The Magic Apple Tree is one of my favourite seasonal reads, it really captures the essence of the seasons changing. As Autumn is Susan Hill's favourite season, I think it is the best part of the book.
"For some weeks everything looks the same, it might still be Summer...But day by day there are slight changes, subtle alterations in shape, in the mood of the season, it is as though everything is slipping and sliding very gradually downhill....Fruits have been visible on the apple tree and on all the various trees around me, for some time, and now they are reddening, ripening and swelling and darkening....There is a smell in the air, the smell of Autumn, a yeasty, damp, fruity smell, carrying a hint of smoke and a hint, too, of decay."
So many days, when we're out walking or coming home from work, I say to Chris "can't you smell Autumn?" and he always agrees. A heady and, I think, rather intoxicating smell!