Finally Fall Book Tag

Hey hi hello friends, and welcome back to my blog!

It's the most wonderful time of the year! I just really love Autumn, everything about it feeds my soul. Well, almost everything. I could do without the fires and the bugs, but you know. Can't have everything, I guess. 

Anyway, today I want to do the Finally Fall Book Tag. Unfortunately I don't believe the creator is still on YouTube. I've done this tag before, so if you want to look at my answers from last year, check it out here. This time around, I'll only be mentioning books that I read this year, so as to not have duplicates. 

Alright, let's just get into it!

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1. In Fall, the air is crisp and clear: name a book with a vivid setting 

    The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

I feel like this is a no-brainer. Hill House is such a strong setting, the house actually feels like a character in its own right. It comes alive and gets into the minds of the people staying there, and by the time you finish the book it's like you were right there along with them. I highly recommend The Haunting of Hill House if you want a spooky, atmospheric read. It's perfect for this time of year.

2. Nature is beautiful, but also dying: name a book that is beautifully written, but also deals with a heavy topic like grief or loss

    Under the Whispering Door by T.J. Klune

While this book does deal with death as the main theme, I still think it falls under the "cozy" category: meaning that it still makes you feel warm and fuzzy inside, while tackling heavy topics in a very mature and straightforward way. But it's definitely on the hopeful side, focusing more on what comes after death, rather than who is left behind.

    My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell

On the other hand, My Dark Vanessa is a very bleak and depressing book. It's wonderfully written, truly some of the best prose I've ever read, and yet the themes explored will leave you with a bad taste in your mouth. The entire book focuses on rape and sexual assault of a minor, but there is also drug abuse and suicide in there as well. If you're planning on reading this book, I recommend looking up all the trigger warnings, and making sure you're in the right mental state to read it.

3. Fall is back to school season: share a nonfiction book that taught you something new

    The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson

This was my first Erik Larson book, and now I have three others on my shelf waiting to be read. While it is pretty dense, it still has a lot of information that I found intriguing, and obviously I finished it so I thought it was worth while. It also sparked my interest in true crime, and now I have a lot of books like it on my TBR. 

4. In order to keep warm, it's good to spend some time with the people we love: name a fictional family/household/friend group that you'd like to be a part of

    The Forgers - Spy x Family by Tatsuya Endo

Do I need to explain any further? Of course I want to be a Forger! They're the cutest fake family I've ever read about, truly. They're all just trying their hardest to appear normal and fly under the radar, but since none of them actually know what normal is, everything is a disaster and it's adorable. I can totally see myself being the big sister figure, babysitting Anya while Loid and Yor are working or out on a date, and helping Loid with the cooking, and learning how to crush a man's head with my thighs from Yor...what do you mean one of these things is not like the other? 

5. Fall is the perfect time for some storytelling by the fireside: share a book wherein somebody is telling a story

    The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin

I'm not really a fan of the storytelling trope, because the narrator tends to be unreliable and so we don't actually learn what's really going on, but I will say that The Fifth Season is an exception. I think it's because its an unconventional type of storytelling. We don't actually know the narrator of the story until the very end, and there's also a great plot twist that brings everything together in a way you wouldn't see coming...I know that's vague, but this book is just so hard to pitch. But you should definitely read it.

6. The nights are getting darker: share a dark, creepy read

    What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher

I feel like this is the perfect book for this prompt. What could be better than an Edgar Allen Poe retelling? And, in my opinion, What Moves the Dead is even creepier than the source material, The Fall of the House of Usher. Since Usher is so short, T. Kingfisher was able to expand the story so much while still making it a novella, which is very impressive to me. You'll never look at rabbits or mushrooms the same way again, I'll tell you that much.

7. The days are getting colder: name a short, heartwarming read that could warm up somebody's cold and rainy day 

    The Cat Who Saved Books by Sosuke Natsukawa

This prompt was honestly kind of hard to answer, simply because this year I haven't read a lot of heartwarming books. I mean, one of my main genres has been horror. I've mostly been ready dark, spooky, scary books. But I do think The Cat Who Saved Books fits this prompt. While it does deal with grief and loss, it's done in a way to pull you out of that sadness, and bring you back to your usual self. And it's done by exploring the love of literature, which should make any bookworm feel warm inside.

8. Fall returns every year: name an old favorite that you'd like to return to soon

    The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien 

Ah, the crème-de-la-crème of fantasy. I keep telling myself, "I'm gonna reread it; I'm gonna reread it!" year after year, and it's never happened. But that ends this Autumn! I'm going to start my reread in November, and hopefully two months is more than enough time for me to finish this behemoth of a trilogy (I have an all-in-one copy, so it's like 1100 pages). I really don't want it to carry over into next year, that would bother me so much. So yeah, you heard it here first, folks! I'll be rereading The Lord of the Rings this year!

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Alright, that's the tag! If you want to do this for yourself, feel free to say I tagged you! But if you don't want to do the whole thing, I'd love to know if you have a go-to fall feeling book! Let me know in the comments, or tweet at me @AllyEmReads.

Until next time!