Welcome to SBTB’s Fall Week! We decided to dedicate a week of time to review books, give book recommendations, and talk about general autumn-loving things to help get everyone in the mood for this time of year. We hope you enjoy and find something new and fun to read!
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Amanda: Fall pairings! Let’s talk about our favorite fall things and what books would make the perfect complement.
Sarah: I just ordered a big ol’ bag of my favorite Fava tea (thanks Elyse) called tangerine ginger. It’s delicious and I love it, and I recommend drinking it when there’s something kinda creepy on your lap book-wise. I’d rec the Charlotte Holmes series, as book three just came out with every other book in the universe on October 2, and you kinda need to read books 1 and 2 to catch up for book 3. That is NOT a hardship.
I started So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo ( A | BN | K | G | AB ) yesterday with my first cup of tangerine ginger tea. They paired well.
Amanda: I’m not a tea drinker, but that sounds yummy!
Sarah: I also unabashedly love pumpkin bread, and make some only to have it devoured in 20 minutes by the dudes in the house. But I make it anyway – and I’d pair that with the Diablo Lake series by Lauren Dane ( A | BN | K | G | AB ). There’s supernatural creatures all over the place, but really, the series is about trying to co-exist with people who are determined to not get along with you for dumb, petty reasons. And family drama. Which gets worse when some of the family are witches, I should think.
Elyse, what would you rec to go with the Talia Hibbert book?
Elyse: The heroine of Mating the Huntress owns a coffee shop, so I gotta to with a PSL or salted caramel mocha.
Amanda: I love salted caramel and I’m a fiend for salted caramel mochas at Starbucks this season. Something adorable with a hint of bite would make a great fit: Cream of the Crop by Alice Clayton ( A | BN | K | G | AB ). It’s really funny and has a gruff, alpha dairy farmer!
Sarah: Ooh – nice one!
Amanda: Sweater weather is where I feel most comfortable. I love cozy clothes, fluffy socks, and soft scarves. I can definitely see myself reaching for some comforting re-reads like The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang and A Notorious Vow by Joanna Shupe. An older comfort read for me is The Bride by Julie Garwood.
Sarah: “She’ll settle in.”
Amanda: *cue my heart melting*
And with Halloween this month, I highly recommend Into the Drowning Deep for something spooky and atmospheric. Both Elyse and I loved it and I thought killer mermaids was a nice twist on the typical monster story.
Elyse: Yes!
Amanda: I also think what adds to the spookiness of Into the Drowning Deep ( A | BN | K | G | AB ) is that they’re in the middle of the dang ocean with no quick escapes.
Elyse: I just started Witch of Willow Hall so I’ll noodle on that too.
Redheadedgirl I’m trying to think of something that goes with my unabashed love of boots.
Sarah: Apples.
Redheadedgirl: Apple cider donuts!
Sarah: Mmmmm.
Honey crisp apples: among my favorites after I learned that different apples have different tastes (and Red Delicious are not delicious for me).
Amanda: Red Delicious apples are waxy and gross.
Redheadedgirl: Red Delicious are not delicious for anyone.
Sarah: Marlee, from Intercepted ( A | BN | K | G | AB ), would pair well with honey crisp apples.
Redheadedgirl: Zoe Archer and her Blades of the Rose ( A | BN | K | G | AB ) series for boots.
Sarah: Good one!
Elyse: I’m going to pair Witch of Willow Hall with my fav fall/winter nail polish OPI’s Lincoln Park After Dark.
Amanda: Fall weather also means it’s acceptable to drink dark beer at restaurants now. (Seriously, I ordered a stout during the summer while at a restaurant in Fenway and got so many comments FROM STRANGERS). A rec for all the stout and porter lovers out there has to be a rich story with some darkness to it. Oh and a hint of something sweet! My vote: Trail of Lightning by Rebecca Roanhorse. The world has gone to shit and Maggie is a great heroine with a precious sidekick hero.
What are your favorite things about fall? What books embody your fall faves? Let us know in the comments!
I don’t know why but for me “Anne of Green Gables” practically screams autumn. I love that book any day of the year but it goes particularly well with autumn.
FIRST FROST by Sarah Addison Allen, plus a cup of hot tea with honey and a cinnamon stick.
The Hallowed Hunt by Lois McMaster Bujold is a book that really feels like fall for me (TW for attempted sexual assault, but the perpetrator is killed, so maybe ok? Not a good book if you want to avoid that topic entirely since it is the point of the plot). I should really make some pumpkin bread to cheer myself up.
@Steffi – agree about “Anne of Green Gables,” though in my view, there is never a wrong time of year to read it!
I think anything by Thomas Hardy is right for this time of year – his novels, his poetry. And, of course, a re-read of “Autumn in the Vineyard” is appropriate (and fun).
I’m putting maple syrup in my coffee and turned my oven on for the first time in…. months? Wow, June, I think. Quiche last night and a high probability of cookies this afternoon. But I do seem to recall a can of pumpkin on the shelf. I have walnuts… Also a high probability of pumpkin bread.
The books on the bedside pile have taken a definite turn towards darker topics. Deborah Harkness’ Time’s Convert being next up. Time travel, vampires witchcraft on a rainy October Sunday, yes please. Also Charlaine Harris’s An Easy Death and the new Verity Kent mystery. I look at my GBPL reserve list and see more of the same coming my way – including that latest Lady Sherlock book and catching up on Nevada Barr, Jonathan Kellerman and William Kent mysteries.
I will be taking a midday break, however, for the Dr. Who world premiere this afternoon.
And in a completely unrelated aside, I’ve had the Javier Bardem interview episode of Off Camera With Sam Jones on in the background, and I will never read another broody swarthy hero with a marshmallow heart without picturing him. I am crushing hard.
@DonnaMarie: MY TURN TO COPY YOU. There is high likelihood of pumpkin bread in my house, too.
Sarina Bowen’s TRUE NORTH series always screams autumn to me, and proves a wonderful comfort re-read. (Though I think at least one main character in each book has some kind of trauma in their past, so YMMV, depending.)
The change in the weather makes me reach for old cozies, ideally with a romance included. Dorothy L. Sayers is ideal, though I’m exploring recs from the site right now and loving them. Will probably revisit Agatha Christie and M.C. Beaton too.
Love some pumpkin bread and spicy cocoa to go with just about any book this time of year. Also maple everything!
I just made a list of books that I think lean a little darker to read in my TBR. Such as Trail of Lightning, Cruel Prince, and Kat Howard.
I’m definitely going to be watching The Smile Has Left Your Eyes which is on the darker side.
Also, my music has changed a bit. On repeat has been Here Come The Regrets by Epik High and Lee Hi. Her voice is so rich in this.
Sweeter things are being able to wear sweaters and boots. To stock up on hot chocolate and Chai, I love the sweet powdered kind. Walnuts and Apples have made an appearance too.
I just looked up the Anne of Green Gables quote about Octobers to write down yesterday.
@SBSarah, I know a superior idea when I see one.
We have a tradition of chocolate chip pumpkin bread for the first day of fall, which my kids have talked me into making two more times since then. My new favorite fall thing is HT Hot Cinnamon Sunset tea, which is absolutely delicious if you love cinnamon flavor.
Persuasion feels like a very autumn-themed novel to me. I’ve been re-reading a lot this month, and started with His Road Home by Anna Richland, which covers the run-up to Thanksgiving. And Christmas Eve at Friday Harbor by Lisa Kleypas, which I was re-reading on a whim, turned out to cover more of fall than I remembered, with scenes at Halloween and Thanksgiving.
I had my yearly Pumpkin Spice Latte at Target last week. I bought a cushaw squash to make stewed squash at the farm stand today. I use the leftovers to make tea bread from a recipe a farmer friend shared with me years ago. We’ve already gone through one bag of Butterfingers intended for Halloween. Bring on the fall food!
Speaking of pumpkin bread, I’ve made at least one batch of “Rutherford Wynd” bread every Fall for the last 30+ years from Camille Glenn’s recipe. It’s from The Heritage of Southern Cooking which has a permanent place on my bookshelf.
I haven’t read any fall themed books yet. Christmas Eve at Friday Harbor looks tempting.
A friend made chocolate chip pumpkin bread for our last book group meeting, and it was delicious. I’d happily eat more of that or a plate full of chocolate chip cookies. I find that any book pairs well with chocolate.
Here in southern Louisiana the only concession to Fall right now is via the calendar. Temperatures are still in the ‘80s and we even have a hurricane threatening in the Gulf this week. So much for crisp Autumn weather. Once we cool down, I’ll be making roasted butternut squash soup and another favorite soup, roasted broccoli and potato. Always served with crusty sourdough bread. And on tv now there’s post-season baseball to remind me that it’s Fall somewhere.
Just started reading this as oppressive wildfire smoke descended on our area… bleh. I’m downloading some book samples for later, though, when things feel a bit less apocalyptic around here.
For me, Fall is always baking bread, and going out to the MN Arboretum’s apple barn and grabbing a few bags of apples.
The ultimate Autumn reading for me is Pamela Dean’s Tam Lin (a book that I have probably read over 25 times).
Sarina Bowen’s Ivy Years series also seem Autumnal (at least three of the books in the series take place during Fall semester).
Nicole Helm’s Farmer’s Market books also remind me of Autumn (Helm is sneakily becoming one of my auto-buy authors).
I’m in Italy, so one sign of autumn is the appearance of roasted chestnut vendors everywhere.
I’ve brought some of my Canadian traditions to our home – pumpkin bread and pie, for example. My husband likes both – my in-laws…meh, not so much. (o; My mother-in-law makes wonderful pastas with pumpkin, though. And, of course, the “fiori di zucca.”
@SusanH – chocolate chips sound like a great addition to pumpkin bread. I will try it.
I’m in New Mexico, so the temperature is still hitting 80 degrees most days. But hard cider is a nice cold option that still gives you the feeling of autumn. And it’s the season for roasting green chile! They often have roasters outside the grocery store or at the Plaza on weekends, and the smell is amazing.
Former orchardist chiming in with a late comment unrelated to any of the books: Red Delicious apples from the grocery store should never, ever be eaten by anyone. However…if you can find them actually growing on the tree and can pick and eat them fresh, they are truly lovely. They actually deserve their name.
@Suze: This is SO silly, but I was cutting up an apple for my lunch and thinking about what a bummer that something called “delicious” are so not at all. This makes me feel better!
STOUT/PORTER LOVERS UNITE! I will loudly scoff when there are no decent stouts or porters on a menu, any time of the year. There is less scoffing in the fall.
@Beige: Heck yeah! If you want to trade recs, my favorite is the Deepdweller from Down the Road here in Massachusetts. It’s a cranberry chocolate stout.
Bittersweet by Sarina Bowen is a great match for us apple-holics. Keep your punkins, and gimme a Mac in early fall or a Winesap later on. Also pie or crisp or cider, hard or sweet. My favorite brew pub (These Guys, Norwich CT) features a lot of local brews besides their own and usually have Down East Cider on their menu served with a with a cinnamon sugar rim. It is seriously yum.
I’ve also been rereading some Crusie–Anyone But You with its heroine who struggles with turning forty and turning on a thirty year old, and Fast Women with its cast of thousands, twisty plot, and celebration of maturity and love. I love her older heroines and her rich evocation female friendship.
Also Crusie’s great served with anything. I’d say, just use her food and drink descriptions as a guide. You can hardly go wrong.
I love blankets! So fall means breaking out the heavy duty blankets – yay! Also I have a maple bundt cake recipe that is soooooo yummy so that screams fall to me (plus our Costco carried bourbon-barrel aged maple syrup and it is so good) so it will soon be time to bake it up as the weather will turn colder here at the end of this week.
Two fall romances I just love are Her Halloween Treat and Her Naughty Holiday both by Tiffany Reisz.
Fall also makes me want to read the Charles Lenox mystery series by Charles Finch – set in Victorian London, I love everything about these – the characters and their growth, the mysteries, and the settings which always give me that cozy fall feeling.
@Amanda – I am highly spoiled living in San Diego, a virtual beer capital right now. Belching Beaver carries THE BEST dark beers. Their Mexican Chocolate is stupid yummy. For a non local treat, Rogue has some amazing dark beers also. I’ll check out the Deepdweller. Love dark beer drinking ladies!