With fall quickly approaching, what better time to start being melancholy? Forlorn Fall is in! Autumn is the best time to lean into the agonizing pain of existence. The cold weather, the rain, the dead foliage lining the streets. Fall is the best time to read angsty, pretentious poetry and get away with it because it “fits the vibe”. 

• On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong. 

This novel is a coming-of-age and coming-of-death all in one. Chronicalling the youth of Little Dog, a Vietnamese immigrant coming to terms with his queer identity, this novel is devastating, poetic, and incredibly heartfelt. 

• The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger.

A classic, this novel explores the troubled youth of neurotic teenager Holden Caulfield as he explores 1930s New York City. His dejected outlook on life parallels the fall weather– cold, dark, and tumultuous.

•  The Man Without Talent by Yoshiharu Tsuge.

This is a slightly more unconventional recommendation, the first of Tsuge’s graphic novels to be translated into English. This semi-autobiographical manga follows a struggling cartoonist who swears off his passions and takes up odd jobs to support his family. This hilarious and sarcastic novel is full of contempt for a hard to navigate industry, but it is also full of heart, and very sentimental.

• A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

This book certainly requires a quick Google search for its numerous trigger warnings, as it is incredibly disturbing and depressing. Focusing on the life of one tortured man and the evolution of his friendships and relationships as his and his loved ones’ traumas get in the way, this book is excruciating. It is harrowingly long, but overall worth it, so long as you can stomach the horrible fates these characters are subjected to.