What you need to create the perfect, cozy reading vibes for fall

Grab your book and a warm beverage. Here are tips on how to create the perfect cozy ambiance for reading this fall.

Author

Allyson Waller
October 31, 2023

When I was little, I always wanted to rush through Halloween and Thanksgiving so I could finally get to Christmas. Christmas meant new toys, winter break, and twinkly light displays. And although it’s still my favorite holiday, I’ve started to treasure the comfort (and coziness) the fall season can bring. Reading is one of my favorite hobbies year-round, but there’s something main-character-esque about having a cozy, fall reading experience.

So, for this month’s edition of Swoon, I’ve decided to share my favorite items to create the ideal cozy reading environment when you’re cooped up inside.

*Disclosure: This is not a sponsored post, just me sharing some of the things and places that bring me joy. 🤗

Cozy Apparel

There’s nothing like a comfy sweatshirt a size or two too big. For me, crewnecks have become a go-to staple and one of my favorites is this Black Romance University sweatshirt from Nicole Falls. I also adore my Hillman University sweatshirt, which is a nod to the fictional university in one of my favorite sitcoms, A Different World.

Fuzzy socks are a perfect addition to your cozy outfit, especially if you’re just lounging around the house. Target and Old Navy have never let me down when it comes to a cute pair of socks. These velvety chenille socks from Old Navy are a great pick.

Candles

Now, I know for a lot of people Bath & Body Works has been their go-to destination for holiday candles. But lately, I’ve been more partial to Target’s Opalhouse line. My latest find is the candle Bourbon Pumpkin. I’m not a fan of super sugary-smelling candles, and fortunately, this one has my ideal ratio of sweetness and spice.

A hot beverage

With warmer temperatures, comes a greater affinity for warmer drinks. I’m a year-round coffee drinker, but I love taking advantage of seasonal flavors. Silk’s Pumpkin Spice Creamer has become a coffee must-have for me this season. I also enjoy splurging on a nice mug and have accrued quite a collection. If you’re on the search for some new mugs HomeGoods and Target are a great place to start.

Blankets, headphones, etc.

Growing up, I remember my parents always kept blankets in our family room for recreational lounging, and there’s no doubt it’s contributed to my preference to always have one on hand when I’m reading or relaxing to watch a movie. Lately, I’ve been OBSESSED with this soft, light pink blanket from Amazon.

Additionally, one of my favorite things to do while reading is listening to music, and good earphones or headphones can make or break a quality listening experience. This year, I purchased these Bose QuietComfort 45 headphones. The bass is superb, plus it includes active noise cancellation. (I’m an advocate for not paying full price if I don’t have to, so my advice is to wait closer to Christmas to get them on sale!)

And for those who want to get out of the house…

Cold weather can easily make you want to hibernate inside, but there may come a time when you want to venture out. I recommend frequenting a local coffee shop, library, or bookstore if you’re looking to find a cozy spot away from home. If you’re ever in Austin, Texas, here are some of my favorite places to frequent:

A Black woman sits on top of hay and is surrounded by pumpkins and sign that says “Talk pumpkin to me.” She’s holding flowers and a cup of sweet teaa.

The perfect fall date at a pumpkin patch.

A Black woman wearing light green pants, a grey blouse and dark green pull over stands in front of the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington D.C.

A visit to the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington D.C.

A group of Black women stand in front of a wall of greenery, with a woman in the middle holding up a book titled “Her Name is Knight”.

Members of my book club at brunch to discuss “Her Name is Knight” by Yasmin Angoe.

A Black woman wearing a hot pink hoodie, jean shorts and metallic cowboy boots with silver and gold fringe.

My Halloween costume was a homage to Beyoncé’s Coachella look.

  • 'The Famous Jett Jackson' showed me that I could have a Hollywood career, too (HuffPost, Oct. 25)

  • Scholastic says they’ll walk back their separate diversity collection for book fairs (Book Riot, Oct. 25)

  • Why Toni Morrison left publishing (LitHub, Oct. 24)

  • Makings of a literary it girl (Nylon, Oct. 24)

  • Ziwe is more than the ‘Black Friend’ (The Washington Post, $, Oct. 23)

  • The visual power of Black rest (The New Yorker, $ Oct. 18)

  • Many prisons restrict books to stop drug smuggling. Critics say it doesn’t work. (The Marshall Project, Oct. 18)

  • She was Oprah before Oprah (The New York Times, $, Oct. 17)

  • We thought Amazon killed local bookstores. We were so wrong. (Texas Monthly, $, Oct. 16)

  • The big map of Texas indie bookstores (Texas Monthly, $, Oct. 16)

  • The first magazine for Black Children is revisited, its message still resonant (The New York Times, $, Oct. 9)

  • Exclusive: Kennedy Ryan's ‘This Could Be Us’ cover reveal and excerpt finally shows Soledad's story (Cosmopolitan, Oct. 6)

  • Who is Fashion Week for anymore? 13 insiders share their stories (Teen Vogue, Oct. 5)

  • Popular Black narrators dominating the audiobook industry (The Grio, Oct. 2)

Genre Index: 📜 Historical romance | 🖤 Paranormal/Fantasy romance | 💓 Contemporary romance | 🤎 Black romance | 💖 POC Romance | 🏳️‍🌈 LGBTQ+ romance | 🏅 Sports romance | 👩🏾 Women’s fiction | ✌🏾Young adult | 🕵🏾 Mystery/suspense | ✨ Fantasy/science fiction | 📖 Historical fiction

November releases

  • Detached Love by Adrienne Denise (Instagram, 💓💖) - Nov. 1

  • Wish of the Wicked by Danielle Paige (Kirkus Reviews, 🖤 ✨✌🏾) - Nov. 7

  • Vengeance of the Pirate Queen (Daughter of the Pirate King Book 3) by Tricia Levenseller (Goodreads, ✌🏾🖤📖 ) - Nov. 7

October releases

  • A Christmas to Remember (Book 11: The Blessings Series) by Beverly Jenkins (beverlyjenkins.net, 🤎💓) - Oct. 15

  • Captivate: A Forbidden Second Chance Romance by Dylan Allen (Goodreads, 💓) - Oct. 16

  • The Marquis who Mustn't (Wedgeford Trials Book 2) ****by Courtney Milan (Amazon, 📜 💖) - Oct. 17

  • The Hurricane Wars by Thea Guanzon (Barnes & Noble, 🖤 ✨ 💖) - Oct. 3

📚 Currently reading:

Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson; The Build Up by Tati Richardson; Down to My Soul by Kennedy Ryan

Review Rating System:

  • 😴 Snooze-worthy read: A book not worth finishing or one that you wish you could forget you took the time to read.

  • 🙁 Dry-read: A story that grabs your curiosity in the beginning, but doesn’t completely, if at all, live up to the hype

  • 🙂 Semi-sweet read: A book that leaves you wanting more but is not completely unbearable and has some memorable moments

  • 🥰 Sweet read: An engrossing read that keeps you hooked from beginning to end. Think of it as a book that you don’t mind returning to because you enjoyed it so much the first time.

  • 😍 Swoon-worthy/must-read: This is a book that you’ll be thinking of well beyond the last page. It’s a major literary canon event. Who you were before you read this book is not the same as who you are after you’ve finished.

A Love Song for Ricki Wilde by Tia Williams (Releases February 2024)

Genre: Black romance, Contemporary romance, historical fiction, fantasy 💓📖 ✨

*Disclosure: I received an advanced reader copy of this book via NetGalley

Now, I don’t cry much from books. But with this novel, tears were definitely shed. A Love Song for Ricki Wilde has turned me into a Tia Williams stan. No book is perfect by any means, but for me, this is quite close. I was literally in the middle of the airport in Washington D.C. when I finished the book, and I had to create a voice note of my thoughts because I was too overwhelmed to write them down. In the protagonist Ricki Wilde, a 28-year-old florist and firecracker of a woman, I saw so much of myself as I enter my late 20s— someone who’s actively trying to not spend their life vying for the approval of others and putting their own passions and wants to the side. Ricki’s creative spirit was palpable all throughout the book, and I adored how descriptive Williams was in talking about Ricki’s quirks. You can tell how much respect Williams has for her characters in that each and everyone is multidimensional and each of their importance is clearly explained. Ricki is sort of the black sheep of her upper-crust family who take pride in their Black elite status. So she throws everyone for a loop when she decides to chart her own territory by moving to Harlem and opening up a flower shop. She’s spurred on by the free-spirited Ms. Della, a headstrong 96-year-old woman who offers Ricki a place to stay in her Harlem brownstone. While getting her business off the ground, Ricki has a sudden run-in with a mesmerizing, yet mysterious, man at a local community garden. It’s a moment that she just can’t seem to shake off, and the run-in serves as a catalyst for the rest of the story. Williams does a wonderful job of creating a literary mosaic of Black pop culture, history, mysticism, and steamy romance with depth. There’s much more I can say about the book, but I’ll leave you with this: It’s a romance classic in the making. (Rating: 😍 Swoon-worthy/must-read)

The Woman in Me by Britney Spears (britneybook.com)

Genre: non-fiction, memoir

I’m a fiction-lover at heart, but I’m a sucker for a good celebrity memoir and Britney Jean Spears definitely delivered. As someone who’s a millennial/Gen Z cusper, I always knew of Britney Spears but I came of age at a time when most of the media I witnessed about her painted her in an unfair light. As I got older, I became more familiar with Spears’ music and her iconic performances that are now part of the pop culture canon. However, I was always mystified by how the media treated her, and later the conservatorship she was under that spurred the Free Britney movement. This book cleared up a lot of things for me, and I appreciated hearing Spears’ story in her own words. I highly recommend listening to the audiobook version, narrated by Michelle Williams (the white one), who does such a wonderful job with the pacing of the book and capturing the rawness of Spears’ story. (Rating: 🥰 Sweet read)

Her Name is Knight by Yasmin Angoe (yasminangoe.com)

Genre: Mystery/suspense 🕵🏾

Protagonist Nene Knight is a highly skilled assassin looking to avenge her family and put a stop to those behind the devastating destruction of her Ghanian village. This book had tons of action sequences, with some more satisfying than others as some scenes were too graphic for my taste. If you're a fan of stories about revenge and payback you’ll likely enjoy this book. There’s also a little romantic storyline, but it doesn’t really give the satisfaction of a HEA. Overall, this was a pretty hard read given the heaviness of the titular character’s background and upbringing. I do appreciate how Angoe started the story off with a detailed content warning and resources for survivors of human trafficking and abuse. Also, I’d never read a book about a Black woman assassin and there’s no denying that Nene is a badass. On the other hand, the jumps from first person to third person to help illustrate Nene’s upbringing versus her life in the present were a little confusing and would’ve been more seamless if the story had been told chronologically. (Rating: 🙂 Semi-sweet read)

“She had fallen hard for him, even though it was impossible. He put away people like her. She dispatched people like him.” — from Her Name is Knight by Yasmin Angoe

That’s it for the October edition of Swoon! Next month, I’ll be attending the Texas Book Festival in Austin, and I cannot wait to share with you all an event recap. Is there a topic you’d like me to cover or a book you’d like me to review? Email me at [email protected] to share your suggestions. I’d love to hear from you. See you in November! With love,

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