Great Books to Read in the Fall

I’ve included a few quintessential Halloween reading options, and Dracula certainly ticks all those boxes. Featuring the original vampire, the novel follows a series of dichotomies: good versus evil, life versus death.

Bram Stoker’s iconic and chilling work is a fascinating read whether you’re interested in classic literature or not. Told through a series of letters, Stoker’s Dracula introduces the vampiric tropes commonly seen today, including the idea of garlic as a repellant.

Dracula by Bram Stoker is available from Amazon.

Another of my quintessentially Halloween-inspired selections, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is a fascinating tale about humanity’s role in monster creation.

Also known as “The Modern Prometheus,” Frankenstein follows a young scientist who creates an animate creature. Interestingly, while the term “Frankenstein” has come to refer to the monster, the name actually belonged to the creature’s scientist-creator.

As a female-written literary classic, I can’t recommend this one enough. Everyone should read it at some point in their lives.

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley is available from Amazon.

Described as Dickensian in design, Paul Lynch’s Grace follows a young Irish girl as she is forced from her home just before the start of the Irish Famine. The protagonist and her brother traverse the rugged and wild Irish landscapes in a lyrical prose.

This coming-of-age novel can be a bit confusing at times, because of the unique style of prose, but it is nonetheless engrossing. Whether you’re interested in Irish history or not, this story is a poignant portrayal of the human spirit.

Grace by Paul Lynch is available from Amazon.

The first complete novel from Jane Austen, Northanger Abbey is the epitome of horror parody. It features Austen’s iconic wit and social commentary, which is as timely as ever.

With a gothic literature obsessed heroine, Northanger Abbey follows a heroine who sees intrigue and mystery everywhere. The heroine, Catherine Morland, experiences the joys of fashionable society for the first time, and her imagination generally gets the better of her.

Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen is available from Amazon.

For fans of rom coms who also love the paranormal, Haunted Ever After is the perfect read. I knew I would enjoy the book since the protagonist is from Orlando (my home town) and there are lots of great native Floridian references that made me laugh. Beyond that, though, I genuinely enjoyed the story and found the audiobook’s narration to be very engaging.

Set in a small coastal town of the paranormal persuasion, aptly called Boneyard Key, there are plenty of great Florida-based Easter eggs that appear while the main character navigates (unknowingly) moving into a haunted house. Rom com cuteness ensues. 

Haunted Ever After by Jen DeLuca is available from Amazon.