The Finally Fall Book Tag

The Finally Fall Book Tag was created by Booktuber Tall Tales, but I saw it first at Dwell in Possibility.

I haven’t participated in many tags recently, but this one – being a bit different – appealed to me, and as Sheldon Cooper says, “What’s life without whimsy?!”

I don't really like to tag others...but feel free to join. Leave a comment with link and I'll be sure to read and comment on your Fall Book list.

1. In fall, the air is crisp and clear: name a book with a vivid setting!

The key here is “vivid” because The Sheltering Sky by Paul Bowles in not evocative of fall, or crisp and clear air, but the author does a marvelous job of describing the harsh and unforgiving beauty of Saharan Africa.

2. Nature is beautiful… but also dying: name a book that is beautifully written, but also deals with a heavy topic like loss or grief.

I just recently finished The Bridge of San Luis Ray by Thornton Wilder, that is about a tragic event, and yet Wilder uses his beautiful prose to deliver a message of hope and grace.

3. Fall is back to school season: share a non-fiction book that taught you something new.

The Mighty Fitz: This Sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald is about a tale many of us know from Gordon Lightfoot’s haunting song The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. The author, Michael Schumacher fills in the gaps and corrects a few of the inaccuracies of the song (perfectly admissible creative license…I LOVE Lightfoot’s ballad.)

4. In order to keep warm, it’s good to spend some time with the people we love: name a fictional family/household/friend-group that you’d like to be a part of.

I’m quite happy with my own family, but I’d love to be better acquainted with the Finch family of To Kill a Mockingbird.

5. The colourful leaves are piling up on the ground: show us a pile of fall-colored spines!

One of my more colorful shelves:

(Left to Right: The Good Soldier, A Passage to India, The French Lieutenant's Woman, The Heart of the Matter, Lord of the Flies, I, Claudius, The Scarlet Letter, Catch-22, A Farewell to Arms, The Sun Also Rises, Dune, Les Miserables, Brave New World, The Ambassadors, The Golden Bowl, The Portrait of a Lady, The Wings of the Dove, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man)

6. Fall is the perfect time for some storytelling by the fireside: share a book wherein somebody is telling a story.

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein would be a good fall fireside tale…in fact, I think that is exactly how it came to be.

7. The nights are getting darker: share a dark, creepy read.

The Trial by Franz Kafka

8. The days are getting colder: name a short, heartwarming read that could warm up somebody’s cold and rainy day.

Nothing as short and heartwarming – and beautiful, as The Little Prince.

9. Fall (luckily, it’s my favourite season) returns every year: name an old favourite that you’d like to return to soon.

This has to be The Hobbit + The Lord of the Rings. I never read LOTR without first reading The Hobbit and I reread both every 10 years or so.

10. Fall is the perfect time for cozy reading nights: share your favourite cozy reading “accessories”!

Comfy chair in my library, glass of Malbec, sometimes some cheese, Pandora playing movie soundtracks.