Skip to main content

Fall Reading

Fall is my favorite time of year. The crisp air, the smell of the leaves, breaking out the comforter, bringing the sweaters out of hibernation, apples, pumpkins, the spices they both cook in, all of it make me gleeful and happy to be alive. It is also the only time of year that inspires me to read specific books. Why I don't know, especially as only one of the books can be considered a "Fall" book.


The Perilous Gard by Elizabeth Marie Pope is the one that makes sense as it takes place during the Fall, with its climatic scene occurring on All Hallow's Eve. The scent of fallen leaves and woodsmoke in the air sets a perfect atmosphere for reading this one. I read this book around Halloween every year and this year I'm making my 4th-6th grade literature students read it too, so I'm going to be reading it more than once. I'm so excited.

Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones is a favorite of mine that I read for the first time during the fall, and I think that is why the onset of the season always makes me yearn to return to the land of Ingary and the house of Howl Pendragon. Plus it has a bouncing scarecrow frightening the wits out of the heroine so it sort of fits the season. Right?

Gaudy Night by Dorothy Sayers is another one that I read for the first time in the fall which is really the only explanation for why I would want to read it every year at this time. The best parts of this book take place during the summer and yet I never feel an urge to read it then. Funny how that works.

The Queen of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner is one I have no explanation for, but every year when the weather turns cold I want to read it. Of course as it is one of my all time favorite books ever I don't really need much provocation to pick it up. I just think it is funny that the first cold snap of the year always has me yearning for this book, not the whole series, just this one. I usually end up reading The King of Attolia too though. Just because you kind of have to read them together.

This year I'm also being visited by a powerful urge to reread The Grimm Legacy by Polly Shulman, which I will most likely give in to. I haven't read this one since the first time I read it back in February of this year. If I recall correctly it takes place in the winter,not the fall. I think it is the cover that is calling to me. It just looks like a Fall type book.

And do you know what goes really well with Fall type books? Hot tea and the perfect cookie for the season. So today I'm including a recipe for just such a cookie. Baking these will make your house really smell like fall is in the air.

I originally stumbled on this recipe here, but I have made a couple minor changes.
Ingredients:
1/2 cup of butter, softened
1 1/3 cup brown sugar (I use light.)
1 egg
1/4 cup whole milk
2 1/4 cup all purpose flour
1t baking soda
1t ground cinnamon
1/2t cloves
1/2t nutmeg
1/2t salt
2 cups of chopped unpeeled apple
1 to 1 1/2 cups caramel bits*

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Mix dry ingredients in small bowl.
3. Blend butter and brown sugar together thoroughly.
4. Add egg and milk to butter mix and combine completely.
5. Stir the dry ingredients into the creamy mix.
6. Add at apples and caramels.
7. Place on cookie sheet and bake for 12-14 minutes or until slightly browned around the edges.

*I found these at our Super Target. If you are not a fan of caramel I have also made these with Hershey cinnamon chips and they are amazing that way too. Or, if you feel you must, I'm sure some kind of nut would work. I haven't tried that as I don't like nuts in my cookies.
Labels:

Comments

Chachic said…
We don't have fall over here but I have a feeling that if I ever lived in the States, I'd love spring and fall and I would have specific books for those two seasons. :P The BER months are typhoon season over here so maybe that should count as perfect reading weather too? So many excellent books on your list, I really should read The Perilous Gard soon. I've had my copy since 2007!
October 8, 2011 at 1:41 AM
Brandy said…
Fall and Spring are the best, but most especially fall. :)

AND YES READ THE PERILOUS GARD!
October 8, 2011 at 5:34 PM
Holly said…
The Perilous Gard is the perfect fall book. I think Maggie Stiefvater's books are great seasonal reads, Shiver for fall/winter and Ballad for October.

I really need to read The Grimm Legacy since I really enjoyed Enthusiasm.

And yes, Chachic, READ IT!
October 9, 2011 at 10:08 AM
Brandy said…
Holly, I have had Stiefvater's Ballad on my TBR forever and haven't gotten to it yet. I might bump it up a bit and read it this fall.

I like Enthusiasm too but liked The Grimm Legacy even more. You should give it a try.
October 9, 2011 at 9:48 PM
Betsy said…
Fall is my favorite season, too! I'm going to have to try the cookie recipe.

I think I also gravitate to books that I loved as a child and reread over and over (Little Women and Anne of Green Gables come to mind). I don't necessarily want to reread them now, but I sort of crave that level of literary "relationship"--the idea of cuddling up in a blanket with a warm cup of something to drink (and cookies!) that fall is tempting us to.... hmmm... what to read next?
October 10, 2011 at 9:53 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Serafina and the Black Cloak

Serafina and the Black Cloak  by Robert Beatty is a thrilling tale of mystery and adventure set at the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC in 1899. Having lived in Asheville and visited the house several times, there was no way I was going to pass up a chance to read this. (Also it's MG fantasy, always a bonus for me.) Serafina lives in secret in the basement of the Vanderbilt's spacious vacation home. She has lived there most of her life. Her father worked on the house as it was being built and is the mechanic who runs the massive generator and keeps the electricity going. Serafina is the chief rat catcher, slipping through the halls of her massive home secretly and quietly. She is light on her feet, sees well in the dark, and is quick enough to catch the vermin and keep them out. Serafina knows she if different and strange. Her father insists she stay hidden. But all that changes when one night Serafina witnesses a horrible crime. A little girl, a guest in the house, is fleein
42 comments
Read more

Shorter Musings MG Fantasy

Here are some shorter musings on recent MG fantasy reads. Anya and the Dragon   by Sofiya Pasternack This book is fun. It is a book full of adventure, an obvious bad guy, some more complicated morally gray area characters, and a strong, brave heroine. It is also a book about friendships, community, and fighting for what is right. All things that usually work for me really well. While I enjoyed this, I did feel it was a little overlong and there were certain plot points at the end I didn't love. However, there were things I thought were done really well, such as Anya's Jewish faith and the idea that power needs to be challenged. In the end it was a middle of the road read for me, but it is one I will certainly be recommending to dragon and fantasy adventure lovers I know! R is for Rebel   by J. Anderson Coats This is tough because I usually really like Coats's books. I had such a hard time with this one though on so many levels. It's difficult to get into because t
4 comments
Read more

Favorite Kissing Scenes

When thinking of a favorite things post I could do for February I decided it would have to be kissing. I've already done couples and I was feeling in the mood to do something fluffy and Valentine's related. So kisses it is. I read more MG than YA, and the YA I read tends to not focus on romance so this was actually harder than I expected it to be though a few jumped into my head right away. (And one of my choices does actually come from a MG book. One is adult. Gasp!) The actual scene from the book is quoted followed by my thoughts. The king lifted a hand to her cheek and kissed her. It was not a kiss between strangers, not even a kiss between a bride and a groom. It was a kiss between a man and his wife, and when it was over, the king closed his eyes and rested his forehead against the hollow of the queen's shoulder, like a man seeking respite, like a man reaching home at the end of the day . - The King of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner Turner doesn't write the
11 comments
Read more

Shadowshaper

Shadowshaper  by Daniel José Older is everywhere. Best of lists. Award buzz. Blogs everywhere. It's one of those books everyone is reading and talking about. I had it on my TBR but decided I definitely needed to read it before the year was out just so I could weigh in on one of the most talked about books of 2015 if asked. It is deserving of every good thing said about it. Every. One. Sierra was looking forward to a relaxing summer break. Her plans involved hanging out with her friends and painting. They did not involve being chased by zombie like creatures and threatened by a magical power connected to her family's heritage she has never heard of. When murals begin fading all over her Brooklyn neighborhood, Sierra is perplexed. When her grandfather, who had a stroke, begins to apologize and starts repeating strange phases and insisting Sierra get the help of a boy she barely knows to help her finish her mural, Sierra is concerned but mostly about her grandfather. Then at a
4 comments
Read more

The Field Guide to the North American Teeanager

The Field Guide to the North American Teenager by Ben Philippe is a book I picked up on a whim at the bookstore when it first came out. I liked the cover. I thought it had an engaging premise. I went into it with a healthy does of trepidation because the execution could have gone so terribly wrong. Fortunately, Philippe is an excellent character writer, and I thoroughly enjoyed my time spent reading about Norris's adventures in Texas and high school. High school junior Norris Kaplan's life is ruined by his mother when she takes a job that requires them to leave the only home he has ever known in Montreal, Quebec. Moving is always hard, but Norris knows for him it will be harder than it's ever been for anyone else. Norris is moving to Texas. He will be a Canadian living in Texas. Not just a Canadian. A French Canadian who speaks fluent French. And not just your average run-of-the-mill French Canadian. A black son of Haitian immigrant parents French Canadian. If Norris has
1 comment
Read more