My Bookish Autumn Bucket List

Last night's dramatic lightening display and my increasing desire to shop for a hideously excessive amount of candles can only mean one thing: Autumn in coming. As a horror fan this spooky season excites me to no end year in and year out however, one thing sparks just as much serotonin as a good scream; reading. I've been drooling my way across booktok, booktube and the waterstones website, seeking out all the books i'm desperate to throw my overdraft at. Here's the line up. Elena Knows, Claudia Pineiro Elena Knows is a very short, very scary short novel that follows the investigation of Rita's death which, on the surafce seems to be a case of suicide however, her mother is not convinced and pushes for further exploration. In terms of genre, It's a blend of crime fiction and fables with threads of hypocrisy woven throughout. This novella was raved about by one of my favourite booktubers which, admittedly, already sold it to me but I then looked into this title a little more and realised it had been shortlisted for the International Booker Prize 2022 and I have ALWAYS had such amazing reading experiences with books recognised by this prize. I'm really drawn to this book, not just because it appears to be mega on-brand with the Austumn aesthetic but also because Pineiro is Buenas Aires born author, not an area I feel I have visited very frequently on my reading journeys. If my degree in English literature taught me anything, Its that It's never a bad thing to hop on flights to new places when it comes to using your bookish passport. Ghost Lover, Lisa Taddeo I'll be honest, as soon as I heard a few months back there was going to be another Lisa Taddeo creation out there in the world, I immediately knew i'd launch all my money at it before I even questioned what it would be about. I fell completely in love, in shock and in awe of her masterful brain when I read her other novels throughout completing my masters. God, does she know how to make unhinged women feel understood. When I found out Ghost Lover is actually a short story collection, the beacon that is Lisa Taddeo burned even brighter. I'm a sucker for a short story collection and so is my undiagnised ADHD. It deals with themes of love, grief, mania and femininity and if that doesn't sound like the lineup of a lifetime I have no clue what does. Hands down, one of my favourite contemporary writers. I'll follow her to the ends of the earth. The House with the Golden Door, Elodie Harper This is the (for me at least, and those in my Oxford based bookclub) highly anticpiated sequel to the *chef's kiss* exquisite work of historical fiction that is The Wolf Den. Even from reading the first page of The Wolf Den, I knew there was zero god damn way I wasn't going to follow the entirity of Amara's story through the world of the courtesan's of Pomepeii. Harper's descriptions are goregously rich and her metaphors and use of prolepsis is nothing short of mindblowing. Safe to say, this trilogy has seriously peaked my interest. It's definitely the chunkiest book on this bookish bucket list but I feel like Autumn is an extremely appropiate time of year to have a lengthy love affair, cosying up to a fat book. There ya go, that is a brief look into the books I am determined to read this next season. Plus, as alwaysan embrassing amount on the backlist of my reading shelf I have been meaning to show some love for a wee while. Any reccomendations gimme a shout @theverseofvenus on IG and/or @raggattalisha on Twitter.