Top Ten Tuesday: Halloween Freebie 🎃👻

Happy Tuesday everybody! We’re finally in the throes of fall and on the cusp of Halloween! I’m so excited!

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly post currently hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. It celebrates lovely lists, wonderful books and the bookish community. This week’s topic is Halloween Freebie, so I’ve decided to do a bit of a monster mashup. A Creature Feature if you will – of an assortment of different Halloween and horror monsters.

All right, here we go!

👻 Ghosts 👻

I liked this book, and I liked its take on ghosts. Sheets is probably one of the cutest ghost stories I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading. (I was actually gonna have The Ghostkeeper here for this one, but then I remembered that I’d just read Sheets, so I went with it ’cause I just used the former on a list yesterday.)

🐺 Werewolves 🐺

What’s a creature feature without werewolves? Now, shiver isn’t my favorite werewolf story (I don’t even know if I really have one), nor is it Maggie Stiefvater’s best, but it’s the first one I thought of.

🦇 Vampires 🦇

Speaking of stuff that isn’t my favorite in the genre – yeah, I don’t think that Twilight is a good vampire story. I also don’t think it’s a good story in general, but whatever. It is, unfortunately, likely the most popular modern vampire story, and as the ones that I prefer are either more obscure and from the ’00s, I picked this one.

🧹 Witches 🧹

I think that there are probably better witch books too (aren’t I on a roll here, lol), but I definitely think that this is one of the better ones that I’ve read that isn’t middle grade. I also think I gave it four stars when I originally read it, so there’s that.

🔥 Demons 🔥

I’ve been trying to pick books I’ve read more recently for this list if I can, and unfortunately, this is the most recent book featuring demons that I’ve read.

🧟 Zombies 🧟

I was originally thinking of putting What Moves the Dead here, but I used it on my Fall Recs yesterday. So I picked the only other zombie book I’ve read.

✨ Faeries ✨

I like books with faeries. But I especially like books that portray them properly. Not the world of hot guys and ridiculously sized… Eggplants… That Sarah J. Maas has popularized.

🐙 Deep Sea Eldritch Horror 🐙

I don’t know what to say here, honestly. This has giant horrific sea monsters and disturbing transformations. Very eldritch horror stuff going on.

🐎 Kelpies 🐎

And Stiefvater makes the list a second time! But then, she did write a book featuring a more obscure monster that I’d love to see more of. (And it’s a much better book than Shiver.) I love The Scorpio Races.

💀 Skeletons 💀

Gotta get that Spooky Scary Skeleton rep in here! I think living skeletons/walking-talking skeletons are underrated. I’d see them in a few things growing up, but they just weren’t nearly as popular as all the other monsters. And I haven’t read the Skullduggery Pleasant books, so I was having trouble figuring out a way to get them on this list. But then I remembered that I’ve been reading One Piece and one of the protagonists is a skeleton, and he’s absolutely fantastic (I love Brook), so I went with One Piece.

What books have you been reading lately? Have any of them been spooky or Halloween themed? What monsters or creatures have they featured? What are your favorite types of books with supernatural creatures?

As always, thank you so much for reading, and I hope you have a awesome day/night!

See ya ~Mar

Top Ten Tuesday: Relationship Freebie

Happy Tuesday peeps!

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly post currently hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. It celebrates lovely lists, wonderful books and the bookish community. This week’s topic is Relationship Freebie. Specifically, it’s about picking a relationship type and choosing characters who fit that relationship as it relates to you. So, characters you’d like to date, be friends with, be enemies with, etc. Bookish families you’d like to be a part of, characters you’d want as your siblings, pets you’d like to take for yourself, etc.

The one that I decided to go with was Pets I’d Like to Take for Myself. Because I like a challenge. Let’s do this! I had to go waayyy back on the books I’ve read in my lifetime for some of these – like 15+ years guys!

Charlie Bone series: The Flames! I love Aries, Leo and Sagittarius so much! When I was in middle school/junior high I wanted to have these three colorful magic cats so badly. (I still want them, lol.)

The Scorpio Races: This might not be the answer you expect in the book about horses – but Puffin. The sweet little barn cat.

Beautiful Darkness: It’s been awhile, but I’m pretty sure this is the one with Lucille Ball the Cat in it? I love her, btw.

Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands: I picked this one over the first one, because not only does it have Shadow the Magical and Loyal Dog in it, but it also has Orga the Magical and Sassy Kitty.

The Dresden Files: Harry’s cat, Mister, as well as his dog, Moose.

Hounded: I didn’t much care for this book, but one thing I adored was Atticus’ perfect doggo, Oberon.

The Lost Story: Skya has a magical red crow named Aurora. I want a magical red crow named Aurora, and I’m not even that into birds.

The Ghostkeeper: There’s a cute ghost cat named Muffin in this graphic novel that likes knocking things over. Enough said.

A Dog’s Life: I read this one a long time ago. But I still remember clearly how much I wished I could find Squirrel in real life and give her a home. (I’m so happy she ultimately got a happy ending.)

Warrior Cats: The cats. All of them. There’s room in my heart for everyone (except the villains, but even then…) I promise!

First Line Friday #9

It’s been a couple of weeks (thanks last week, for being oh so wonderful to me), but I’m more than ready to post another First Line Friday!

First Line Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers (formerly) hosted by Wandering Words, but I saw it over at One Book More.

What if instead of judging a book by the cover, author or most everything else, we judged it by its content? Its first lines?

If you want to join in, all you gotta do is:

📚 Take a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open it to the first page
📝 Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first
📙 Finally… reveal the book!

Here are the first lines:

It is the first day of November and so, today, someone will die.

Any ideas?? Admire these books pics while you think about it…

Annnd the book is 🥁🥁… The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater!!

(Did you guess right??)

The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

LENGTH: 409 pages

GENRES: Fantasy, YA, Fiction

PUBLISHER: Scholastic Press

RELEASE DATE: 18 October 2011

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

Some race to win. Others race to survive.

It happens at the start of every November: the Scorpio Races. Riders attempt to keep hold of their water horses long enough to make it to the finish line.

Some riders live.

Others die.

At age nineteen, Sean Kendrick is the returning champion. He is a young man of few words, and if he has any fears, he keeps them buried deep, where no one else can see them.

Puck Connolly is different. She never meant to ride in the Scorpio Races. But fate hasn’t given her much of a choice. So she enters the competition – the first girl ever to do so. She is in no way prepared for what is going to happen.

As she did in her bestselling Shiver trilogy, author Maggie Stiefvater takes us to the breaking point, where both love and life meet their greatest obstacles, and only the strong of heart can survive. The Scorpio Races is an unforgettable reading experience.

Thank you for reading, and have a fantastic day/night!