Maybe it’s something about the time change, maybe it’s the cooler weather. Whatever it is, something about fall calls me to my favorite chair for reading. Give me a cozy blanket, perhaps a cup of hot chocolate, and my latest read, and you can ignore me for hours.
As a high school English teacher for over 30 years, I have had more than my share of discussions about books, debated the merits (or lack thereof) of various titles and authors, and made recommendations galore. Now seems like the perfect moment to make some recommendations for the season. I turned to the ideal source for inspiration: my former students.
For fans of fantasy, Logan recommends The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss. This is in the Columbus Public Library’s collection; it’s also available as an ebook. Tara suggests A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers. CPL has this as both an ebook and an audiobook.
If you’re looking for fiction, Luke offers Mother Night by Kurt Vonnegut. Although this particular title is not currently in the CPL collection, several of Vonnegut’s other works are available in various formats. Audra recommends Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield (available in print and as an ebook). Kali suggests My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry by Fredrik Backman; choose this and you’ve hit the trifecta as it’s available in print, as an ebook, and as an audiobook. Finally, Lynzee recommends The Midnight Library by Matt Haig. This can be borrowed in all three formats as well.
This non-fiction offering comes from Cassidee: Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer. Subtitled Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants, this is available in ebook and audiobook formats.
Because I cannot help myself when I have a captive audience, I’ll close with my recommendations and offer my personal top five.
- One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Marquez – This has held the top spot for decades. I reread it every few years and tell myself that someday I will read it in the original Spanish. This is currently available as an audiobook.
- The rest of my top five are in no particular order. The list includes Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut (Boy, do I love Konnegut! You can find this one in print, ebook, and audiobook), The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett (print, ebook, audiobook- an excellent choice if you like historical fiction), and Hamlet by William Shakespeare (Of course this is on my list. Did you miss that I’m an English teacher? It’s in print, ebook, and audiobook).
- The fifth spot rotates; it seems too strange to say I have a top seven. This goes to Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice (all three formats) or Stephen King’s The Stand (ebook or audiobook) or Erik Larsen’s The Devil in the White City, my non-fiction contribution (all three formats).
Fall is settling in, bringing with it all the wonderful chaos of the holidays. I encourage you to find your comfy chair, dig out that cozy blanket, take your library card downtown, and look for those moments where you can read and recharge. And you might want to keep some marshmallows on hand for that hot chocolate.
