Top Ten (Well, Technically Fifteen) Tuesday: Books on my Autumn 2020 TBR

 

"Top Ten Tuesday" is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl!

I think we can all agree that Summer 2020 has been, holistically, a bit of a bummer. 

Covid-19 is still raging across the country, family vacations were constrained by restrictions and safety nets, the West Coast was choked by smoke for weeks on end, and while my Sungold cherry tomatoes gave off enough good fruit to be turned into a champagne vinegar- and brown sugar-based jam this afternoon, my Pineapple Beefsteak Heirlooms never even managed to fully ripen before a major rainstorm swept through and split all of their skins. 

Really, I think, we've all been waiting for Fall. Cozy sweaters, festive candles, the shaky, hap-hazard return of cable reality television programming! And, of course, plenty of time to sit back on a drizzly, grey afternoon, and read a good book. 

Full disclosure: due to a mix of a busy summer schedule and depression, I've not finished anything in three weeks, and fell seriously short of my goals for Summer (but more on that in a future post). So, are the fifteen books on this list born from a surge of hope towards a healthier, more mentally-balanced Autumn? Or is my brain just unconsciously trying to make up the deficit for the eight books behind I am on my Goodreads Challenge? 

All I know, is that I'm a girl who's only a mug of hot chocolate, slice of pumpkin loaf, and a sub-60-degree afternoon away from a good reading time. And as of today, Fall is officially here! 

SEPTEMBER

Back to school time! While we are rapidly approaching the end of September, I'm hoping to pack in at a few titles into my reading schedule before we shift over to the requisite creep-tastic vibes of October. 

1. Paperback Crush: the Totally Radical History of '80s and '90s Teen Fiction, Gabrielle Moss

Nothing feels more appropriate for back-to-school season than this pick, a bright, retro coffee-table-style paperback about the advent of the YA publishing category. (Originally, this book came based on a recommendation for those who enjoy the SSR  - Sh*t She Read - Podcast, which throws back to some of the books that dominated the youth of current Millenials.) Most excited for the chapter on R. L. Stine's Fear Street, honestly. 

2. Born for This: How to Find the Work You Were Meant to Do, Chris Guillebeau

Like many young people (and old people, and middle-aged people) in the United States right now, I am currently unemployed. It's a huge bummer, and it's doing a really effective hit job on my sense of purpose and identity. To combat this, I challenged myself to a bit of a "Self Help September," and have been trying to pick up a few titles that really instill a bit of hope and positve habits into my brain. 

3. The Well of Lost Plots (Thursday Next #3), Jasper Fforde

When in doubt, go back to old favorites! I had a great time rereading the first two installments in this fun, unexpected series earlier this Spring when things began to shut down, and I'd love to spend more time with Thursday this Fall, too. 

4. The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie (Flavia de Luce #1), Alan Bradley

I started this one earlier this summer, but only made my way about 50 pages into it before I had to put it down for something else. I'd love to go back and finish it, as a mystery starring a plucky eleven-year-old actually totally fits the mood right now. 

5. The Shadow of the Wind (The Cemetery of Forgotten Books #1), Carlos Ruiz Zafon

A modern standard for those book lovers who love reading books about loving books and reading them, I haven't picked this one up since my Freshman year of college. However, I had more than one friend unexpectedly love it just this past Fall, and have been feeling a hankering to reread ever since. 

OCTOBER

It's time to get spooky-ooky-ooky! But in between runs to the grocery store for more canned pumpkin and red food coloring, or bouts of watching old Goosebumps episodes on Netflix, I've got to have something to read... 

6. Our Dark Duet (Savage Song #2), Victoria Schwab

I keep trying to recommend V. E. Schwab books to my brother, before I'm forced to confront a painful fact: while I own all of the books in the Darker Shade of Magic series, the Monsters of Verity duology, and both Vicious and Vengeful, technically speaking, I have only read the first book of each series. (I know, I'm a monster.) So I figure I have to actually get around to reading them all at some point, if only to pass my little bro some good reading material. 

7. You Should Have Left, Daniel Kehlman

Impulsively, I tacked this book onto a major Book Outlet order this past January, after I read a one-sentence review that simply said "Like Danielewski's House of Leaves, but much, much shorter." If it manages to cram even a fraction of HoL's unsettling eerieness into this pint-sized novella, I'll be impressed, and suitably creeped out for October. (Also, it's translated from German!) 

8. The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, Stuart Turton

I gave this book to my bestie for Christmas, in the hopes that we'd be able to read it together as a kind of book club. Unfortunately, such is the life of a mood reader: while Elise devoured it on vacation in Hawaii earlier this year, I've been incapable of touching it until the world turns a lot gloomier. 

9. We Have Always Lived in the Castle, Shirley Jackson

A spooky reread, in honor of the fact that my younger sister Delaney - who loves scary movies - was absolutely obsessed with the Haunting of Hill House series from Netflix that came out last year. Now, apparently, there's a movie adaptation of this book, too, and she's insisting we watch it. Not sure how that's going to play out - I'm a notorious chicken - but at least I can read it! 

10. Before the Devil Breaks You (The Diviners #3), Libba Bray

Remember how I said I love my little brother, who also loves the same books I do, who I love to loan books to and share series with? Yeah, he's been real patient with me in terms of the Diviners series. I literally got this for my birthday - what, three years ago? - when it first came out, and while he waited for me to read it first, I never got around to it. So he jumped ahead in line and has been sticking around ever since, waiting for me to catch up. Maybe this year's the year? 

11. Interview with the Vampire, Anne Rice 

Full disclosure: I'm actually not a huge fan of the movie. For the kind of reason my Dad hates, in fact, because that decision is formed entirely on the basis that I'm really not a fan of either Tom Cruise or Brad Pitt. But I picked this title up off of a $2 table at a thrift store last year, and I'm thinking that maybe the book will shake out differently? If not, I can always rewatch The Lost Boys as a palate cleanser. (In fact, I'll probably be doing that anyways.) 

NOVEMBER

Out of all of the montly TBRs I'm putting in this post, November is, by far, the one most open to variables, mainly due to the importance of NaNoWriMo in all of my end-of-the-year plans. When it comes down to it, I love reading during November, but I just have to make sure the material doesn't clash with - or worse, is too similar to - what I'm writing. Still, these books have a comfortable kind of Fall feeling to them that merit a place on this list! 

12. In an Absent Dream (Wayward Children #4), Seanan McGuire

If you haven't noticed, Seanan McGuire has been busy writing what I personally believe is one of the world's greatest Fantasy series, in novella form, for the past handful of years. I love them all so much, I actually have to ration out how fast I read them. Otherwise, I'll catch up to her publishing schedule, and then what will I do? (Also, those covers are just so beautiful!) 

13. A Book of One's Own: People and Their Diaries, Thomas Mallon

Every once in a while, it's fun to walk away from a secondhand book store with an old, antiquated title that no one's ever heard of before, that seems tailor-made just for you. This nonfiction exploration of the art and practice of journal keeping, inspired by the lives of journal-keepers throughout histories, only has 215 ratings on Goodreads, and I am so excited to read it. 

14. If We Were Villains, M. L. Rio

I feel like this has become a bit of a sleeper hit in the Dark Academia category since it came out three years ago, as more and more of those TikTok kiddos who love floaty white button-downs, jet black ink, and antique busts venture out beyond the realm of Donna Tartt. But to be clear: anyone who knows me, knows that "Shakespeare-obsessed drama students attend elite college, and someone gets murdered" absolutely fits my vibe. 

15. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Betty Smith 

Honestly, I tried to get around to reading this one last year - when I feel like everyone else I knew was reading it, too - but kept getting distracted by other titles, instead. I would love to be able to commit to and read through a classic title this Fall, and this coming-of-age story might just be a great fit! 

What's in YOUR Top Ten? Let me know, in the comments below!