A Little Mystery, a Little Magic: Making Room for an Autumn Reading Ritual

I spend a lot of time with books.

Choosing them, ordering them, wrapping them, thinking about which ones you might love. And somewhere in the middle of all that, I occasionally have to remind myself that I can sit down and read one, too. Preferably before I’m so tired that I read the same paragraph three times.

October has been full, and there’s more ahead. I’m excited about it. But I don’t want to get all the way through my favorite kind of reading weather without actually enjoying some of it myself.

You know that feeling? You look forward to a season, and then you get so busy with everything happening in it that you forget to do the thing you were looking forward to.

For me, right now, that thing is sitting down with a book. Not researching one or checking a release date. Just reading it.

A whole afternoon with nothing to do but read sounds wonderful. It also sounds unlikely at the moment. But a cup of tea and twenty minutes? I think I can manage that.

I spend so much time choosing the little things that go into the bundles, including the tea, that it occurred to me I should probably make myself a cup and enjoy a book, too. While the tea is still hot, ideally.

I don’t need to rearrange the house or wait until everything is finished. There will always be something else to do, especially this time of year. I’d just like to get a little better at leaving it alone for a while.

I’ve been surrounded by witchy, mysterious, atmospheric stories lately, and I’m having a wonderful time with them. A little magic feels right in October. But I don’t think autumn reading has to mean scary reading. If you love a haunted house, by all means, go in. If you’d rather have a love story and a reasonably good chance that everyone will be okay at the end, that sounds lovely, too.

Sometimes (OK, most of the time) I want a book that keeps me guessing. Sometimes I want to spend time somewhere entirely different. And sometimes I don’t want to work very hard at choosing. I just want to open something and get caught up in it. I’m trying to remember to ask myself what sounds good, rather than looking at my pile of books as another list I’m behind on. That pile is supposed to be something to look forward to.

For someone who spends so much time choosing books, I still love being surprised by one. The story you didn’t expect to like quite so much. The character who gets under your skin (looking at you, Yesteryear). The moment you realize you’ve stopped checking how many pages are left because you’re too interested in what’s happening. You can read descriptions and recommendations and still not know exactly what a book will be like for you. I like that.

It gives me a reason to try something I might otherwise pass over. And it reminds me that I don’t have to make the perfect choice every time. I can start reading and see.

There are plenty of things I’m looking forward to over the next few weeks. I love seeing familiar faces at markets, meeting new readers, and hearing what you thought of your last book. I’d like to have a little reading news of my own to share, too.

So, that’s my very modest plan for October. Make the tea while it’s still early enough to enjoy it. Pick up a book before I’m falling asleep. Leave a few things for tomorrow.

Are you reading anything good right now? Tell me. Apparently, even though I spend my days surrounded by books, I’m always looking for another one.