The Comfort Book Club Autumn Special

Happy Friday! In today's Autumn Special for The Comfort Book Club, Mum and I are sharing some of our favourite autumnal extracts from books, over a cup of tea and a delicious slice of apple sponge cake (scroll down for recipe). Do please share your own favourite Fall quotes in the comments!
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VIDEO LINKS AND NOTES:
(affiliate links used for Blackwells)
The Magic Apple Tree by Susan Hill (out of print)

[glendaslanina]

In these hectic times, I have often thought that my sister and I are the only remaining people who celebrate the changing of the seasons. Now I realize that not only you and your mum, but so many of your viewers are also of the same mindset. Autumn is also my favorite season and I celebrate much the same way. Decorating the house and porch, changing my daily mug, some yummy pumpkin treat, roses vanishing and the mums and dahlias are here and of course, my books. And not just my books, but my children’s books to share with the grandkids. Every full moon, including the Harvest Moon, is an opportunity to slow the evening down and step outside to watch the spectacular show of the moon rising over the trees. I need these rituals in my life as I know you do. Enjoy 🍂🌼🍁

[janefaceinthewind]

How beautifully you two ladies are dressed, you look gorgeous and so elegant! The whole atmosphere is so cosy and autumnal, thank you for putting so much effort into your videos, everything you do and share with us is a delight. Also, I love the two mugs! 💖🍁🍂

[kathywilson]

Miranda and Donna, you cannot imagine what a comfort this video and all of these comments have been to me. Thank you so very much for your thoughtful and beautiful content that you put into all of your videos. "October is the opal month of the year. It is the month of glory, of ripeness. It is the picture-month." - Henry Ward Beecher

[jennieweston]

The following is the first verse of an autumn poem by the Canadian poet/writer William Wilfred Campbell. It was in one of our school readers and entitled “Indian Summer”.
Along the line of smokey hills
A crimson forest stands
And all the day the bluejay calls
Throughout the autumn lands.

I wont include the 2 other verses here but if interested the poem can be looked up.

[faithwentworth]

It is true that the change of seasons do fill us with nostalgia and evoke certain feelings and impressions from childhood. I really enjoyed the extract from the Brambly Hedge book. The first four books especially were bedtime reading favorites of my children when they were very young. It was lovely to go back in time through the passage you chose.

There are so many wonderful autumnal quotes but I'm a hugh Anne of Green Gables fan so I'll put this here. " I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers." -- Anne Shirley. I heartily agree!

This may be my new favorite quote, however. "September's air is as crisp and clear as the first bite of an apple and charged with anticipation." -- Miranda Mills. Kind of perfect 🍁🍂🍎🍏

[DianeC]

Back home in Illinois autumn meant picking up an acre of oak leaves. We had 20 oak trees. With our John Deere mower we pulled a leaf genie. It would pick the leaves up. We had to empty it in the backyard timeless times. Week after week, thru November, we would pick up the leaves and have bon fires. I'm sure the piles would have been taller than our house. Oaks take their time in dropping their leaves. But they were beautiful with their rusty red colors. The acorns every other year had to be raked up too. One year I raked up 15 carts full. We placed them at the back of our property. We would see deer, ground hogs, and squirrels even wild turkeys would feed on them. Crisp mornings, beautiful smells, that's what I remember. Now, in Arizona, it's temperatures start their descent into highs in the low 90s and mornings in the 70s. We really only have two seasons, summer and less summer. Lol. Anyways, loved your readings. Thank you Ladies. My very best to you both. 📚💕🌳🍁

[naomihickman]

Such a lovely, cosy episode with a beautifully autumnal tea table, I loved the nasturtiums on the cake. I so enjoyed both your readings. We always keep the flower fairy book of the season on display in my daughter’s bedroom, ready to dip into. I also enjoy changing my teacups to match the seasons. I love Emma Bridgewater and have had my eye on those gorgeous autumn mugs you were drinking from! Some autumnal quotes I I love are Keats’ “Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness” and also Humbert Wolfe’s “Listen! The wind is rising, and the air is wild with leaves, We have had our summer evenings, now for October eves!”. Also, as a big Anne Shirley fan, her famous quote about Octobers.

[fionnghualakelly]

You are both pure sunshine🌞 the sweetest women! Thank you!

[mariacristinabuenoasensio]

My dearest mother and daughter: you are absolutely WONDERFUL Thank YOU for your marvellous channel. A peaceful retreat in this chaotic world. You made my day today!!! ❤️❤️❤️❤️

[ingertsvard]

Thank u so much.
Autumn is for classics in my world too Donna. All my favorite poem quotations for autumn are in my mother tongue - a language that not many understand in the big world.

“Ute dansar löven,
Vart tog sommaren vägen?
Var är blom och bär ?

Anna liksom löven
Skuttar runt omkring,
Glömde varma mössan,
det gör ingenting.”

A poem I learned in first grad and a still remember it.

[teresaparkins]

Hello Miranda and Donna, all your readings were from books I own and love and I thought your choices from them so evocative of this new season, thank you. One of my favourite Autumn quotes is from The Morville Hours: The Story of a Garden by Katherine Swift when she is talking about Harvest Festival and what she would bring to Morville parish church: "What should I take? Apples? Plenty of those already. Honey? Quinces? I ponder the choice. But I already know what I would take if I could: I would take the smell of the garden after rain, the spiders' webs lacing the tapestry hedge in autumn..." Enjoy every moment of this wonderful time of year and thank you for celebrating the start of Autumn with us, Teresa 🕸🍂📚🧡

[staroliva]

Beautiful, how you both look so lovely and elegant....Happy Autumn 🍂 Thank you for all these great recommendations. I have been reading more and going out less in these crazy times I feel happy in my home. I made apple sauce today and a yellow cake . Love your videos.🍁

[juliebradby]

I have a remnant magic tree in my garden
A very old mulberry in glorious fluffy blossom my seasonal marker tree planted over 100 yrs ago
I love Spring but I adore and cherish Autumn as it tells us we will be ok and the heat of Summer fades into a more gentle sublime warmth
Gorgeous video superb Thankyou
I bought The Magic Apple Tree on audio
Enjoying it so much

[janefaceinthewind]

The description of the Marlene Dietrich buzz is adorable and hilarious! I grew up with Marlene's songs. She was a queen bee for sure!

The cake looks so delicious, I will have to try this recipe. My favourite part of autumn is when the chestnut trees turn golden. It is such a radiant colour.

[indydriven]

I found myself smiling all throughout your video as so much of it resonated with me. I’m currently reading Autumn which is a series of writings and poems by various writers compiled by Melissa Harrison and I’m so enjoying it. I read a little each day late in the afternoon when the sunshine is soft and the shadows are lengthening.

Crab apple jelly was one of the many jams and jellies that my mom made when I was a child and a young adult. Homemade jelly and jam always tasted so good on a bitterly cold Canadian morning in February.

Thank you once again for a comforting video. Your cake looked delicious and as much as I would love to re-create it myself, I am determined to lose my 15 pounds of Covid weight that went on during lockdown!!

[emmas]

What a lovely video. I so enjoyed seeing your beautiful autumnal table and hearing your thoughtful book choices. I thought I'd share a favourite autumn inspired poem written by Emily Brontë.

Fall, leaves, fall; die, flowers, away;
Lengthen night and shorten day;
Every leaf speaks bliss to me
Fluttering from the autumn tree.
I shall smile when wreaths of snow
Blossom where the rose should grow;
I shall sing when night’s decay
Ushers in a drearier day.

[emily_robinson]

Is it really the last Friday of the month already? Goodness! Well, your video was a delight anyway, from the reading selections to that scrumptious looking cake! Thank you! The quote, "I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers" is a pretty popular one, from Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery, and it is exactly how I feel this time of year.

[blonde]

I am so happy to know I am not the only person who changes mugs with the season! Thank you for the wonderful start to the Autumn season. So cozy!

[juliavasquez]

Hallo Donna and Miranda! As usual you chose great passages from great books! Have a nice weekend.

[nancyfritz]

I enjoyed listening to both of your readings and felt myself transported back to being a young child and kicking through the autumn leaves on the sidewalk and enjoying their unique aroma. (I have to admit I still do this at times.) Your cake looks delectable! Thank you, Donna and Miranda for once again bringing some loveliness to my day.