reading list | fall 2017
Though I am perfectly happy to read any time, anywhere. However, there's a certain quaintness about reading in the fall. I don't know if it's because that's when school starts up, but when months ending in "-ber" roll around, my nose is constantly in a book. I love finding a cozy chair, sipping toasty beverages, and just reading.
Yes. This makes me a basic bitch and I don't care who knows about it.
For some reason, fall just feels like home to me - just like books always have been, as well. That's why I'm so excited to share my must-reads for this autumn.
the night sister by jennifer mcmahon
Autumn days have me reaching for creepy thrillers and this novel is no exception (I just started it on Audible!). The story flip-flops between present day and the 1950's, and it's set in a peculiar family motel with a dark history. Amy, Piper, and her sister, Margot, played there as children, until uncovering part of that morbid past...uncovering the secret of a mysterious and ominous 29th room.
follow you home by mark edwards
Could you forget something horrible that you experienced? Some people would say yes. Daniel and Laura, on the vacation of a lifetime, cut their trip short after enduring a horrific evil they refuse to discuss afterwards. However, what if that darkness trails you, no matter how silent you keep? This is definitely going to be an all-lights-on daytime read.
loving frank by nancy horan
Living only an hour and a half from the infamously beautiful Fallingwater property, Frank Lloyd Wright is an often-talked about figure in Western Pennsylvania history. I snagged this novel during a BookBub deal, and, considering I'm trying to engross myself into a new regional culture, it seemed like a perfect option. The story is historical fiction, based on letters and diaries of Wright's long-time mistress, Mamah Borthwick Cheney. The story, from its innocent beginning to its tragic ending, highlights some of Wright's more well-known work and his deep love for Mamah.
letters of note, volume 2 by shaun usher
If you follow me on Instagram, you know that I completely inhaled the first volume of this series. This anthology compiles various letters from people around the world throughout time. Some are famous, whereas others are not. However, the first volume touched parts of my soul that a book hasn't done in quite some time. Reading people's personal correspondence, where they lay their spirits bare, is about the most intimate thing you can read. I even paid full price for this book...which I'm usually too cheap to do. Also, I've been putting it off to read until fall, knowing it would be the perfect read for sitting under a tree in the falling leaves...if it will ever cool off enough to happen.
american witches by susan fair
What's Halloween without a spooky story? Instead of a creepy ghost story, I opted to indulge myself in a bit of nonfiction about the wild tales and harrowing lives of people deemed "witches" in American society. Spread out over four centuries, Susan Fair discusses everything from the infamous Salem Witch Trials to more modern pop culture views. I'll being saving this one for October!
girl in pieces by kathleen glasgow
I really hesitated adding this book to my list. After a year of loss, I'm still struggling trying to hold myself together - so how the hell am I going to read about someone else trying to hold it together? I've really steered away from reading a lot of sad books lately, mostly because I'm in a place where it's critical to stay positive. But this novel about a girl who's reeling from loss after loss, trying to figure out how to keep going when life keeps punching you down...well, it spoke to me. So, maybe on a particularly sunny afternoon, I'll pick it up and it'll help me heal, too.
the bookshop on the corner by jenny colgan
So this book is the antidote to the previous one. Perhaps this is a booklovers' version of Chocolat. When the heroine loses her beloved job as a librarian, she picks up, moves to a little village and integrates herself in her new home as a "book matchmaker." My only question is - how do I get that job?
six of crows by leigh bardugo
Sometimes you just need a little something weird. In an alternate-universe version of Amsterdam, six misfits with dark talents are pulled together to pull off a heist. There's a spy, a criminal prodigy, a runaway, a sharpshooter, a thief and a magician...all trying to stay alive due to the dangers of their job and from each other.
lost girls by robert kolker
Women keep turning up missing or dead in the Gilgo Beach area of Long Island. They're all relatively young. If they're found at all, it's in the same area. They're all escorts who advertised on the Internet. But no one can figure out who's killing them. I'm a huge fan of documentaries like Making a Murderer and other stories that don't have definitive endings. When I saw the preview for a television show about these killings, the truth seemed stranger than fiction. I had to pick up the book.
So...what are you reading this fall? Tell me in the comments or message me at amanda@winebooksandwanderlust.com.
