Favorite Fantasy Series

Now is the time to start stocking your to-read pile with heavy tomes of magic, mystery, and far off places! September, October, and November are by far my favorite months of the year. Fall can feel so fleeting compared to the long winters, so I absolutely relish the chance to match my reading picks to the mood outside. I love reading books with darker settings, gruff and moody protagonists, and bits of magic sprinkled throughout. You'll probably be hearing a lot about my fall picks this year, but I thought I'd get started with a list of my favorite fantasy series.

The Harry Potter Series by J. K. Rowling // I mean, I can't start this list without my favorite of favorites. Harry Potter is suitable reading for any time of year, but I especially love snuggling up with any one of the books in this series during our cozier months.

The All Souls Trilogy by Deborah Harkness // Fun fact: the author of this series is an alumna of the very place that I am now attending for my Master's program. I raved about this trilogy last year and am hoping to re-read it sometime soon. It has witches, vampires, time travel, romance, suspense -- basically anything you could hope for in an Autumn read.

The Paper Magician Trilogy by Charlie N. Holmberg // This is another one that I'd be happy to re-read. I own the series on my Kindle but the covers are some of my favorites. The premise is super inventive and I find the story to be comforting. Ceony Twill is one of my all-time favorite female characters, too. You can read my review of the first in the series here.

The Mapmakers Trilogy by S.E. Grove // I just finished the second installment in this trilogy over the weekend and absolutely loved it. I sound like a broken record when it comes to this one but I'll say it again: this is some of the best world building I've come across in my many years of reading fantasy. You can read my review of the first one here. This is one of those series that I just happened to stumble upon and then fall totally in love with (don't you love when that happens?) I cannot wait for the final installment!

The City of Dark Magic by Magnus Flyte // This is another (unfinished) series that I've really enjoyed so far. It's not terribly complicated but the cast of characters is really quirky and I'm looking forward to the next in the series.

A Song of Ice and Fire Series by George R. R. Martin // Also a no-brainer for this list. This is an epic series that I watched on TV before I started the books, and although I'm not usually a proponent of TV-before-book, in this case it helped me to visualize the enormous cast of characters that span these books.

Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children Series by Ransom Riggs // I've only read the first in this series (the third just came out recently) but it's one that's stuck with me since. I recently bought the second and have been saving it for those cooler, darker days.

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I made this list with older audiences in mind, though I believe a few of these are classified as young adult series. I've stumbled upon a few more series that I want to dive into before the year is over, so keep an eye out for those as my favorite reading season commences!

If you're a lover of children's lit, you might also want to check back here on Thursday for a little surprise!

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Happy Reading!

-Madeleine-

10 Great October Reads

I think we can all agree that October is one of the best months of the year. It's that time when the leaves have changed and are starting to fall but the sun still shines and the air is just the perfect temperature. As I write this, it's raining outside and all I want is to curl up with a good book and a warm drink (but first, homework...). I'm one to embrace gloomy days, and I can't help but feel that October is the perfect time to really appreciate life in New England. I think by now I've mentioned once or twice (okay, three times) how much I love Halloween, but really what I love about this time of year is that it inspires me to write. A good book can give you goosebumps, have you gasping in surprise, and even make you wonder if there really are monsters under the bed, and this is the perfect time of year to find one of those books. Now, I know that not everyone appreciates a scary story, so I've rounded up a list of books that, scary or not, have that perfect October vibe.

*****

The Ghost Bride by Yangsze Choo // You may recognize this from last month's currently coveting. I picked it up at the library recently and let me say...so good. Keep an eye out for a review soon, but for now, just know that it gave me the creepy-crawlies and had me totally intrigued from start to finish.

The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield // I cannot recommend this enough. It's on my list to re-read this month, and has the.best.ending.ever. Setterfield is just brilliant.

A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness // I love this trilogy. You can read more about my obsession with it here.

The Quick by Lauren Owen // This was one of my summer reads this year, but it's certainly more suited for an October to-read list, considering it's a Victorian England novel with a rather macabre twist. You can read my review of it here.

The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova // One year in high school we had a choice of books for a summer reading assignment and I picked this one, along with maybe seven other students. It certainly wasn't the most popular book that year (I have a feeling it's because of its 700 pages) but it's one that I would highly recommend for your to-read list this month. 

Bellman & Black by Diane Setterfield // Another one by Diane Setterfield because, why not? Read my review of this book here.

The Paper Magician by Charlie N. Holmberg // I love a good book about magic at anytime during the year, and I know I recently raved about this one in a review but I just can't stop. Love, love, loved it. And for those who aren't into scary stories, this is the one for you. 

The Truth of All Things by Kieran Shields // This is a relatively new series that I started reading last year. It follows a detective in the late 1800s as he investigates a gruesome murder, the mystery behind which is wrapped up in magic rituals and the Salem Witch Trials. Definitely has that Halloween feel to it. 

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern // This book was a big deal when it came out in 2011, and when I read it last year I absolutely loved it. And, I mean, look at that cover art. Swoon.

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn // Perfect timing to read this, especially with the movie coming out this month. But please, don't go see the movie before you've read it! I'm not usually such a stickler for the book-before-movie rule, but this has to be one that you read first. Also, it will make you question your own sanity and the sanity of everyone around you. So there's that. 

*****

Do you have a favorite thriller, mystery, or fantasy book?

All Souls Trilogy

Today marks the first day in September and the official start of everything fall! (And yes, I realize fall doesn't actually start until the 23rd, but September is just not the name for a summer month, if you ask me.) Fall is my favorite season for a number a reasons, the first (and most important) being that it's my birthday season. Aside from that, I love fall because it's the time for hot lattes, cool, crisp air, that back-to-school feeling, and of course, everything pumpkin-flavored. To me, fall always feels like a new beginning. With all the excitement concerning fall activities like apple picking and going to the pumpkin patch comes the building anticipation of one of my favorite holidays: Halloween. My little town was established in the early 17th century, and with its history comes lots of ghost stories, old cemeteries, and local lore. (Not to mention that we are right next door to Salem, which has so much history concerning witchcraft.)  I love reading spooky stories, so when fall arrives each year I often gravitate towards books that have a little bit of that Halloween-feel to them. That brings me to my latest series obsession: the All Souls Trilogy.

I first stumbled upon this series last fall and read the first two, A Discovery of Witches and Shadow of Night, in quick succession. I definitely preferred the second book to the first, I think because the second book allowed the characters to develop further, but the first book laid the foundation for such a captivating story, and looking back I appreciate it more because I know how complex the plot was meant to be in the next two books. I was counting down the days until the final installment was released this summer, and let me tell you, it did not disappoint. I got so caught up in The Book of Life, I couldn't pick up another book for days after finishing it. It's one of those series that I wish could go on forever (ahem, Harry Potter) but I plan on rereading it again soon so that I can fall in love with it all over again. You can bet that it will make the cut for my list of the best books of 2014 (the first two already made honorable mention on last year's list) and I will definitely be recommending it to friends who share my love of fantasy. I almost want to go so far to say that it's a good pick for grown-ups who love Harry Potter or Lev Grossman's The Magicians series (of which I've only read the first but plan on picking up the next two soon). If you're looking for a story that has magic, daemons, vampires, history, and an epic love story, read the All Souls Trilogy!