in the past week than expected, the fresh, breezy, and crisp air is calling for our every sense of fall. While we are getting our scented candles and pumpkin spice latte ready, it’s also a good idea to add a couple of books to our lists for things to do in fall. We usually tend to become too busy in fall with school work and stuff to actually read for fun. But I mean, if summer reading is a thing, why can’t fall reading be? Here is a list of books that I think quite accurately capture every mood of fall. So if you’ve got some free time during the weekend or at the end of a busy day, make a cup of hot coco, get cozy in your blanket, and happy reading!
Spooky: The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende
This is not your usual Halloween spooky ghost story. This is the debut work of one of my favorite magical realism writers of all time, and this is a grand family saga that spans several decades and generations. In this book, the history of the del Valles is told from the perspective of a female family member who possesses the power of foreseeing the future and communicating with spirits in the house. Although never states explicitly, Allende closely tracks the history of Latin America throughout the book from the colonial era to revolutions. So want to take this year’s Halloween reading to another level? I promise this is a great choice.
Cozy and Romantic: Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan
If the movie Crazy Rich Asians made you ugly cry (welcome to the fam) in cinema this summer, why not add this Kevin Kwan’s trilogy, which includes Crazy Rich Asians and two of its sequels, to your fall reading list. Romance can be read year around but I think this one really suits the spirit of fall with a touch of the reminiscence of summer. The humor and the bittersweet twists to the love stories of each main character should make this book a wonderful one to read with some wooly socks and vanilla-scented candle while patiently waiting for Jon Chu to make the film sequel.
Nostalgic and the Wilderness: My Ántonia by Willa Cather
Who doesn’t want to go into the wilderness at this time of the year to see leaves turning red, fruits and vegetable becoming ripe, and crops getting harvested. This classic novel about the American West brings up the earthiness of fall with its description of daily life on a farm in Nebraska as well as the feeling of nostalgia as the characters yearn for a past that they can never return to. The gentle and emotional tone of Willa Cather resembles so well the sentimentality of the season of both gains and losses.
Decay: The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Obviously, not everything about fall is comfy and glorious, and that’s definitely the case with this masterpiece of Fitzgerald. The Great Gatsby is worth reading in so many ways and its deft use of seasonal change as an analogy in plot twist is definitely one of them. Summer is the season of passion and unrestricted expression of love, but “life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the fall”, and that can be affection withering away or life taking an unexpected turn. For all those who like a somewhat tragic ending to a love story and want to make this fall a little more sentimental, this is your book.
Dark and Chilly: Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
Here’s to another classic. If you want your fall reading to be more intense than just being spooky, then a gothic literature will do the job. Taken place in an isolated gloomy farmhouse, Wuthering Heights sends shivers down your spine by slowly unfolding the dark past of the two main characters, Heathcliff and Catherine, and a love story that turned out to be fatal. This is not a work of horror that is going to scare you at first glance, but instead it draws you into the complexity of human nature and the darkest side of love, desire, and morality. Lit up some pine scented candles, and let the fall breeze take you to the chilly Northern England.
Photos courtesy of Google Images.