Autumn Reads

A sure fire way to become one of my best friends.
Step One - Gift me with books (and tea!)
Step Two - Write in the book; a quote, a meaningful message, a funny anecdote. Nothing warms my heart in quite the same way, as opening an old book and finding these little mementos.

So I'm here to share with you, my autumnal book reads. There are five books I plan to get through specifically in the months of September and October.
They're books that have been carefully selected by myself, to most fit the season.

Autumn is my favourite time of year - and winter is my second, so this time of year, is the best!
Red crunchy leaves underfoot, warm knitted scarves, thick jumpers, chai tea, pumpkin lattes, candlelight, halloween, the onset of frost, crisp grass, and reading...lots of reading.

First,

LOST by Gregory Maguire

'Winifred Rudge, a bemused writer struggling to get beyond the runaway success of her mass-market astrology book, travels to London to jump-start her new novel about a woman who is being haunted by the ghost of Jack the Ripper. Upon her arrival, she finds that her stepcousin and old friend John Comestor has disappeared, and a ghostly presence seems to have taken over his apartment in the nineteenth-century rowhouse once owned by Winnie's great-great-grandfather. Is it the spirit of this ancestor, who, family legend claims, was Charles Dickens's childhood inspiration for Ebenezer Scrooge? Could it be the ghostly remains of Jack the Ripper? Or a phantasm derived from a more arcane and insidious origin?'

Victorian London? Ghosts? Jack The Ripper? This book has mixed reviews, but I'm excited to give it a go. It's been on my bookshelf for years now. The forgotten book by the author of the infamous 'Wicked'.
The cover's quite spooky looking, and I'm hoping it'll be perfect for this build up to halloween.

HERETIC by Sarah Singleton

'When Elizabeth finds a green-tinged creature in the woods, she is amazed to discover it is actually a girl of her own age. Isabella has spent the last 300 years hiding from persecutors who accused her of being the daughter of a witch. Elizabeth has her own persecutors to face and the net is closing in.'

Fae and Witches. Old abandoned buildings. Protestant and Catholic War. This book is much shorter than all the others I plan to read, but I'm excited for some good horror here. Finding out about the Shadowlands and Crow People who've been protecting Isabella for those 300 years. This book was recommended to me by a friend, along with Singletons other book 'Century'. Heretic found it's way home with me first, so this is where I shall start.

THE ASSASSINS BLADE by Sarah J Mass

'Celaena Sardothien is Adarlan's most feared assassin. As part of the Assassin's Guild, her allegiance is to her master, Arobynn Hamel, yet Celaena listens to no one and trusts only her fellow killer-for-hire, Sam. In these action-packed novellas - together in one edition for the first time - Celaena embarks on five daring missions. They take her from remote islands to hostile deserts, where she fights to liberate slaves and seeks to avenge the tyrannous. But she is acting against Arobynn's orders and could suffer an unimaginable punishment for such treachery. Will Celaena ever be truly free? Explore the dark underworld of this kick-ass heroine to find out.'

I've read the first two books in the assassin trilogy, and this is a book of prequel stories for the main character Celaena. I'm excited to finish the trilogy, but am also excited to learn even more backstory through this shorter stories collection. This isn't exactly spooky or autumn-esque. But I finally got my hands on it, and am desperate to curl up with it.

THE SECRET OF CRICKLEY HALL by James Herbert

'The Secret of Crickley Hall is a new take on the classic ghost story in the same way that his bestseller Once was a new take on the classic fairy tale. The Secret of Crickley Hall is set in a childrens home in a coastal town in England. Some of the children are persecuted by the people who run the home and have found places between the floors and walls of the home to avoid the adults. They can also spy, of course. One day there is a flash flood which sweeps through the town and the childrens home. All the children escape, except the kids in the walls and floors, who drown. They come back as ghosts and seek their revenge.'

This is a book I read every Autumn! It is the only horror book that has ever left me quaking under my duvet, scared to poke out my head. An amazing amazing, very atmospheric ghost story. Lots of twists and turns - written in a brilliantly descriptive manner by master of horror James Herbert. I cannot recommend this as a Halloween book read enough. If you haven't read it yet, do it! 

WARM BODIES by Isaac Marion

'R' is a zombie. He has no name, no memories and no pulse, but he has dreams. He is a little different from his fellow Dead.
Amongst the ruins of an abandoned city, R meets a girl. Her name is Julie and she is the opposite of everything he knows - warm and bright and very much alive, she is a blast of colour in a dreary grey landscape. For reasons he can't understand, R chooses to save Julie instead of eating her, and a tense yet strangely tender relationship begins.
This has never happened before. It breaks the rules and defies logic, but R is no longer content with life in the grave. He wants to breathe again, he wants to live, and Julie wants to help him. But their grim, rotting world won't be changed without a fight...'

I have seen the movie adaption of this book, so I know how it's going to end. But watching the film, made me more curious as to how it was going to translate onto the page. I don't read many zombie novels...in fact I think this might be only the third zombie apocolypse type book I'll have ever read. They just aren't my 'thing'. That said, I'm hoping to really enjoy this...it's another short one I can hopefully get through pretty fast to make room for more books :)

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Have you got any halloween books you read every year?

Any books set in Autumn, that you can recommend?

Let me know I'm always looking for new reading material!

Happy reading beauts.

xoxo