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It’s easy to get excited for fall, beyond just anticipating the hopeful downturn of summer’s scorching temperatures. Autumn is a time for all things cozy, including movie marathons, crackling fires, homemade cookies, and nights spent nestled under a fuzzy blanket—which makes the season absolutely perfect for reading a new book, or two, or more. If you’re looking for a read that feels like fall, need a recommendation for your book club, or want an audiobook to leisurely enjoy, look no further.
We’ve rounded up the 15 coziest, magical, most autumnal books to put on your reading list, including lighthearted mysteries, small-town romances, and spooky classics.
The Unmaking of June Farrow
Amazon
In the small mountain town of Jasper, North Carolina, a young woman tries to solve her mother’s disappearance and end a centuries-old family curse. With a touch of mystery, romance, and North Carolina small-town charm, this makes for a slightly magical—literally—read.
The Secret History
Amazon
The setting of this Dark Academia book—imagine a remote college town in Vermont bursting in fall foliage—is enough alone to snuggle up with by a fire. It follows a group of clever, eccentric misfits under the influence of their charismatic classics professor.
Magic Lessons
Amazon
As if a prequel to Practical Magic needs any more convincing to cozy up with—this prequel novel is autumn incarnate. It traces the familiar centuries-old curse to its source: the original matriarch of the Owens women featured in Practical Magic.
First Lie Wins
Amazon
This thriller centers around a nice Southern girl that seems to have everything—except she doesn’t actually exist and it’s all a ruse. Now, what happens next? Grab your comfiest blanket.
The Pumpkin Spice Café
Amazon
If you couldn’t tell from the title and cover, this book is autumn contained in just shy of 300 pages. It’s as if Gilmore Girls was perpetually set in fall, except with a bit of cozy mystery and sweet, small-town romance.
Jane Eyre
Amazon
This Gothic classic makes you long for country estates and roaring fires, except you can be drawn into the haunting aspect of Thornfield Hall, which is full of secrets and feels a little bit haunted. The prose is lyrically thoughtful, and the story is ever-intriguing and just macabre enough to give off autumn vibes.
The Seven Year Slip
Amazon
A book publicist finds herself accidentally living with—and falling for—someone who’s actually living seven years in the past. Sound confusing? Sure, but just wait until you’re hooked on the unlikely story unfolding in a seemingly magical apartment.
To Kill a Mockingbird
Amazon
While we’d argue there is no bad season to read this Southern classic set in a sleepy small town, it has nostalgic, heart-tugging qualities that make it a cozy fall read to revisit—or discover for the first time. (Fittingly, it, of course, also has a character named “Boo.”)
The Dead Romantics
Amazon
The main character, a love-adverse ghost writer for romance books, returns to her Southern hometown after ten years away. There might be a ghost, there might be some complicated “coming home” feelings, and there is certainly enough going on to keep you turning pages.
The Hound of the Baskervilles
Amazon
Even those who prefer more modern reads can be easily drawn into this spooky mystery that happens to also be an acclaimed work. It’s a tale of an ancient curse and a ghostly hound that comes frighteningly to life.
Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder
Amazon
A delightfully unserious mystery—and part of a loosely connected series if you fancy—this novel centers around a dessert-baking, red-haired heroine that gets drawn into solving a murder that starts with chocolate chip cookies. In short, it’s a sweet, albeit a touch silly escape.
The Women
Amazon
While this lauded historical fiction isn’t nestled amongst fall foliage necessarily, there’s something enchanting about being whisked back in time and made privy to deep friendship bonds between women—and a brave heroine to remember.
Wuthering Heights
Amazon
There’s no better time than autumn to revisit this moody classic set amongst the hazy moors of Yorkshire. The scenery alone makes you want to snuggle beneath a blanket with a mug of tea, and the heartbreaking love between Catherine and Heathcliff leaves you thinking about it.
The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches
Amazon
If there’s ever a time to pick up a whimsical, witchy novel, it’s during the fall. The coziest part about this quick-reading fiction isn’t the magic, but rather the found family that the main character forges along the way.
Little Women
Amazon
The bonds of the four March sisters and their mother are at the heart of this classic novel, which unfolds the courses of their lives and imaginations across Civil War-era Massachusetts. Read this during the fall—the family bonds will make you excited for the holiday season to come.