My Autumn Personal Curriculum 2026

Hello and welcome back to my weekly blog! I’m quite excited about this week’s post because I’m doing something a little different for autumn. I’ve decided to create myself a little personal curriculum for the season.

I’ve always liked the idea of learning things simply because I’m interested in them, rather than because I have to. There are so many things I find myself wanting to know more about, but never actually take the time to look into properly. So, this autumn, I thought I’d give myself a little list of things to read, research and create around.

Literature

There are three main books I definitely want to read this autumn. However, I am the type of person who will pick up another book halfway through and suddenly find myself reading three books at once, so I’m not going to pretend these will be the only ones I read!

• The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Brontë

  After reading Wuthering Heights and looking into some of the controversy surrounding it at the time, I learnt that Emily Brontë wasn't the only sister exploring topics that were, shall we say, a little ahead of their time. The Tenant of Wildfell Hall explores marriage, independence and a woman's determination to reclaim control over her own life.

• The Secret History by Donna Tartt

  I have heard that this is an insanely good book, and honestly, that seemed to be enough of a reason for me to pick it up. I’ve also been told that autumn is the perfect time to read it, which has made me even more excited to start it.

• Wintering by Katherine May

  As we move into the darker months, Wintering feels like a fitting book to read. It explores rest, resilience, solitude and the idea that quieter seasons can actually be a necessary part of life.

History & Mythology

This is probably the section I’m most excited about because I have a habit of going down very specific little rabbit holes when something catches my interest.

• The history of witchcraft

  I want to look into where our ideas around witches and witchcraft came from and how they have changed over time.

• British and Irish folklore

  I want to explore the old stories, superstitions, fairies, legends and beliefs that come from Britain and Ireland, particularly traditional faerie folklore.

• The origins of autumn traditions

  I also want to find out where some of the things we associate with autumn actually came from, from Halloween and harvest traditions to some of the little seasonal rituals we still have today.

Creativity

I don’t want creativity to become another thing I feel like I have to be productive with. I spend so much time making things for work and social media that I want some of this autumn to be about making things simply because I want to.

• Write an autumn short story

  I’d really like to write a short story inspired by some of the books, folklore and research I’m doing along the way. I have no idea what it will be about yet, which I actually quite like.

• Experiment with short-form storytelling

  I want to play around with telling little stories through video rather than always thinking about what I need to post.

• Develop my photography

  I also want to take more photographs this autumn and experiment with capturing atmosphere, little details and the feeling of the season.

Culture & Society

This is probably the most random section of my curriculum, but I think it might end up being one of the most interesting. I’m really interested in why we associate certain things with certain seasons and why autumn seems to have such a strong sense of nostalgia around it.

• Why do we romanticise autumn?

• Where did the modern idea of a "cosy autumn" come from?

• Why are certain books, films and songs nostalgic?

  
  

My Autumn Field Guide

And because apparently I can’t just have a list of things I want to learn without turning it into a little project, I’m going to keep a journal alongside all of this. I want it to become my own little autumn field guide, with notes on the books I’m reading, things I’ve learnt, folklore I’ve discovered, photographs, ideas for stories and anything else that catches my attention. I don’t want it to be perfectly organised. I think it will be much nicer if it becomes a collection of everything I’ve been interested in throughout the season.

By the end of autumn, I’d love to look back through it and have a little snapshot of what I was reading, learning and creating during this particular autumn.

I’ll be sharing little bits of the process over on Sincerely_Eleanor, as well as A Story To Light, where I share my creative work and small business. And if you fancy bringing a little bit of the cosy, bookish side of autumn into your own life, you can find my Blind Dates with a Book, stationery and other creations over in my A Story To Light Etsy shop.

Until next week,

Eleanor x