Cosy reads perfect for the autumn season

Tis the season of rainy days, fluffy jumpers and crisp auburn leaves crunching underneath warm boots. Autumn is my personal favourite season of the year and part of that is down to the peaceful evenings in spent reading a book with a comforting hot drink and a blanket. As such, here are some of the best books or genres to accompany those dark afternoons and create the perfect cosy atmosphere in the coming months. 

Crime fiction and mystery

Crime fiction was basically made for autumn. Getting into the mind set of Poirot, Sherlock Holmes or your alternative detective of choice on a rainy afternoon and figuring out the mystery of the case whilst the sound of rain beats against the window is a vibe reserved for this time of year. Cloudy skies and gloomy afternoons constitute the atmosphere of many crime or mystery novels, so there’s a sense of breaking the fourth walls of pathetic fallacy when your surroundings match that of the intriguing events you’re engrossed in. 

 Dracula – Bram Stoker

Aside from the obvious Halloween vibes of this classic, the way Stoker builds the ambience of Count Dracula’s castle makes for a great read on an overcast day. The setting of the novel when based in Transylvania exudes the misty, hazy atmosphere of autumn. A spooky, atmospheric novel, Dracula is one of those books you just have to get around to at some point. Ideally, it would be read in an old velvet armchair by a flickering log fire. Alas, there aren’t many log fires readily accessible around here, so fairy lights will just have to do. 

Horror and thrillers

With Halloween steadily approaching, get into the spooky mood with a fittingly scary read. Personally, I’m really not a horror kind of girl, mainly because I’m generally quite easily scared: my imagination is prone to worry about irrational things like killer clowns in the hallway given the slightest chance. As such, these are genres I’ll probably steer clear of this year for my own sake, but I can see the appeal nonetheless. Best reserved for the evenings (if you’re brave), horrors and thrillers read against the backdrop of an eerily still, chilly night are a great way to get into the Halloween spirit.

The Harry Potter Series – J.K Rowling

An absolute staple of our childhoods and a stark contrast from the previous suggestion, the Harry Potter series is one I try and revisit in some capacity around this time of the year. There’s just something about that nostalgia of the magic contained within the land of Hogwarts that makes me all warm and fuzzy inside. If you time it well, you can even give yourself the opportunity to re-watch the films alongside your reading for the perfect distraction from the mid-Term-1 stress. 

Autumn often gets a reputation for being wet and murky, especially given the tendency of weather here. However, it can also create opportunities for some really cosy reading sessions and these suggestions are perfect to accompany the inevitable rainy days we have to look forward to. So, find yourself a warmly lit nook, grab a seasonal beverage and indulge in a few moments of making the most of the atmosphere that the cloudy afternoons ahead can provide and lose yourself in a book.