35 Best Classic Fall Books for a Cozy Autumn Read

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Jane Eyre begins on a dreary November day—“There was no possibility of taking a walk that day...”—setting the tone for the gothic novel. Autumn remains a key backdrop throughout the novel, including when she travels to Thronfield Hall for the first time (her first morning there was “a fine autumn morning”). It’s a definitive autumn classic. (Any Brontë novel, honestly, makes great fall reading.)

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Erin Morgenstern’s part fantasy, part romance follows the star-crossed magicians Celia and Marco, who set up exhibits at a mysterious circus that appears only at night. Though it’s not set at any particular moment in time, The Night Circus is definitely an autumn read. As Morgenstern writes, “The circus looks abandoned and empty. But you think perhaps you can smell caramel wafting through the evening breeze, beneath the crisp scent of the autumn leaves. A subtle sweetness at the edges of the cold...” It’s best read under a cozy blanket with a candle lit.

If you’re looking for a spooky read in October, Ray Bradbury’s short stories have to be at the top of your list. These nineteen sci-fi stories are weird gothic horror—and just scary enough.

In the intro, he describes the setting of October Country: “That country where it is always turning late in the year. That country where the hills are fog and the rivers are mist; where noons go quickly, dusks and twilights linger, and midnights stay. That country composed in the main of cellars, sub-cellars, coal-bins, closets, attics, and pantries faced away from the sun. That country whose people are autumn people, thinking only autumn thoughts. Whose people passing at night on the empty walks sound like rain...”

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“It’s a university novel, and normally I don’t really like university novels, but this is very good,” Min Jin Lee, author of American Hagwon, tells T&C. “It’s an outsider book, but it’s also about what success means and what failure is. And it’s a beautiful, beautiful novel.”

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A book called Autumn has to make the cut, right? The first novel in Ali Smith's seasonal quartet follows friends Daniel and Elisabeth in the "season of mists and mellow fruitfulness."

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The first time Captoe's unnamed narrator meets Holly Golightly in Breakfast at Tiffany's, it is a rainy Tuesday in October. Though the novella isn't entirely set in the season, this alone makes it enough of an autumn classic for us. As if we need an excuse to revisit this work.

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In Ann Patchett's The Dutch House, Danny and Maeve bond after their mother leaves when they are just children. They're raised in the Dutch House by their father, Cyril, and stepmother, Andrea. As Stephen King wrote, it's "an absorbing 'family' novel (brother and sister, actually) that's like a perfect Thanksgiving dinner: many courses, each perfectly prepared. At first you turn the pages; then you slip into that world."

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Daphne Du Maurier’s gothic novel, Rebecca, was published in 1938 and remains a classic to this day. (The book has never gone out of print!) Following an unnamed young woman who marries a wealthy widower, Maxim de Winter, and returns to his estate, Manderley, it's an atmospheric page-turner–perfect as the days get shorter.

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“Daniel Mason’s North Woods is a perfect autumn reads for anyone who loves apples, ghosts, and the forests of Massachusetts,” says R.F. Kuang.

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While To Kill a Mockingbird begins during summer (and the trial takes place the following summer), much of Harper Lee's famous novel is set during fall, including the book's final chapters.

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Vampires may not necessarily be cozy, but they are a key part of spooky season. If you're looking for a classic vampire read, start with Carmilla, a lesbian vampire story that was published decades before Dracula.

Read more: Best Vampire Books to Read Right Now

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The plot of Richard Osman’s The Thursday Murder Club largely takes place in autumn, and the cozy mystery of four retirees solving a crime is simply perfect for this time of year. There’s a whole series, too!

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The Overstory is a superb, Pulitzer Prize-winning book about trees. As Ann Patchett noted, "Autumn makes me think of leaves, which makes me think of trees, which makes me think of ‘The Overstory,’ the best novel ever written about trees, and really, just one of the best novels, period."

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For starters, the sequel to the Pulitzer Prize-winning Olive Kitteridge features falling leaves on the cover, making it an immediate yes for us when we're discussing autumn reads. Olive, Again is a collection of thirteen interconnected stories (you don't need to read Olive Kitteridge first) set in coastal Maine.

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If autumn to you means dark academia, there's no better novel to read than Donna Tartt's The Secret History, a cornerstone of the genre that the New York Times called "Dark Academia’s essential text."

Read more: The 25 Best Dark Academia Books

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Poet Patricia Lockwood tells T&C: “I’m currently reading Elspeth Barker’s O Caledonia, which undergoes a period of micro-rediscovery every ten years or so. Gloomy, gothic, witty, and full of weather, it features a protagonist who is murdered before the book even begins. And when you’re finished with that, definitely try Barker’s Notes from the Henhouse, another undiscovered classic.”

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This aptly titled novel, Mexican Gothic, is set in the 1950s and follows Noémi as she travels to the Mexican countryside to help her cousin, Catalina, who claims her husband in poisoning her. When she arrives at the mansion, nothing is as it seems. As Rachel Syme wrote in the New Yorker, "In the fall, I cracked open Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s 'Mexican Gothic' in the bath and found myself reading until the water turned cold."

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While this story is meant for children, all ages can still enjoy L.M. Montgomery's classic about Anne. As Yaa Gyasi said when she re-read it, "What I noticed this time around that I hadn’t noticed when I was a young girl is how much careful attention Montgomery pays to the seasons — descriptions of the weather, the way the plants in Lovers Lane change. My favorite season in the book is fall, when school has begun for the children of Avonlea, and Anne, fierce, independent, brilliant Anne, breaks her slate over Gilbert’s head. It’s an iconic moment in a wonderful book."

Emily Burack (she/her) is the Deputy Digital Editor for Town & Country, where she covers entertainment, celebrities, the royals, and a wide range of other topics. Before joining T&C, she was the deputy managing editor at Hey Alma, a Jewish culture site. Follow her @emburack on Instagram, Twitter, and other social media platforms.