What on earth could be more luxurious than a sofa, a book and a cup of coffee?
-Anthony Trollope-
As soon as the slightest hint of autumn arrives in the air, I am pulling out a book stack of all the cozy reads I can get my hands on. I'm rummaging through my shelves as I sit on the floor, books piled all around me n what some may call a scattered mess. But to me, it's bliss!
Reading is always a favorite chill-out hobby of mine, but there's just something about longer nights and putting on fluffy pajamas and having a cup of herbal tea next to me that just makes it even better. Magical even. This year was no different. As soon as I could taste autumn in the air...even just the tiniest bit...upstairs I went to my room. I sat down on my floor, and the books just came piling out...creating a sea of stories and invitations to adventures all around me.
Today I want to share with you some of the coziest reads I could find...mind you, I have not read all of these myself, but they are on my book list at the moment and they have been recommended by some very well-trusted book girls, so I know they're going to be great. And finally, I've already been delving into my cozy reading for this year and ended up finding a truly magical, wonderfully delightful book. I loved it so much that I finished the entire thing in just three days.
The Elm Creek Quilt series by Jennifer Chiaverini is a marvellous series of over twenty books that tells the stories of the ladies of a quilting club in a small town in Pennsylvania. I have collected most of the books from a second-hand bookshop, but have yet to read one. I hope to remedy that soon because it seems like just my kind of read. I feel like coziness would just jump off the pages of these books!
Jan Karon's Miftord series is a favorite in our home. I remember my mom reading these books when I was a little girl and chatting about them with her friends...they would sqap books back and forth until they were able to catch up and get the newest book themselves. And I've read one from the series so far, the Christmas book, and it was such a sweet, heartwarming story. I'd love to return to Mitford this autumn because it is such a lovely town...and the characters are perfectly quirky and charming as well.
Miss Read has a variety of books in her Fairacre novels series and Thrush Green series. I have also read a couple of her books and was charmed and delighted by their old-fashioned charm and love of home and family and friends. Another series I'd love to return to this autumn.
Harry Potter is a must this time of year, in my family's opinion. I'm hoping to get to a book in the series this season because I can't think of a better time to take an adventure to Hogwarts...or Middle Earth, for that matter, which brings me to The Hobbit. I admit that I have yet to read a Tolkien book but I have a feeling that I'm going to love the hobbits and find a kinship with them.
Now for a few standalones...
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society is honestly the perfect book for any bibliophile. I am currently about halfway through and finding such delight in it. The style of writing with letters from character to character add a medical touch as well.
Sarah Loudin Thomas'
A Tapestry of Secrets is one that I always mention at this time of year. I wrote about it in length
HERE, but I consider it an all-time favorite and such a cozy, heartwarming story of family and legacy and heritage and cherishing the things that truly matter.
Elizabeth Goudge has a variety of novels, but her Eliot Family Trilogy is especially popular. Her Pilgrim's Inn is one that I have particularly heard so many remarkable comments about, which is why it's on my book list this season. I've heard that if you love home, you will love this story...so I'm taking my trusted, reliable book girl recommendation sources and trusting that I will love this book as much as they do.
And finally, for the book that has already been ticked off my autumn cozy book list...
It is none other than Sarah Addison Allen's First Frost. My sister read this book a couple years ago after I'd had it on my shelf for a long time. She loved it and has been pressing me to read it ever since. Well I finally did and now I'm wishing it hadn't taken me so long. This was one of the best books I've ever read...it was all about a close-knit family in a charming small North Carolina town in the autumn leading up to October. A delightfully magical story of mystery, legacy, healing, discovering where you belong and accepting who you are, and on top of all that, lots of homey, cozy mentions of home, feasting, a dinner party to celebrate the first frost, and a scrumptious bread that is basically a character all it's own. Hands down a must-read for autumn...I'd especially recommend it leading up to Halloween!
So that's my cozy book list...and now I'd love to hear what on your autumn reading list or what your favorite cozy reads are? Do share below!
Until tomorrow, happy reading, fellow bibliophiles!
♥
