My Fall Reading List: 5 Books + the Candle I'd Light for Each

You know I can't talk about cozy season without talking about books. 📚 Before I ever poured a single candle, I spent years reviewing books for publishing houses — so for me, a good story and the right scent have always gone hand in hand. The flicker of a wick, a blanket, a mug of something warm… and a book you can't put down. That's my whole fall personality.

So this year I paired five books I love with scents from our Fall/Holiday collection. Think of it as a reading list with a mood board attached. ✨

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott → Joy + Carnelian

It wouldn't be the season without the March sisters. This book is pure warmth — family, Christmas mornings, and the kind of chaos that's really just love. Joy is wassail in a jar: bright, festive, and nostalgic, with orange peel and cinnamon up front and a cozy cider-and-red-wine warmth underneath. Read it with a mug of cider and let it make you a little teary. 🍎

Crystal pairing: Carnelian, for joy, warmth, and creative spark.

Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman → Gather + Garnet

Sisters, old family magic, and a house full of secrets. This one calls for something dark, fruity, and a little witchy… like dusk in an orchard with something warm simmering on the stove. Gather is plum, cherry, and violet over cedar and vanilla. Light it on the first chilly evening and settle in. 🔮

Crystal pairing: Garnet, for connection and grounding — perfect for a story about the ties that bind us.

Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett → Embrace + Moss Agate

A prickly Cambridge scholar travels to a snowy northern village to study the faeries there… and then her charming (and very annoying) colleague shows up uninvited. Embrace smells exactly like Emily's little cabin: fire crackling, snow outside, a hint of clove and ginger in the air, and a pine forest that might be watching you. Save this pairing for the first snowfall. 🌲❄️

Crystal pairing: Moss Agate, the stone of nature and new growth.

How to Solve Your Own Murder by Kristen Perrin → Renew + Moonstone

A fortune teller tells a teenage girl she'll be murdered someday. Sixty years later… she is, and her great-niece has to solve it. Old English manors and family secrets need something a little mysterious, and Renew is it — warm and golden with saffron, rose, and a hint of leather, like a dusty estate library where the clues are hiding. 🔍

Crystal pairing: Moonstone, for intuition and new beginnings (fitting for a book about fate).

The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion by Beth Brower → Patience + Bloodstone

If you haven't met Emma yet, you're in for such a treat. She's witty and stubborn, and her journals from 1880s London will have you laughing out loud. (Bonus: Beth Brower is a Utah author! 🙌) I've read all eight volumes, and Vol. 9 doesn't come out until February 23, 2027… so of course this series gets Patience. 😅 It's woodsy and grounding — cypress, evergreen, cedar, and amber — the right candle for a reread while we all wait.

Crystal pairing: Bloodstone, for courage and steadiness.

Your turn

What's on your nightstand this fall? Tell me in the comments — I'm always looking for my next read. And if you're not sure which scent fits your vibe, take our scent quiz for a personal match (plus $5 off your first order). 💛

Happy reading, friend.

— Whitnee