Autumn is for Reading
No one ever wants to admit it, but Fall really is the best season of the year. The autumn air and painted foliage beckon us back outside to nature with an ameliorated risk of being poached alive in our own skin. The drop in temperature comes with ever shortening days, creating perfect evening hours to sit down with a cuppa and a good book. Many are motivated to dig into their school books at the beginning of a new year. And honestly, any reason to turn off the television and avoid political ads is a good reason. Fall is the launch of peak reading season, and we’ve created an eclectic list of perfect autumnal reads to get you started.
"The Hound of the Baskervilles," by Arthur Conan Doyle.
The legend of the devil-beast that haunts the moors around the Baskerville family's home warns the descendants of that ancient clan never to venture out in those dark hours when the power of evil is exalted. Now, the most recent Baskerville, Sir Charles, is dead and the footprints of a giant hound have been found near his body. Will the new heir meet the same fate?
"Old School," by Tobias Wolff
At one prestigious American public school, the boys like to emphasize their democratic ideals - the only acknowledged snobbery is literary snobbery. Once a term, a big name from the literary world visits and a contest takes place. The boys have to submit a piece of writing and the winner receives a private audience with the visitor. But then it is announced that Hemingway, the boys' hero, is coming to the school. The competition intensifies, and the morals the school and the boys pride themselves on - honor, loyalty and friendship - are crumbling under the strain.
"Lila," Marilynne Robinson
Lila, homeless and alone after years of roaming the countryside, steps inside a small-town Iowa church—the only available shelter from the rain—and ignites a romance and a debate that will reshape her life. She becomes the wife of a minister, John Ames, and begins a new existence while trying to make sense of the days of suffering that preceded her newfound security.
"The Secret History," Donna Tart
Under the influence of their charismatic classics professor, a group of clever, eccentric misfits at an elite New England college discover a way of thinking and living that is a world away from the humdrum existence of their contemporaries. But when they go beyond the boundaries of normal morality they slip gradually from obsession to corruption and betrayal, and at last - inexorably - into evil.
"Dracula," by Bram Stoker
The quintessential horror tale of the powerful, centuries-old vampire follows his bloodthirsty trail from the mountains of Central Europe to England, until the savvy Dr. Van Helsing comes up with a way to end his reign of terror.
"The Hobbit," by J. R. R. Tolkien
Bilbo Baggins, a respectable, well-to-do hobbit, lives comfortably in his hobbit-hole until the day the wandering wizard Gandalf chooses him to take part in an adventure from which he may never return.
"Jane Eyre," by Charlotte Brontë
Orphaned into the household of her Aunt Reed at Gateshead and subject to the cruel regime at Lowood charity school, Jane Eyre nonetheless emerges unbroken in spirit and integrity. She takes up the post of governess at Thornfield, falls in love with Mr. Rochester, and discovers the impediment to their lawful marriage in a story that transcends melodrama to portray a woman's passionate search for a wider and richer life than Victorian society traditionally allowed.
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