A curated list of novels (and a few extras) to match the shifting seasons — from cozy classics to hauntingly gothic reads. Perfect with tea, blankets, and crisp evenings.
Sections
4
Cosy comfort reads ☕
Magical autumn nights 🌜
dark academia and gothic 🕯️
bonus picks ✨
Cosy comfort reads ☕
Wholesome, heartwarming, and full of nature's beauty - perfect to welcome the first amber leaves!
Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery | Waterstones
A nostalgic, comforting story of sisterhood and change.
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, Elaine Showalter | Waterstones
autumnal, bittersweet, and reflective. pair with an early grey tea.
Persuasion by Jane Austen | Waterstones
Epistolary, charming, and heart-warming - perfect for cosy evenings
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
Magical autumn nights 🌜
a glittering, whimsical circus that only appears at night
The Night Circus a book by Erin Morgenstern.
witchy, cosy, and tinged with bittersweet romance - perfect for an october evening
Practical Magic: The Beloved Novel of Love, Friendship, Sisterhood and Magic a book by Alice Hoffman.
folklore, magic, and a winter slowly approaching
The Bear and The Nightingale by Katherine Arden | Waterstones
darkly whimsical, eerie yet enchanting
Coraline by Neil Gaiman, Chris Riddell | Waterstones
dark academia and gothic 🕯️
the quintessential dark academia novel
The Secret History by Donna Tartt | Waterstones
translation, colonialism, and academia, wrapped in oxford's golden autumn setting
Babel: Or the Necessity of Violence: an Arcane History of the Oxford Translators’ Revolution a book by R.F. Kuang.
haunting, suspenseful, and atmospheric
Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier | Waterstones
gothic and romantic, with lonely manors and autumn winds
Jane Eyre a book by Charlotte Bronte and Stevie Davies.
bonus picks ✨
stunning poetry that captures autumn moods perfectly
My Life Had Stood a Loaded Gun by Emily Dickinson | Waterstones
a collection of short ghost stories
Ghostly by Audrey Niffenegger | Waterstones
a dark carnival story filled with october nostalgia
Something Wicked This Way Comes a book by Ray Bradbury.
a classic american gothic short story
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Other Ghostly Tales by Washington Irving | Waterstones
