Fall has finally arrived and I’m all here for it. While I appreciate all four seasons, fall is definitely my absolute favorite and I love to celebrate it for as long as I can. Though the forecast predicts several sunny, 25 °C days ahead of us, this cannot dampen my eagerness to start my most beloved season. If not in full swing, then at least concerning my #tbr pile 🙂
This will be the first time I’m planning my reading for the coming months, and I’m curious how this will work out. I’m usually not one for a curated tbr-stack, instead treating my shelves (and my book wishlist to a degree) as ONE huge tbr. Feeling that this fall I might try something new, I got over my fuzzybrainy self and compiled a stack of books that provide adequate autumnal vibes as well as some variety.
Spooky season starts early here…
It took me YEARS to get into fantasy — apart from the occasional Terry Pratchett or Neil Gaiman — and now that I have discovered this world (or rather: these worlds), I have my moments when I go completely bonkers on witchy/fantasy tbrs.
Therefore, the spooky season starts early in my autumnal corner of the world, and I might even sneak in an additional book if I realize I committed a grave oversight of another spooky masterpiece. OR if I feel the urgent want to squish just another book in to follow my current whim. OR I absolutely have to finish a series…
Reading my shelves in the fall — or not?
You may remember that at the start of the year, I proclaimed I wanted to abstain from buying new books and stick to reading my shelves (with its own #readmyshelves2023 hashtag) instead. Having bookshelves full of wonderful gems and a nice collection of ebooks, I loved the idea.
Well, guess we all had a good laugh about it. Anyone who knows me even slightly also knows that this would NEVER work, however much I love the idea. Even during my Low Buy Year 2020 (and all my additional Low Buy disasters) I had a book budget. How did I even think I could go a whole year without buying new books? LOL. So my fall books on this list are a combination of books I’ve owned for quite a while and new acquisitions.
With that out of the way, let’s head straight to my fall books 2023 and autumnal reading recommendations — some old, some new, some more, and some less obvious 🙂
This fall in 25 books:
The obvious choices — witchy vibes
Deborah Harkness A Discovery of Witches (All Souls Series 1)
Our current book club read is Juno Dawson’s Her Majesty’s Royal Coven, which got me into a witchy mood for the moment (a recurring theme, not just in the fall). This and my love for tough, no-nonsense female characters make Deborah Harkness’ A Discovery of Witches an obvious choice. Several chapters in I can already say I LOVE it and I’ll probably add the rest of the series to my book selection for fall 2023 (and yes, I know, again I’m f*cking late to the party…).
A brief synopsis:
Deep in the stacks of Oxford’s Bodleian Library, young scholar Diana Bishop unwittingly calls up a bewitched alchemical manuscript in the course of her research. Descended from an old and distinguished line of witches, Diana wants nothing to do with sorcery; so after a furtive glance and a few notes, she banishes the book to the stacks. But her discovery sets a fantastical underworld stirring, and a horde of daemons, witches, and vampires soon descends upon the library. Diana has stumbled upon a coveted treasure lost for centuries — and she is the only creature who can break its spell. With the help of vampire geneticist Matthew Clairmont, she discovers the world of magic around and within her.
Ami McKay The Witches of New York
Late 19th century? Gilded Age New York with a gloomy atmosphere? Strong female characters going their own way in a society that does not know how to handle independent women — except to brand them as witches? Ami McKay’s The Witches of New York got it all, and I’m here for it.
A brief synopsis:
Two hundred years after the trials in Salem, Adelaide Thom has left her life in the sideshow to open a tea shop with another young woman who feels it’s finally safe enough to describe herself as a witch: a former medical student and keeper of spells, Eleanor St. Clair. Together they cater to Manhattan’s high society ladies, specializing in cures, palmistry and potions — and in guarding the secrets of their clients.
When an enchanting young woman named Beatrice Dunn arrives at their door seeking employment, their work and lives are is marred by strange occurrences. Beatrice sees things no one else can see. She hears voices no one else can hear. Objects appear out of thin air, as if gifts from the dead. Has she been touched by magic or is she simply losing her mind?
Eleanor wants to tread lightly and respect the magic manifest in the girl, but Adelaide sees a business opportunity. Working with Dr. Quinn Brody, a talented alienist, she submits Beatrice to a series of tests to see if she truly can talk to spirits. Amidst the witches’ tug-of-war over what’s best for her, Beatrice disappears, leaving them to wonder whether it was by choice or by force.
Holly Black Book of Night
As I’m not too much into faeries and similar traditional fantasy tropes (yet), Book of Night will be my first ever Holly Black book. Reading some reviews on Goodreads, that might actually be a good thing. The main character gives me strong Addie LaRue vibes and I’m all here for it. I’m curious if it will live up to my high hopes 🙂
A brief synopsis:
Charlie Hall has never found a lock she couldn’t pick, a book she couldn’t steal, or a bad decision she wouldn’t make. She’s spent half her life working for gloamists, magicians who manipulate shadows to peer into locked rooms, strangle people in their beds, or worse. Gloamists guard their secrets greedily, creating an underground economy of grimoires. And to rob their fellow magicians, they need Charlie.
Now, she’s trying to distance herself from past mistakes, but going straight isn’t easy. Bartending at a dive, she’s still entirely too close to the corrupt underbelly of the Berkshires. Not to mention that her sister Posey is desperate for magic, and that her shadowless and possibly soulless boyfriend has been keeping secrets from her.
When a terrible figure from her past returns, Charlie descends back into a maelstrom of murder and lies. Determined to survive, she’s up against a cast of doppelgängers, mercurial billionaires, gloamists, and the people she loves best in the world — all trying to steal a secret that will allow them control of the shadow world and more.
Sarah Gailey Magic for Liars
Sounding a bit like Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum with a magical background, Magic for Liars by Sarah Giley is another perfect candidate for this year’s fall book list.
A brief synopsis:
Ivy Gamble has never wanted to be magical. She is perfectly happy with her life. She has an almost-sustainable career as a private investigator, and an empty apartment, and a slight drinking problem. It’s a great life and she doesn’t wish she was like her estranged sister, the magically gifted professor Tabitha.
But when Ivy is hired to investigate the gruesome murder of a faculty member at Tabitha’s private academy, the stalwart detective starts to lose herself in the case, the life she could have had, and the answer to the mystery that seems just out of her reach.
Charlie N. Holmberg Keeper of Enchanted Rooms & Heir of Uncertain Magic
Now this new series by Charlie N. Holmberg, Keeper of Enchanted Rooms and Heir of Uncertain magic, sounds like it combines two of my favorite guilty pleasures: cozy mysteries and (cozy) magic (probably with a dash of romance, though that’s not my main interest). I simply HAD to get them and put them on my fall reading list.
A brief synopsis of both books:
Rhode Island, 1846. Estranged from his family, writer Merritt Fernsby inherits a remote estate in the Narragansett Bay. Though the property has been uninhabited for more than a century, Merritt is ready to call it home ― until he realizes he has no choice. With its doors slamming shut and locking behind him, Whimbrel House is not about to let Merritt leave. Ever.
Hulda Larkin of the Boston Institute for the Keeping of Enchanted Rooms has been trained in taming such structures in order to preserve their historical and magical significance. She understands the dangers of bespelled homes given to tantrums. She advises that it’s in Merritt’s best interest to make Whimbrel House their ally. To do that, she’ll need to move in, too.
She and Merritt grow closer as the investigation progresses, but the house’s secrets run deeper than they anticipated. And the sentient walls aren’t their only concern ― something outside is coming for the enchantments of Whimbrel House, and it could be more dangerous than what rattles within.
After Hulda Larkin has tamed Whimbrel House, Merritt comes to terms with his own burgeoning powers, which draw the thoughts of every plant, insect, and dog. His nights are sleepless, with an uncontrollable cacophony of voices that compel a long-overdue search into his uncanny bloodline.
It’s not the only puzzle uniting Merritt and his ex-housekeeper, Hulda. Her friend and former employer at the Boston Institute for the Keeping of Enchanted Rooms has disappeared. Hulda herself is up for the now-vacant position of institute director, and her rival for the role is a stranger who’s suspiciously curious about Whimbrel House.
As Merritt struggles to face his estranged family and Hulda dives into the institute’s secrets, the two are brought intimately closer than ever into the mysteries of wizardry, chaos, and love.
Rachel Harrison Cackle
This one has been sitting on my shelf since last fall so it counts as a #readmyshelves2023 participant 🙂
Again, witchy vibes and hints of a charming little mystery to solve — Cackle by Rachel Harrison sounds like another perfect read for the upcoming spooky season.
A brief synopsis:
Dumped by her longtime boyfriend, Annie seeks a fresh start and moves from Manhattan to a small picturesque village upstate. There Annie meets Sophie.
Beautiful, charming, magnetic Sophie takes a special interest in Annie an obviously wants to be her friend. Annie can’t help but gravitate toward the self-possessed Sophie, despite the fact that the rest of the townsfolk seem a little afraid of her. And, okay. Sophie’s appearance is uncanny and ageless, her mansion in the middle of the woods feels a little unearthly, and she does seem to wield a certain powerbut — she couldn’t be, could she?
Auralee Wallace In the Company of Witches
Another gem that has sitting on my shelves for a year and therefore another contender for the #readmyshelves2023 challenge. In the Company of Witches by Auralee Wallace seems to be the perfect combination of cozy mystery and witchy wonderwoman (sort of). This fall I hope to finally find out for sure 🙂
A brief synopsis:
For four hundred years, the Warren witches have used their magic to quietly help the citizens of the sleepy New England town of Evenfall thrive. There’s never been a problem they couldn’t handle. But then Constance Graves — a local known for being argumentative and demanding — dies while staying at the bed-and-breakfast Brynn Warren maintains with her aunts. At first, it seems like an accident…but it soon becomes clear that there’s something more sinister at work, and Aunt Nora is shaping up to be the prime suspect.
There’s nothing Brynn wants more than to prove Nora’s innocence, and it hurts her to know that even two years ago that might have been easier. Brynn, after all, is a witch of the dead — a witch who can commune with ghosts. Ghosts never remember much about their deaths, but Constance might remember something about her life that would help crack the case. But Brynn hasn’t used her powers since her husband died, and isn’t even sure she still can. Brynn will just have to hope that her aunts’ magic and her own investigative skills will lead her to answers — and maybe back to the gift she once thought herself ready to give up forever.
The obvious choices — down this dark alley of crime and mystery…
C. S. E. Cooney Saint Death’s Daughter
This book is much more fantasy than I usually read but it sounded intriguing and so I want to give it a try. Since I’ll obviously not finish ALL the books on this list in the next three months, Cooney’s Saint Death’s Daughter may move on to my winter reading list, but we’ll see 🙂
A brief summary:
Lanie Stones, the daughter of crown-appointed killers, was born with a gift for necromancy — and a literal allergy to violence. For her own safety, she was raised in isolation in a crumbling mansion by the family’s mouldering revenant.
When Lanie’s parents are murdered, she and her psychotic sister Nita must settle their extensive debts or lose their ancestral home. When Liriat’s ruler, too, is murdered, it throws the whole nation’s future into doubt.
Hunted by Liriat’s enemies, terrorised by family ghosts and tortured by a forbidden love for a childhood friend, Lanie will need more than luck to get through the next few months — but when the goddess of Death is on your side, anything is possible.
Katy Hays The Cloisters
While I’m not that deep into Dark Academia at all — though I LOVE the aesthetic — Hays’ The Cloisters indeed sounds promising even to someone like me who couldn’t care less about Donna Tartt’s The Secret History. We’ll see if this one is for me…
A brief synopsis:
Ann Stilwell arrives in New York City, hoping to spend her summer working at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Instead, she is assigned to The Cloisters, a gothic museum and garden renowned for its collection of medieval and Renaissance art.
Drawn into a small circle of charismatic but enigmatic researchers, Ann is happy to indulge some of their more outlandish theories, including the museum’s curator, who is fixated on tarot and the real possibility of predicting the future.
But when Ann discovers a mysterious, once-thought-lost deck of 15th-century Italian tarot cards, she finds herself at the center of a dangerous game of power, toxic friendship, and ambition.
And as the game being played within the Cloisters spirals out of control, Ann must decide who she trusts…
Emma Stonex The Lamplighters
An unsolved mystery inspired by real events? Gimme the tea…! The Lamplighters by Emma Stonex blurs the lines between facts, fiction, and wishful thinking, and deals with the many ways grief stays with us way longer than anyone might think. Perfect for this fall book list.
A brief synopsis:
Cornwall, 1972. Three keepers vanish from a remote lighthouse, miles from the shore. The entrance door is locked from the inside. The clocks have stopped. The Principal Keeper’s weather log describes a mighty storm, but the skies have been clear all week.
What happened to those three men, out on the tower? The heavy sea whispers their names. The tide shifts beneath the swell, drowning ghosts. Can their secrets ever be recovered from the waves?
Twenty years later, the women they left behind are still struggling to move on. Helen, Jenny and Michelle should have been united by the tragedy, but instead it drove them apart. And then a writer approaches them. He wants to give them a chance to tell their side of the story. But only in confronting their darkest fears can the truth begin to surface . . .
Mariana Enriquez Our Share of Night
Oh how I love me some BIG books in the cold time of the year. Mariana Enriquez’ Our Share of Night with its 700+ pages will probably deliver. Being a big fan of Enriquez’ The Dangers of smoking in bed, I’m looking forward to losing myself in this heavy tome — hope I have the patience and stamina to get through it 🙂
A brief synopsis:
His father could find what was lost. His father knew when someone was going to die. His father had talked to him about the dead who rode in on the wind. The dead travel fast.
Gaspar is six years old when the Order first come for him. For years, they have exploited his father’s ability to commune with the dead and the demonic, presiding over macabre rituals where the unwanted and the disappeared are tortured and executed, sacrificed to the Darkness. Now they want a successor. Nothing will stop the Order, nothing is beyond them. Surrounded by horrors, can Gaspar break free?
Peng Shepard The Cartographers
Sounding like the perfect mystery/thriller to bury yourself in on a cold fall evening, Peng Shepard’s The Cartographers is also high on my list — though it might have to wait until after the spooky season. We’ll see what my winter reading list will bring 🙂
A brief synopsis:
Nell Young’s whole life and greatest passion is cartography. Her father, Dr. Daniel Young, is a legend in the field and Nell’s personal hero. But she hasn’t seen or spoken to him ever since he cruelly fired her and destroyed her reputation after an argument over an old, cheap gas station highway map.
But when Dr. Young is found dead in his office at the New York Public Library, with the very same seemingly worthless map hidden in his desk, Nell can’t resist investigating. To her surprise, she soon discovers that the map is incredibly valuable and exceedingly rare. In fact, she may now have the only copy left in existence…because a mysterious collector has been hunting down and destroying every last one—along with anyone who gets in the way.
But why?
To answer that question, Nell embarks on a dangerous journey to reveal a dark family secret and discovers the true power that lies in maps…
Lianne Dillsworth Theatre of Marvels
Victorian England in the late 19th century is one of my favorite time period for historical mysteries and that’s not just because of Jack the Ripper. Countless authors used the time as a backdrop for strong characters and excellent stories, however far they are removed from the reality of this era, especially for women of color. I’m looking forward to finding out what Leanne Dillsworth’s Theatre of Marvels holds in store for me 🙂
A brief synopsis:
Unruly crowds descend on Crillick’s Variety Theatre. A black, British actress, Zillah, is headlining tonight. An orphan from the slums of St Giles, her rise to stardom is her ticket out — to be gawped and gazed at is a price she’s willing to pay.
Rising up the echelons of society is everything Zillah has ever dreamed of. But when a new stage act disappears, Zillah is haunted by a feeling that something is amiss. Is the woman in danger?
Her pursuit of the truth takes her into the underbelly of the city — from gas-lit streets to the sumptuous parlours of Mayfair — as she seeks the help of notorious criminals from her past and finds herself torn between two powerful admirers.
Caught in a labyrinth of dangerous truths, will Zillah face ruin — or will she be the maker of her fate?
Kerri Maniscalco Stalking Jack the Ripper
Speaking of which, Kerri Maiscalco’s Stalking Jack the Ripper is another intriguing mystery set in one of my favorite times and place. Endorsed by James Patterson — at least according to the cover — I’m sure this will be a helluva ride…
A brief synopsis:
Seventeen-year-old Audrey Rose Wadsworth was born a lord’s daughter, with a life of wealth and privilege stretched out before her. But between the social teas and silk dress fittings, she leads a forbidden secret life. Against her stern father’s wishes and society’s expectations, Audrey often slips away to her uncle’s laboratory to study the gruesome practice of forensic medicine.
When her work on a string of savagely killed corpses drags Audrey into the investigation of a serial murderer, her search for answers brings her back to her own sheltered world.
Joel Dicker The Enigma of Room 622
Truth to be told, I found this book because of its prominent cover. Reading the blurb of Joel Dicker’s The Enigma of Room 622 however, I decided it might be more than just some good-looking book and got it for my fall book list. Curious about what awaits me in this complex mystery.
A brief synopsis:
It all starts with an innocuous curiosity: at the Hotel de Verbier, a luxury hotel in the Swiss Alps, there is no Room 622.
This anomaly piques the interest of Joël Dicker, Switzerland’s most famous literary star, who flees to the Verbier to recover from a bad breakup, mourn the death of his publisher, and begin his next novel.
Before he knows it, he’s coaxed out of his slump by a fellow guest, who quickly uncovers the reason behind Room 622’s erasure: an unsolved murder. The attendant circumstances: a love triangle and a power struggle at the heart of Switzerland’s largest private bank, a mysterious counter-intelligence unit known only as P-30, and a shadowy émigré with more money than God.
Benjamin Stevenson Everyone in my Family Has Killed Someone
Who knew that murder could be fun? Well, I do, thanks to countless cozy mysteries and less-than-serious whodunnits I’ve read and listened to over the course of the last few years. Everyone in my family has killed someone by Benjamin Stevenson sounds like a pleasant change after stalking Jack the Ripper and other gory thrillers 🙂
A brief synopsis:
I knew our family reunion wouldn’t end well. But I didn’t expect murder.
Maybe I should have known better. After all, everyone in my family is a killer. My parents, my siblings, my in-laws . . . even me. The deaths weren’t all deliberate, of course. Accidents happen.
So when a body is found in the snow, it’s clear it’s the work of a Cunningham. But which one? And why?
I’ll give you one clue: it wasn’t me.
But a piece of advice? Never trust a Cunningham . . .
Rachel Harrison Black Sheep
What drew me to Benjamin Stevenson’s book above can also be said for Rachel Harrison’s Black Sheep. It sounds like fun, with a bit of mystery and a curious aftertaste. No idea if it will live up to my high hopes, but we’ll find out 🙂
A brief synopsis:
Nobody has a “normal” family, but Vesper Wright’s is truly…something else. Vesper left home at eighteen and never looked back—mostly because she was told that leaving the staunchly religious community she grew up in meant she couldn’t return. But then an envelope arrives on her doorstep.
Inside is an invitation to the wedding of Vesper’s beloved cousin Rosie. It’s to be hosted at the family farm. Have they made an exception to the rule? It wouldn’t be the first time Vesper’s been given special treatment. Is the invite a sweet gesture? An olive branch? A trap? Doesn’t matter. Something inside her insists she go to the wedding. Even if it means returning to the toxic environment she escaped. Even if it means reuniting with her mother, Constance, a former horror film star and forever ice queen.
When Vesper’s homecoming exhumes a terrifying secret, she’s forced to reckon with her family’s beliefs and her own crisis of faith in this deliciously sinister novel that explores the way family ties can bind us as we struggle to find our place in the world.
Helenkay Dimon Morewood Family Rules
Again: This one is a fun read. Googling the author I realized that she’s actually a romance writer, so I’m curious about what awaits me in this one as I’m not much of a romance reader in general. However, Dimon’s Morrewood Family Rules sounds like fun, so I’ll definitely give it a try.
A brief synopsis:
One day a con man met an heiress, wooed her, married her, had two kids…and kept on conning. Jillian Moorewood is the oldest child from that meet-cute-gone-wrong marriage. The stable one. The sensible and dependable one. The one who protects and fixes. The one who went to prison to save their sorry butts. Now, thirty-nine months later, she’s out and she’s more than a little pissed.
Finally home she finds the scheming clan in full family fleecing mode. They all claim they didn’t really agree to Jillian’s previous go-legit-or-else ultimatum before she went away. They viewed it as a “suggestion” then ignored it. So, business as usual. But Jillian is done with the lies and fakery. She demands the whole messed-up crew clean up its act, and this time she’s not kidding—she has the leverage to make it happen.
Problem is, her life is in shambles, but with the help of a great aunt (crooked but loveable), a bodyguard (who is a nice surprise after three years in prison), and a few allies (all working undercover), Jillian starts to put her life back together. She kicks out a few mooching relatives living under her roof, sets limits on everyone’s access to the money, ducks from their various attacks, and sees if that bodyguard is maybe interested in sticking around for a while. For the first time, she’s Jillian Moorewood, her own woman, and she’s ready to figure out who she is.
Juneau Black Shady Hollow
Another participant of the #readmyshelves2023 challenge. Had it for over two years, so I’m more than ready to find out what Juneau Black’s Shady Hollow is all about 🙂
A brief synopsis:
The first book in the Shady Hollow series, in which we are introduced to the village of Shady Hollow, a place where woodland creatures live together in harmony — until a curmudgeonly toad turns up dead and the local reporter has to solve the case.
Reporter Vera Vixen is a relative newcomer to Shady Hollow. The fox has a nose for news, so when she catches wind that the death might be a murder, she resolves to get to the bottom of the case, no matter where it leads. As she stirs up still waters, the fox exposes more than one mystery, and discovers that additional lives are in jeopardy.
Vera finds more to this town than she ever suspected. It seems someone in the Hollow will do anything to keep her from solving the murder, and soon it will take all of Vera’s cunning and quickness to crack the case.
Not-so-obvious choices — heavy topics for cozy times
Kalani Pickhart I will die in a foreign land
After so much gore, mysteries, and fun, this girl needs some serious stuff as well. Kalani Pickhart’s I will die in a foreign land seems perfect to this veteran reader of war literature.
A brief synopsis:
2014 Kyiv, Ukraine. The city is poised on a knife-edge as tensions mount around a corrupt government’s increasing ties to Russia. As protests erupt across the city, the fates of four individuals come together. Katya is a Ukrainian-American doctor stationed at a makeshift medical clinic treating wounded protesters; Misha is an engineer originally from Pripyat, near Chernobyl, grieving the death of his wife; Slava is a fiery young activist whose past hardships steel her determination; Aleksandr Ivanovich, a former KGB agent, climbs atop a burned-out bus at Independence Square and plays the piano.
Georgi Gospodinov Time Shelter
Serious stuff part two. Gospodinov’s Time Shelter is the Booker Prize winner in 2023 and one of Wonderguy’s favorites of this year. Sounds promising and I hope to find out more soon.
A brief synopsis:
In Time Shelter, an enigmatic flâneur named Gaustine opens a ‘clinic for the past’ that offers a promising treatment for Alzheimer’s sufferers: each floor reproduces a decade in minute detail, transporting patients back in time.
As Gaustine’s assistant, the unnamed narrator is tasked with collecting the flotsam and jetsam of the past, from 1960s furniture and 1940s shirt buttons to scents and even afternoon light. But as the rooms become more convincing, an increasing number of healthy people seek out the clinic as a ‘time shelter’, hoping to escape from the horrors of our present – a development that results in an unexpected conundrum when the past begins to invade the present.
Intricately crafted, and eloquently translated by Angela Rodel, Time Shelter cements Georgi Gospodinov’s reputation as one of the indispensable writers of our times, a major voice in international literature.
Lawrence Osborne On Java Road
Another serious topic for this fall books list that might be better read on a gloomy, rainy day that fits the overall mood of Lawrence Osborne’s On Java Road. May move on to the winter reading list, but definitely a soon-to-be-read book 🙂
A brief synopsis:
After twenty years as an ex-pat reporter in Hong Kong, Adrian Gyle has almost nothing to show for it. But now the streets are choked with students demanding democratic freedoms, and the old world is beginning to fall apart.
Adrian’s old friend Jimmy Tang, the scion of a wealthy Hong Kong family, has begun a reckless affair with Rebecca, a leading pro-democracy protestor. But when Rebecca disappears and Jimmy goes to ground, Adrian unearths the familiar old urge to investigate. Pursuing Rebecca’s ghost to Java Road where the city’s dead congregate, Adrian re-assembles her final hours — as he struggles to distinguish between delusion and reality.
Tatiana de Rosnay The House I Loved
I had a bit of a Paris craze earlier this year and purchased several pre-loved books about/set in the city of love. Tatiana de Rosnay’s The House I loved is one of them, and though I’m not sure if I will actually end up reading it in the fall or it might be this winter, it feels like a great story for cozy nights, hot teas, and kitty cuddles.
A brief synopsis:
Paris, 1869. Houses are being razed, whole neighbourhoods reduced to ashes. By order of Emperor Napoleon III, Baron Haussmann has set into motion a series of large-scale renovations that will permanently transform Paris into a modern city.
In the midst of the tumult, one woman will take a stand.
Rose Bazelet is determined to fight against the destruction of her family home until the very end; as others flee, she stakes her claim in the basement of the house on rue Childebert, ignoring the sounds of change that come closer and closer each day. Attempting to overcome the loneliness of her daily life, she begins to write letters to Armand, her late husband. And as Rose delves into her memories, she reveals the secrets held within the walls of her beloved house.
My fall reading list 2023…so far
Fall officially started last Saturday, and one week in I’m already going strong with A Discovery of Witches, which I absolutely LOVE (and forgot that this is actually a series. Will have to discreetly smuggle in books 2 and 3 of the series when I find the time to do so). I’m also about to finish our current book club read, Juno Dawson’s Her Majesty’s Royal Coven, which serves some excellent witchy (though less cozy) fall vibes as well.
While I often follow certain reading moods in fall and winter, this is the first time I plan out my reading for the coming months. Let’s see how well it will work and how far I deviate from my tbr-pile 🙂
Do you have a fall reading list? Any recommendations?
Thanks for stopping by, take care & see you soon 🙂
Edit:
