The days are getting shorter and I find myself winding down earlier in the day. It’s the season for reading with a blanket, candles lit, and nowhere to be. These books suit it. Some are cozy, some are obsessive, and some will quietly wreck you around 4:45 p.m. when it’s already dark. Pick the one that matches how the evening feels.
Lena Dunham
Famesick
Speaking from experience as I actively am reading this in the late September/early October evenings. For when you want a memoir that’s honest about the cost of being watched. It’s a frank look at fame, illness, and the long road back to yourself, and it’s best read slowly, with tea.
Donna Tartt
The Secret History
This was my highly anticipated fall 2025 book and it did not disappoint, read this when you want to disappear into a book for a week. This is the ultimate dark-academia read: a Vermont college, a closed circle of classics students, and a crime you know about from page one. It suits gray afternoons perfectly.
Megha Majumdar
A Guardian and a Thief
As the weather turns and we go from one extreme season to another, climate change becomes apart of daily conversation. This book speaks to that. Set in a near-future Kolkata under climate pressure, it follows people making impossible choices for the ones they love. It’s a quiet, propulsive read that stays with you after the lamp goes off.
Sabahattin Ali
Madonna in a Fur Coat
In the gray winter, I sipped on this book slowly to enjoy every word on the page. It’s for when you need a love story that aches. It’s a short, devastating classic of longing and missed chances.
Kelly Bishop
The Third Gilmore
We’ve made it to Gilmore Girls season (my annual rewatch starts September 1st). Kelly Bishop, Emily Gilmore herself, looks back on six decades from Broadway to Dirty Dancing to Stars Hollow. It’s warm, witty, and made for Gilmore Girls season, which is to say the fall.
Fredrik Backman
Beartown
When you want a story that breaks your heart and then rebuilds it, Beartown is a heartfelt read. A struggling hockey town, one terrible night, and a community forced to decide what it stands for. It’s long and immersive, so it’s a good match for the longer nights.
