This is going to sound weird, but sometimes when I read a book the love interest/male character is just so perfect that feels completely artificial. Not just the "respectful, hot and functional adult", I am not talking about those. I am talking about the ones that just feel like one of those performative matcha Tiktok guys. You get home and he's cleaned the whole house, he's made you lunch, he is obssessed with your favorite show, he is handsome as hell and so on. It almost look like the female version of the trad wife's fantasy (in the habits way, there's obviously HUGE differences but you get me). For me is not about you liking those details in a man, but about building a believable character that doesn't feel like a glorified book-boyfriend Ken. Am I crazy or do I have a point 🫈🫈🫈idk man.

BEEN A MINUTE BUT WE’RE BACK (and ready to mingle). You know the drill… what’s a recent complaint (no matter how big, small, dramatic, ridiculous, serious, etc) that you need to shout to the void?!🗣️

BEEN A MINUTE BUT WE’RE BACK (and ready to mingle). You know the drill… what’s a recent complaint (no matter how big, small, dramatic, ridiculous, serious, etc) that you need to shout to the void?!🗣️

how i'm picturing Danika in the first few lines:

Is anyone else here also a bit sad about this fall's readalong? Ofc taste is a very personal thing, but the books chosen dont really stand out to me. Does anyone also feels this way? Should I give any of them a shot?

Inspired by @gingerailet post talking about the fall 2026 readalong not having any books that really stands out to them. I feel the same way, the books look fine, I feel just a bit meh about it. I can't speak much on them, because I haven't read any of them, but they don't really stand out to me that much.

So, here are the books that I think I would include within the fall 2026 readalong.

Classics I think having one classic within the readalong would be fun, and I feel like there are plenty of options for a fall readalong.

• Frankenstein, the atmosphere is gloomy and has a melancholic tone to it. Elements like the sublime and isolation I feel like would make it a very good choice for a Fall readalong. Not to mention how Frankenstein's monster/creature is so embedded within Halloween and horror movies.

• The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Has a gloomy, atmospheric settings, moral ambiguity, and a sense of foreboding, all of which all goes with the melancholy tone of it.

• Northanger Abbey, A gothic satire which follows Catherine Morland, a naïve 17‑year‑old who learns to distinguish reality from the Gothic fantasies she adores.

Nonfiction I think having a nonfiction book to offer during the readalong would also be fun.

• Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural History of Mosses

• Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures

• Spillover: Animal Infections and the Next Human Pandemic

I can't fully explain it, but Moss and fungi just have an autumn vibe to them. And The animal infection nonfiction feels like has that "Scary" factor to it.

Fantasy A lot of people love Fantasy, so I think it would be good to include one Fantasy book within the readalong.

• Witches of Honeysuckle House, Haunted by a curse that kills someone close to their family every 13 years, two sisters must come together to break the spell and save that which they hold most dear. One sister runs an enchanted bed and breakfast, while the other runs a magical bookstore.

• The six deaths of the saint, The Saint of War spares the life of a servant girl so she can fulfill her destiny as the kingdom’s greatest warrior.

• Cemetery boys, follows Yadriel, a transgender Latinx teen, as he navigates magic, family expectations, and love while trying to prove himself as a brujo.

Literary fiction

• The Travelling Cat Chronicles, The novel follows novel gives voice to Nana the cat and his owner, Satoru, as they take to the road on a journey with no other purpose than to visit three of Satoru's longtime friends. Or so Nana is led to believe.

• The Metamorphosis, Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect. He was laying on his hard, as it were armor-plated, back and when he lifted his head a little he could see his domelike brown belly. A short book filled with strangeness and themes of transformation and identity, perfect for the transformative season of fall.

• The seekers of deer creek, The novel is of two estranged sisters on a quest to find a painting by a forgotten Vietnamese artist that holds the truth of their family’s fractured past.

Or

Horror/Mystery Since it is fall, and it is usually associated with spooky/scary stuff, I thought that also maybe having one mystery and or horror book would be good.

• The Masala Chai Mystery Club, Retired librarian Neeti Shah was hoping for a restful life with her chai-loving friends, but when the body of a neighbor, a childhood friend of Neeti's, turns up dead and the killer’s MO is similar to that of Neeti's most recent book club read, things start to get out of control.

• Rosemary's baby, a young couple moving into a mysterious New York apartment building, where Rosemary Woodhouse becomes pregnant and begins to suspect her neighbors of sinister, occult intentions.

• Caramelle / Carmilla, This short story offers a supernatural alternate history where vampires seek love, laughter, and blood in 1860s slavery America. Inspired by a glimpse of affection in Joseph Le Fanu’s 1872 classic vampire novella Carmilla, Caramelle follows two vampires who arrive at a way station on the Underground Railroad not to stalk their prey but to seek sanctuary, intertwining the haunting legacy of American slavery with gothic horror and the resilience of Black women.

The only book on here that I've read has been Frankenstein and The metamorphosis, The other books I've put, I've looked up and researched to see if they have a "fall vibe" to them lol but anyways, I would love to know what everyone thinks of the books on the fall 2026 readalong? What books do you think would be better on there/you wished to see? If you could create your own fall readalong what books do you think would be on there? Or how do you want readalongs to look like the future? Out of the books I put on this lost, which four do you guys think would make a good combination for a read along?

I think for me, a formula that would be good for readalongs would be a classic (and it doesn't have to only be classics from the 1800s, it can be modern classics like Animal farm or The Handmaid’s Tale), some type of nonfiction, a fantasy book, and literary fiction book, or for specific seasons change out the literary fiction book for a genre that fits the season more, like Mystery or horror for fall. Or simply switching between the genres they add to the readalongs every season. So if a summer readalong had Romance, two fantasy books and a historical fiction book, the next readalong would have something like sci-fi, nonfiction, mystery and dystopian (just a random example to get the point across). I feel like this way the readalongs would have diverse genres to it, that would introduce people to new genres/books while also (hopefully) having a book what will stick out to people.

acab, so i hope this one’s not a love interest 🤞🏽

As I did for The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi I’m including this primarily for audiobook listeners.

Unlike AAaS I didn't create this list, India Holton kindly provides it to us. I figured audiobook listeners would want the list (if only for spelling).

TABLE OF SIGNIFICANT CHARACTERS (in order of appearance)

Beth Pickering…an intrepid professor of ornithology Hippolyta Spiffington-Quirm…a high flier Devon Lockley…a young man who has not yet seen the error of his ways Klaus Oberhufter…a stain on the noble name of beak bagger Lady Trimble…a bearer of exciting news! Miss Fotheringham (à deux)…binate birders Monsieur Tarrou…verminous Mr. Cholmbaumgh…pronounced chum-bum, alas Assorted ornithologists Various reporters Messrs. Fettick and Flogg…on pressing business Monsieur Badeau…but please note, he is not really here Mr. Schreib…not who he seems to be Eliza Wolfe…an adversary A boatload of French fishermen…f(r)iends Miscellaneous locals Mr. and Mrs. Podder…an entirely chance encounter Rose Marin…a model of professional ornithological behavior Mrs. Hassan…coincidental Gabriel Tarrant…a grumpy cousin Laz Brady…beholds the swelling scene Professor Gladstone…the big birder of Oxford

Just read the description of this and could place a few of the fairytales but couldn’t place the others. I want to look into all the stories before reading this one and figured others might also find it helpful to know before getting started. Is anyone familiar with all the stories this is a retelling of?

The two I am familiar with are Hansel and Gretel (Gretel), and Little Red Riding Hood (Ruby).

this might just be a consequence of the internet circles I used to frequent as a teenager but the fact that Bluebeard's name in this is now "Ashton" is absolutely frying me 😭 all I can think of is all the Wattpad-esque models from 2012 as a high-school bad boy, not a grown man who's a tech billionaire with a blue beard 😭