Cynthia Hart’s Victoriana Cats
Basket of Mischief 1,000-Piece Puzzle
Sewing with Kittens 1,000-Piece Puzzle
Set of 12 Wrapping Papers and Gift Tags
The Sticker Book: 300 Enchanting Stickers (Hardcover)
By Cynthia Hart
Publisher: Workman Publishing
Release date: October 17, 2023

I’m going to be honest with you: If you were to go back in time to tell my metalhead teenaged self that one day I’d be putting together 1,000-piece jigsaw puzzles with a Victorian cat theme, I’d have laughed myself all the way home from the Slayer concert.

Well, here I am decades later: I’m still a metalhead; I still wear all black with studded bracelets and dragon jewelry; my home still has a skull-themed decor; I still headbang and attend heavy metal concerts. But, I’m also a crazy cat lady who just became a card-carrying member of AARP… who now also enjoys putting together Victorian cat-themed 1,000-piece jigsaw puzzles, thanks to some new additions to Cynthia Hart’s Victoriana Cats collection.

Heroes’ Feast Flavors of the Multiverse: An Official D&D Cookbook
Heroes’ Feast D&D Cookbook Series
Hardcover | Spiral Bound | Kindle
By Kyle Newman, Jon Peterson, Michael Witwer, and Sam Witwer
Publisher: Ten Speed Press
Release Date: November 7, 2023

Good day and well met, friends! It boggles my mind to think that we are living in an age where Dungeons & Dragons has been so deeply ingrained into our culture that there are literal cookbooks to help create the perfect setting for any campaign. In my day (he says in his old man voice), we made do with Pizza Hut pepperoni pizzas and 7-Eleven Big Gulps to satisfy our sustenance needs whilst rolling our clickity clacking funny-shaped dice. Of course, teen-aged me was about as uncouth as you can imagine. A big change in my cuisine was the addition of taco-flavored Doritos. But the addition of books like Heroes’ Feast Flavors of the Multiverse: An Official D&D Cookbook has really raised the bar. In fact, one might even say it has taken the gameplay up a level. Get it? Up a level? I crack myself up, you know. But anyway, you are not here for my lame jokes, soon with the review!

Dungeons & Dragons: Lore & Legends
A Visual Celebration of the Fifth Edition of the World’s Greatest Roleplaying Game
Hardcover | Kindle
By Michael Witwer, Kyle Newman, Jon Peterson, Sam Witwer
Foreword by Tom Morello
Publisher: Ten Speed Press
Release Date: October 3, 2023

Well met, readers! I hope you are having the best of days and find success in all that you do. How goes my day, you ask? Splendidly, I must say, for I get the distinct pleasure of raving about a beautiful tome that found its way to my home just days ago. It was accompanied by many of its friends, but I will concentrate solely on this book, Lore & Legends: A Visual Celebration of the Fifth Edition of the World’s Greatest Roleplaying Game. This references, of course, the game of Dungeons & Dragons, a franchise of gaming that has helped my interests, passion, and some small fortune of mine that I have invested in supplies and whatnot. Time, effort, and money well spent, I must say.

What Kind of Mother
Hardcover | Kindle | Audiobook
By Clay McLeod Chapman
Publisher: Quirk Books
Release Date: September 12, 2023

My grandma always says, “Where there’s a thought, there’s an image; where there’s an image, there’s an event.” If, like Grandma, you believe that thought projection leads to manifestation, then the events of What Kind of Mother will make perfect sense to you. If not, then when you get through the last third of this book by Clay McLeod Chapman, you’ll probably be like, “What the hell did I just read?!” Actually, you might think that either way, because wow does this story take a wild turn.

Fall is almost upon us! This is my favorite season of the year in general, but also my favorite time for reading. There’s always a plethora of titles being released for the season, many of which are perfect for Halloween and even the Christmas Horror subgenre. I always have so much fun putting together my Fall reading recommendations not only because of all the new titles I’m anticipating, but also so I can look back on what was released earlier in the year and read anything I might have missed.

Below are some titles — with accompanying links to the print, ebooks, and audiobooks editions — that I personally am looking forward to this Fall, presented here in order of release date, starting with those releasing in September 2023. After this main list, I’ve included some titles that came out earlier this year that you might have missed that would be appropriate to read this Fall. At the end, I included recommendations for themed Cookbooks, Crafts, Guides, Coloring Books Sourcebooks, and Tarot Decks that would be great to dive into during the spooky season.

Continue on to check out my Fall 2023 Book Recommendations…