Happy October, my dears! If you know me at all, you know this is my favorite time of year. And with the state of the world over the last year and a half, I'm very happy to wallow in the joy this season brings me (that fall wreath has been up on my door since just after Labor Day!). I'm ready for pumpkin treats and cozy cardigans, the glorious colors of fall and crackling leaves underfoot, crisp mornings and reading curled up with a blanket and a cup of cocoa. I'm ready to hang up the Halloween lights and paint a pumpkin. I'm also ready for my favorite autumn stories. I don't like horror, but I do love atmospheric reads and witchy books and a bit of spookiness and just the wonderful cozy feel of autumn. I'll be watching Practical Magic and Hocus Pocus and doing rereads of some favorite books that just feel right this time of year:

A Discover of Witches by Deborah Harkness: I listen to the audio of this book every autumn now (and usually end up rolling right into the books that follow in the series after). It's the story of a spellbound witch and a vampire and a mysterious manuscript and has a blend of romance, science, history, and magic that I loved. It's also set at this time of year.

A Little Familiar and Nothing More Certain by R Cooper: These two books are just lovely. All the yearning romance and witchiness and cozy fall feeling. I adore them.

Once Upon a Haunted Moor by Harper Fox: This short is the start to a wonderful series (which I have not read the latest couple of books in because my reading has been a mess lately) with a wonderful romance and a supernatural mystery out on the moor. But I love it this time of year because it's atmospheric and a bit melancholy and just spooky enough for me. 

Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas: I read this for the first time last year, and it is an absolute delight. A trans boy trying to show his family he's a brujo like the other men summons the ghost of his cousin, but ends up with the wrong ghost. And then ends up falling in love with him as they try to find out what happened to both Yadriel's cousin and Julian. The narration in the audiobook is wonderful too.

Widdershins by Jordan L Hawk: I started listening to this on my walk this morning for the...I'm not sure what time. I love the whole Whyborne and Griffin series, a wonderful historical paranormal romance series with fantastic characters and world building. 

Hainted by Jordan L Hawk: Hainted is a standalone with lots of creepy supernatural stuff and a lovely romance between two men who know how to lay the restless dead and are in a fight for their lives against evil.

​Do you have any favorite autumn books?

October begins my favorite time of year—autumn is my favorite season, but really, I love the whole time straight through Christmas. It's definitely not time to think about Christmas, though, not with Halloween a day away and lots more fall still on the horizon. I love watching the leaves change color and smelling woodsmoke on the crisp air. I love pulling out my boots and cozy sweaters and walking with the leaves crunching under foot. I love baking pumpkin muffins and cookies and all sorts of autumn treats. I love dressing up for Halloween, though I don't always have the opportunity anymore. And I love reading books that put me into the feel of the season.

I thought I'd share some books recs for this time of year with you. Just so you know, I am not a horror fan at all. I'm good with spooky and eerie and a little scary at times, but horror and I don't get along. Most of the recs I'm sharing aren't super scary, but most are paranormal and because of that or because of a seasonal feel, they seem appropriate for this time of year and Halloween.

A Little Familiar and Nothing More Certain by R Cooper: I love these little gems. They're paranormal, and they feel so autumnal and warm and cozy, just the perfect mood for this time of year. The romances are lovely and sweet too. I probably read them every year.

Once Upon a Haunted Moor by Harper Fox: This book has all of the atmospheric and lyrical writing I expect from Harper Fox. It's seasonal and a bit scary and the beginning of a wonderful romance and series centered on Gideon and Lee.

Hainted by Jordan L Hawk: Actually lots of Jordan L Hawk's books would be good for this post, maybe all of them. I'm actually doing an audio reread of the Whyborne & Griffin series right now, which lined up well with October, though I've been doing it because the last book was just released. They're all paranormal romance, some contemporary, some historical, all really good.

A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness: Vampires, witches, daemons and a mix of romance, mystery, and history that is really compelling. This first book in the series is set around this time of year, so it feels even more appropriate to me. There's also a television show of the book now, which I really enjoyed even though it's a bit different from the book.

Vespers by Liv Rancourt and Irene Preston: I really enjoyed this vampire romance (which is the beginning of a series!), and I love the atmospheric setting of New Orleans.

Spindrift by Amy Rae Durresson: A really lovely romance and a seriously creepy ghost story all in one book.

Trick or Treat by Sydney Blackburn: This is such a sweet, adorable Halloween-themed short. Not a paranormal, but a meet cute romance set at Halloween.

I'll stop there, or I'll go on forever! Do you have any favorite books for autumn or Halloween?

When autumn arrives, I get excited for so many reasons, some of which I've already shared with you, but a huge one is autumn baking. I love to bake, but what I bake is often seasonal. I bake lighter treats (and less often) in the heat of summer, for instance, and in autumn much of my baking involves pumpkin. Not all of it - I like apple cinnamon muffins in the fall too, and some things, like brownies and chocolate chip cookies, defy seasons - but I do love pumpkin baked goods. I probably make pumpkin bread most often (and I'm talking maybe a loaf each week). So I thought I would share my favorite pumpkin bread recipe with you today. The original recipe comes from the Williams-Sonoma Thanksgiving Entertaining cookbook, but I don't exactly follow the recipe from the book. This is what I do:

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup white or yellow cornmeal
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 large eggs
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/3 cup olive oil
1/3 cup fat free plain yogurt
1 cup pumpkin puree 

Preheat oven to 350. Lightly butter a 5x9 inch loaf pan (or spray with cooking spray).

Whisk together the flour, cornmeal, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. In a separate bowl, combine eggs, both sugars, oil, yogurt, and pumpkin. Beat with an electric mixer until smooth. Add the dry ingredients in two batches, mixing until just blended after each. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top.

Bake for about 1 hour, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan on a wire rack for about ten minutes, then remove from the pan and cool completely.

The recipe is pretty simple, and the results are delicious. Plus the whole house smells amazing while the pumpkin bread is in the oven, which I adore. I love to eat the pumpkin bread warm with butter or maybe a little nutella like in the picture above (but then, nutella is pretty fabulous on anything!). It makes a lovely treat on a chilly fall day while I'm curled up with a book.

​Do you have any seasonal foods you enjoy making?

Autumn is my favorite time of year. Well, October through Christmas, because I really love the holiday season too, but mostly autumn. It snuck up on me this year somehow (I say somehow, but really it was writing and editing and revising and The Prince's Consort coming out) so I'm playing a bit of catch up and also trying to slow down and appreciate it too. There are so many things I love about autumn - the crisp air, the vivid colors, the scent of woodsmoke on the breeze, the crackle of leaves underfoot. The sweaters and boots and tights. The pumpkin muffins and pumpkin bread baking.

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays too. I love dressing up, though I don't get as much of a chance to as I used to, and I love handing out candy to trick-or-treaters. I'm not a fan of scary things, though. I don't watch scary movies or read horror stories. I know it sounds a bit strange that I like Halloween and hate scary things, but I do. And I do like to read things that feel vaguely seasonal around the holiday, which mostly means I turn to paranormal romances. Which can have some creepy elements, but don't generally scare me. Here is a totally random list of some that I enjoy, because if I gave you all of my favorite paranormal romances, this post would be far too long!

A Little Familiar by R. Cooper - I just read this one this week and loved it. It was wonderfully seasonal and had witches and familiars and I adored Bartleby.

The Tutor by Bonnie Dee - Another that I read and enjoyed recently. It's a historical with a Gothic feel and ghosts and a creepy old house. 

Once Upon a Haunted Moor by Harper Fox - Harper Fox's writing is always lovely and really evokes the eerie moor. It's also the beginning of a series about these two wonderful characters. I love the every book in it and am hoping for another.

Fish and Ghosts by Rhys Ford - I always enjoy Rhys Ford's books, and this one involves a hotel for ghosts, including one that is pretty scary. The sequel is Duck Duck Ghost and it's great too.

Spirit by John Inman - Another with a ghost but with lots of humor thrown in too.

Kick at the Darkness by Keira Andrews - Zombies and werewolves, and this book did scare me a bit - I should not read zombie books, and I will remember this in the future. But the romance is wonderful, and I loved it anyway.

Iron & Velvet by Alexis Hall - I just read this and I'm wondering why it took me so long. A paranormal investigator, vampires, werewolves, demons, witches, some creepy monsters, and it was thoroughly entertaining.

The Darkest London series by Kristen Callihan - Magic, werewolves and other supernatural creatures in a Victorian setting. Loved the characters and the romances and the writing.

The Whyborne & Griffin series by Jordan L Hawk - Really any of her books fit and I'll reread them any time of year. They all have wonderful characters fighting creepy monsters.

The Charm of Magpies series by KJ Charles - This is another of my favorite series that I'll reread at any time. Another historical setting with characters I love. The second book has seriously creepy giant rats.

A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness - Witches, vampires, demons, and it all starts with a book in the Oxford library.

That turned into a longer list than I planned! What do you like to read at Halloween?