I love reading all year round, but there is something about fall that makes reading feel especially appealing.
This weekend, I was curating my list of books I hope to read this season and thought, hey, this might be interesting to other people!
So, today, I thought I’d share a little snapshot of my reading life right now: what my reading habits look like these days, the books currently at the top of my to-be-read (TBR) list and a few I’ve already read that I’d recommend.
My reading habits lately
Right now, my reading habits are pretty straightforward: I read when I wake up and before I go to bed. This means I’m very motivated to always have a great book going – it needs to be something that makes me want to both get out of bed in the morning and get into bed at a decent time at night!
In the morning, I love being the first one up in the house, going around to different rooms to turn on lamps, making myself a cup of coffee and getting comfy on the couch with my book. In the evening, I look forward to getting into bed with enough time to read a few chapters before going to sleep.
One new addition to my reading habits that I’m LOVING: using Spotify listening hours for audiobooks.
Listening to more audiobooks is one of my 2026 goals, and, as I wrote about in July, I’ve been struggling to make it happen. But enter Spotify listening hours! With my subscription, I get a certain number of audiobook listening hours each month, so I’ve started using them to listen to whatever book I’m currently reading while driving to daycare, cleaning the house, going for a walk.
It’s nice that it’s not a commitment to an entire audiobook; it’s just a supplement to my regular reading. It helps me move through books a little faster, and it’s fun to hear the characters’ voices and then picture them that way when I go back to physically reading.
Now, to fuel all of those reading habits, here are a few books on my radar for fall:
+ Anything by Elizabeth Strout: I have fallen into the Elizabeth Strout universe and am quite content to stay! I recently finished My Name Is Lucy Barton and Anything Is Possible, and I’m currently waiting for my hold on Oh William to become available at the library. I really like how her books are interconnected, but you don’t have to read them in a certain order. They are really unlike anything I’ve read before!
+ Kin by Tayari Jones: This book has been sitting on my shelf for too long. According to the description, Vernice and Annie grow up as inseparable, motherless girls in 1950s Louisiana, but their lives eventually take them in very different directions. Years later, tragedy brings their worlds back together. It’s a sweeping story about female friendship, mothers and daughters, family – both biological and chosen – and the ways race, class and opportunity shape a life. I’ve heard great things!
+ The Thoroughbreds by Elin Hilderbrand and Shelby Cunningham: This is the sequel to The Academy, which I read last year – and it actually happened to be the last book I finished before having Ben! It takes us back to a New England boarding school, which already gives it all the fall vibes I’m looking for.
+ A Witch’s Guide to Magical Innkeeping by Sangu Mandanna: Once a powerful witch, Sera Swan has lost most of her magic after resurrecting her great-aunt and now helps run an enchanted inn filled with eccentric guests. When she learns of a spell that might restore her powers, she teams up with a rather icy magical historian to find it. This is a departure from what I typically read but cozy fantasy + romance + magical inn + a bigger story about figuring out what actually makes a life fulfilling sounds great for this time of year!
+ Lady Tremaine by Rachel Hochhauser: This is a reimagining of Cinderella told from the supposedly wicked stepmother’s perspective. Twice widowed and nearly broke, Lady Tremaine is trying desperately to secure a future for her daughters when a royal ball – and Cinderella’s unexpected engagement to the prince – changes everything. As she learns more about the royal family, the familiar fairy tale starts looking very different. Intriguing!
+ It’s Different This Time by Joss Richards: A second-chance romance about two estranged former roommates who reunite when they learn they have to live together for a month in a brownstone to inherit it. Oh, and it takes place in New York City, in the fall. Sold!
+ The Pirate Queen by Ariel Lawhon: A sweeping historical novel inspired by the real Grace O’Malley, the legendary 16th-century Irish sea captain who became known as the Pirate Queen of Ireland. As English power under Queen Elizabeth I pushes further into Ireland, Grace fights to protect her family, land, ships and people.
+ Receipts from the Bookshop by Katie Clapham: A nonfiction, year-in-the-life account of the tiny independent bookshop Clapham runs with her mother in an English seaside town. It captures the customers, conversations, weather, family dynamics, joys of unpacking new books and less-romantic realities of keeping an indie bookstore afloat.
There’s no way I’ll read all these books this fall. But I love having a long list to choose from depending on what I’m in the mood for… or what’s available at the library!
Books I recommend
When I think about the best kind of fall reading, I think about books I can get lost in. In the summer, I tend to gravitate toward lighter, faster reads. But in the fall, I want stories with a little more depth – richer, more complex characters and worlds.
So, if you’re looking for a book like that this fall, here are three that came to mind:
+ Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano: I loved this book so much. It’s a sweeping family story centered around four sisters and the man who becomes intertwined with their lives. It’s a modern retelling of Little Women and most of it takes place in Chicago. It’s emotional, complicated and beautifully written.
+ The Dutch House by Ann Patchett: A beautifully written family story that follows siblings Danny and Maeve over the course of decades, with the grand house they grew up in always looming in the background. This book is also fantastic on audio since Tom Hanks does the narration!
+ The Calamity Club by Kathryn Stockett: Are you tired of me talking about this book yet? This is one of my favorite books I’ve read this year. It’s complicated, heartbreaking, heartwarming, and full of memorable characters. The kind of story where I couldn’t wait to get back to it every time I put it down.
Here’s to a great season of reading! What have you been reading lately? I’d love to hear!
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