Reading Recommendations: Autumnal Reads
A new month means another batch of reading recommendations! September’s theme is Autumnal Reads! the books featured on this list make great cozy reads for the season. I hope you enjoy these picks!
Pumpkinheads
Deja and Josiah are seasonal best friends.
Every autumn, all through high school, they’ve worked together at the best pumpkin patch in the whole wide world. (Not many people know that the best pumpkin patch in the whole wide world is in Omaha, Nebraska, but it definitely is.) They say good-bye every Halloween, and they’re reunited every September 1.
But this Halloween is different—Josiah and Deja are finally seniors, and this is their last season at the pumpkin patch. Their last shift together. Their last good-bye.
Josiah’s ready to spend the whole night feeling melancholy about it. Deja isn’t ready to let him. She’s got a plan: What if—instead of moping and the usual slinging lima beans down at the Succotash Hut—they went out with a bang? They could see all the sights! Taste all the snacks! And Josiah could finally talk to that cute girl he’s been mooning over for three years . . .
What if their last shift was an adventure?
I love Halloween and I love a good friends-to-lovers trope which makes this graphic novel the perfect read for Autumn. The vivid and colorful illustrations by Hicks transport the reader to the pumpkin patch and all of the magical wonders it beholds from tasty cider donuts to leisurely hayride. I love how fun the concept of trying to conquer all of the activities at the pumpkin patch while watching their cute romance develop (since their feelings seem to have been there for a while). A recommended graphic novel read for sure!
The Bellwoods Game
Everyone knows Fall Hollow is haunted. It has been ever since Abigail Snook went into the woods many years ago, never to be seen again. Since then, it’s tradition for the sixth graders at Beckett Elementary to play the Bellwoods Game on Halloween night. Three kids are chosen to go into the woods. Whoever rings the bell there wins the game and saves the town for another year, but if Abigail’s ghost captures the players first, the spirit is let loose to wreak havoc on Fall Hollow—or so the story goes.
Now that it’s Bailee’s year to play, she can finally find out what really happens. And legend has it the game’s winner gets a wish. Maybe, just maybe, if Bailee wins, she can go back to the way things used to be before her grandma got sick and everyone at school started hating her. But when the night begins, everything the kids thought they knew about the game—and each other—is challenged. One thing’s for sure: something sinister is at play…waiting for them all in the woods.
This is a quintessential Autumn read which evokes the feelings of the season with its forest setting. It has the right amount of spookiness for a ghost story without it being to much of an horror novel. I loved the characters and their individual obstacles which they mush overcome during the game. The story is suspenseful as the woods have an ominous aura and the reader/characters never know what may be lurking around the corner.
What a Match
Meticulous and driven Gwen Gilmore knows what she wants… especially in a man. But the dating scene is slow and unserious, and she realizes she may need some professional help. A matchmaker, to be more specific. Nothing will distract her from finding the perfect-on-paper boyfriend, except maybe her brother’s grumpy best friend.
Anthony Woods has had a crush on his best friend’s sister since the day he met her, and he’s managed the unfortunate affliction by keeping his distance. However, that gets complicated when he temporarily moves into her home.
If you’ve read any of my Romance Roundup posts on the blog you would know just how big of a fan I am of Mimi Grace’s Romance novels I am since her debut novel. This one is a great read for anytime of the year honestly, but the lead characters, Gwen and Anthony, participating in Autumn festivals makes it an even better read for the season. This romance is a bit steamy, but still provides some fluffy and cute moments as well. It follows a grumpy/sunshine dynamic with forced proximity that works well considering the characters history with each other. This lighthearted Romance novel left me with a smile on my face!
Spooky Girls
While their spookiness connects these girls, each of the four stories in this book is unique, with something powerful to say about growing up.
Another graphic novel collection on this list is a collection of short stories each featuring a supernatural girl who goes through their own self-discovery journey. It’s such a wholesome read about growing up and all the challenges that come with major changes in one’s life. The characters are interesting and the writing was solid as well. It’s a good read if you are looking for something fast paced and cozy to enjoy.
The International House of Dereliction
Ten-year-old Alice is moving for the eleventh time.
She’s lived in so many houses, each more broken than the last, that home to Alice is nothing more than a place you fix and then a place you leave. After all, who needs a permanent home when you’re a whiz at fixing things?
But when Alice arrives at her new home, she can’t take her eyes off the house next door, the stately dark house that hulked in the dimming light. The once-grand mansion, now dilapidated and condemned, beckons Alice; it’s the perfect new repair job!
As Alice begins to restore the House to its former splendor, she senses strange presences. Is there a heartbeat coming from the House’s walls? Is someone looking at her? Soon she realizes she’s not alone. Three ghosts have been watching, and they need Alice’s help to solve their unfinished business.
Will Alice be able to unravel the mysteries of the House and find her forever home . . . before it’s too late?
Alice is most definitely a whiz kid and is very wise beyond her years which makes her such an intriguing character for readers. As she works to fix the house next door she starts a kindred friendship with the spirits that reside within it and the house itself (which reminds me a lot of the film Monster House). Forming a deeper connection with the house spurs her to help the ghosts trapped within it and in doing so takes her on an adventure through history, home repairs, and even her own family lineage.
A Bite Above The Rest
When Caleb’s mom decides they are moving to her childhood home in Wisconsin, Caleb is not thrilled. Moving schools, states, and time zones would be bad enough, but Mom’s hometown is Samhain, a small and ridiculously kitschy place where every day is Halloween.
Caleb is not a fan of Halloween when it only happens once a year, so Halloween-obsessed Samhain is really not the place for him. How is he supposed to cope with kids wearing costumes to school every single day ? And how about the fact that the mayor is so committed to the bit that City Hall is only open from sundown to sunup to accommodate his so-called vampirism? Sure enough, Caleb becomes an outcast at school for refusing to play along with the spooky tradition like the other sixth graders. Luckily, he manages to find a friend in fellow misfit Tai, and just in time, because things are getting weird in Samhain…or make that weird.
But there’s no way the mayor is an actual vampire, and their teacher absolutely cannot really be a werewolf—right? Caleb discovers Samhain is so much stranger than he ever could have imagined. As one of the only people who realizes what’s happening, can he save a town that doesn’t want saving?
As a fan of all things Halloween, the synopsis of A Bite Above the Rest alone piqued my interest. Though this novel features things that go bump in the night it is more spooky fun than outright horror. The novel is intended for middle-grade readers but appeals to an older audience as well. The story captures the spirit of the season and other things most people enjoy about Halloween. There are eerie decorations, Autmunal treats, getting dressed up in a creative costume, and the overall feeling of having fun.
That concludes my reading recommendations for Autumnal Reads! What books do you recommend or what are your favorites? Comment below!
