the fall into books tag | pages & pumpkins

Hello again, dear friends! I hope all is well and if it’s not then I hope brighter days head your way soon! I’ve been feeling unusually autumnal lately, friends. Usually here in the DMV September is still very much summer in terms of weather, but this year a brisk autumn chill swept in all the way back in mid-August (which is usually the hottest month of the year in these here parts)! I guess the shift in the weather hit me at the perfect time, though, because I began to crave autumn as soon as we started getting just slightly chillier temperatures. Which is why, when I came across this tag, The Fall Into Books Tag, created by the booktuber Loch’s Library, I just knew I had to participate! So let’s dilly-dally no longer and get straight to it!

This past August I finished A Dark and Secret Magic by Wallis Kinney and, Y’ALL! It is the perfect cozy, witchy, autumnal book to read during fall! It’s a cross of a cozy fantasy and a contemporary romance and it involves witches and a necromancer and even takes place leading up to Halloween and has the characters doing a ton of autumn activities. It’s so perfect for the season, plus it’s a really fun read, so I’m shocked that it’s not super popular (yet)!!

It’s absolutely a complete tie between The Second Death of Locke by V.L. Bovalino, The Everlasting by Alix E. Harrow, and The Isle in the Silver Sea by Tasha Suri (with an honorable mention going to The Princess Knight by Cait Jacobs), because who among us doesn’t love a good adventure centered around lady knights?! It’s finally the season wherein sword-wielding ladies in armor are apparently popping off, and I can’t deny that I am a major fan of the trend!

How could I not choose A Witch’s Guide to Magical Innkeeping by Sangu Mandanna?! I mean, come on, y’all—it’s the perfect answer to this question! While the cover to Sangu Mandanna’s latest contemporary cozy romantasy isn’t the most autumnal thing I’ve ever seen, it still manages to capture a cozy vibe perfectly! And—bonus!—it’s pink too, which (as you might guess from my blog design) gets it a few extra points as well! Anyhoo, even though this witchy contemporary romance isn’t technically autumn-themed, I can’t wait to read it during the perfect season for witchy-ness (i.e. during autumn)!

This is a tough one, because I’m not a fan of horror or even of thrillers…That said, I do love a good mystery story, and one of my favorites is the Truly Devious series by Maureen Johnson, and I think it’s a perfect read for autumn! I don’t think it’s really quite “dark academia,” but it is set at a very atmospheric, historic school for “gifted teens” with specialized interests. And I’m pretty sure at least two books of the original trilogy take place during fall, if I’m remembering correctly? Anyhoo, Truly Devious is a YA mystery series about an anxious girl detective who attends the aforementioned school for gifted teens with specialized interests and who ends up solving a famous cold case from the 1930s while also solving a mystery in the present timeline as well. Oh, and along the way, lots of hijinks and hilarity ensues, as one might expect, lol!

I think it’d be really fun to go to a fall festival with “the gangsey” from The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater (i.e. Blue, Gansey, Ronan, Adam, and Noah)! I’m sure we’d have a great time—Blue would be helping her family at a fortune telling booth, Gansey would be paging through antique books at a nearby stall, Ronan would be attempting to use Chainsaw to scare kids, Adam would be trying to dissuade Ronan, and Noah and I would be watching it all unfold! Sounds like a great time to me!

There are a couple of special books on my shelves, mainly popular ARCs and signed editions of several books, but I think the one I’m most thankful for is my signed ARC of The Empire of Gold by Shannon Chakraborty. The Daevabad Trilogy is one of my all-time favorite series, so having a relatively rare signed ARC edition of the final book in the trilogy is quite special to me.

Hmmm…I don’t tend to reread books, so I can’t really say which book I’ve read is a true “comfort read,” but I can definitely tell you which genre/subgenre has been very comforting for me to fall into lately: cozy contemporary romantasy! After reading the aforementioned A Dark and Secret Magic, I’ve really realized how calming and comforting this subgenre is. I don’t always feel the most compelled by standard cozy fantasies, but I’ve found that when the author adds in that good romantic tension it just really hits the spot for me!

I’m actually pretty excited for the loose autumn TBR I’ve put together for this year! It’s a good (yet admittedly weird) mix of cozy and intense, lol! The top three books on my list are…

• Rewitched by Lucy Jane Wood I’ve been on a cozy romantasy kick since reading A Dark and Secret Magic, so this book seemed like the obvious next choice.
• A Theory of Dreaming by Ava Reid I adored Reid’s waterlogged, atmospheric YA dark academia, A Study in Drowning, so I was pleasantly surprised to find out she was planning to release a sequel this year. Now that A Theory of Dreaming has been released I definitely want to get to it ASAP!
• The Raven Scholar by Antonio Hodgson Okay, this one I kind of fell into by accident, as I started listening to the audiobook of it on the final day of August. Regardless, now that I’ve started reading it, I can’t seem to stop—it’s ridiculously compelling and intriguing!

I don’t really now how to answer this question, as I think I have a bit of an unfair “advantage,” seeing as I almost exclusively listen to audiobooks (save for when I read graphic novels, comics, and webcomics). The current two audiobooks I’m listening to, though, are The Raven Scholar by Antonia Hodgson and Rewitched by Lucy Jane Wood. I’m really enjoying both so far, and they’re perfect listens for the season!

This year I’m definitely in the mood to savor autumn! For some reason, I’ve been really excited about the season, and there’s so much I’m looking forward to and want to do!!

One thing I already checked off my “Autumn Activities List” and that was so much fun is attending the Maryland Renaissance Festival (which takes place each year from late August through mid October) with a friend. My friend and I somehow miraculously managed to snag tickets to attend for September 1st, and it was the perfect way to kick off autumn! We got all dressed up and everything and had a great time!

But, as for autumnal events and activities that haven’t happened yet and that I’m looking forward to, there are several, including but not limited to…

• Leaves Changing I live in the South/Mid Atlantic in the US, so we only get about three weeks of those gorgeous, fiery leaves that autumn is famous for. That said, I definitely plan on savoring the changing colors this year and taking lots of pictures!
• Cooking & Baking Autumn-Themed Recipes Our oven broke a while back, but our landlords recently purchased a new stove for us, and it should be installed by the end of September. And when we can once again bake things, I’m looking forward to all the yummy autumn baking (and cooking!) that I can finally do!
• Wandering Through Cemeteries I enjoy wandering through cemeteries year-round, but there’s something about autumn that makes it feel like an extra magical activity! This autumn I’m hoping to find a few new local cemeteries that are pretty and that I can frequent.
• Painting Pumpkins I’m terrible at carving pumpkins, BUT! I am willing to attempt painting them! My mom and I recently bought a heap of pumpkins of various sizes and colors, and I’m actually looking forward to painting them this year! I’m even already considering designs I’d like to add to them.
• Picking Apples (Possibly) Much to my horror and disappointment, I’ve never been apple-picking. But I’m hoping this year will be the year that I finally change that! I’d love to go to a local farm with a friend or two (maybe even during a fall festival!) and pick a bunch of apples.
• Fall Fruits & Veggies Being Featured At The Farmers Market I recently started working at a Jamaican food stall at one of my local farmers markets, and it’s been such a blessing, in part because I get a vendor discount at all the other stalls and/or can trade our food for other vendors’ food/flowers/goods. This has given me the opportunity to try out fresh fruit from our local farms and, friends, lemme tell ya: if you’ve never tried farm fresh fruit and veggies, I highly suggest you try it out because it is so much better in every way than grocery store fruit and vegetables! Anyhoo, the local farmers have started switching over to selling their fall harvest fruits and vegetables, like apples (and apple cider!) and pumpkins and squash and all sorts of autumn goodies and I cannot wait to try a bunch of it!!

I expected to adore An Enchantment of Ravens by Margaret Rogerson. After all, it’s got autumn vibes and fae (my favorite magical creature!)! But alas, it was not meant to be! I ended up really hating An Enchantment of Ravens on account of the instalove and deus ex machina involved in the story. If it’s any consolation, though, I loved Rogerson’s sophomore novel (Sorcery of Thorns)…

I’m not a fan of horror in any form, so most of my favorite movies to watch in fall are more on the “spoopy” side and the romantic side. With that in mind, a few of my favorites are…

• Halloweentown This movie was one of my childhood favorites, so it’s got a special place in my heart! There’s just something so lovable about the cozy yet kooky vibe of this Disney Channel Original Movie. I remember wanting to be a witch just like Marnie and her family when I was a little kid.
• The Haunted Mansion This is another childhood favorite of mine. I actually saw this movie in theaters as a kid, and I watched it on repeat for a long time when it was released on DVD! The Haunted Mansion is such a hilarious, fun seasonal watch for the whole family!
• Hocus Pocus A classic! If you’ve yet to watch this film and you’re seeking a spoopy, spooky good time then I highly recommend checking this one out! There are soooooo many hilarious moments and quotes from this movie that I reference with my friends, especially during autumn!
• Practical Magic This film is a bit of an odd one out, as I actually didn’t really enjoy it when I was younger. That said, thinking back on this movie, I feel like I’d actually enjoy it quite a bit as an adult. I’m hoping to watch it this autumn so we shall have to see if my hunch is correct!
• Twilight I have a confession to make: I…was a “Twihard” as a tween/teen. Which is why I’m loving the current “Twilight renaissance” we’re currently seeing! I especially love that The Twilight Saga film franchise has become reframed as “a Halloween movie” 😂😂😂 (I laugh because that’s quite a change from how it was marketed when I was young, but I love the change, lmao!)

What’s on your TBR for this autumn? Do you have any favorite autumnal books, movies, or TV series? What activities and/or events do you look forward to in autumn?

Learn more the author of this post:

Lila @ Hardcover Haven

Lila is a 30 year old anthropology student and lover of literature who's been book blogging for an eternity. Her hobbies include reading, singing, writing, arts and crafts, and snuggling her two cats, Snoopy and Clementine.