Hello! First up, a quick reminder for my friends in the Northern Virginia area: tomorrow, October 19, I will be at Eat Local, Read Local at Cascades Library! The event runs from 10:00am to 2:00pm and includes loads of local authors, food trucks, live music, and fun. I'll have copies of all or most of my books, including Song of the Selkies and Illusion's Reign available for purchase, and I'll also be signing previously-purchased books if you bring them by. I hope to see you there!

Now, moving on to the actual post topic: while I don't celebrate Halloween (except, occasionally, as an excuse for cosplay), I do very much enjoy the opportunity to indulge in some spookier reads. I've always enjoyed books that have at least a little edge of creepiness, and that's become even more true in the last couple years as I've gotten into some Gothic-inspired (and actually-Gothic) stories. Besides the fact that it can be fun to be scared at times, these stories (the well-written ones, at least) are often astonishingly hopeful, celebrating not death, not the dead, but death's defeat by life. And as we're now solidly in spooky season, now seems like an excellent time for me to recommend some of my favorites.

Spooky Season Reads

Lockwood & Co by Jonathan Stroud. This series has pretty much everything you could ask for in a spooky season story: truly terrifying ghosts, dangerous mysteries, secrets, people tampering with that which man should not, and a conclusion that affirms life's triumph over death. As a bonus, we have truly excellent characters (and character development), humor to keep the darkness from becoming overpowering, and an equal balance of friendships and romance. Also, while this is a mainline-published series, the themes and conclusion make it an astonishingly Christian in the best way.

Dracula by Bram Stoker. This list has to include at least one of the classics, and no one should be surprised at which one I chose. My enjoyment of Dracula is well-established by now — I love the characters, the creeping terror and slow-growing realization of wrongness, the sacrificial love displayed by so many of the heroes . . . it's just so good. Granted, I firmly believe that the best way to read this book is the Dracula Daily method (or the Re: Dracula method if you prefer your books in audio form), but reading the whole thing at once is also a good option.

Black and Deep Desires by Claire Trella Hill. This is probably my overall favorite book on the list, and the only reason it's not at the top is because Lockwood & Co and Dracula have more of what I like about spooky season reads specifically. However, Black and Deep Desires is delightfully creepy and Gothic, full of crumbling houses, monsters, mysteries, midnight ventures through secret passages, haunting dreams, and so forth — plus a story of love, friendship, and healing from trauma and abuse, plus a stubborn, bookish, Shakespeare-quoting vampire. It's a delight, and I'm currently planning to reread it as soon as I finish my current read.

The Abhorsen original trilogy by Garth Nix. I am disregarding everything except the original three in this recommendation — the other books are fine, but the first three are the best. (And the first book is my personal favorite, though some of my friends prefer the second book . . . I digress.) These don't have quite as much of a creepy edge as some of the others on this list, despite being basically a zombie story in a fantasy setting, but the storyworld and the themes still make them a good choice for a spooky season read.

 

Vespertine by Margaret Rogerson. This book shares some similarities with the Abhorsen books, especially Sabriel in terms of the world and magic system, which is delightfully spooky and dangerous. It doesn't go quite as hard on my favorite themes of this season, but it's still a good ghostly read.

Do you enjoy Gothic or spooky reads? What are your favorites? Please tell me in the comments!
Thanks for reading!

Old Books Yet Unread

Allo, everyone! As I mentioned earlier this week, one of my goals for the year is to read more old books- at least one for every three new books I read. Some of these I'll be revisiting; for instance, it's been far too long since I reread The Lord of the Rings all the way through, and I rather want to revisit some of the classic adventure books I used to enjoy. However, I also have a reasonably long list of older books that I keep intending to read but never get around to, and I'd like to try to clear it out a bit this year. More or less all of these can fit into one of four categories: 1) Lewis and Tolkien, 2) books that influenced Lewis and Tolkien, 3) miscellaneous classics I got away with not reading, and 4) random books that somehow appeared on my TBR, probably on a friend's recommendation. Hopefully I'll finish the year by reading a fair sampling of each category. And today, I thought I'd share some of the highlights of what I intend to read, in no particular order.

Old Books Unread (Until Now!)

1. The Pilgrim's Regress and 'Til We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis. Or, more accurately, everything Lewis ever wrote, with the possible exception of the Oxford History of English Literature (referred to by Lewis as his "O HEL project," for good reason!). These two are my top priority, though, the first because it relates somewhat to some of my classes last year and the second because people keep telling me how amazing it is. The fact that those two are novels and the rest of Lewis's work tends to be either scholarship or theology (with a few exceptions) also helps.
2. Something by G.K. Chesterton. I'm not actually sure what, since I'm really not at all familiar with Chesterton; all I know is that he's fits in the "influenced Lewis and Tolkien" (or at least Lewis) category, that he's apparently very good, and that he's often quoted in relation to fairy tales and dragons. So, I asked a friend for recommendations and now I've narrowed my choice down from "something" to six different books, and . . . yeah. I'll probably end up reading either some of the Father Brown mysteries or The Man Who Was Thursday, but I don't know for sure.
3. Either The Iliad or Beowulf. Or, better yet, both. The Iliad is one of the few books that doesn't neatly fit into any of the categories I mentioned earlier; it's not so much that I got away with not reading it as that I didn't realize I wanted to read it until I read The Odyssey in Fall 2016 and fell a little bit in love. I suspect I'll still prefer The Odyssey to The Iliad, mostly because Odysseus, but y'know. Beowulf, on the other hand, I read a portion of in Brit Lit a few years ago and enjoyed, but I never got around to reading the full poem. If anyone has a translation they particularly like, please let me know; otherwise I'll probably go with Tolkien's version, because Tolkien.
4. Shakespeare's Hamlet. NoIhaven'treadityetpleasedon'tkillme. People keep telling me to read Hamlet, I keep saying "Yes! I plan to soon!" with the very best intentions . . . and then I don't read it, making it a classic Category 3 "book I got away without reading." Shame on me- but I will fix that this year! There are a few other Shakespeare plays I want to read, like The Taming of the Shrew and The Merchant of Venice, and maybe a reread of MacBeth, but Hamlet is definitely top priority.
5. The Wood Beyond the World by William Morris. I thought, when I noticed this on my TBR list, that it was part of Category 4 (random books from who-knows-where). However, while I still don't know how I found out about it, further investigation has revealed that Morris was one of the more influential pre-Tolkien fantasy writers and that both Tolkien and Lewis enjoyed his works- this one in particular. I also heard that apparently the language makes it a bit difficult to read, but, y'know, if I can manage Shakespeare I can probably manage this as well.
6. Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen. I enjoy Pride and Prejudice- who doesn't?- but after Sense and Sensibility dragged on for ages and I DNF'ed Emma, the rest of Austen's works became Category 3 "Classics I got away with not reading." But this year seems the perfect time to try to jump back in, especially after I basically reread P&P back in October, and Northanger Abbey seems a good place to start- mostly because a heroine determined to make her life into the stuff of her favorite stories sounds thoroughly relatable.
7. A Canticle For Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller. This is most definitely a Category 4, as I can't even recall where I first heard of it and only rediscovered it quite recently. From the description, I'm not entirely sure what to make of it; it sounds like it'll either be delightfully subtle satire or dreadfully depressing and cynical. Obviously, I'm hoping for the former.

What classics do you keep meaning to read or reread? Any suggestions of old books that I should add to my list for the year? Please tell me in the comments!
Thanks for reading!
-Sarah (Leilani Sunblade)  

Books I Need to Reread

As you may or may not know, I'm big into rereading books. Even if I already know what's happened, there's still the delight of rediscovering the story, of finding the hints I missed before, and of reconnecting with the characters. At one point, when I had a more limited to-be-read list, I'd make sure to read my favorite series at least once a year. As the number of new books I had to read increased, however, my time for rereading decreased, so at this point, some of the stories that I loved, I haven't touched in quite a while. I've been trying to remedy this, but there are still several books and series I haven't gotten to. And today, I thought I'd share some of my top need-to-reread series with you.

1. The Lord of the Rings and The Silimarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien
As I mentioned, there was a time when I read The Lord of the Rings at least once a year (rarely more, though- even for the most enthusiastic reader, they're kind of long), but considering how much I love the trilogy, it's been an awfully long time since I've read it. I really do need to fix that soon- particularly now that I have a pretty new matching set. As for The Silimarillion, I've read it exactly once all the way through, and I skimmed a great deal of it. Now that I'm older- and, I hope, have more patience- I want to give it another try.
(Note: The above picture is not my "pretty matched set." My copies are decidedly less fancy, rare, and expensive. Though that doesn't stop them from having super pretty covers and being a very comfortable size for reading. The above image is the product of asking Google Images for a picture of LOTR and The Silimarillion together.)

2. The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
I used to like this book very much indeed, but after a well-meaning parent used it to turn a book club into a lesson in story structure, I didn't touch it again for, well, longer than I should've. I wish I'd let go of that memory sooner, but better late than never. Admittedly, I did listen to the Focus on the Family radio drama in the car last weekend, but it was so abridged that I felt like all my favorite parts had been cut short, or else left out entirely. All the more reason to reread the book sometime soon!

3. The Circle Trilogy by Ted Dekker
I read this series for the first time about five years ago and obsessed over it for several months- during which I also explored several of Ted Dekker's other books, none of which I liked quite as much and some of which freaked me out a lot. I've read the trilogy once or twice since then, but not recently. I'd like to reread it sometime soon, now that I'm older and have a different, hopefully more mature, perspective on it.

4. Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand
Cyrano is my favorite book (well, play) that I've had to read for literature, and it's also one of my favorite classics. I haven't gotten around to reading it since the year I had it in school, since my copy is in the back of that year's literature book. However, my sister is going to be reading it for her literature this year . . . which means I'd better reread it so I can join in her discussions! (I'll join in the discussion whether or not I've read the book, probably, if I get a chance- but at least that way I'll remember better what I'm talking about.)

5. The Wilderking Trilogy by Jonathan Rodgers
This is a short little trio of books, a fantasy version of the Biblical story of David. I read them perhaps four years ago, but haven't reread them more than once or twice since then. I'd love to rediscover them, though; they were some of the more unique books I've read. Unfortunately, my new library only has the first one . . . I am very much not happy. Hopefully, my old library has an online version I can borrow . . .

6. The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis.
I have a confession to make: I haven't read The Chronicles of Narnia all the way through in quite a long time, despite how much I love the series. I've read single books now and then, and listened to some of the audio dramas either on trips or while knitting, but not the whole series. Obviously, that needs to change.

7. The Echoes From the Edge trilogy by Bryan Davis.
At one point, this was my favorite Bryan Davis series- it even beat out Dragons in Our Midst, which was an impressive feat. Is it still my favorite? I'm not sure- which is one reason I need to reread it, so I can find out. Also, it's a pretty awesome trilogy (I'm certain of that), and I haven't read it in a few years.

8. The Space Trilogy by C.S. Lewis.
I read these books the summer after I read The Silimarillion, I think- it's been a while. I'm sorry to say I really didn't appreciate them at the time. Out of the Silent Planet I liked well enough, true, but Perelandra seemed a bit odd, and by the time I got midway through That Hideous Strength, I was struggling. I'm fairly certain the main reason I finished was I thought "It's C.S. Lewis, and therefore I ought to like this." Recently, however, I've met enough people who really like the Space Trilogy that I feel I ought to reread it.

9. The Princess and the Goblin and The Princess and Curdie by George Macdonald.I loved these two books when I was younger, but sadly, they were some of the first to get lost in my new-book flood. Recently, however, I've been seized with occasional urges to reread them . . . which I've utterly failed to act upon. I do want to fix that, though, because they, like Narnia, are the sort of books that are always worth rereading.

Do you like rereading books? If you do, are there any books you need to reread? Please tell me in the comments!
Thanks for reading!
-Sarah (Leilani Sunblade)

Summer Reading Plans

When I think of summer activities, there are many things that come to me: swimming, biking, writing, and most of all, reading. For as long as I can remember, I've done the summer reading program at my library every year, and if I can find others, I like to do those too. This year, however, I'm doing something I haven't done before: a summer reading list.

Most of the books on my list are ones I haven't read in a year or more and want to make sure I reread sometime relatively soon. There are some new titles on the list, however, and if anyone has suggestions of other books I should add to it, I'd be happy to hear them. I'm always on the lookout for new books to enjoy.

First on my list is The Door Within Trilogy by Wayne Thomas Batson. This was one of the first contemporary Christian fantasy series I read, and when I first started writing, it heavily influenced my stories. However, in the last year, I've been more focused on other Batson books, namely The Tide of Unmaking and his short stories. I'm very much looking forward to returning to the Realm this summer and joining Aidan, Antoinette, and Robby on their adventures once more!

Another trilogy on my list is The White Lion Chronicles by Christopher Hopper. When I first read Rise of the Dibor, I don't think I was really mature enough to appreciate these books, since they're longer and move at a slower pace than most books I was reading at the time. After they were rereleased, I gave them another try and really enjoyed them. However, until now, I never quite got around to rereading them. This is the only series on my list that I've already gotten started on rereading; I just reread Rise of the Dibor last week.

For a change from fantasy to dystopian, I'll be reading Sneak, the second book in the Swipe series by Evan Angler. Though Sneak was released some time ago, my library only recently obtained copies of it. I can hardly wait to read it and find out what in the world is going to happen to Logan, not to mention whether or not my theories about the Mark and such are true. Of course, since Storm just recently came out, and I'm pretty sure my library doesn't have it, I'll be back in the same boat again. Oh well. Such is life.

Back to fantasy! This time, however, the fantasy is a classic. It's a tradition of mine to make sure I read The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings at least once every year. I used to try to do this in either November or May (near either my birthday or half-birthday), since the first time I read The Lord of the Rings was shortly after my birthday some years ago. More recently, however, I decided that summer was the best time to read these books, since I'll have more time to read and therefore I'll be able to enjoy them more. 

Another classic I'll be rereading is Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. I first read this book in September of last year and promptly decided that it was my new favorite non-fantasy classic. I also hope to find another Austen book to read, though I'm not sure which one. I read Sense and Sensibility in January and, though it was fairly good, didn't enjoy it nearly as much as Pride and Prejudice. I'm leaning towards Emma for this summer, but if any fans of Jane Austen's books are reading this, suggestions are more than welcome!

Two weekends ago, I did the Christian Fiction Scavenger Hunt, an online scavenger hunt hosted by thirty-two Christian fiction authors. To complete the scavenger hunt, you had to go from blog to blog and collect all the clues to put together a quote and be entered in a drawing for the prize. Along the way, I discovered a few authors I'd like to try, most notably R. J. Larson, author of Prophet and the rest of the Books of the Infinite series. Her books, which are fantasy set in a world similar to the Biblical time period, looked interesting, so I decided to give them a try. I can hardly wait to find out if they live up to my hopes.

By far the longest series on my reading list is the Redwall series by Brian Jacques. I've read these books several times each since first discovering them, but I've been too busy with other books to read them for some time. This summer, however, I intend to change that. It might take a miracle to get through all of them, however, unless I decide to listen to some of them on cd or such instead of actually reading them. There are, after all, twenty-two books in the series!

Taking second place for longest series on my list is John Flanagan's Ranger's Apprentice series, along with its companion series, The Brotherband Chronicles. I've actually read several of these semi-recently (within the last few months), but I decided to put them on my list anyway, since I've been thinking of rereading the two series for a few weeks now.

Cinder by Marissa Meyer is a newer book that I first noticed because two people recommending it in the same day: Jill Williamson in her ABC Reading Challenge and Emma, a friend of mine from WI. Cinder is a Cinderella remake set in a sci-fi/dystopian-type setting, which I thought sounded interesting. After asking both Emma and a lady at my church (who's recommended several other fairy-tale remakes to me) for more details, I decided to go ahead and add it to my reading list.

Another dystopian series on my list is The Cantral Chronicles by Amanda Davis. Like The White Lion Chronicles, I haven't quite gotten around to rereading the books in this series since around the time they first came out. In this case, however, that's mostly because I'd have to borrow the first book from a friend. I'm hoping she'll be ok with me borrowing it, since I remember really enjoying The Cantral Chronicles the first time I read them.

The last book or book series on my list? That's still a bit of a mystery. A friend of mine (who's pointed me towards many of my favorite authors and books) suggested that I try reading something by Shannon Hale. However, I'm not sure where to start. I know she wrote The Goose Girl, as well as the Princess Academy series and a whole lot of other books. (The library has twenty-two items by her, though some of those are books on cd, not actual paper-and-ink books.) Has anyone reading this read anything by Shannon Hale? If so, do you have any suggestions of which of her books I should read first, or any of her books I should avoid? Thank you in advance for your advice!

What about you? Do you have any summer reading plans?
Never alone!
- Sarah (Leilani Sunblade)