Top 10 Tuesdays: Ten Books with Fall Themed Covers

Fall has always been my favourite season, and I’m sure a big part of that is the fact that my birthday is just before Halloween. It meant that when I was younger, I would go from having birthday cake directly to having Halloween candy immediately after. I also love Fall because of the beautiful colours of all the leaves, the fact that most bugs (especially bees!) finally start to go away, and because it is generally the perfect temperature. I don’t do very well with very hot weather since I overheat very easily, to the point where I feel nauseated. I like spring weather, but hate that my seasonal allergies always act up because of everything growing, which almost inevitably turns into a cold. I actually don’t really mind winter, even when it’s cold, except for having to walk in the deep snow/ice because the city apparently assumes that no one walks through public parks in the winter, even though it is connected to an elementary school and a community center. Fall is the perfect balance for me, so I was happy to see this week’s theme. I associate fall with both Halloween, and colourful trees, so that’s what I looked for when choosing covers. I haven’t read many of these books yet, but their covers just screamed fall to me.

Top 10 Tuesdays is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and The Bookish

1) And The Trees Crept In by Dawn Kurtagich

I just finished this book the other day, so it was the first to come to mind for me when it came to fall covers. This is definitely a cover that I think is perfect for Halloween, with the creepy skeletal trees. I’m actually not a big fan of the girl in the white dress falling through the middle. I didn’t even notice it when I first saw the book, and I actually think it detracts a bit from the cover. It just doesn’t seem necessary, nor does it it fit the story that well. This book is about two sisters who move into their aunt’s creepy manor, which they quickly realize must be haunted or cursed. Silla, the older sister, tries to unlock the mysteries of the house while protecting Nori, her younger sister, from all the horrors, including the woods that seem to be getting closer every day. I really enjoyed this book, and it is perfect for getting into the Halloween spirit.

2) The Last Anniversary by Liane Moriarty

I haven’t read this book yet, but Liane Moriarty has become one of my favourite authors over the past few years. I have read four of her books so far and enjoyed them all, although Big Little Lies is still my favourite. I chose this cover because of the bright orange and red leaves on the tree, which definitely looked like a tree at the start of the fall. This book is about a woman named Sophie who has unexpectedly inherited her ex-boyfriend’s aunt’s house, bringing her ex who she considers the one who got away back into her life. The home that Sophie inherits was also the home of a famously unsolved mystery, so it’s possible there could be some creepy/Halloween-ish elements here as well.

3) Things I Want My Daughters To Know by Elizabeth Noble

I haven’t read this book yet either, although it has been on my TBR for a ridiculously long time. I chose this book because the colour scheme of the cover was very heavy on oranges and yellows, which seemed very appropriate for fall, and also because of the leaves the person is holding. This book is about a mother named Barbara who passes away, leaving behind letters and a journal to her daughters about things she wants them to know. The book follows Barbara’s daughters during their first year without their mother as they learn to come to terms with her loss and move forward. It sounds like it could be a very interesting family story, but also could be quite depressing.

4) A Walk to Remember by Nicholas Sparks

This is one of the few on the list that I actually have read, and I chose it because the  non-movie cover features beautifully coloured fall trees. To be fair, I actually enjoyed the movie version quite a bit more than the book, but that may just be because I saw the movie first. This book is set in the late 1950s, and focuses on a bad boy named Landon Carter who falls in love with Jamie Sullivan, the minister’s daughter. I generally enjoy Nicholas Sparks’ books, but I remember being a little disappointed with this one although the movie is one of my favourites. I just couldn’t help comparing the two versions, which is a problem I have any time there are adaptations. Whatever version I read or watch first is the version I tend to like best. I think I’m long overdue for a re-read though.

5) The Year of the Gadfly by Jennifer Miller

This is another book that I think I’ve had on my TBR for quite a while, but it seemed like a perfect fit for a fall-themed list. I chose it because of the yellow and orange leaves on the cover, but also because this book focuses on school. In this book, a secret society threatens to expose students and teachers’ discretions at the highly competitive Mariana Academy. The book focuses on Iris Dupont, a student who wants to become an investigative journalist and who sets out to uncover who is behind this secret society. I thought a school setting was perfect for fall since it is back-to-school season, and the cover artwork is definitely fall-themed.

6) The Next Time You See Me by Joyce Maynard

Compiling this list has made me realize how many books have been on it for way too long. I chose this book because the of the bed of leaves on the cover, including the single bright red leaf on the swing. I also thought the empty swing gave it a kind of creepy atmosphere, that might be in the Halloween spirit. This book is about a 13-year-old girl who finds a dead body while playing in the woods and decides not to tell anyone about it. The synopsis also describes a woman named Susanna, whose older sister has gone missing and no one else in the city seems to care to find out what happened to her. It sounds like a very interesting mystery/thriller, and the perfect fall read.

7) The Headmaster’s Wife by Thomas Christopher Greene

This is another book that I chose for a blend of the cover artwork and the school setting. The cover features a leafy ground, and a lot of orange leaves. The book is set in a New England boarding school, where the Headmaster Arthur Winthrop is found wandering naked by the police, leading to his story of his marriage and family. The plot synopsis on Goodreads is relatively vague and none of the reviewers I follow seem to have read this one yet so I don’t know too much about it. If I recall correctly, I added it to my list because it sounded like an interesting and unusual storyline, and because the cover art was very appealing when I first saw it.

8) The Kindness of Strangers by Katrina Kittle

This was actually one of the first books I had in mind when I saw this week’s topic, since I had a distinct memory of having a book on my TBR for a very long time with a prominent yellow leaf on the cover. This book is about a young widow named Sarah who is raising two boys, and soon takes on another troubled child after a “shocking revelation rips apart the family of her closest friend” (according to the Goodreads summary). It is another book that does not seem to be very well-known, although it has an average rating just over 4 stars so it sounds like it could be a good one. Just browsing through the reviews, it seems that the majority of readers really enjoyed it so it may be one that I will have to get to soon.

9) The Memory Trees by Kali Wallace

This is a cover that was more on the Halloween side of fall-themed, and it may be the only book here that is a very recent release, just coming out today! This book is a magical realism story about a girl named Sorrow who belongs to an eccentric family, and leaves them for eight years after her sister dies and her mother has a mental breakdown. When she is 16, Sorrow returns to her family’s orchard one summer to learn more about the past she barely remembers and her family.  I chose this book because of the dark and almost creepy trees on the cover that seem to have lost most of their leaves. It seemed like it could have a darker side to the story, and it might be one that is good to read around Halloween.

10) After Her by Joyce Maynard

This one is another book that was more on the Halloween-inspired side, with skeletal trees and a bed of leaves on the ground on the cover. This book is about two sisters who live near a mountain in northern California where young women keep turning up dead. The girls’ father, a detective, is working on finding the man responsible for these crimes and after seeing his struggles to do so, one of the daughters decides to use herself as bait to catch the killer. Reviews for this one have been pretty mixed, and none of the reviewers that I follow have read it yet, so I’m not sure how this one will be. However, I would definitely say it has a very creepy fall-themed cover!

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