Spooky TBRs and the Art of Seasonal Reading
"I am...an autumn" - Richard Gilmore and also every BookToker
Is it even fall if you’re not reading a gothic dark academia romance? According to the women of BookTok, now is the time to be assembling your fall TBR, whether that’s a stack of spooky gothic romance and horror or a pile of autumnal contemporary romances inspired by Nora Ephron and cozy fantasies about good witches.
By all accounts, I should be drinking a pumpkin spice latte while wearing Billy Crystal’s sweater from When Harry Met Sally as I write this, but unfortunately I live in Austin, Texas, where we call an 85 degree September day a cold front. And considering that many TikTokers started posting about their fall TBRs in July, I think they might have been having the same experience.
The trending audio for this moment is, of course, Richard Gilmore declaring he’s an autumn from season 1, episode 6 of Gilmore Girls, leading into “There She Goes” by Sixpence None The Richer, evoking the ‘90s nostalgia so popular in the year of our lord 2024.
Across the increasingly crowded commercial fiction industry, marketing trends are driven by aesthetic more than ever before. Fan art is an increasingly important part of an author’s content strategy and cover reveals have been supplemented by trope reveals and mood boards. When there is so much choice, readers need a guiding principle to narrow the field. In this case, vibes. What books do you want to read beside a roaring fire or a scented candle? Does the scented candle smell like a Shadow Daddy, or is it a more traditional apple cinnamon?
Fall barely exists in many places (thanks, climate change!) so readers are relying on escapist fiction to keep the spirit of crunchy leaves and knee-high boots alive. “This is a witchy one, so I feel like the only time to read this book is this time of year,” says @abbiekonnick on TikTok.
“Building your fall TBR based on aesthetics, this is cozy fall book recommendations:”
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But are the books recommended in these videos actually any different than the usual crop of favorites? Yes and no - the picks are an interesting mix of old and new reads (release date having far less importance to the readers of BookTok), and while ACOTAR and The Housemaid by Freida McFadden (more on this one soon) did make their way onto some fall reads lists, most of the selections are more specifically seasonal.
As I mentioned, these books typically fall into one of two types: cozy or gory.
Cozy
The book I’m seeing recommended the most frequently is The Pumpkin Spice Cafe. Is it a coincidence that the author of this book is named Laurie Gilmore? And while the cover, to me, telegraphs cozy mystery (especially the cat), this is a small town set grumpy x sunshine romance. All of this is evoking the coffeeshop AU (alternate universe) a fanfiction trope where readers transport the characters of their fandom to an alternate universe where they all work in a coffeeshop together. Supremely cozy, sometimes romantic, often practically plotless, it’s interesting to see this type of story breaking containment to emerge in mainstream fiction. Up next for Laurie Gilmore? The Cinnamon Bun Book Store, of course. But reader, beware. One of my favorite bookstagrammers, @apaperbacklife, warns “The cover is so deceiving because I totally thought it would also have fall vibes but it’s set during the summer.”
Other oft-mentioned titles in this vein, but with a hint of magic, include The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst (with lavender sprayed edges), about a magical librarian who flees to her small hometown to live in a cottage and spar with her irritatingly handsome neighbor and The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna, a sweet found family romance about a lonely, orphaned witch who becomes a magical governess to three witch sisters and meets a handsome librarian. Is it any wonder that we’re finally getting a Practical Magic sequel, 26 years later? Or that the middling TV adaptation of A Discovery of Witches has hit #1 on Netflix? We have achieved peak fall a week into September. All of this makes me wonder: if you wrote a book with a charming cover and appropriately seasonal name, could you go viral on vibes alone?
Creepy
Would it be Halloween without some spooky reads? With the massive popularity of dark romance at the moment, it makes sense that a slew of gothic horror and dark academia focused romances and thrillers are being added to the lists. For the past two weeks, Haunting Adeline has hit the NYT bestseller list, even with trigger warnings like: “non/dub con between the main characters, graphic violence, human trafficking, stalking, mentions of child death…particular kinks such as gun play somnophilia, bondage, and degradation.”
Newer popular reads include Nocticadia, a dark academia romance about flesh eating worms on a remote island (per Amazon, currently the #1 bestseller in the category of vigilante justice) and Phantasma, about a girl who enters a contest inside a haunted mansion in order to get a wish granted (per Amazon, currently the #1 bestseller in the category of dark fantasy).
The covers of these books traffic more in blood spatters than sprays of fall leaves, as seen in the TikTok below.
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With these two trends, we also see the genre agnosticism that is so common amongst BookTok readers - many of these cozy and creepy books sit side by side on the same readers’ lists.
What’s Next?
You better start compiling your Christmas TBR’s, coming to a TikTok near you the day after Halloween. Is it a coincidence that these extensive TBR lists also line up with the moment when readers realize they are behind on their Goodreads challenges? Food for thought. If you, too, need to read 50 books before December 31 to hit your 100 book goal, TikTok has you covered.
Imaginary Celebrity Book Club
Thinking about intensely seasonally based content made me think, of course, about Hallmark. And while they have recently produced a movie called Blind Date Book Club, they don’t have an actual book club. The problem here is that Hallmark content is so chaste as to be laughable, especially in comparison with even a tame BookTok read. Netflix has tried to move in on Hallmark movie territory, to mixed success. I’d propose that Netflix start an online book club using a mix of titles they plan to adapt and seasonal reads to build their brand in the space. Have I watched a Hallmark movie about a fall bake off? Unfortunately yes, who among us has not succumbed to temptation. Do I think The Pumpkin Spice Cafe is going to be adapted by one of these channels? Laurie Gilmore, call me if your agent hasn’t sold your film rights.
That said, I do also think Christian Girl Autumn girl could start a book club.
I want to know: what are your autumn reading plans? How behind are you on your Goodreads challenge? Are you a cozy reader or a gory reader?
I will admit, I finally picked up Starling House by Alix Harrow the other day for spooky fall vibes.