Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the lovely Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl. Each week a new theme is suggested for bloggers to participate in. This week’s prompt is Favorite Character Relationships (These can be platonic or not. Romantic relationships, parent/child, siblings, family bonds, friendships, found families, pet/human, etc.), but I did something different. 😉
Hello Readers! For the past few months you’ve heard me ranting about the heat, and we’re finally getting some cooler weather here in Texas. Now if we could only get some rain. We have a chance later this week, but we know not to trust the forecast. It’s seeing is believing here. 😃
Our changing weather had me thinking about books that reflect the changing seasons from summer to fall, which prompted my rogue topic choice. Today we’re supposed to be talking about our favorite character relationships, but I wasn’t feeling that topic for some reason. I think it sounded like a lot of work, but really probably would have taken less work than the prompt I chose. 🤦♀️ I decided to focus on books with end-of-summer or early fall settings. Some of these books may only have that setting for a short bit, but they made that impression on me, which has stuck.
🎉On Sunday, I celebrated my 4th Blogiversary and I’m celebrating with a giveaway! Be sure to check out my post to enter. 🎉
Let’s see what books I found!
(Link to Goodreads synopsis through book title.)
- Labor Day by Joyce Maynard – The title of this novel lets you know it’s set around Labor Day in early September, and it’s a simple story about endings and beginnings.
- Cape May by Chip Cheek – Set at the end of September, this novel about newlyweds in the late 1950s appears to be very polarizing. There are just as many four-star reviews as two-star reviews. I fell into the four-star group, especially enjoying the end-of-summer feel of it.
- Spells for Forgetting by Adrienne Young – Opening in October before the trees have turned, this magical mystery is a perfect book to take you into fall. (My Review)
- The Girl He Used to Know by Tracey Garvis Graves – With a dual timeline, this romance is set in Chicago in August of 2001 and ten years before, when the couple met. I remember not being able to put it down.
- New Moon (Twilight, #2) by Stephenie Meyer – If you’re a fan of Twilight, you probably know Bella Swan has a very bad birthday party on September 13th in this second book in the series.
- Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell – In this YA romance, introvert Cath is a freshman in college and her twin sister has decided she doesn’t want to be Cath’s roommate, which is really forcing Cath out of her comfort zones.
- The Secret History by Donna Tartt – Another book that opens with an arrival at college, I wasn’t the biggest fan of this novel, but I did appreciate the autumnal setting.
- Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier – This gothic classic opens in May and then progresses past summer. It’s perfect for those still warm days, but chilly nights.
- Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman – I have shared this novel on my recommended fall reads, but it really covers all the seasons. Such a delightful book about witches!
- Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater – I don’t know if I’ve ever shared this YA fantasy book before because it’s been years since I read it. While it’s definitely not my favorite of Stiefvater’s, I still enjoyed it. And the changing seasons play such a crucial role in the series.
Did I include any of your favorites? Let me know in the comments!
Happy Wandering!
We love some good atmospheric reads. I’ve seen a few of these around but don’t know much about them. I’ll have to read up on some of them again as a reminder of what they’re all about. 🙂
Yes! I’m definitely a seasonal reader. This topic took much more digging than I expected, but I had fun with it. 😃
I really liked the Shiver series, too. I haven’t thought about it in years.
Same! For some reason, it’s one that always slips my mind.
Great change of topic. I do like books that start at the change of fall and head into Halloween.
It always seems like a magical time of year. 🙂
An interesting list. I had to refer to my Goodreads list of books that I have read.
I love all the Twilight books and want to read Rebecca and Practical Magic.
Have a great week!
Emily @ Budget Tales Book Blog
My post:
https://budgettalesblog.wordpress.com/2023/09/12/top-ten-tuesday-favourite-character-relationships/
Rebecca and Practical Magic are both very atmospheric!
They have both been on my list for ages. My library doesn’t have them in which is why I haven’t read them yet!
From your list, I’ve only read New Moon. However, I struggled with this book a lot during my reread, I just missed Edward’s part in the story. It seems to go so slow compared to Eclips for instance.
My TTT: https://laurieisreading.com/2023/09/12/top-ten-tuesday-did-i-read-my-summer-2023-tbr/
New Moon was my least favorite the first time I read it because of that, but now it’s one of my favorites. I don’t know why, but probably because it makes the reunion that much sweeter. 😃 Have you read Midnight Sun from Edward’s point of view? I will never read any of the books the same way after being in his head.
I’m not sure I can think of any books off the top of my head that have a setting around this time of year.
Pam @ Read! Bake! Create!
https://readbakecreate.com/favorite-platonic-relationships-recent-reads/
I definitely had to dig for these. It wasn’t as easy as I expected. 🙂
This was a good twist! It does sound kind of hard, though. 🙂
Here is my Top Ten Tuesday post.
It was! 😆 I have started marking books on Goodreads that are set in specific seasons, so that did help.
Nice rogue topic! Definitely feeling the Autumn vibes where I’m at now. Spells for Forgetting and Shiver is on my TBR. The Secret History is one of my faves! But the season that really stood out to me in that one was the harsh winter. Have a good week!
Yes! The Secret History does cover a few seasons. For some reason the opening of the book is what I remember the most. Books are funny that way, aren’t they?!
I mostly remember the winter and then the end. Which is cliche to say but I was just *not* expecting what happened for some reason. Took me completely by surprise. 😅
I don’t remember being surprised, but I also didn’t *love* the book, which made me quite sad. 😃
My daughter (she’s 23 now) read Shiver in school and devoured the rest of the series. She wasn’t much of a reader before that, so I give that book and the author big props.
Here is our Top Ten Tuesday. Thank you!
I love that! Maggie is one of my all-time favorite authors. She writes so beautifully. I’ve attended a book signing and one of her writing seminars. I highly recommend anything she writes. 🙂
New Moon and Shiver are great for your prompt change!
I couldn’t leave out New Moon! Ha! And Sliver almost slipped my mind. It’s such a unique series, though.
Overall, I remember liking The Girl He Used to Know though I felt the September part was unnecessary.
Yeah, it was a bit of a twist, but I didn’t mind it at the time. Not sure how I’d feel now.
I’ve never been a seasonal reader but it’s interesting to see what others choose by season. I adored The Girl He Used to Know. One of my favorites.
I guess I just like to be fully immersed. Ha! I still think The Girl He Used to Know is the author’s best so far. (Out of the three I’ve read, anyway.)
These are perfect for this time of year for sure!
Thank you!
I went a different direction today too! I love this topic. Have a great rest of your week!
It’s a rogue week! Happy reading!
This looks like a great list! I’ve only read Fangirl, but I agree that it’s perfect for that fall transition season.
My TTT: https://bookwyrmknits.com/2023/09/12/top-ten-tuesday-favorite-platonic-character-relationships/
Someday I’d like to do a reread of Fangirl!
What is it about Twilight as a whole series that really gets me int he fall mood?! Love your list today 🙂
FangirlFlax @ FangirlFlax
https://fangirlflax.wordpress.com/2023/09/12/top-ten-tuesday-five-books-on-my-autumn-2023-tbr/
Yes!!! It’s the dark forests, rain, vampires, and werewolves, I guess. 😃
I love that you went rogue this week! And your list of books that’ll take you from summer into fall is so great. 😀
Thank you!
If you’re going to go rogue, this is a very timely topic, Dedra. I have a paperback copy of Shiver on my bookshelf, maybe this it the time to read it.
You should give it a try! But you might want to go ahead and line up the rest of the series. 😉
I live in Arizona, so I feel you on the heat. It just NEVER ends! I hope you get some cooler weather. It won’t really cool off around here until November, sadly.
Congrats on 4 years of blogging. That’s awesome!
Fall is my favorite season, so I love reading books set during that time of the year. They just feel so cozy.
Happy TTT!
Susan
http://www.blogginboutbooks.com
We are actually cooler today AND finally getting rain after months of nothing. It’s so nice. I hope you get a break in the heat soon!
Thank you! Four years has flown by.
I always say my favorite season is whichever one I’m in—at least until it gets too hot, too wet, or too cold—but if pressed, I’d probably pick fall, too. 🙂
Great list! I also had Spells for Forgetting on mine this week and I’m hoping that this fall is when I’ll finally read it, lol.
I hope you get to it and love it as much as I did!