Winter Book Recommendations

Winter  has arrived, even if the temperature is still all over the place. Nonetheless, there is never a bad time to curl up with a book. I’ve selected five books for the month of October that are chock full of monsters and magic–perfect for spooky season.

1) Wicked Fox by Kat Cho

Quick Summary: Gu Miyoung is a gumiho, a nine-tailed fox who must consume the souls of men to live. She’s fine with her solitary life. Then, one full moon, she comes across a human boy named Jihoon who is attacked by a goblin. While intervening, she looses her fox bead, her immortal soul. Miyoung must choose between her immortal life and Jihoon’s.

I loved how Wicked Fox incorporated Korean mythology into the story. Greek mythology is very commonly seen in books, and so it was cool to see a story spun from a different culture’s tales. The perspectives of Miyoung and Jihoon  play off of each other nicely. In further regards to the plot, there is much more going on than the synopsis on the book flap gives. There were plenty of plot twists, which are always adored around Halloween.

 

2) Carry On by Rainbow Rowell

Quick Summary: Simon Snow is a disaster of a chosen one. It’s his final year at school, and his girl friend broke up with him, his mentor’s avoiding him, his wand won’t work, and there’s a magic stealing monster running around. In all of this, his nemesis since day one, Baz, doesn’t even have the courtesy to be around to tell him how awful it is.

Carry On is the story about the kid-who-will-save-the-world you didn’t know you needed. There is plenty of magic, monsters, and a whirl-wind romance no one really saw coming. I liked Simon and the rest of the characters a lot, and the plot was charmingly familiar with a fresh twist.

 

3) Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake

Quick Summary: Every generation, the queen of the island of Fennbirn has triplet queens, each blessed with a special magic and with equal claim to the throne. In this generation, Katherine is a poisoner, who can withstand the most toxic substances. Arsinoe, is an naturalist, rumored to control the fiercest beast and make the richest flowers bloom. Mirabella is an elemental who can pull storms from the sky. To become the Queen Crowned isn’t about birth order. It’s life or death, and only one queen can remain.

Three Dark Crowns is one of my favorite books ever. The social classes on the island, how the different groups work together, and the system of crowning a queen is all super interesting. There was a HUGE plot twist at the end that left me shook for the next week.