Friday Mood Recs: Moody, broody books for fall
What to read if you're looking for overcast weather in novel form
I love the array of fall reading moods I’m seeing all over the bookish internet. Autumnal reading can be so many things: introspective, cozy, academic, spooky, witchy…and any combination of those adjectives.
One of my personal favorite fall reading vibes is moody, broody books. Sometimes these are classified as books with a gothic tone and I can see that, but my English teacher sensibilities have a narrower definition of the Gothic genre. Still, I very much understand the craving for that eerie, atmospheric fiction this time of year—books filled with wind and longing, books that are the story equivalent of a dreary day.
Today, I’m sharing a roundup list of some of my favorite moody, broody reads for fall. This Friday Mood Recs post is free for all! If you love this post, share it with a book loving friend or consider upgrading to a paid subscription to get Friday Mood Recs in your inbox year round.
Yearning and longing
Briefly, a Delicious Life by Nell Stevens. The ghost of a young woman haunts an abbey and falls in love.
Persuasion by Jane Austen. Jane Austen’s broodiest and most classically romantic book.
Possession by A.S. Byatt. Romantic and artist yearning combined into a literary mystery across two time periods.
Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë. Epic yearning and unbridled revenge on the English moors.
Something’s amiss
The House on Vesper Sands by Paraic O’Donnell. After a woman falls to her death with a clue stitched into her skin, an inspector and journalist team up to solve this sinister case.
The Illness Lesson by Clare Beams. A hysterical affliction strikes an 19th-century girls school.
The Keep by Jennifer Egan. Two men united by cruelty meet again while renovated a creepy medieval castle.
The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters. An eerie mystery with an ideal crumbling manor house that’s perfect for autumn.
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. Three friends grow up at a boarding school where things aren’t at all what they seem.
Spirits, superstitions, and spectral forces
The Dangers of Smoking in Bed by Mariana Enriquez, tr. by Megan McDowell. Literary horror stories for horror novices.
The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo. A richly atmospheric historical novel with a supernatural contest.
The Hacienda by Isabel Cañas. A downright spooky haunted house book set in Mexico following the War of Independence.
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde. This uncanny classic with its ill-fated protagonist makes a perfect spooky season read.
Tyll by Daniel Kellman, tr. by Ross Benjamin. Humorous and macabre, this book brings to life a legendary trickster for an episodic adventure.
It’s all about the atmosphere
The Chosen and the Beautiful by Nghi Vo. A lush Gatsby retelling with magic, intrigue, and even demons.
The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry. In Victorian England, a widow finds a new life for herself and a superstition-driven mystery to solve.
Unsettled Ground by Claire Fuller. Grown twins living in the English countryside find their lives upended when their mother dies and long-buried secrets emerge.
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Happy reading!
Sara
oooohhhb lots of goodies here I need to read. longtime fan of Never Let Me Go - it hurts more with each reread.
I’ve just read Never Let Me Go for the first time, and it sits so well in these mood recs. I loved it so so much.