The Magician’s House Quartet

The Spooky Books Tag

As blogtober draws to a close, it’s time for one more seasonal tag! The Spooky Book Tag was created by Shelby Masako and I’m going to do my best to not repeat any of my answers from previous tags I’ve done this month.

What goes bump in the night?: Name a book that has legitimately scared you while reading it.
I know I’ve mentioned Lirael in a previous tag for this kind of question but it’s still relevant. Maybe Safe as Houses by Simone van der Vlugt also deserves a mention as that was a different type of scary as it’s about a home invasion.

Jack O’ Lanterns and Classic Costumes: A book you always reach for during Halloween time.
I don’t have a spooky/horror book that I always pick up at this time of year. In fact, I cant remember the last time I reread a book (must be at least four years ago) and that’s something I’d like to rectify soon.

Black Cats and Magic Mirrors: A book you love that is laced with superstition and/or magic.
Again, I think I might’ve mentioned this series in a previous tag but I don’t care – The Magician’s House Quartet by William Corlett. There’s magic and secrets in the house and talking animals and an evil Magician’s assistant.

Witch’s Brew: Favourite witch character in any book/series
It’s easy to say Hermione Granger from Harry Potter but really, I think my favourite witch is Angela from the Inheritance Cycle. My first thought was Hermione because Angela is more than a witch, she’s a healer and maybe a seer and there’s so many layers to her that witch almost seems like a too simple term.

Ghouls and Ghosts: A book that still haunts you to this day (good or bad).
Allegiant by Veronica Roth. I wasn’t a huge fan of the Divergent trilogy but the ending of Allegiant sticks with me, mainly because I think it’s an incredibly ballsy move from the author and I kinda liked how things went down – even though I know a lot of people weren’t.

Haunted Graveyard: You’re all alone in a haunted graveyard, you get ONE book to give you comfort, which is it?
Hawkeye vs. Deadpool by Gerry Duggan and Matteo Lolli. The vast majority of comics featuring Hawkeye (especially the Clint Barton Hawkeye) bring me comfort but Hawkeye vs. Deadpool was just so much fun, it’d hard to be scared when revisiting that book.

The Undead: Favourite supernatural creatures to read about (i.e. vamps, zombies, werewolves, etc).
I don’t often read about supernatural creatures – the Cal Leandros series by Rob Thurman has a lot of them in there though. I think my favourites though are vampires, I think they’re the creature that authors can really put their own spin on.

In the dead of night: Pick a book with a black cover.
I feel like I’ve mentioned this book so much on my blog over the past few months, but I’ve got to pick The Sisters Grimm by Menna van Praag. It has a stunning cover and it’s just the sort of book I should be reading at this time of year as I think there’s magic and witches and mysteries, but I haven’t picked it up yet.

The Finally Fall Book Tag

Who doesn’t love a seasonal tag! I think the Finally Fall tag was created by Alina Melena on YouTube (not 100% sure as the original video no longer exists) and I saw it over on Bookables channel.

1. In fall, the air is crisp and clear: name a book with a vivid setting!
I didn’t like the book a lot, but I won’t deny that Uprooted by Naomi Novik has a very vivid setting and it’s the main thing I remember about it.

2. Nature is beautiful… but also dying: name a book that is beautifully written, but also deals with a heavy topic like loss or grief.
The Places I’ve Cried in Public by Holly Bourne has such good writing that’s powerful and sad and is about a teenage girl trying to understand how her relationship wasn’t OK and it was actually emotionally and sexually abusive.

3. Fall is back to school season: share a non-fiction book that taught you something new.
I work at a university and while my job is all year round, there is a sense on new beginning when the students come back at the end of September. I’ve read a lot of non-fiction thanks to my Read the World Project and I’ve learnt a lot about different cultures and countries. I think The Wife’s Tale: A Personal History by Aida Edemariam was one of the ones where I learnt the most though as I knew nothing about Ethiopia’s history.

4. In order to keep warm, it’s good to spend some time with the people we love: name a fictional family/household/friend-group that you’d like to be a part of.
It’s so easy to say the Weasley’s and while they’ll be an honourable mention, I’m going to say Izzy’s small but awesome family/friend unit from The Exact Opposite of Okay by Laura Steven. I love her relationship with her grandmother and her best friend Ajita and they’d be an awesome, fun and supportive group to be a part of.

5. The colourful leaves are piling up on the ground: show us a pile of fall-coloured spines!
Good job I was at my mum’s when I was drafting this post as I don’t have any TBR books that have autumnal colours on their spine. So all but one of these (A Keeper) I’ve read.

From top to bottom we have:
The Door in the Tree by William Corlett
Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
Illuminae by Amy Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
A Keeper by Graham Norton
Marvel Comics: The Untold Story by Sean Howe
The Rise of Nine by Pittacus Lore

6. Fall is the perfect time for some storytelling by the fireside: share a book wherein somebody is telling a story.
This was a hard one to think of a book for, I’ve definitely read books that were like a story inside a story, but it took me ages to think of one. In the end I remembered The Murdstone Trilogy by Mal Peet, in that a creature tells a story of a fantasy world.

7. The nights are getting darker: share a dark, creepy read.
It’s been a long time since I’ve read a dark and creepy book. Thinking back, I’ll mention The Strain by Chuck Hogan and Guillermo del Toro. It’s a creepy story with vampires and conspiracy theories and from what I remember there’s some really eerie moments.

8. The days are getting colder: name a short, heart-warming read that could warm up somebody’s cold and rainy day.
I wouldn’t say it’s short or even heart-warming, but it is a lot of fun and it’s set somewhere warm and sunny – Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan. It’s been a while since I’ve read a book I’d call “heart-warming”, but fun contemporary stories are always a good shout on dark nights.

9. Fall (luckily, it’s my favourite season) returns every year: name an old favourite that you’d like to return to soon.
There are so many books I’d like to reread but I think I’m going to go with The Passage and The Twelve by Justin Cronin. I’ve still not read the last book in the trilogy, The City of Mirrors, so I’d love to reread the series and finally finish it and see what happens to this huge cast of characters. I’d also like to revisit The Magician’s House quartet by William Corlett, of which The Door in the Tree is the second book, as that was a childhood favourite series.

10. Fall is the perfect time for cosy reading nights: share your favourite cosy reading “accessories”!
Definitely my blue fuzzy blanket. Well, technically it’s a Slanket (a blanket with sleeves) but I don’t often use the sleeves, instead I just have it on my legs as I read.

11. Spread the autumn appreciation and tag some people!
I think this tag has been around for a while so no doubt a lot of you have done it before but consider yourself tagged if you want!

TOP TEN TUESDAY: Top Ten Books I Want My Hypothetical Future Children to Read

Top Ten Tuesday is a feature run by BrokeAndBookish each week. This week the topic is all about the books we want our future hypothetical kids to read – or if we have any young children in our lives like nieces and nephews, what books we’d love them to read. I don’t know if I’ll have children, but there are definitely some books that I feel young kids should read, and books that shaped me and I’d love to share.

The Magician’s House Quartet by William Corlet
This series was one of the first to make me cry and I was less than ten years old. I’m not saying I want to make my hypothetical children cry but I’d like to see if it affects them as much as it did me.

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
This whole series is magical but The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is the most magical and I think it’s one of the most accessible for younger readers.

The Animal Ark series by Lucy Daniels
I actually gave all my Animal Ark books, all 70+ of them, to my Godmothers daughter years ago, from what I heard she did enjoy them and I hope now she’s a teenager that she’s either got them in a safe place or has passed them on to someone else to love. (more…)