My School Reading List

Now that school has been in session for a while, most kids are finishing up there first assigned book for school.  I have always had mixed feelings about assigned reading.  Part of me hates being told what I have to read, especially because most books have some sort of pre-assigned moral or lesson to them.  On the other hand it is a great way to foster discussion and to discover new books you may never have picked up before. So in that spirit here is a list of books I would let my class choose from if I was a teacher.  These are books I feels have a good story to tell, while making the reader think beyond there own individual scope.  I realize some of these are probably already on most assigned lists, but that is fine 'cause this is my list and I can put whatever I want on it :-)

Number the Stars-Lois Lowery
This is one of my favorite books, I have read it multiple times and it gets better every time I read it.  The perspective of this book is of a young, non-Jewish, girl during WWII.  This perspective is a unique one and give the story a different flavor.  I would assign this one to middle schoolers, because it is easily understandable, a good story and would really let the kids dig into more than one aspect of the Holocaust and would hopefully inspire them to learn more on there own.

The Uglies Series-Scott Westerfeld
I love this series for not taking one side in any issue.  I really feel this series shows where if you go to any extreme it can result in horrible consequences and it is really all about the balancing act.  I like how it could promote discussion on different parts of being an individual vs being part of a safe group.  It brings up friendship vs ideals, romance vs reality.  Again a lot to think and discuss without one right or wrong answer.  Instead of a pre-selected moral I feel this series, especially while being a bit more contemporary then the average "classic" would give the students a chance to express any number of rights, wrongs and explore the inevitable ambiguity of reality (teeheehee there is my pretentious sentence for the day).

To Kill A Mockingbird-Harper Lee
I know this is on every schools reading list, but that is because it should be.  This is probably the only book that was assigned to me in school that I really got something out of.  It is the only one I continue reading to this day.  The potential lessons, feelings and issues to be explored in this book can really be applied today and probably in the future as well, if for some strange reason you have not read it yet, go get it right now...I mean it, this is required assigned reading!
Sherlock Holmes-Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

We all know my love of Sherlock Holmes, but besides that I think these stories would be a great lesson in deductive reasoning in the classroom.  You could read them out loud and have the students write down what they though the solution was, then finish the story and see how many got it right.  You could go back and look at the clues and see where Holmes figured stuff out.  It would be such a change of pace from the normal long dull "classics"

Harry Potter Series-J.K. Rowling
Ok so it may be a stretch to get the whole series in during a single school year...but maybe a long term project?  I like the Harry Potter series as assigned reading for several reasons.  The biggest reason is that kids will actually read these ones.  I think from a writing perspective a lot of discussion could be had on how the author foreshadows events, uses other myths and stories to add dimension to her world, builds the story from beginning to end.  You can also have discussions on how each of the characters grow over time, why a person would choose to be on the "bad" side, and how badly do you want a wand!

These are just a few of my choices for assigned reading, I am sure I could come up with a zillion more, but hey we only have two semesters at a time right.

What is on your assigned reading list?  Did you like having books assigned to you so you did not have to find a book yourself or did you wish you could pick your own?  What assigned book had the biggest impact on your life?  Did you ever get assigned a book you had already read (happened to me several times)?

Sleeping With The Books

My amazing awesome Mamma is in town...which means we are all exhausted :-) (love you Mamma)

Sleeping Girl

Hope everybodya is having as much fun this week as I am!

Butterfly

So Cool

Identical Convolutedness

Finished a good little book called The Twins Daughter.  It is a gothicish, Victorian era type mystery 'cause that's not confusing at all.  I will try and warn you when I get to the spoily parts 'cause if you haven't read it yet and you have some time, you most definatly should and it would not be half as fun if you knew the ending, on the other hand it will be really hard for me to give you my impressions of this book if I didn't discuss the end...so...you have been warned.

This story is told by a 13 year old Lucy who has grown up the only child of a wealthy family.  Her father is an independantly rich author and her mother is a beautiful socialite who dotes on her only daughter.  Our story starts with Lucy giving us a quick overview of her parents and her life, which seem comfortable and normal, if not a bit boring for the lack of other young people in the area.  Life takes a bit of a dramatic turn when a knock on the door turns out to be Lucy's mothers unknown identical twin sister. Apperantly they were born to a maid and the well to do couple who employed her decided they would raise one girl as there own and sent the other to an orphanage.  Aunt Helen is a bit rough around the edges but is invited to live with Lucy and her parents.  Aliese (Lucy's mother) decides to teach her new found sister deportment, manners, style, and so forth so she can also be passed of as a lady of standing.  Eventually after all the training and dressing up it becomes almost impossible to tell the two women apart.  The family decides to hold a party for Aunt Helen and here is where Lucy meets the new neighbor boy Kit, whom she at first finds boring, but eventually becomes friends with. Time passes and we see Lucy grow from a child to a young woman, and her friendship with Kit turn into a bit of a crush on both sides.  One day after sneaking out to the park on her own Lucy comes home to find a horrific scene in the parlor.  The twins each tied to a chair, one with her throat slit and dead, the other in a daze...but who is who?
SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT

This is where if you want to really enjoy the book you should read no further 'cause this is where it gets twisty.  So obviously the big mystery here is supposed to be which twin survived and which twin was brutally murdered.  Lucy goes in and the woman who is alive claims to be her mother, and the dead woman Aunt Helen. Lucy notices that the woman is not wearing a wedding ring, but she soon spots it on the floor and gives it back. Aliese claims that a man was robbing them and tied her and Aunt Helen up and killed Helen.  As part of the investigation an autopsy reveals that Aunt Helen was pregnant, which since she was unmarried at the time is more than a bit scandoulus.  Time goes on and Lucy notices a great change in her mother, she is sharper and more outspoken then she ever was before.  She treats Lucy's father with border line contempt

and is always off to some party or another.  Lucy grows into her late teens and her relationship with Kit continues to develop, even as her fathers health starts to decline, he dies from a heart attack no more than a couple of years after Aunt Helen is murdered.  After her fathers death, Lucy notices her mother dissaperaing and staying out very late.  One night Lucy waits up for her and see's her with a man she remebers seeing with Aunt Helen before she died.  Lucy realizes that the woman is not her mother, but Aunt Helen posing as Aliese.  Lucy decides that she is only impersonating her mother as to not lose her home and be turned out into the streets so Lucy makes the descision to not tell her she knows who she is and instead covertly help her maintain her cover.  Aunt Helen/Aliese soon remarries the man Lucy saw her with, a man who is not from the same class as Lucy's family.  Lucy takes an immediate dislike to him, but has no real say in the matter.  Aunt Helen/Aliese soon becomes pregnant and relies heavly on Lucy to help her through the birth and the babies first couple of years.  Kit heads of to war after declaring his love for Lucy.  Lucy essentially becomes her little sister/cousins Emma's nurse maid and becomes very attached and bonded with her.  A couple more years pass, Kit comes back wounded, but alive from the war and proposes to Lucy who accepts.  They decide to wed quickly and as she is getting ready Aunt Helen/Aliese says something to Lucy that only her mother would know and all at once Lucy realizes that it is her mother and not Aunt Helen that survived after all, and putting all the pieces together realizes that something horrible occured in the death of her Aunt.  After the wedding she confronts her mother who confesses everything.  She met her now husband and fell in love with him around the time
Aunt Helen showed up, she also discovered that Aunt Helen and her husband were having an affair which resulted in Aunt Helen becoming pregnant.  Aliese not wanting the scandal convinced her lover to come up with a plan to get rid of Aunt Helen and stage it a botched robbery. Aliese said she also purposly acted like Aunt Helen at times to confuse people so that they would not ask to many questions and to drive away Lucy's father. Aliese's new husband sneaks up on Lucy and decides they have to kill her now that she knows there secret, she is saved by Kit and they turn the pair into the police.  The pair end up hanging for their crimes and Lucy raises her sister Emma along with her own daughter wondering how they will tell her about her real parents when she is older.

Ok so that was a long one, but the last third of the book threw out some very well written twists that I have to say I loved.  You really think you have it figured out pretty early, in fact you may even be dissapointed in how easily you figured it out, then BAM new twist thrown in.  I loved watching Lucy grow from a 13 year old girl into a 20 year old married woman.  The growth and progression seemed to make a lot of sense and her romance with Kit followed an equally reasonable progression growing in stages as she did.  The only thing I had a really hard time with, is the seeming ease that Lucy turned her beloved mother into the authorities knowing full well that she would be hung for her crimes.  I know the author established a bond between Aunt Helen and Lucy, but there was also a very tight bond between mother and daughter as well.  Even though Aliese seemed to get a bit more distant after Aunt Helen died she seemed to maintain her bond with Lucy.  To me it just seemed a little abrupt for all of that to dissapear in an instant, even with the horror of what her mother had done.  All in all I found it to be a good little book, it was a fairly quick read, the pacing stayed at a nice brisk pace and the story made sense.  Good curl up in a comfy chair during a rain storm book. I give it four out of five toasted marshmallows.
Do you like mistaken identity stories?  What is your favorite book with a twist?  What would it take for you to turn in your own mother?

Read Between The Sheets

Just got off a long weekend duty at the station, all I want to do now is slip into my bed, preferably with these sheets that tell you a bed time story (Thanks baby-sis for the inspiration).

Storybook Sheets

Reading The Sheets

Hope everybody has a good nights sleep after reading their sheets: :-)

Small Space Big Ideas

I have done a dream library post about the big sprawling stuffed to the gills with a zillion books dream space I will someday obtain.  I also realize that most people don't have rooms with ceilings so high you need a ladder to reach the bookshelf installed there. Here are some incredible little book nooks for people with a more limited space.

Closet Nook

Love this nifty little hideaway, can be done in almost any house/apt/condo.

Under Bed Shelf

Perfect, especially if you already shove half of your books under the bed :-)

Wall Nook

This would be great in a guest room or computer room where you might need the room to be multi-purpose

Window Seat Nook

I am a sucker for window seats, and this could be scaled to almost any size.

Teepee Nook

Sometimes you just can't modify your living space, so this portable nook is a perfect little get away spot.

Where do you like to go and read?  Are you cramped for space, or do get to have bookshelves with a ladder?  If every wall, floor, surface you own is covered in books, does that make your whole house the library or just the home of a crazy person?

Reading A-Z

All of my nephews are busy either learning the alphabet or how to read/spell, so in honor of all those letters here is a willy-nilly list of books that I have enjoyed from A-Z!  There is no particular rhyme or reason to choosing these books other than I have read them, liked them, and they start with the right letter :-)

Alice In Wonderland
Beauty
Cinder
Dragonsong
Ella Enchanted
The Fellowship of the Ring
The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland In a Ship of Her Own Making
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Inkheart
Journey to the Center of the Earth
Killashandra
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children
The Night Circus
Oliver Twist
Pride and Prejudice
Q-In-Law
Romeo and Juliet
Stardust
To Kill A Mockingbird
Uglies
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
A Wrinkle in Time
Xanth
Yarrow
Zombies vs Unicorns

What are your favorite A-Z books?  Do you know how hard it is to find the letters K,Q,X, and Y in books?!?  What is your favorite alphabet book growing up?

Six Swans And Their Kick-A** Sister

We all know I love a great retelling of a fairy tale, and one of the reasons why I love a good retelling is that most original fairy tales are just that, a tale.  They are usually fairly short, with very little character development or world building, they were never meant to be full length novels, in fact I am pretty sure there were very few full length fiction novels back in the fairy tale day.  This gives authors a lot of room to expand and adapt these tales into a myriad of wonderful full fledged stories, complete with wonderfully rich worlds, characters with depth, and a different look at what the original tale might mean.
This brings me to one of my favorite books Daughter of the Forest by Juliette Marillier.  This is the first book in the Sevenwaters series and while I enjoyed the whole series, it is this first one that I really love and will focus on.  This book is a wonderfully imagined retelling of the Six Swans.  I love first of all that this is not another retelling of Cinderella or Snow White, while I some of my favorite books are adaptions of these tales, I have to admit there are a lot of them out there.  The second thing I love about this book is that it follows the original tale quit faithfully while telling an amazing story, with fully developed characters, story line and a believable world.

The story follows Sorcha the youngest of seven children and the only daughter of Lord Colum.  The book is set in a Medieval era Ireland with Lord Colum owning the lands of Sevenwaters.  Sorcha is for all intents and purposes raised by her six older brothers as her mother died when she was very young and her father seemingly wants nothing to do with her.  The children are all very close and the boys are very protective of their precious little sister.  Eventually their father remarries the Lady Oonagh, who is actually a fairly powerful sorceress who has bewitched her father.  Lady Oonagh wants any sons she has to be the ones to inherit Sevenwaters so she casts a spell over Lord Colum's children.  She succeeds in turning all of the boys into swans while Sorcha escapes.  Sorcha hides in the forest where she meets the Fair Folk who inform her if she can sew six complete shirts out of starwort, a brittle needle-like plant.  The other part to lifting the curse is that she must remain absolutely silent, telling no one why she may not speak, not even in writing.  She discovers she may speak with her brothers once a year in human form and they vow to try and protect her as she stays hidden in the forest, silent and always working on the shirts.  It takes a very long time to make each shirt as she has to gather the small plants , make them into cloth and turn them into shirts.  The plant is not an easy one to work with and leave Sorcha's hands withered and twisted.  She is eventually found in the forest by a group of men who rape her, her
brothers help heal her and kill her attackers but she is left emotionally scarred by the ordeal.  She also finds a Briton named Simon who is hurt and whom she nurses back to health.  After more time as passed Sorcha is once again found, this time by a band of Britons led by Lord Hugh of Harrowfield, who suspects that Sorcha may know what happened to his brother Simon.  The Fair Folk make him her protector and she is taken back with Hugh (who is called Red because of his hair).  Through all of this Sorcha remains silent, trying to complete her brothers shirts to lift the spell.  Through out her captivity Sorcha makes friends with a women named Margery and her husband John which has far reaching consequences through out the rest of the series.  Most of the rest of Hugh's people think that she is a witch since she still stays silent and works on her strange starwort shirts.  Eventually it comes out that Hugh's uncle (who has also been attacking Sevenwaters) may have had a hand in Simon's disappearance.  Hugh decides to leave and to try and get to the bottom of the who mess and proposes to and marries Sorcha to try and give her some protection while he is gone, Sorcha loves him, but thinks that the only reason Hugh says he loves her is because of an enchantment placed on him by the Fair Folk so he will protect her.  While Hugh is gone Sorcha is seen talking to one of her brother late at night during one of their once a year visits as humans.  Seeing his chance to try and cover up his misdeeds, Hugh's uncle has her declared an adulterous witch and sentences her to burn at the stake.   As she is about to be burned she

throws the shirts she has finished over her swan brothers as they come flying to help her, unfortunately she did not finish one sleeve of one shirt and her brother Finbar is left with one wing in place of an arm.  Hugh comes back and is outraged to find his bride tied to the stake but her brother, now human again declare the marriage void and refuse to let him near her.  Sorcha convinces her brother to let her say good-bye and she frees Red from any obligation to her, still thinking he only loved her because of an enchantment.  Sorcha and her brothers return to a ruined Sevenwaters and begin the process of restoring it to it's former glory.  The Lady Oonagh has disappeared with her son (their young half-brother) and sets up part of the story for later books.  Hugh surprises Sorcha by showing up at Sevenwater declaring he has abdicated his rule in favor of his brother Simon (who has been found at this point) and wants to stay with Sorcha.  The Fair Folk tell her that Hugh was never under any enchantment that his love has always been real.  The brothers each go their separate ways finding lives for themselves where they fit best. This concludes the first part of the Sevenwaters series.

I love this book so much, it is dark and gritty and magical and funny and deep and entertaining and classic and just really awesome.  The later books in this series are also very good, but to me this will always be my favorite.  Be warned this is not a kids book, there is some very dark stuff in here, but everything is in here for a purpose which is one of the things I loved about the book, everything was there for a reason.  The later books really build on the events of this book, but there are no major cliff-hangers in this book to force you to read the others, it really does work as a stand alone book. The blend of some history and magic and geography are very well done in this book.  I have rambled on long enough, I think a lot of people will really enjoy this book, if just for the excellent writing if for no other reason, so go get it and tell me what you think.  I give it 9 out of 10 marshmallows (I've been on a S'mores kick lately)
How do you think this book stacked up to the original Six Swans tale?  Could you stay silent for years to save your siblings?  Do you have somebody in your life who would do this for you?

Book Vortex

Add caption

Help I've been sucked into a swirling vortex and can't get out, back to my regular posting schedule once I find a way out (hopefully tomorrow!)

So So So True!

Mental Floss

Bookworm and a Harry Potter Reference LOVE!

Sip It With Books

Now that the hopefully cooler weather is upon us it is time to switch from lemonade and mojito's to cider and hot toddies.  Of course along with an amazing gothic novel or a good mystery you also need the perfect mug in which to drink you hot beverage of choice.

More Books Mug

Truer words were never spoken

Classic Book Mugs

Now you can turn you cabinet into a library

Shakespeare Mug

Show your love of the Bard

Book Mugs

Elegant and Classic

Big Books Mug

Love this one:-)

What is your reading drink of choice?  Does your drink change with the seasons/books/availability of a designated driver?  Is it strange that no matter where or when I always have a cup of coffee in between other drinks?

Velocipedes and A Wyverary

I am so excited people, I have found a new book to place on my shelf of favorites!!!!   I had high hopes for this book, but was a little nervous that it could not live up to my lofty expectations, but my faith was rewarded and my this little book soared into my heart.  What is this gem of which I speak?  It is a middle grade book called The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland In a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valente.  Just a quick heads up, this is gonna be even more rambley than usual 'cause this book makes me so happy/squealy.  I think it was the title that first caught my interest, I love big huge long title, they make me smile and of course fairyland being mentioned in the title put it smack dab in the middle of my radar.  This is a book I really wanted to buy in book form instead of electronic form, it is an example of why I hope book printing will never totally go away, this would have been fine to read electronically, but part of the appeal of it was it's sheer bookyness (yes that is to a word).  There are amazing illustrations at the beginning of each chapter that add a great ambiance to the book, they are very whimsical and my nephews loved looking at them asking me over and over to flip through the pages with them.

Ok on to the story itself.  The story is a very straightforward simple classic one, a girl from our world is whisked of to fairyland to defeat the evil queen and bring happiness back to the land.  This is pretty much standard for any run of the mill story, but it's the way in which this adventure is written that makes it so amazing!  To me the best part of the writing is the words, oh all of the amazing words the author manages to cram into this small book!  It is written for grades 4-8, but the author does not simplify at all, in fact one of my favorite quotes in this book sums it up nicely “... but as has been said, September read often, and liked it best when words did not pretend to be simple, but put on their full armor and rode out with colors flying."  I love love love love love love all of the amazing words in this book! The book actually has a little bit of The Phantom Tollbooth feel to it with all of the awesome wordage and the journey through crazy cool places. Another cool thing in the book is the names, our heroine's name is September (which while not quit as good as October is still a kick-ass name)  she meets a friend the blue Saturday, a dragon who is really a wyvern with a library for a father who is named A through L and the missing queen Mallow.

Our intrepid September, travels to Fairyland where she encounters a city made entirely of cloth, rides a herd of wild velocipedes, stays in the most amazing land of Autumn and takes a ship of her own making out on the Perverse and Perilous Sea.  She meets all kinds of strange and wonderful creatures, including her own death a Gleam a lamp of 112 years.  She eventually succeeds in her quest after much angst and heartache and is rewarded by the promise she can return to Fairyland every year.
You have to read this book, I don't know what else to say about this wonderfully delightful book so I will leave you with a few more of my favorite quotes.

“She sounds like someone who spends a lot of time in libraries, which are the best sorts of people.”

“Stories have a way of changing faces. They are unruly things, undisciplined, given to delinquency and the throwing of erasers. This is why we must close them up into thick, solid books, so they cannot get out and cause trouble.” 

“I'm not lost, because I haven't any idea where to go that I might get lost on the way to. I'd like to get lost, because then I'd know where I was going, you see.” 

Do you love this book as much as I do?  Do you want to go buy and orange dress and a green coat?  Do you like when an author does not sugar coat and simplify things just because they are writing for the younger crowd?

Game For Book Lovers

Book Lovers Memory

I want this so bad! The cards have classic book covers on one side and famous authors, quotes and books on the other, a bookworm must have!

Book In A Bag

In honor of all those heading back to school, here are some great book bags to stash those all important books to read when you get bored 'cause you are so much smarter than everybody else 'cause I know you are all a bunch of smarty pants :-)

Poe Bag

Edgar Allan Poe bag is perfect for a fall day of discussing which was better The Raven or The Pit and the Pendulum

Narnia Bag

One of my favorite visuals made into a bag to haul my book love it!  Bonus points for the icy looking handle

Alice in Wonderland Bag

I love the colors in this bag...actually I kind of totally am going to go buy this right now (wow I'm starting to sound a bit like Cher in Clueless)

Lord of the Rings Bag

What I say as I am crouched in the corner stroking the pages of my new book

Pride and Prejudice Bag

This Darcy proposal bag is big enough to haul around your entire Jane Austin collection!

Which bag do you like the best?  Are you one of those people who always has at least one book on you, just in case?  Can you put Harry Potter books in a Jane Austin bag?

Cozy Comfy Chair

I would like to introduce you all to the newest member of my family...meet Antonio...my new super awesome comfy reading chair!

This is the hugest most comfiest most curl-upable chair in the whole entire universe!!!!  My amazing Hubbin got it for me for an early birthday present so I can enjoy all of fall curled up with a good book, and a cup of coffee!

You may remember that last year my beloved blue recliner died and I had not yet replaced it, so finally having another comfy chair is pretty awesome. it is right by my porch door so I can open it and get all the fresh air and yummy rain smell I want right from the comfort of my own chair.

What is your favorite chair to read in?  Do you claim your spot as your own or do you generously share with others?  Do you also feel the odd need to name all your stuff?

Super Color Changing Pest Control

Another book picked out by my Baby Sis (she is really good at it).  Monster by A. Lee Martinez is the book and it is worth reading every single page.  It is one of those genre defying books that mixes fantasy/scifi/urban/humor/daily living and one demon girlfriend from Hell.  Seriously though this is one of those books I bought 'cause it was Baby Sis's turn to pick and tossed it on the TBR (To Be Read) pile and didn't think about it for about a week.  I finally got around to starting it and did not put it down until I was finished, one of those books I start after dinner and next time I look up the sun is rising through the mist.
Monster is a guy with a really unique ability, every time he goes to sleep he wakes up a different color.  The best part is that each color comes with a super power, for instance when he is blue he is invulnerable to violent harm, when he is Purple he has no sense of smell (which in his line of work is a good thing).  He only knows what power the color is if he has been it before.  Monster also has a pest control company, we are not talking raccoon's and mice here, think yetis and trolls and such, the official term is cryptobiologics.  Monster also lives with his succubus girl

friend he summoned from Hell and is now regretting as she is very territorial and a bit of a nag.  Monster meets the human girl Judy when he comes to capture a Yeti who has decided to occupy and eat all the ice cream at the Food Plus Mart where she works.  Turns out Judy is a bit of a magnet for these fabled creatures and this keeps her running into Monster until eventually her apartment is destroyed by several of these beasts.  Turns out Judy has a destiny and it is teaming up with Monster to help stop a cosmic parasite from destroying the universe, no biggie.
This is a great light read, nothing to heavy just a lot of fun.  The dialogue is set at the perfect pace, and the story if fairly easy to follow.  I love how the author sets this fantastical idea in the everyday mundane world, making cryptobilogic hunting as normal as being a plumber :-)  If you need a stand alone book to just enjoy this is one that you should get, almost any type of reader (over the age of 16) will probably like it a lot.  I give it 9 out of 10 yetis.
What book has somebody suggested to you that turned out surprisingly good?  Which super power do you think is associated with chartreuse?  Do you have any cryptobiologics living in your house?  I have one that trashes my kitchen every time I try to clean it.

FALLLLLLLLL!

(Sung in a slightly of key voice) I love fall, yes I do fall fall fall, it makes me so HAAAPPPPYYYY!  In case you were wondering fall is my favorite season, for me it starts the week after Labor Day and goes until I put up Christmas stuff.  Fall is awesome reading time too, whether it is finding the perfect tree nook on a crisp sunny day, breathing in the wood smoke while eating a crisp apple and reading about the forest folk, or curled up in a comfy chair with your fuzzy slippers a cup of apple cider and watching the rain fall while reading about Gothic mansions there is always the perfect reading spot during fall.  Sometimes the weather does not like to cooperate, here in the DC area it will sometimes stubbornly stay in the humid 80's and 90's until October!  No worries though, that is when I cheat.  I cover my house in fall leaves, pumpkins, bittersweet and all manner of fallish stuff, then I brew apple cider to get that yummy fall smell and crank up the AC to get that crisp feel, then all that is left is to curl up with a fluffy blanket and lose myself in a good book. Even if the weatherman says it's 98 degrees outside!
  This is the time of year I like to read books that are set in bleaker settings, think old drafty mansions, gloomy hills, fog hidden moors.  The stories can even be a bit more depressing, I read An Unfortunate Series of Events series in the fall and it was perfect!  Northanger Abbey is also a great fall read with the added bonus of being a Jane Austin novel!  I have noticed that books aimed at the 10-14 age group tend to have the best fall books, lots of mystery, adventure and atmosphere without getting too intense.
Ok I am off to go curl up with an awesome fall book I just discovered, but more on that later.
What books do like to read during the fall season?  What do you like most about fall?  Is fall your favorite or are you one of those weirdos who mourn summer?  Do you find yourself taking more "sick" days to stay at home and finish that good book?