Every season brings with it a difference of mood.

Winter feels hygge. Spring feels fresh. Summer feels like thriving. And autumn feels enchanting.

It’s fascinating to watch how this even applies to the books we read.

Autumn makes me crave books that just feel like the wonderful season outside our windows.

Here’s what’s on my fall reading list this year.

#1: The Westing Game

I was first introduced to this book when we read it in middle school. All I can remember about it is it felt very Clue like, and I loved it. A mystery in which sixteen people gather to play a game where the winner inherits millions of dollars seems like a fun read this fall.

#2: Set Boundaries, Find Peace

This is quite the book! Not sure if it is because the holidays are around the corner or I’ve just reached a stage in my life where I am so over my old people-pleasing tendencies… but learning about boundaries has become a new focus of mine.

Boundaries are hard. They are not going to be this fun thing you get to do in life. But, I’m learning, they are essential to your wellbeing in life.

This book has opened my eyes in so many different ways to how I need to be more vocal with my boundaries, where I’ve let my boundaries slide in the past, and how I want to approach boundaries moving forward. As I said, it’s not going to be a “fun/easy” read, but this book is truthfully one of the best books I’ve read in a long time in terms of lifestyle change.

#3: Pride and Prejudice

Last time I read Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice was when I did a research paper in high school, but I have watched the movie countless times since. I love the plot, the characters, and the setting of this story deeply. I recently started rereading it, and I can just picture my favorite movie characters saying the lines. The book opens right around Michaelmas which is a quarter holiday marking the shift towards autumn—a wonderful read for this fall!

#4: Diane DuMont’s Drunken Pie Cafe Series

The world we live in feels like it moves a mile a minute at times, and sometimes I just want to lose myself in a book that isn’t super complex. Enter cozy mysteries. These tend to satisfy the desire to read something you can curl up with a blanket in front of a fire with. I have a few different series I enjoy reading, and one of my favorites is Diane DuMont’s Drunken Pie Cafe series. Following protagonist, Izzy, as she operates a pie shop in Northern California, the reader quickly sees Izzy’s hobby in her spare time is solving murder cases—much to the exasperation of the sheriff. If you are an audiobook lover, I highly suggest the audiobook versions—the narrator does a great job! This season, I’m reading Double Fudge Drowning which is set in November amidst a mayoral election.

#5: Atomic Habits

With the holidays starting up at the end of the month… habits tend to slide. Whether it’s your morning routine, your evening routine or simply just a habit in-between, this time of the year pushes us towards breaking our routines. There’s nothing wrong with mixing up routines, but there is a sense of a safety and comfort for our bodies, souls and minds when we keep something more regular in our schedules.

I have heard about Atomic Habits from multiple people I follow, so I recently began listening to the audiobook. Only four chapters in, and it has already revolutionized my approach to habits.

I’m implementing a new approach to reading this season after hearing about it from someone online: I read fiction before bed and nonfiction in the morning. Seems like the best of both worlds for me! What’s on your fall reading list?

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