After catching up on my 2024 reading list so far, I thought I would share with you my fall-to-be-read list. Do not get me wrong, there are plenty of chances I won’t get to read all of it, but prefer having it on the chunkier side so that you may get as much inspiration as possible. Also, I have never been a Summer type of girl, and more of a cozy season person; this tends to explain why I go all in for the fall. Let’s be honest: I have been drinking my pumpkin spice lattes since September and loving it!
I will mostly give you Goodreads summaries for part one, as I have not yet read the books, and look forward to telling you more once I have read them. In part two, you will have my thoughts on my recommended back list titles, so that you have as much choice as possible here! ♡
I- To-be-read list
Madam, Phoebe Wynne
Dark Academia
Goodreads summary:
For 150 years, high above rocky Scottish cliffs, Caldonbrae Hall has sat untouched, a beacon of excellence in an old ancestral castle. A boarding school for girls, it promises that the young women lucky enough to be admitted will emerge “resilient and ready to serve society.”
Into its illustrious midst steps Rose Christie: a 26-year-old Classics teacher, Caldonbrae’s new head of the department, and the first hire for the school in over a decade. At first, Rose is overwhelmed to be invited into this institution, whose prestige is unrivaled. But she quickly discovers that behind the school’s elitist veneer lies an impenetrable, starkly traditional culture that she struggles to reconcile with her modernist beliefs—not to mention her commitment to educating “girls for the future.” It also doesn’t take long for Rose to suspect that there’s more to the secret circumstances surrounding the abrupt departure of her predecessor—a woman whose ghost lingers everywhere—than anyone is willing to let on. In her search for this mysterious former teacher, Rose instead uncovers the darkness that beats at the heart of Caldonbrae, forcing her to confront the true extent of the school’s nefarious purpose, and her own role in perpetuating it.
Candy Corn murder, Leslie Meier
Cosy mystery
Goodreads summary:
Halloween is coming to Tinker’s Cove, Maine, and local reporter Lucy Stone is covering the town’s annual Giant Pumpkin Fest for the Pennysaver . There’s the pumpkin-boat regatta, the children’s Halloween party, the pumpkin weigh-in…even a contest where home-built catapults hurl pumpkins at an old Dodge! But not everything goes quite as planned… Lucy’s getting very annoyed that her husband Bill and his friend Evan have been working seemingly nonstop on their potentially prize-winning pumpkin catapult. But when the day of the big contest arrives, Evan is nowhere to be found…until a catapulted pumpkin busts open the trunk of the Dodge. Amid the pumpkin gore is a very deceased Evan, bashed in the head and placed in the trunk by someone long before the contest started. Bill is on the hook for the Halloween homicide—he was the last one to see Evan—so Lucy knows she’s got some serious sleuthing to do. The crime’s trail seems to always circle back to Country Cousins, the town’s once-quaint general store that’s now become a big Internet player. Though the store’s founder, Old Sam Miller, is long gone, his son Tom and grandson Trey now run the hugely successful company. But whispered rumors say things aren’t going well, and Lucy finds that this case may have something to do with an unsolved, decades-old Miller family mystery… With each new lead pointing her in a different direction, Lucy sees that time is quickly running out. If she wants to spook the real killer, she’ll have to step into an old ghost story…
[FR] L’Académie des Sombres Méléfices, Ariane Guézouli
City of Ghosts (Cassidy Blake series), Victoria Schwab
Middle Grade, Spooky
Goodreads summary:
From number-one New York Times bestselling author Victoria Schwab comes a sweeping, spooky, evocative adventure, perfect for fans of Stranger Things and Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children.
Ever since Cass almost drowned (okay, she did drown, but she doesn’t like to think about it), she can pull back the Veil that separates the living from the dead…and enter the world of spirits. Her best friend is even a ghost.
So things are already pretty strange. But they’re about to get much stranger…
Harry Potter series
Middle Grade, Young Adult, Fantasy
I most likely do not need to give you a summary here but, clearly, let me tell you this will be a good time if you have never read them (I am talking to you all, watching the movies but not daring reading the books!). The fall season is somehow my favorite Harry Potter season, though you are talking to a girl with a Felix Felicis tattoo, so…
Rewitched, Lucy jane Woods
Cosy, slow-burn romance
Goodreads summary:
Belladonna Blackthorn hasn’t lost her magical spark . . . but she hasn’t seen it in a while, either.
Balancing work at her beloved Lunar Books with protecting it from her toxic boss, who’s running it into the ground, and all the while concealing her witchcraft from the non-wicches around her – Belle is burnt out. Perfecting the potential of her magic is the last thing on her mind.
But when her 30th birthday brings a summons from her coven, and a trial that tests her worthiness as a witch, Belle risks losing her magic forever. With the month of October to fix things, and signs that dark forces may be working against her, Belle will need all the help she can get – from the women in her life, from an unlikely mentor figure, and even an (infuriatingly handsome) watchman who’s sworn to protect her . . .
Potions and Proposals, Kate Callaghan
Halloween, romance
Goodreads summary:
In the mystical town of Foxford, tenacious translator Lucinda Hawthorne is on the brink of assuming the prestigious role of High Priestess. However, fate has a mischievous twist in store for her: an unexpected coven gathering reveals that her lifelong nemesis, Benedict Matherson, is also nominated for the esteemed position. They are presented with a grave ultimatum: either become magically bound to one another on All Hallows’ Eve… or risk a fateful vote that could strip them of everything.
Both fiercely independent and driven by their unwavering desires to lead, Lucinda and Benedict reluctantly agree to the binding ritual. Unfortunately, the spell Lucinda’s family casts to thwart the coven’s plot misfires with surprising consequences, and the pair find themselves magically intertwined in ways they never could have foreseen.
With the shadow of All Hallows’ Eve looming over them, the veil between love and hate blurs. Could it be that amidst their rivalry, they will unearth a hidden longing to remain united? Together, they must confront their demons and discover whether they truly desire to be parted after all.
An Education in Malice, S.T. Gibson
Dark Academia
Goodreads summary:
Deep in the forgotten hills of Massachusetts stands Saint Perpetua’s College. Isolated and ancient, it is not a place for timid girls. Here, secrets are currency, ambition is lifeblood, and strange ceremonies welcome students into the fold.
On her first day of class, Laura Sheridan is thrust into an intense academic rivalry with the beautiful and enigmatic Carmilla. Together, they are drawn into the confidence of their demanding poetry professor, De Lafontaine, who holds her own dark obsession with Carmilla.
But as their rivalry blossoms into something far more delicious, Laura must confront her own strange hungers. Tangled in a sinister game of politics, bloodthirsty professors and dark magic, Laura and Carmilla must decide how much they are willing to sacrifice in their ruthless pursuit of knowledge.
The Library of Shadows, Rachel Moore
Dark Academia, Romance
Goodreads summary:
Radcliffe Prep. The third most haunted school in the country, where a student disappearance isn’t uncommon and no one dares stay in the library after dark. And Este Logano enrolls with the hopes of finding her dead father.
Not literally, of course. She doesn’t believe in ghosts. Going to her dad’s school just seems like her best hope at figuring out who he was.
But then Este meets Mateo, who is maybe—probably—definitely—a real ghost. And an annoying one at that.
When Mateo frames Este for the theft of a rare book from the library’s secret spire and then vanishes, Este will have to track him down or risk being expelled and leaving Radcliffe early just like her father did.
Except following her father’s footsteps might be more dangerous than Este ever anticipated. As she investigates the library with its secret passageways, hidden tunnels, and haunted halls, she learns that the student disappearances aren’t just myth. And if she isn’t careful, she’ll be next.
II- Fall back list titles I have enjoyed in September you might like too
The Wishkeeper’s Apprentice, Rachel Chivers Khoo ☆☆☆☆
This is THE Middle Grade you need but do not know you do. Rather short, full of humour and definitely changing from your basic witches and vampires (thought we love them). Being a “wishkeeper” is quite a novelty, is not it?
Bookshops & Bonedust, Travis Baldree ☆☆☆☆☆
If you have loved Legends and Lattes, you may love the prequel even more. At least, this is my case. Following the first adventures of Viv and her blooming love for books was exactly what I needed this month.
The Paris Apartment, Lucy Foley☆☆☆☆☆
This is one of the most fast-paces, surprising and entertaining mysteries I have read. Imagine entering the (overly?) expensive building in which your brother lives, but not finding him anywhere? And imagine all the neighbours there somehow seem to hide something from you? This is exactly what happens to Jess, and let me tell you that the play on many perspectives in each chapter makes the whole mystery extremely engaging. This is the kind of book you won’t want to put down, and I highly recommend the audio version for even more immersion!
The Hatmakers (series), Tamzin Merchant ☆☆☆☆☆
This series is one of the cosiest Middle Grade series I have read; we follow the adventures of Cordelia and her friends, in a world in which magicians are a little bit different from our usual witches and sorcerers. In the world, those of make clothes are the one ho make magic: hats which make you a better speaker, boots which make you a good dancer… This is the kind of magic you need in your life this fall (and the entertaining mystery in there is worth a read, trust me)!
Shades of Magic, Victoria Schwab ☆☆☆☆
Maybe we do not it to present this series one more time; but if you are like me, you may have slep in a cave somehow the past years and know close to nothing about it. So let’s imagine for a second that there are different London. Yes, you have heard me right – and let’s imagine a power to travel in-between these spaces exists. Then, you have the beginning of a fast-paces, surprising story across worlds that you will want to read again and again: welcome to Shades of magic.
A Tempest of Tea, Hafsah Faizal ☆☆☆
I am not the biggest advocate for this book, thought I have kind of liked it. I think it could have been a little bit more searched-through, though I think it is a me-opinion and deserves a read. I have particularly loved the idea of a tea salon that turns into a blood bar at night… quite the concept, right?
Vampyria (series), Victor Dixen ☆☆☆☆☆
I could go on and on about this series, no doubt one of my favorite ones. Imagine the world is not exactly what we live in, and Kind Louis XIV has been transmuted into a vampire centuries ago, never stopping his reign over France and, more widely here, on the world? This is exactly the starting point of the story, in which we follow the adventures of a Versailles and beyond, in a fast-paced world that will make you want to never quit your book. The good news is that you even have two different Vampyria series, enough to satisfy your curiosity for sure…
Miss Percy’s Pocket Guide to the Care and Feeding of British Dragons, Quenby Olson ☆☆☆☆
This is one of the cosiest books you can imagine. It would be, I think, the cup of tea (no pun intended) of my Legends and Lattes fans. Imagine you have an inheritance going on, and rather than getting the usual, you inherit.. an egg! And not any egg: a dragon egg… This is why happens to Miss Percy, whom we see evolve into a new, more confident woman through the pages. The book is extremely fun, the narrator extraordinarily witty – if you want a good time with a cup of a tea and blanket, I highly recommend!
The English-speaking Frenchie 