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Five autumnal book recs and five on my autumn tbr.

If you, like me, love to read, and if you, like me, tend to time your books to the seasons, I have a handful of book recs for you that I think are just perfect for the autumn season. For me, an autumnal book is a cozy read, usually with an element of fantasy or magic, that would pair well with a rainy day, a thick blanket, and a cup of peppermint tea.


All the books I'm recommending are ones that I've rated either 4 or 5 stars, and three out of five fall under the category of "my favorite books of all time." If you've read any of these, please let me know your thoughts in the comments. I'd love to talk books with you here, or on my booksta @bycecicipullo! When I review, I tend to discuss the characters, pacing and general experience I had while reading a book, so I've included the author's blurbs for each of them, as well, to give you an in depth look at each book's plot.


Let's get into it!


My rating: 5/5

Read: January 2024

Genre: Fantasy, LGBT

Quote: “We should always make time for the things we like. If we don't, we might forget how to be happy.”


Review:

Oh my, this was just so incredibly heartwarming, and jumped to my list of favorite books as soon as I read it. The subtext is magnificent - the reflections of real life told from the pov of this fantasy world are very clear, so it’s not that the subtext is particularly hard to interpret in my opinion, but more so that it speaks on important issues in a very accessible fashion, and that the big picture metaphors for real life were clearly tackled with lots of thought, careful writing and time. The heavier topics covered (including abuse and neglect, among others) were handled with such care and gentleness, while at the same time it did not feel as if the author was shying away from the brutal reality of those issues nor romanticizing any of them, so that was also very refreshing.

Every single one of the main characters is incredibly endearing, especially the kids. I often feel that adults sometimes forget how to write dialogue for children, but Klune really did a wonderful job of that. I was giggling out loud at a lot of the kids’ lines and could easily see a kid saying them in real life. I also enjoyed how different the adult conversations were when they were alone versus with the kids. It felt very authentic the way they flip-flopped between using mature language and philosophizing together to playing and chatting along with the children and their humor. Basically I just loveee realistic dialogue, and Klune does that so well in my opinion!

All in all, it felt whimsical and wonderful and the idea of finding a home in the middle of nowhere reminded me of summer camp, and anything that makes me think of summer camp makes me happy :) The essence of the book in this case is in the love between each member of this adorable found family and at its core the story is just so warm and hopeful and refreshingly real. I had a great time reading this book and didn’t want to put it down. I would happily consume a whole series about this family and their lives. Absolute 5 star vibes. (also, it’s gay!!)


Blurb:

A magical island. A dangerous task. A burning secret.

Linus Baker leads a quiet, solitary life. At forty, he lives in a tiny house with a devious cat and his old records. As a Case Worker at the Department in Charge Of Magical Youth, he spends his days overseeing the well-being of children in government-sanctioned orphanages.

When Linus is unexpectedly summoned by Extremely Upper Management he's given a curious and highly classified assignment: travel to Marsyas Island Orphanage, where six dangerous children reside: a gnome, a sprite, a wyvern, an unidentifiable green blob, a were-Pomeranian, and the Antichrist. Linus must set aside his fears and determine whether or not they’re likely to bring about the end of days.

But the children aren’t the only secret the island keeps. Their caretaker is the charming and enigmatic Arthur Parnassus, who will do anything to keep his wards safe. As Arthur and Linus grow closer, long-held secrets are exposed, and Linus must make a choice: destroy a home or watch the world burn.

An enchanting story, masterfully told, The House in the Cerulean Sea is about the profound experience of discovering an unlikely family in an unexpected place—and realizing that family is yours.


Circe by Madeline Miller

My rating: 4/5

Read: August-September 2023

Genre: Greek Mythology retelling

Quote: “It is a common saying that women are delicate creatures, flowers, eggs, anything that may be crushed in a moment's carelessness. If I had ever believed it, I no longer did.”


Review:

This is another one of my favorite books, and Madeline Miller is my absolute favorite author - I will truly read anything she puts out there. (I mean it. I would happily read her grocery list.) Her writing is so beautiful, and I absolutely loved the experience reading this book. This is definitely for the Greek Mythology nerdianas, so if you're not into mythology or a retelling, I'll be honest and say I probably don't recommend this one for you. However if you ARE into those things, Circe is a MUST! I learned new vocabulary (Miller uses big words!), fell in love with Circe and her story, and learned lots of background on a number of the female characters who show up in Odysseus' journey, whom Homer didn't give a second thought to describing in depth.

I will admit I did not get all of the metaphors Miller used, sometimes I was just like … what :,) but I think it was just a little advanced poetically for me at the time, and I definitely want to do a reread of it on audiobook at some point. Miller pulls you into the writing in such a way that just makes you want to live inside of the book - anytime Circe's island was described it truly pained me that I couldn't see it in real life. This is very pretty literature, feminist to its core and Circe is definitelyyyy Witch Barbie. Also she's just so real. The way she turns men into pigs? Like yeah she is REAL for that. Themes include love, loss, independence, despair, growth, motherhood, survival, among others.


Blurb:

In the house of Helios, god of the sun and mightiest of the Titans, a daughter is born. But Circe is a strange child--neither powerful like her father nor viciously alluring like her mother. Turning to the world of mortals for companionship, she discovers that she does possess power: the power of witchcraft, which can transform rivals into monsters and menace the gods themselves.

Threatened, Zeus banishes her to a deserted island, where she hones her occult craft, tames wild beasts, and crosses paths with many of the most famous figures in all of mythology, including the Minotaur, Daedalus and his doomed son Icarus, the murderous Medea, and, of course, wily Odysseus.

But there is danger, too, for a woman who stands alone, and Circe unwittingly draws the wrath of both men and gods, ultimately finding herself pitted against one of the most terrifying and vengeful of the Olympians. To protect what she loves most, Circe must summon all her strength and choose, once and for all, whether she belongs with the gods she is born from or with the mortals she has come to love.


The Seven Year Slip by Ashley Poston

My rating: 5/5

Read: November 2023

Genre: Romance with light fantasy

Quote: “Nothing lasts forever. Not the good things, not the bad. So just find what makes you happy, and do it for as long as you can.”


Review:

This book was the first romance I found myself unable to put down (and it's the last of my favorite books featured in this post). It was pretty much perfect to me as far as romances go! While set in the summertime, the light fantasy aspect and subjects discussed in this book make it a perfect autumn read for me. First of all, there’s a healthy amount of cheese, in both the arc of the plot and some of the things the characters say, but like it was good cheese. The kind of cheese you expect and WANT in a love story. This book literally felt like reading a romantic comedy movie and who doesn’t love a rom com!

The way Ashley Poston handles the topic of grief is very raw and real, and you can tell she was going through a similar experience in her personal life by the way she writes about loss, which makes the book hit even harder. The characters are all so likable, and I love a story that plays with time, so the fact that this book had a time-travel aspect just elevated it to a whole other level for me.

It was somewhat heavy hitting at the beginning, especially with the dialogue, and there was a little too much repetition in the writing for my taste. However I loved the general aesthetic and the main storyline, and I had such a great time reading the book overall that I didn't feel that the repetition dragged it down. I liked this one more than Poston’s first book, Dead Romantics (also a great autumn read, if you want a ghostly romance), and I’ll definitely be reading all of her future books :,) Poston was the one to turn me into a romance girly because I never thought I’d be one to love a book where the primary plot is the romance (as opposed to the subplot) but something about this book just! hit!!

Themes include grief, second chances, time travel, and love. Definitely check the content warnings on this one before reading.


Blurb:

Sometimes, the worst day of your life happens, and you have to figure out how to live after it.

So Clementine forms a plan to keep her heart safe: work hard, find someone decent to love, and try to remember to chase the moon. The last one is silly and obviously metaphorical, but her aunt always told her that you needed at least one big dream to keep going. And for the last year, that plan has gone off without a hitch. Mostly. The love part is hard because she doesn’t want to get too close to anyone—she isn’t sure her heart can take it.

And then she finds a strange man standing in the kitchen of her late aunt’s apartment. A man with kind eyes and a Southern drawl and a taste for lemon pies. The kind of man that, before it all, she would’ve fallen head-over-heels for. And she might again.

Except, he exists in the past. Seven years ago, to be exact. And she, quite literally, lives seven years in his future.

Her aunt always said the apartment was a pinch in time, a place where moments blended together like watercolors. And Clementine knows that if she lets her heart fall, she’ll be doomed.

After all, love is never a matter of time—but a matter of timing.


My rating: 4/5

Read: October 2023

Genre: Witchy fantasy/romance

Quote: “It’s a leap of faith to love people and let yourself be loved. It’s closing your eyes, stepping off a ledge into nothing, and trusting that you’ll fly rather than fall. I can’t step off the ledge for you. It’s something only you can do.”


Review:

While The Seven Year Slip is a light fantasy romance that simultaneously covers heavy topics like grief and healing, The Very Secret Society is nothing short of an adorable, cozy mystery, with a twist that made me go "hang on...what?"

I’ve read both romances with fantasy subplots and fantasy with romance subplots and this felt like the first book that was exactly 50/50 of both. It focused evenly on the two plots, and I found myself wanting more from both - not in terms of not being satisfied with the ending; more just because I was enjoying the story and didn't want it to end. It had this cozy fall fantasy aesthetic going on, and then was randomly really shocking with the twist at the end that felt totally out of character, but in a silly way that made me giggle.

By the end, I just wanted more adorable, warm, witchy goodness and that’s never a bad way to feel after finishing a book. I think a lot of that is because the characters are literally SO likeable - by the end, I cared about every single one so much. Especially the kids! It was fun to read about a trio a sisters (which I feel like used to be a character archetype used so much and now has kind of been retired), and how their different personalities blended.

I feel like there’s more to develop in the story with the found family dynamic, and really I just want another one about Mika and Jamie to continue learning about their life and see their family and relationship change and grow.

Was this life changing literature? No. But was it fun to read and is it okay if that is all you sometimes want? Absolutely.


Blurb:

As one of the few witches in Britain, Mika Moon knows she has to hide her magic, keep her head down, and stay away from other witches so their powers don't mingle and draw attention. And as an orphan who lost her parents at a young age and was raised by strangers, she's used to being alone and she follows the rules...with one exception: an online account, where she posts videos pretending to be a witch. She thinks no one will take it seriously.

But someone does. An unexpected message arrives, begging her to travel to the remote and mysterious Nowhere House to teach three young witches how to control their magic. It breaks all of the rules, but Mika goes anyway, and is immediately tangled up in the lives and secrets of not only her three charges, but also an absent archaeologist, a retired actor, two long-suffering caretakers, and...Jamie. The handsome and prickly librarian of Nowhere House would do anything to protect the children, and as far as he's concerned, a stranger like Mika is a threat. An irritatingly appealing threat.

As Mika begins to find her place at Nowhere House, the thought of belonging somewhere begins to feel like a real possibility. But magic isn't the only danger in the world, and when a threat comes knocking at their door, Mika will need to decide whether to risk everything to protect a found family she didn't know she was looking for....


Red, White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston

My rating: 5/5

Read: June 2024

Genre: Contemporary romance, LGBT

Quote: " 'You are,' he says, 'the absolute worst idea I've ever had.' "


Review:

The title is a jump scare but don’t let that stop you because this book is truly adorable and I really enjoyed it !! If you're a fan of romance, this is a must read, especially with this particular election coming up. Maybe I’ve just been extra emotional lately but it did make me cry multiple times, especially when it came to the alternate reality of a woman of color winning the 2016 election instead of he-who-shall-not-be-named. Ellen’s presidency as a whole just made me incredibly emotional and proud, even though it was fictional, as well as angry that it has not been a reality yet and simultaneously hopeful that it may still happen in our lifetime. While the romance is definitely the focal point, the story also made me think about how real world politics were reflected in this book, and how we as people can move forward from where we are now.

I thought the characters was well developed, described and easy to picture, and I found the core crew each to be so likable in their own way. I was never bored or itching to see any other characters than whoever was being featured at any given time, since I truly enjoyed hearing about all of them/bearing witness to each groups of characters unique relationships. I thought Alex’s arc was very well done, the adult characters were crafted masterfully and each added so much to the story, and I neeeed to hang out with June & Pez. Also, naturally adored the descriptions of England bc like…england <333

One of my favorite parts was the inclusion of quotes from old queer letters. On the one hand, it was romantic and cute, so well within the genre of the story, and on the other I appreciated that McQuiston includes often-forgotten evidence that queer people have always been here. I still find that many readers tend to scoff at romances, but in this book McQuiston shows that romance stories can be as well rounded and educational as any other fictional genre.


Blurb:

First Son Alex Claremont-Diaz is the closest thing to a prince this side of the Atlantic. With his intrepid sister and the Veep’s genius granddaughter, they’re the White House Trio, a beautiful millennial marketing strategy for his mother, President Ellen Claremont. International socialite duties do have downsides—namely, when photos of a confrontation with his longtime nemesis Prince Henry at a royal wedding leak to the tabloids and threaten American/British relations. The plan for damage control: staging a fake friendship between the First Son and the Prince.

As President Claremont kicks off her reelection bid, Alex finds himself hurtling into a secret relationship with Henry that could derail the campaign and upend two nations. What is worth the sacrifice? How do you do all the good you can do? And, most importantly, how will history remember you?


There you go! Five books that I would recommend for autumn reading - which I realized while writing are mainly romances, but I guess that is the genre that screams "cozy" to me. If you want to read new books along with me, here are five books on my autumn to-be-read list:


Belladonna by Adalyn Grace (Gothic Fantasy)

A Novel Love Story by Ashley Poston (Romance with light fantasy)

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas (High Fantasy)

The Word Is Murder by Anthony Horowitz (Murder Mystery)

Book Lovers by Emily Henry (Romance)


Please let me know if you read any of these, and as always, here's a music rec for you that I've been listening to recently: "Pain Is Cold Water - Live From Fenway Park" by Noah Kahan. Literally his mind.


Until next time,

Cheech <3

 
 
 
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