October Book Haul: Fantasy, Horror, and a Hogwarts Snow Globe

As well as putting myself on a food diet the past few weeks, I also went on a book diet. The main reason was to grit my teeth and start lessening the mountain that has become Salve's Unread Books in my room.

It may not look like it, but I've been able to remove quite a healthy chunk of it by sticking to books that I already had, and not going out to Fully Booked every other day and coming home with a new stack.

But today was a special day. I decided to treat myself to a book haul because sem break has finally arrived. I was also craving some high-fantasy novels, between reading Ellen Oh's Prophecy, catching The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe on Star Movies, and finishing Season 1 of Avatar: The Last Airbender. So without further ado, my October Book Haul:

Pretenders by Lisi Harrison
Not exactly high fantasy, I know, but a Lisi Harrison YA novel that FINALLY targets people older than junior high kids was miraculous. I was the biggest fan of Lisi Harrison's Clique series back in seventh grade. I even asked for a mannequin to put my clothes on in my room for one Christmas, because that's just how Massie Block does it. Eventually, I grew out of it, and just crossed my fingers that Harrison would write for older audiences soon enough. It took a good five years, but she finally has. The book's premise is pretty standard fare: five high-school overachievers are hiding dark secrets and someone is threatening to uncover them though. What would make this novel unique though, is Lisi Harrison's entertaining narrative and pop culture references. Actual quote from the first page: "Students at Nobel High School were expected to make like a Microsoft and Excel."

Atlantis Rising

In my opinion, there aren't enough Atlantis-based YA novels out there. An ancient civilization that disappeared beneath the waves? That's a book prompt if I ever saw one. The author of this particular Atlantean novel, T.A. Barron is also widely acclaimed for his Merlin series, which I have yet to read, but the critics seem to love it. It was also one of those books that stood tucked away in the corner of the shelf, all by its lonesome, so I figured "Better grab it before I lose track of it."

The City of A Thousand Dolls
I was never a fan of high fantasy set in a quasi-Asian world, mostly because I couldn't get my imagination to dream it all up. Alright, your kingdom is called Hansong, but your characters wear hanboks and are named things like Lord Shin Bo Hyun. It's glaringly obvious that you just made up an alternate universe Korea. I have nothing against that, but I just feel like the authors aren't given as much room for their own creations than if, say, they had a completely made-up world. That opinion changed though when I got hooked on The Last Airbender. I was able to see, visually, how much world-building can still go on even in a universe that was deeply rooted in real cultures. I got this novel in the hopes of expanding my horizon into Asian-based high fantasy, and whet my fangirl appetite while I furiously track down a copy of Season 2 of The Last Airbender.

Fairy Bible
Because every fairytale dreamer needs a glossary of all the kinds of fantastical creatures out there.


and of course, because it's October...