Autumn is my favorite season. I love the cool mornings and the chill in the breeze. I love the sunsets that I’m not too exhausted to watch. I love hot tea, hot cider, hot cocoa. I love baking, and the slow-cook meals that require the oven to be on for hours.

            Part of those cozy, snuggled down into an over-stuffed chair feelings is having the perfect book to pair with the fuzzy socks and comfy pants. Here is what I’m reading and looking forward to this season.

 Literary Fiction:

THE WATER DANCER by Ta-Nehesi Coates

I just finished this book and it was marvelous. Set in the antebellum Virginia, it is another magical realism spin on the Underground Railroad. I do think that magical realism is the only way to explore such a horrific topic, as otherwise, it robs us of hope. One of the things that sets this novel apart from others is that this male narrator, Hiram, is able to honor and understand that women around him have their own set of horrors to go through. I can’t remember reading another novel that had both a male narrator and male author that gave the female characters such well-rounded and deft touches. Highly, highly, highly recommend.

Memoir:

BORN A CRIME by Trevor Noah

Daily Show news anchor, Trevor Noah has a funny, poignant memoir of growing up in South Africa under Apartheid. There are so many aspects of this narrative that are fascinating, from the racial classifications that seem bizarre to Americans, to the “Tower of Babel” (as Noah calls it) variety of languages spoken by the people of South Africa. I highly recommend it for both a laugh and an education.

THE INTERESTING LIFE OF OLAUDAH EQUIANO by Olaudah Equiano

This memoir was first published 1789 in London. This is part research for me, but also just interest. Equiano was a leading voice in the lives of Black Britons at the time, and of course, a huge advocate for the abolishment of slavery. Bonus, it’s in the public domain, so you can download it for free.

 Historical Romance:

CHASING CASSANDRA by Lisa Kleypas

The final novel in the Ravenels series, which came out earlier this year. This ends the Ravenels, following the last daughter, Cassandra, twin to Pandora. The hero is alphahole Tom Severin, who has been built up over the series to be an unscrupulous, amoral—but fun to be around—railroad magnate. He has been generous with the Ravenel family when it was required, but also tried to swindle them out of mineral rights on their own land. He’s a complicated guy, who thinks feelings get in the way. Cassandra is the “other” twin. The one who isn’t quirky and loud. Now that her sister has up and married, who can she be without her?

THE DUKE I TEMPTED by Scarlett Peckham

The first in the Secrets of Charlotte Street series, I’ve been meaning to read this since I read THE RAKESS earlier this year. Scarlett Peckham released this book as an indie author, then got picked up by Avon to release THE RAKESS. Peckham has shown her characters to be umabashedly forward, ardently feminist, and take-no-prisoners. I’ve been saving this read as a big reward.

 Historical Horror:

MEXICAN GOTHIC by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Set in 1950s Mexico, the protagonist, Noemi, receives a letter from her cousin, begging for help. Noemi heads out to the countryside to a house called High Place, unsure of what she will find there. Billed as a horror read, paranormal, and Bronte-meets-Lovecraft, it seems like it will be the perfect October read.