As the temperature goes down, many of us are ready to embrace the Rory Gilmore lifestyle by getting cozy and academic during fall. Here are my top book recommendations to get in the fall mindset without having to do any school!
Dracula by Bram Stoker: If you’ve taken AP Lit, you’re probably going to give me dirty looks in the halls, but hear me out. Not only does this book perfectly embody the spirit of fall (um, hello, vampires, letter-writing, and mountainous train rides), it’s actually pretty funny. Granted, a lot of its humor comes from the fact that its characters are English and have never heard of Paprika, but it still makes for an amusing read. Plus it’s got the perfect mix of gothic horror and cozy Victorian diaries with just a dash of asylum anecdotes to get you through the occasional 80-degree November day without letting go of your pumpkin spice latte!
The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath by Sylvia Plath: Despite having over 800 pages, this book is worth the time, especially if you’re as big a fan of Plath’s novel The Bell Jar. Fair warning, this book can get intense at times with discussions of Plath’s mental health struggles and upsetting experiences. It contains fragments of her later poetry as well as her experience of navigating mental illness, academia, and personal relationships, specifically as a woman.
The Idiot by Elif Batuman: This book, along with its sequel, Either/Or, follows a Turkish-American girl’s journey through her first years at Harvard and through several small Hungarian villages, all while exploring her personal relationships and analyses of language, higher education, and writing. Although I find this book to be both hilarious and relatable, and have reread it on several occasions, my favorite GoodReads reviewer referred to the protagonist as a “limp piece of asparagus,” so I make no promises when it comes to this book.
The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova: To be completely honest, this book is, once again, really long. But what can I say, I’m a sucker for overly-descriptive historical fiction! And besides, the vibes of this book are absolute perfection. The author follows three generations of young historians through centuries-old libraries, mosques, and monasteries as they traipse across Eastern European cities. They try to find each other and the origins of the books they’ve found. Fair warning, this book does contain the occasional historical ramble, flowery descriptions, and makes decent use of Romanian folklore motifs. But if you commit to powering through the first 50-odd pages, you might just fall in love with it!
Five minutes on any social media platform will give you about a hundred fall book lists, but personally, trust this is the best one out there! So if you want to make your (freezing and dark) descent into December a little less agonizing, you should really give these books a try. However, if you hate all of them, be sure to forget my name and the fact that you ever read this!
