27 Bookish Fall Activities

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How many enjoyable book-related activities did you participate in this summer? With the sun sinking around 4 p.m., I couldn’t help but think about how the autumn is a great time to expand one’s reading horizons.
Fall is one of my favorite seasons. It’s that wonderful time of year when everything is crisp, ripe, and tasty.

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Here are 27 ideas to enjoy a more bookish autumn this year, in recognition of the seasonal shift, and what always seems like a new start. Some of them are simple, while others may need a bit more effort and forethought. All of them should instill a feeling of wonder and enjoyment in one’s reading experience.

1. Share terrifying tales while sitting in the moonlight with candles and/or flashlights.
2. Create the perfect reading corner in your house.
3. Make a wreath out of the pages of a book you’re recycling or upcycling for your home (or for a friend).
4. Take a lengthy drive through forested regions. Listen to an excellent frightening audiobook while viewing the scenery.
5. Borrow a stack of picture books from the library with titles that include the words “Apple,” “Leaf,” or “Fall.” On a Sunday afternoon, read them outdoors.
6. Get a new notebook and fill it with your favorite autumn-themed literary phrases.
7. Try your hand at preparing something new with the autumn harvest veggies by purchasing or borrowing a new-to-you soup cookbook.
8. Bake a pie or cookies from a cookbook you’ve never tried before.
9. Pick one evening a week to watch one of those book-to-film adaptations you’ve been wanting to see.
10. Attend a live performance of Shakespeare.
11. Attend a fall play at your local high school or community college. You may know nobody there, and you may not be familiar with the play, but you will see something that young performers and actresses have put their hearts and souls into.
12. Make some literary mittens, hats, or amigurimi out of yarn.
13. Look over the book collection at your local antique store. You could come upon a rare discovery or something you’d never see in a bookstore or secondhand bookstore.
14. Imagine what your favorite literary characters might do for Thanksgiving. What is their favorite dish from the meal? What (if anything) would they be grateful for? Who would their ideal Thanksgiving dinner buddies be?
15. Purchase and read one or more books by or about Native Americans and/or First Nations people.
16. Rather than leaving your home on Black Friday, spend the day following Thanksgiving reading in bed. Enjoy the calm by lighting some candles.
17. Take part in a Bookstagram challenge with an autumn theme.
18. Set aside an hour once a week to visit your favorite coffee shops. Try a different flavor drink and use the opportunity to read one of those outstanding books you’ve been wanting to read but haven’t gotten around to.
19. Lay outdoors under a lovely blanket with some cider and watch the stars for a night or two. Then read a few books on space, the cosmos, and everything that exists.
20. Volunteer with a literacy group in your community.
21. Purchase a few gift cards or a stack of new books and donate them to local shelters or other organizations where they may be put to good use.
22. Go to an apple orchard, a corn maze, or a farmer’s market, then read a book or two on autumn harvest, farming, or sustainability thereafter.
23. Take a trip around a nearby natural preserve with a guide to leaves, trees, birds, insects, or flowers. Use the guide to learn as much as you can about the local flora and wildlife.
24. It’s football season. Pick up a book on football, whether it’s about your favorite team, underdogs who’ve gone the distance, a romance, or even a book about the sport’s culture, both good and terrible.
25. Pick a series of novels that you’ve never read before or have been meaning to read, and read them all.
26. Invite your friends to read/reread the series with you and arrange a themed party to discuss your findings.
27. Look for a book that explains how to use a pumpkin in various ways. Choose a large pumpkin and experiment with all the recipes in the book. Face masks made of pumpkins! Bread made with pumpkin!

Of course, I’d love to hear about your reading autumn plans, so leave them in the comments. Again, if you like what I post, please like, comment, share, and subscribe. Please consider donating to help keep this going. $1 and I’ll ask you what your favorite book is so we can talk about it. $5 and I’ll write a review of a book you suggest. $10 and I’ll write a blog suggested by you. That’s all I’ve got for today, train wrecks. All aboard.