The Night Circus

 The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, 387 pages.

The circus arrives without warning. Le Cirque des Rêves (The Circus of Dreams in English) is a circus like no other. It opens at sundown and closes when the sun rises, and contained within it's countless black and white striped tents are inexplicable wonders. Which are at least a little more explicable if you know that the circus is also the playing field for a game between two young magicians who have been training for it since childhood, even if they don't entirely understand the rules of the game that their mentors committed them to so many years before. But even Marco's protective spells and Celia's best effort can't keep this magical place running forever, and after decades things are starting to break under the strain.

This is a beautiful book. It's deeply atmospheric, and something about the way Morgenstern writes always feels completely transportative to me. The romance in this book also really works for me. The circus itself becomes a love letter, and I find that this in many ways is the heart of the novel. I would absolutely recommend this sprawling, magical story as a great fall read.