20+ books 🕯️ an updated autumn book list 🍂 creepy forests, sentient houses, vampires, dark academia

[@sleepyyy27]

love that we’re all collectively trying summon the autumn vibes

[@Solarstormflare]

spring australia erasure T.T

[@banrions]

omg, please do a video about seasons of mythological creatures! i'd be so curious.

[@caricanread]

hahah i will work on it!

[@dianamanana]

*opens a new Cari video and immediately clicks the like button*

[@caricanread]

:'''') thank you!

[@jadewitch6539]

Every time!

[@thethriftyfawn]

Relatable! I click the like button before watching or listening to a single word LOL 😆

[@JovieStroll-f8t]

Same! Cause you know it’s always gonna be good!

[@scribblesandscrawls]

Omg that’s what I just did 🙊

[@Amystudio]

I love how dramatic Cari speaks, her mannerisms 😂❤

[@toqa6735]

I can't believe i read *Fall🍂 in the title , my heart feels so happy that the wretched summer is about to end...in two months for me but still yay can't wait !!

[@caricanread]

yesssss!

[@swolerabbit]

same! autumn doesn’t really exist where i am, it’s just varying degrees of summer. but im going to pretend and have a great time 😂

[@delaneyheil9575]

Girl I'm literally at the library trying to whittle down the books I'm taking home and you release *this*?! Time to rethink everything 😂 so excited work through this list! 🥰

[@caricanread]

sorry not sorry!

[@layniemcgrail8438]

Fantasy creepy/sentient forest suggestion: One Dark Window !!! Been looking for something to fill the void it left ever since....

[@ALovelyJaunt]

Hey for Ninth House, I think it’s important to note TW for child r*pe. It’s a scene on the page too. No one mentions it and I was shocked when I read it.

[@MandaPandaPlans]

Thank you!

[@nana127v]

I’m studying abroad in Oxford in 2 weeks and I desperately needed an autumn/dark academia reading list to get me into the vibe (and escape from my required readings) so I’m very thankful for this

[@Andrea-Loves-Books]

The Timekeeper's Secret - Timeless Fate Series is literally dark academia, time travel, mystery, and has crazy plot twists. Perfect fall read!

[@JustNicole6400]

@@nana127v have you read a discovery of witches?? It’s set in Oxford ✨

[@khanh6932]

Babel is also set in Oxford and is mainly dark academia and magical realism(? I think that’s a good label? I haven’t finished it myself so)

[@Dreamlandrry]

A study in drowning by Ava Reid

[@Xeni.a]

If we were villains by M.L Rio

[@JustNicole6400]

Bless you for writing all of them in the description 😭 right now I’m reading a court of silver flames but next is The Black Bird Oracle, Sorceress Comes to Call and the Spellshop ✨

[@caricanread]

a sorceress comes to caaaaaalllllll!

[@Princesstayler9]

I loved The Black Bird Oracle. I got to meet Deborah Harkness last month and she was so nice. A Discovery of Witches is one of my favorite series.

[@JustNicole6400]

@@Princesstayler9 IM SO JEALOUS 😭

[@elinamakela8435]

TBBO has a very different feeling than the previous 4, but I still enjoyed it. If we get another trilogy story arch of Diana & Matthew, I won’t be mad, but I still wish the Gallowglass book will be next 😂

[@Princesstayler9]

@@elinamakela8435 Deborah at the tour said book 6 was done and would be coming out hopefully next year and book 7 is in the works. I saw online that book 6 would be Diana and Matthew going back to the past (The Serpent's Mirror) and book 7 is possibly Gallowglass's book. She was asked by someone in the audience would she be writing Diana going back to see Philippe before he died and she said if she gets to that book one day that would probably be he last book or close to the end of the story. That was really interesting to me.

[@cedartonk3382]

I loved Enchantment of Ravens from one of your previous recommendations. So, looking forward to new reads!

[@caricanread]

i am so due for a reread of that!!

[@laceyapril2620]

I love that Flower Bride felt autumnal to you. To me is gave summer vibes. It make me think like, Virgin Suicides. Long slip overlay dresses, flower crowns, golden hour. So fun to get a feel for how certain stories vibe with different people!!

[@Jeeeeeeeessa]

Watching this in the middle of a national blackout in Venezuela to smile through the pain and we don't even have Autumn 😅 adding these to the tbr 😊

[@HaveSomePlaid]

Yay autumn reads! My favorite read every autumn is Arthur Miller's The Crucible. The Salem Witch Trials have lived rent free in my head since I was a kid.

[@caricanread]

oh yes that was required reading in HS and one of the few i liked!

[@Showtunediva]

I loved The Crucible.

[@KendallM0219]

Last Tale of the Flower Bride reads very autumnal to me, I think a lot of people would like it as a smooth read. If you like a lot of purple prose. This is hilarious the 2 recommendations I had you mentioned in the video 😂 I felt the same way about Starling House, her and the house had a lot more love than the other human in the story.

[@alexisrounds5119]

omg yess new video!! i finished six of crows for the first time last night and was trying not to scream at 3 am so im SO ready for more recs from my fav booktuber 😭

[@caricanread]

yessssssss!

[@Andrea-Loves-Books]

If you havent read The Timekeeper's Secret - Timeless Fate Series, you should! Its similar to Six of Crows and the perfect fall read! Its soo good im obsessed and you will be too!

[@hte624]

Thanks so much for recommending Heart of Stone!

[@landynallyn]

Yes! Ninth House is exactly that!! Second read was so good

[@Merve77772]

I will never stop recommending "The Scorpio Races" by Maggie Stiefvater as the perfect November book

[@joyc.e.7511]

God yes! I rarely see people mention this book. It really creeped me out when I was younger. Time to reread me copy, I think, thanks for the reminder lol

[@icrycyanide6999]

Oh, i can't wait for cozy season!!! 🍁🍂

[@caricanread]

same :'''')

[@sarah_serif]

another for the creepy sentient woods category is uprooted by naomi novik! dark but it also felt a little howls moving castle to me

[@lisavanmook3043]

One of my favourite autumnal books is The Secrets of Hartwood Hall by Katie Lumsden! It's about a recently widowed woman who starts working as a governess for a secretive family in a creepy manor that is falling apart somewhere in the Victorian British countryside. Really good creepy hounted house vibes!

[@frankiegirl2756]

At the tail end of spring here in NZ and yet I’m so ready for autum recs from my favourite booktuber! 👏👏

[@lixielynx4795]

I just love listening to your voice telling all those stories

[@AmberDanae98]

Honorable creepy forest mention- Where the Dark Stands Still by A. B. Poranek

[@livfaferek6231]

and Slavic mythology

[@thethriftyfawn]

Sending you some beautiful autumn vibes from Canada, including our very colorful leaves! 🍂🍁🍂🍁🍂🍁🍂

[@caricanread]

ugh thank youuuu!

[@nicoleeverett1696]

Cari you have became my favorite booktuber, the way you describe books but also give your honest opinion, it's refreshing.

[@upsidedown9412]

I’m looking forward to Don’t Let The Forest in 😊

[@Lee-zf5sw]

OMG! I'm from Slovenia, so happy that you are visiting 🇸🇮😊

[@ariaojou]

When Among Crows needs to be longer but also it's perfect the way it is. I can't decide❤

[@caricanread]

exactly!!

[@nissasbookcorner]

Don’t Let the Forest In and My Throat an Open Grave i neeeed to read!! i need the creepy vibes

[@toqa6735]

Cari you spawned at the right time hehe i was about to watch your old uploads this is perfect

[@caricanread]

we are all clearly craving autumn hahaha

[@julialuvbot]

i’ve been counting down the days for this video, so excited thank you for your vids!!🥺🩷

[@caricanread]

yeeeee thank you!!

[@Lucy19103]

I’m rereading Ninth House to summon Autumn myself so thank you for all the similar vibes recommendations! So many books I’ve never even heard of and can’t wait to dive into! Thanks Cari❤❤❤

[@eshamaskeri]

Hi Cari! I just wanted to comment since i'm so early that I love your content--my favorites are your creepy summer recs and the christmas romcom vid!! I think i found your channel by the raven cycle video you did haha, anyway you've been my comfort KZbinr ever since

[@caricanread]

omg yay i was very happy with my creepy summer recs too hahah thank you!

[@deirdramantia3044]

Been watching so many fall TBR videos to find suggestions but THIS… THIS is what I’ve been searching for 🤩🙌

[@OddballAuthorsGuild]

Yes, let's manifest some cozy fall vibes! This is my first video I discovered on your channel and you're already reeling me in with autumn lol. I'm ready!

[@Abby-jc2hp]

have you read ink blood sister scribe by emma törzs? It's about two estranged half sisters whose family guards a library of magical books, reuniting after the death of their father. part of the central mystery in the book is that when their father dies, he's found with a book neither sister has ever seen before in their library! I thought the writing was gorgeous and it's one of those books where all of the different POVs are so enjoyable that I was always excited to flip the page and see whose chapter I'd be reading next! lots of family secrets, so great fall vibes!! all that consumes us by erica waters is also great dark academia vibes with an incredibly lovable and very queer cast

[@sophspice32]

you all don´t even know how much i love this video😭

[@QueenXKnit]

I also want to command Autumn weather to comeee!This summer has been insanely hot, and seems to be neverending😭😭😭😭

[@boos_sword]

i don't know how you do it but hearing you talk about books makes me want to read every single one of them

[@stvrwar]

I was so amped for Don't Let the Forest In, was ready to read immediately, but alas, it's not actually out until October 29th 😭

[@upsidedown9412]

I just realised it’s not out in the UK until January 😭 I need a US based book smuggler!

[@milksoup328]

have you heard that Veronica Roth is writing a sequel to when among crows? im so excited!

[@izzygraff2026]

Yess I’ve been sick for a week and bored out of my mind, thank goodness I now have Cari to entertain me! Thank you!

[@Andrea-Loves-Books]

You should read The Timekeeper's Secret - Timeless Fate Series! Its the perfect fall read! Its dark academia too!

[@bloodstrxwberrymilk1833]

One of my favorite autumnal books is Darcy Coates The Gravekeeper series! It's giving cemetery ghosts, black cats, and small town after school vibes.

[@MOTHHMAN]

Yesss this is exactly what I needed!! We just decorated for Halloween and I need some autumnal books to go along with it 🧡🖤

[@caricanread]

omg yes! halloween in august!!

[@Cozyberry15]

The spellshop is a super cute cozy book with a sentient spider plant named Caz! Highly recommend🌱

[@ElenaVarg]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1611">26:51</a> my favorite sentient house book is White is for Witching by Helen Oyeyemi!! It also fits the themes of ”back to school” and ”family secrets” perfectly, highly recommend!!

[@WhateverLulaWants]

I LOVE sentient houses. I want to find and read all of them. My favorite was in Keeper of Enchanted Rooms. It wasn’t so much creepy as it was very naughty.

[@ainincinnamonrolls]

Watching your recaps always feels like autumn ❤❤

[@grawrrr69]

Sentient bed and breakfast!! Ilona Andrew’s Innkeeper chronicles is AMAZING. One of my favorite all time authors ever

[@impreal983]

Sentient house recomendation: open house on haunted hill by John Wiswell. It's a short story free to read online, which Wiswell has a lot of but he's also recently published his first full length novel someone you can build a nest in, which sounds like it's also spooky fall vibes (haven't read it yet, on my tbr). Thanks for the recs❤

[@laurenbuzz]

LOVED Someone You Can Build a Nest In so very excited to check out his free stories online!! Thank you!

[@sav2448]

when you said you love sentient houses i got so excited; i JUST finished reading a book with a sentient house!! “the briar club” by kate quinn. it’s set in the 1950s in dc during the height of mccarthyism and explores that (and other issues of the ‘50s) through the women boarding at briarwood house. each chapter revolves around one woman but in between we get chapters from the house’s pov and it was so interesting having the house be a sentient character! highly recommend

[@j8n305]

I think we can all agree that we are ready for some fall weather 🍁

[@caricanread]

pleeeease!!!

[@nataschasongbird]

Soooo ready for autumn🍁🍂 And yeah, quite a few books are on my tbr list already🙈 (my tbr pile giving me a big side eye)

[@missjt378]

I read the invocations after seeing the video in which you talked about it back in june i believe? and it became one of my favorites of this year , so major thanks for that ❤ Cant wait to read the creepy ones you recommended in this one too !

[@CaptainXiamber]

Don’t Let The Forest In is amazing! It doesn’t come out until the end of October - I got a digital arc and am dying for a physical copy! One of my top reads of the year for sure!

[@freckledlife]

Thank you for recommending The Darkest Part of the Forest!! I just finished it and it's one of my fave reads of this year.

[@missxhoney]

I will come back to this video and choose many many books from the list. They all sound amazing and just perfectly autumnal-y.

[@Katelin626_]

Im so happy I’ve found your channel. You’re close to my age which is a huge bonus, and I have added all of these to my TBR on Goodreads 🥰

[@alvean915]

Oh, I sooo needed this video! Can we please summon autumn already? It's so hot and humid in northern Italy now 😭 climate change is making it so much worse the past years, when I was a child September used to be chilly and I would wear sweaters for the first days of school, nowadays it feels like summer with 30°C and more 😅 I hope that some autumnal reads will at least help me set the mood. Thanks for the suggestions as always! I love your videos ❤

[@anon9067]

wow, same here alvean. climate changed has destroyed what used to be a gradual transition from summer to autumn where i am as well. it used to be that september mornings and evenings were crisp and cool, with warm, mild days. the leaves used to begin to change around the 2nd week of september, if not by the first, with gloriously colorful and chilly octobers to follow. now it stays hot with a last heat wave coming in october, sometimes pushing temps until around october 31st to 32°. the leaves stay green through september until the last heat wave in october finally kills them dead and causes them to yellow and fall off. with the first cold breeze of november, they are all gone, and suddenly winter has come.

[@alvean915]

Same here! It's so depressing, to be honest 🥲 I miss the foliage and those foggy, cold mornings. Winter is not cold anymore too, it hasn't been snowing for the past ten years or so. And spring is just...weird. This year we had a super cold spring, until past June, then the temperature rose up to 40° 🥲 I guess we need to do with what we have now, but I can't help feeling nostalgic.

[@anon9067]

@@alvean915 it is depressing 😭 i really hope we can all come together and reverse climate change. i feel like a lot of regular citizens worldwide are on board with that, but our governments either don't care at all or are moving too slow to effect real change. but you're right that for now we have to deal with it... it makes me super nostalgic for the past as well! 😭

[@iynur]

Yes! I can’t imagine what’s gonna happen as we grow older😢the warming has been getting more and more serious in the past two years

[@anon9067]

@@iynur it's super scary 😭 i find myself overwhelmed with hopelessness at times... but then i get so many nice replies from people who also want a change, and it encourages me to think that many people across the world are also trying to help! as long as we have each other there is still hope :)

[@jessiebrim]

sentient house recommendation: Keeper of Enchanted Rooms! it’s a super cute but well thought out fantasy, it also has a love story that is so sweet. It’s magic meets victorian america and I just adore the series

[@Annamarie250]

Unmaking of June farrow took me by surprise also. The only thing I needed was some backstory with the husband and more about her relationship with the people from another time

[@kaylashrader232]

I have the same reaction when I remember/think of June Farrow. That book was beautiful

[@noelledowney7168]

I am so READY for this…been waiting for days! It’s 100 degrees outside, can’t wait to get ready for fall!

[@caricanread]

ugh stay safe!!!

[@layniemcgrail8438]

MY BRAND!! creepy forest books are my ultimate favorite :))) I love this so much

[@tanyaroberts919]

Im in all the fall vibes ✨️ i love all these books, erin A craig and starling house are so good!

[@LiteratureLindsi]

Awesome list!!! I love that you separated the recs by vibe; my autumn and october reading lists are wildly different LOL!! For the vampire section I'd recommend Carmilla, it's the classic that inspired dracula and subsequently other vampy tales, and it's a super short yet fun read!!

[@cappycappyspruspru]

Yesss loved seeing Ninth House and Starling House both on here! And incredible to see an entire section dedicated to sentient houses?! I was just talking to a friend about how much I love those. I HIGHLY recommend The Witches of New York - very good fall vibes, period piece, magic/witches, wild religious fanatics, queer representation, a cool raven, the power of womanhood...amazing. Reading the physical copy is wonderful but the audiobook is also great; I love the narrator's voice and delivery.

[@Kat.....]

Putting everything on my tbr list for October! ❤

[@kagostinelli2341]

ahhh I'm so ready for this! I love your videos!

[@_rayafterhours]

Just i loveeeee "autumn season". Like i truly trive in that season❤🫶

[@caricanread]

the only time im truly happy with weather hahahaa

[@ChiaraMihara]

Ohh, so happy to see a mention of Heart of Stone! I also discovered it almost at random (no clue how as the cover *really* didn't speak to me) and it was so good! Loved both of the main characters and their romance (even if it was almost *too* slow burn for me at times haha...) Also, on the topic of sentient houses: One novel that had a kind of sentient house (I don't remember the specifics, but it definitely had the vibes) as well as giving some autumnal feelings is "The Witchwood Knot" by Olivia Atwater. (She also wrote "Half a Soul" and "Ten Thousand Stitches" which I both love as well! Though those are a lot more lighthearted while Witchwood Knot has a much darker approach to the setting)

[@paolathomas9879]

these are my favvvvv videos from you and thats a high bar

[@teadesi]

My hold for the Unmaking of June Farrow just came in so guess I"ll be reading that within the next two weeks. Ninth House and Hell Bent are on my fall tbr, as are When Amongst Crows, House of Roots and Ruin and Starling House. I also really enjoyed The Invocations and A Sorceress Comes to Call (my first T. Kingfisher)! ❤ I would add Where the Dark Stands Still for more creepy forest and Polish folklore vibes - very good book!

[@myweakness1883]

I always add so many new books to my TBR after your videos! I don't know how you do it but you always manage to talk about books I've never heard of before (and I consume a lot of book content) 🤭

[@franciscaalmeida6537]

Im sure its been recommended a lot but A Discovery of Witches has it all: a quirky sentient house; witches (obvs); "demons"; vampires; ghosts AND its mainly set between Oxford, rural France and Maddison NY. Oh and tons of historical facts about alchemy. Its perfect for autumnal vibes 🍂✨

[@kyliefitzgerald6984]

Morganville vampires has a sentient house who is incredible 😍 (I equally love sentient space ships lol velocity weapon has a great one too)

[@ilovemybabyblues]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1778">29:38</a> LMAO THIS MIGHT’VE ACTUALLY BEEN ME!!! I went to one of her Q&A and book signings for Roots and she mentioned during the Q&A portion, not that she *changed* the ending, but that her editor “firmly suggested” that she write the Epilogue because “she can’t leave it like that” (iykyk). She originally wanted to leave the book with the ending it has, but sans Epilogue, and honestly I would’ve lost my mind. 😂

[@alishadonna]

Yesssssssss! I’m so excited for this video 😭 I love that it’s a bit early so I can put stuff on hold at the library

[@bmoforever5562]

So many new friends to add to my tbr! Continuing to recommend In The House In The Dark Of The Woods by Laird Hunt; like Kafka had written The Witch/ Over The Garden Wall and had David Lynch film it. It's short, feverish and full of the kind of strange that settles in your bones like a winter chill 🍁

[@dkotaalynn]

I always love your themed recommendations! Excited to watch this one 🖤🎃🍂

[@ilovemybabyblues]

Omg the minute the “sentient house” category started, House of Roots and Ruin was going to be my immediate recommendation! For more in this category, I’ve been really wanting to check out Keeper of Enchanted Rooms by Charlie N. Holmberg. Would love for you to give it a try and hear your thoughts. ❤

[@frankie9373]

My perfect autumn book is 'something wicked this way comes'. Fair warning, it is from the 60s so there is some outdated language and slight misogyny and ableism, but it isnt too prevalent imo. The writing is really beautiful. It's set in autumn and it's about two young boys who are best friends and what growing up can feel like. It has a creepy carnival, is set in a small town in october, weird things start happening, it has a creepy but kinda cool villain. Im terrible at making recommendations seem worth checking out but if any of that even slightly sounds like it could be anyones vibe I do highly recommend further looking into it. Also a small tv media shoutout: If you havent watched 'over the garden wall' yet, do it! trust me on this. It's the perfect autumn show. it's a beautifully animated short series and it was inspired by vintage autumn themed postcards. Everything about it is a masterpiece.

[@darcyreads]

I love this series and I look forward to it every year!!!

[@paytonupnorth]

I haven't read Small Favors by Erin A. Craig yet, it needs to be a little cooler and crispier out. But I'm SO excited for it, the premise is super intriguing to me. You definitely convinced me to read the sisters of salt books!

[@caricanread]

Oh yes that one is weird and eerie as well! it made me want to rewatch The Village by M Night Shyamalan!

[@paytonupnorth]

@@caricanread I love that movie, so that's a great sign!

[@1luckydeva]

I LOVE IT!

[@sj_sunshine]

absolutely lovinggggg the vibes, even though it is coming up to spring where I live 🤭😛!! 🍂🍂🍂 thank you for keeping me company during my lunch break andddd making my tbr list that little bit longer, as always 😆!

[@khanh6932]

Thank u for the recs! I’ve been kind of in a mini reading slump so hopefully picking up one of these soon will get me out of it

[@missxhoney]

Right now I'm reading the lord of the rings but next up is ninth house! So very good to know that it is in fact an autumn book.

[@alyssareinholdtsen6734]

Hearing you say you were confused reading ninth house made me feel so much better about not understanding whats going on. Sadly I still havn't finished because I was just so confused.

[@swolerabbit]

nooooo, it’s not you at all lmao the narrator is intentionally unreliable and withholding all information, so i dnf’d too. it wasn’t badly written, and i wanted to love it so bad, but that just isn’t my style 😂

[@joy-dz7oe]

when among crows is one of my favourites reads this year!!! All thanks to you cari haha

[@fernandadiesel8369]

so many books added to my tbr after this video, thank youu

[@37thknight]

i recently just discovered you and i gotta say that I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!! i can listen to you talk forever!!! to the point that ive just been bingeing everything on your channel HAHAHA your videos feel like im just hanging out with a fun friend i love it!!

[@marianafacci4934]

obsessed with your earrings omg ??? (say u got hem online and not in korea)

[@woundworship]

to me, nothing gives autumn like witches and/or shirley jackson. we have always lived in the castle is tiny and AMAZING. theres a cat!!!!

[@barborastanclova7586]

Autumn is finally starting in Korea!!! Everybody hurray 🤩🙌 I can finally walk out in a sweater and not have a heat stroke 🍂🌞 Perfect time to start the autumn reads

[@arden.0098]

if you want a book that fits into sentient house, creepy woods, and family secrets then try midnight rooms by donyae coles ! its the perfect mix of all 3 !

[@carasteajournal1144]

These recommendations are such a vibe✨ I love love LOVE the gothic feels in autumn, which is why Erin A. Craig is one of my favourite authors, if you liked the house of roots and ruin, I would definitely give her other book ‘Small Favors’ a go although that one fees more summer-coded to me

[@caricanread]

oh yes! small favors reminded me of m night shyamalan's the village!

[@michellecgb]

I can’t wait to read The Hedgewitch of Foxhall, it seems like a perfect fall book going by the cover

[@ashleythompson1481]

Every year I reread In the House in the Dark of the Wood by Laird Hunt around Halloween. It's an amazing atmospheric dark fairytale about a puritan woman lost in the woods and what she finds there 🍂