Fall Reading Challenge

I don’t ever set reading challenges for myself.  Although I love to read and always have a book with me, I find that because I’m so busy, I don’t get to read in big blocks of time.  Therefore, it can take me a long time to finish a book, so it’s pointless for me to put pressure on myself to finish any specific number of books in a predetermined amount of time.  Plus, then the reading becomes all about finishing the book rather than enjoying it.  However, since I love autumn and like to indulge in autumn things, I found myself particularly inspired by this post from Emilia Lives Life, though I’m not so much saying “goodbye to summer” as I’m saying hello to autumn.

As I read Emilia’s post, I thought, “Yes, I should indulge in some school-type books to get in the autumn mood.”  Looking at her list, the only one I have read Curtis Sittenfeld’s Prep (in fact, she is one of my favorite authors because of this book).  I love it for the boarding school aspect.  Some other titles from Emilia’s picks have made my current list, and I’ve added a few of my own.

This isn’t so much of a challenge though—I’m not trying to read a certain number of books by a certain date.  This is more of a reading hope.  I have selected a few books to read during the fall—whatever I finish is great, whatever I don’t can go on next year’s list.

So here is what made the cut:

Secret History – Donna Tartt

Commencement – J. Courtney Sullivan (Coincidentally, without knowing this was the same author, her book Maine is the next audiobook I’ll be listening to.)

College Girl – Patricia Weitz (currently reading)

Big Stone Gap – Adriana Trigiani (I have read this book before and it is one of my all-time favorites.  I can’t recall exactly why this book makes me think of fall, though maybe the story opens during the season; I can’t recall really.  Ms. Trigiani is one of my all-time favorite authors.  She is just good comfort reading in my opinion.  I have read all of her books, and I highly recommend any of them.  If you’ve never seen her in person, Ms. Trigiani is quite animated and funny as hell.  If you ever get the opportunity to see her, do it!)

Witch’s Daughter – Paula Brackston (Obviously not a school book, but I’ll read this sometime around Halloween just for some witchy fun.)

There we have it—not a huge list, but it will probably take me most of the season to get through all of these.  I have already started this little challenge and am looking forward to continuing with it.  I will keep you all informed of my progress.

If you have any special fall reads, please leave me a comment and tell me about them—maybe I’ll add them to my list.

If you’d like to see what I have already read, what I recommend, and what I love, check out my Shelfari page and my GoodReads page.