This topic came from Top Ten Tuesday hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. I'm going through and doing all of the old themes whenever I get a chance here and on my Youtube channel.
I know it's a bit odd to be doing this topic in February of all times, but I decided to keep doing these in order, even if the timing seems weird. However, I also don't read many Halloween sorts of books, so these may be a bit difficult. These will probably all be fantasy that include Halloween sorts of things, but they're not likely to be scary or anything.
1. The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling. I know, I know. I choose Harry Potter for everything, but witches are the first thing I think of when I think of Halloween other than pumpkins, and when I think of witches, I think of Harry Potter. Plus, I would absolutely love to attend a Halloween feast at Hogwarts. I think it could possibly be the funnest holiday at Hogwarts, since the entire school is there unlike at Christmas.
2. The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare. Another one that I've been adding to most of these lately. This story contains a lot of great Halloween-related creatures/people though. You have your vampires and werewolves and warlocks, and you even get demons. On top of all that you get to throw nephilim into the mix, which aren't quite as common. I don't think you can go wrong with reading a book that involves fighting demons on Halloween.
3. The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare. This requires explanation. For those of you who aren't familiar with this book, we're not dealing with real witches here. This book is about a girl accused of being a witch in the 1600s, which may make it seem out of place in these Halloween books, but I honestly really like that. There's one scene in particular that's coming to mind where Nat and some others string up jack-o-lanterns and have to be put in the stocks for it because the Puritans see them as evil. I think this book serves as an excellent reminder that things we see as simple and fun were viewed entirely different in the past. It just makes you think about Halloween a bit. We like to talk about witches now, but they were a legitimate fear hundreds of years ago. I think that's pretty neat.
4. Wicked by Gregory Maguire. Elphaba is more humanized here than she ever was in The Wizard of Oz. However, she's still more of a stereotypical witch than the other witches on this list. Plus, I think this book as a whole is darker than the others on this list, although it's not a creepy sort of dark.
5. Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer. I have two reasons for adding this to the list: 1. It's never been on one of these lists, unlike many of the ones I'm choosing. 2. I think we need something apocalyptic here. The apocalypse isn't one of those things you think about on Halloween, but it can be on the creepy side. This book isn't scary, but it get a bit intense with what the family will do to survive while their world is falling apart. If you don't know about the book, it follows a teenage girl and her family when they moon gets knocked closer to earth. Not only is the moon now bigger in the sky, but it starts messing with earth's weather and it becomes harder and harder to get electricity and food. If you're reading a ton of books for Halloween, it could provide a break from all the creatures but not be too different at the same time. (I was actually looking at the original post for this on The Broke and the Bookish and saw that they included this was well. I swear I hadn't seen that, but I find it a bit odd. It was just the only apocalyptic books I can remember reading, so I added it. Apparently I'm not the only one who thinks the apocalypse and Halloween fit together though.)
6. The Inferno by Dante. This may seem like a bit of an odd choice at first, but I actually thought it was a pretty good one once I thought of it. We like to read about demons and things that come from hell around Halloween, Why not read a book actually about hell? And if you're going to read about hell, why not go for a classic? Of course you could read the entire divine comedy, but I haven't read those so I wouldn't put them on the list. Plus, The Inferno's the most fitting for Halloween. I think reading about people getting tortured for all eternity really fits into the Halloween spirit (spirit's not the word I'd like when talking about torture but you get the point).
7. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. I wouldn't typically add this since I'm still in the process of reading it for one of my classes, but it just fits so perfectly. It's pretty much one of the classic Halloween novels. I may have only read the beginning so far, but I already know that it will work great.
8. The Desolation trilogy by Ali Cross. This is a trilogy that deals with Norse mythology (that means Loki, Thor, Odin, etc.). Desolation, or Desi, the main character is the daughter of Loki/Lucifer (both names are used at different times I believe). One thing I liked about it was the comparisons it drew between the Norse mythology it used and Christianity. Of course Norse mythology is true in the series, but Loki has pretty much embraced the concept of Satan/Lucifer and he pretty much considers himself to be that Christian figure. I'm probably doing a bad job describing it, but it makes sense when you read. Anyway, it's a bit darker since Desi grew up in Hell (which is what she typically refers to it as and is another example of the Norse mythology and Christianity meeting), and I just feel the tone of it really fits in with Halloween.
9. The Talisman trilogy by Brenda Pandos. I don't really read many vampires series, but this was one I enjoyed. I really liked how this one involved a human girl that actually had special powers (an empath in this case) and a half vampire (instead of just a vampire). It was a bit more original than the normal, helpless girl falls for the vampire. I recommend it if you're looking for a vampire book.
10. The Witch-Game series by K.C. Blake. We're back to witches to end this list, which shouldn't be surprising considering it's me. This series is actually two books that are companion novels. They are loosely related (in ways that you only find out at the end of the second one), but you can read either one without ever reading the other and be just fine. Both books are similar in that they are about witches playing some sort of game with their magic. Inevitably it backfires each time, and they have to deal with the consequences. I remember the second book in the series as being more intense than the first, but in both the consequences of the game lead to some pretty horrible situations that they have to combat. I really enjoyed them, and I think it's interesting to really see what teenagers with magical powers would do. Of course they're going to play around and take risks, and that can have some pretty bad consequences when you're dealing with magic. I thought it was fun to see that explored.
So, there's my top ten books for Halloween list in February!
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