With longer nights and wetter days (especially in the UK), autumn is a perfect time to finally pick up and brush off the thin layer of dust that’s settled on the books sitting on our bedside tables. But, in case you’re stuck for what to read and looking for new ideas, here’s what we recommend you add to your reading list.
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Karis’ Picks:
Wuthering Heights – Emily Bronte
My favourite novel and one I love to return to time and again. Emily Bronte’s only novel has inspired songs, such as Kate Bush’s 1979 hit ‘Wuthering Heights’. Set in the 19th century in the Yorkshire Moors, Wuthering Heights tells the tale of Heathcliff and Cathy Earnshaw’s obsessive and destructive love.
Chocolat -Joanne Harris
This was a novel I heard a lot about, but it took me years to finally read it. Once I picked it up, however, I was enchanted. The tale of the nomadic Vianne Rocher and her daughter Anouk, and the fact this novel is set in the south of France, brought back memories of my childhood, parts of which were spent in a similar area of France. With its subtly witchy vibes, it’s the perfect choice for moody autumn, and it’s sequel, The Lollipop Shoes, is also a fantastic and fitting read for this season too.
The Secret History – Donna Tartt
Perhaps most recognisable for dominating our pinterest feeds during dark academia season that is autumn. I first picked up this novel on a whim when I was about 15 or 16, and I quickly devoured the tale of a group of Classics students at an American university trying to live out their own Greek tragedy, with fatal consequences. It’s truly not a spoiler for me to write that the novel opens with a death and that the protagonist and his friends are responsible for the murder. It’s a must read for dark academia lovers, but also those who love thrillers too.
Cher’s Picks:
Angela’s Ashes – Frank McCourt
This Pulitzer-Prize winning memoir is told through the eyes of a child named Frank McCourt. His parents have immigrated to New York in the 1930’s but after having several children they fall into poverty and are forced to return to Ireland to his mother’s family in Limerick. Frank’s stories are quirky and very witting in a laugh out loud way – at times it can be quite dark, touching on poverty, alcoholism and infant death. There are two more books that follow ‘Tis and Teacher Man. Frank McCourt’s memoirs are great reads, with Angela’s Ashes having been adapted into a film (also a great watch).
Underground Time – Delphine De Vigan
Do not expect a glitzy glamorous tale of living life in this great city – this novel, short listed for France’s prestigious Prix Goncourt, is more about real life, like a lot of French books and films. We follow two characters as they struggle through their everyday life in Paris. Mathilde, a mother of two and widow, struggles upon her return to work following the death of her husband, with this book touching on workplace bullying and gaslighting.
Then there is Thibault, a paramedic who spends his days driving across the city to visit the sick which he finds depressing. He is in love with a woman called Lila, but that love is unrequited. Whilst this book can be quite depressing, it’s a good read, elegantly written and you find yourself immersed quickly into the lives of Mathilde and Thibault and rooting for them.
Labyrinth – Kate Mosse
A number one bestseller, this is a fantastic book by a great writer, Kate Mosse (not the model!). Labyrinth is set in two timelines, 1209 and 2005. In 1209 Carcasonne France, a girl, Alais, is given a secret book to protect at all costs by her father, containing the secrets of the true grail. In 2005, an archaeologist named Alice discovers skeletons in a cave in the French Pyrenees, sending her on a quest to uncover who the skeletons were, inevitably revealing more secrets.
If you like mysteries, or books about the Holy Grail and quests, this is the book for you. You are quickly thrown into the story which is what I like and it’s a major page turner – seriously, I couldn’t put it down!
What books are you reading this autumn?
