There's no better season for reading than autumn. It's true that winter could probably give autumn a run for its money, but there's just something about the combination of crisp air, colorful leaves and piping hot cider that lends itself to an evening spent diving into new worlds. Whether you devour pages at the rate of a Niffler chasing something shiny or, like the tortoise of “The Tortoise and the Hare,” you prefer to take your time, there's a little something for everyone on Freddy Funko's Autumn Reading List. Love nonfiction? Freddy's got you covered. Do you think the Golden Girls are #squadgoals? Freddy's got your back. Do you dream of a galaxy far, far away? So does Freddy and he's on it.

The Physics of Star Wars: The Science Behind a Galaxy Far, Far Away

If you've been jonesing for a nonfiction read that combines physics and your favorite fandom, you're in luck because Georgetown University assistant teaching professor Patrick Johnson took on the physics of Star Wars. From repulsorlifts to podracers, blasters to lightsabers, the book covers it all. Johnson has good news and bad news for those of you who are holding out for your own personal lightsaber but you'll have to read the book to find out what that good and bad news is.

Salvation

Author Peter F. Hamilton is perhaps best known for his sci-fi series Commonwealth Saga, which pits utopian human civilizations against powerful alien beings. His latest book, Salvation, is a departure from his previous style. In “Salvation Is a Twisty Space Opera Thriller” the Barnes & Noble blog states, “While Salvation may fall more on the noir side of the author's bibliography (not unlike 2012's unrelated Great North Road, a sci-fi serial killer tale), it is by no means any smaller, with ambitious structure interweaving plots of betrayal and backstabbing, as the malleability of history unfolds into full-scale interstellar war. In fact, the tighter focus on its characters' hidden motives creates a tighter, more cerebral experience than his more sprawling works, bringing the humans caught up in galactic events to the fore in an intriguing kickoff to what promises to be another fantastic trilogy.”

The Boneless Mercies

Monsters? Check. Girls trained to kill monsters? Check. This novel takes on the epic story of Beowulf and turns it on its head. An order of mercy killers called the Boneless Mercies tracks and kills monsters quickly, quietly, and mercifully. April Tucholke's young adult novel makes no assumptions about these monsters, or the young women who hunt them. In an interview with The Mary Sue, the author said, “Villains don't consider themselves to be villains—they believe they are heroes. I think this is riveting, and worth exploring.”

Thank You for Being a Friend

Take a journey to Miami to pal around with four best friends who live life to the fullest, eat cheesecake and date at least half the male population of Miami. It's been 26 years since The Golden Girls' finale but Blanche, Dorothy, Sophia and Rose are timeless and that's the appeal of this book which contains Golden Girls-themed quizzes, dating advice, cheesecake recipes and advice for being a friend as memorable and amazing as the original quartet.

Pride: A Pride and Prejudice Remix

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a well-respected book in possession of positive reviews must be in want of a sequel or re-telling. OK, we may have taken some liberties with Jane Austen's famous opening line to Pride and Prejudice, but some stories bear retelling, either to show another character's point of view or to offer a new, modern interpretation. Ibi Zoboi's Pride does exactly that, translating Elizabeth Bennet into Zuri Benitez, an Afro-Latina Brooklyn teenager battling gentrification, family drama and her own changing life. Will the Pride and Prejudice remix live up to the original? There's only one way to find out.

Semiosis

The Barnes & Noble blog named Semiosis by Sue Burke to their “The Best Science Fiction & Fantasy Books of 2018 So Far” list, calling the book “a planetary colonization story with a twist.” The human travelers from Earth land on a planet with sentient plant life. Thoughtful adventure ensues. The blog says, “Burke celebrates the adventurous spirit of the colonists while challenging their ideals, and our own. And in a rare (if not unprecedented) feat, her most compelling character may be the intelligent bamboo struggling to see things through the eyes of the humans.”

Mary Poppins—The Complete Collection

For many, Mary Poppins will always be Julie Andrews cheerfully forcing medicine on her two young charges, Jane and Michael. For 54 years, Julie Andrews defined the role. But with Mary Poppins Returns on the horizon and the delightful Emily Blunt in the title role, it may be time to expand our supercalifragilisticexpialidocious horizons. Before there was Julie Andrews, there was a series of eight children's books by British writer P.L. Travers. This series told the story of an English nanny blown by the East wind to Number 17 Cherry Tree Lane in London. If you start reading now, you have time to finish the series before Mary Poppins Returns' December 19 release date.

To All the Boys I've Loved Before

The Netflix teen rom com movie is a hit. Vox called it "enchanting" arguing that it “isn't just a paint-by-numbers adaptation. It's a stylish pastel-tinted confection of a movie, one that knows every single one of the romantic tropes it's working with backwards and forwards, and loves them with all its pure and wholesome heart.” But before there was an enchanting Netflix movie, there was a New York Times-bestselling young adult book series by Jenny Han. Whether you already love the movie, haven't yet seen the movie or—blasphemy of blasphemies—dislike the movie, the books are another opportunity to get your Lara Jean fix.