Kids historical fiction book roundup

Kids Historical Fiction Book Round Up

Shouldn’t we all get to learn while reading a good story? Check out these fantastic kids historical fiction titles!

Kids historical fiction book roundup - NRM

Fantastic Reads in Kids Historical Fiction

We regularly cover our favorite general historical fiction reads. We’ve covered historical fiction for men. Now it’s time to cover Kids Historical Fiction reads. Join me for this special round up for National Reading Month! Enjoy!


Time Warp Trio by Jon Scieszka

Magic, time travel, history? These books have it all! And my kiddos could not stop laughing while they read them. Enjoy traveling to see King Arthur’s Court, pirates and cave men with the Time Warp Trio gang!

These books are on about a 2-4th grade level and have a Level P Guided Reading Level.

Kids Historical Fiction

Kids Historical Fiction - Last of the Name

Last of the Name by Rosanne Perry

This is a special Civil War era Middle Grade novel. It offers a realistic immigrant experience and follows a brother and sister on their journey from Ireland to America to seek a better life. However, they find it’s definitely not as easy as they hoped.

Older sister, Kathleen accepts a job in service and attempts to keep her brother, Danny, from being drafted into the US Army as a drummer boy. Set during a period in NY when tensions were high, this book really highlights what it means to be a family and what one can consider a home?

This book targets a 5th-8th grade level and has a Letter W Guided Reading Level.


The Bell Rang by James E. Ransome

This beautiful picture book won the Coretta Scott King Illustrators award. And with good cause because the pictures really are breathtaking.

The story is also quite powerful.The main character is a young slave girl who witnesses and experiences all the emotions of heartbreak and hopefulness as her brother escapes for freedom.

Just prepare yourself if you have a little questioning empath, like my daughter, who had ALL the questions and deep emotions to discuss after reading.

This is a picture book targeting grades Preschool-3rd.

Kids Historical Fiction - The Bell that Rang

The Rush Revere Series by Rush Limbaugh

Ok, I need to start off by saying, I am NOT a Rush Limbaugh fan. So, I was skeptical when I first came across this series. But, it’s actually very cute and well written. My son, devoured these books and really did learn a lot of early American history and recited it back to us during a family trip to Colonial Williamsburg.

It’s another time travel story- this time with a magical horse named Liberty. The horse belongs to a teacher who is a descendant of Paul Revere. It honestly kind of reminds me of a cross between Magic School Bus and Magic Tree House with the teacher taking kids on “magical field trips” where they end up witnessing and participating in key historical events from the past.

These books are targeted for grades 2nd-5th and are on a Level R Guided Reading Level.


A Place to Hang the Moon by Kate Albus

This is another darling Middle Grade book. Not going to lie, I definitely shed a few tears on this one! It’s a WWII story with it’s own heartfelt twist. A set of siblings is forced to evacuate London and live in the countryside. Their grandmother, who was their caretaker, unfortunately died right before they left, meaning they have no one to return to when the evacuation is over.

The children fear sharing this information because they do not want to be separated. Instead they decide to use the temporary evacuation to the country to be an opportunity to “shop” for their new permanent home, or place to hang their moon. It’s a sweet story that questions what do we look for in a home and caretaker? What are the traits that provide security and comfort? How do we know where we belong?

This book is for grades 4-7 and is on about a Level W Guided Reading Level.

Kids Historical Fiction - A Place to Hang the Moon

Kids Historical Fiction - Apples Oregon

Apples to Oregon by Deborah Hopkinson

Who played the Oregon Trail game as a kid? I know I did and loved it. Random aside, did you know they have board and card game versions of it now? We have the card game one and it’s one of our favorite family games!

But the Apples to Oregon story is a charming children’s picture book that exposes kids to the hardships and brave travelers on the Oregon Trail. But the story is told in a hilarious, tall tale way. It’s a fun read for the whole family.

This is a picture book targeting grades Preschool-3rd.


I hope you enjoyed this Kids Historical Fiction Book Round Up and it gave you some ideas to add to your collections. I’ll be sure to do another one in the future, because there are just WAY too many great options out there for one list!

If you liked this Kids Book Round Up, be sure to check out some of my other Children’s Book Blog Posts below!

Find more ways to spoil your inner bookworm!

Check out the Amaryllis Co. Shop, fully stocked with custom designs perfect for every book loving Amaryllis Girl! From shirts, mugs, wine glasses, and more, I have curated a shop with all of my favorites! SHOP HERE! You can also find my collection of bookish merchandise on Etsy.

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Most Anticipated Books 2024- Historical Fiction I Can’t Wait to Read!

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It’s a new year and time to either pre-order or put those books on hold at the library!

What Books Should Be on Your List This Year?

We’re almost done with January and new books are being released. Have you been keeping track and adding books to your list yet? Let me help. Join me for my Most Anticipated Books 2024 List!

As a special freebie to accompany this list, I’m also offering a FREE 2024 Reading Log Tracker. So, get inspired by these anticipated books and download the tracker below to keep track of your reads this year!


My Most Anticipated Books 2024 List

The Storm We Made by Vanessa Chan

This one is already out. It released January 2nd and I can’t wait to get my hands on it! It’s already been picked up as a Good Morning America pick.

Set in Malay, now Malaysia during WWII, this novel follows a mother, Cecily Alcantara, as she grapples with the fact that her family is in terrible danger. Her fifteen-year-old son has disappeared, she’s hiding her youngest daughter in the basement each day to avoid having her forced into service, and her oldest daughter works at a tea house with drunken Japanese soldiers each day.

Cecily questions each day if she is responsible for their struggles, she did not take a typical path in life and she wonders if her past has shadowed their future.

The Storm We Made details life during war time, the ambiguity of right and wrong when faced with survival and what it is like to live under the confines of a colonial power.


The Women by Kristin Hannah

Another of my favorite authors and an obvious add to my Most Anticipated Books 2024 List. What to say about Kristin Hannah? The Great Alone, The Four Winds, The Nightingale, need I say more? This woman wrecks me in the best possible way! And I love that each time she manages to find such entirely different time periods and topics to write about.

For instance, The Women now brings us to Vietnam. As usual, Hannah focuses on the strong empowered female protagonist in her story. So instead, of focusing on the drafted male soldiers sent to fight, she focuses on the sister of one who decides to join the Army Nurse Corps voluntarily.

I love the idea of seeing the turbulent chaos of the Vietnam War from a female perspective and the deft handling I’m sure Hannah will offer. February 6th cannot come fast enough. I’ll luckily be on vacation in the Dominican Republic that week. I know what I’ll be reading on the beach!


Queens of London by Heather Webb

This was another exciting add to my Most Anticipated Books 2024 list. Heather Webb really manages to nail the more opulent times in history. And yet, she offers a strength and depth to her female protagonists from these times. I originally found her while reading Meet Me in Monaco which was about Grace Kelly’s wedding and then I also read her Christmas story, Last Christmas in Paris which was a WWI story. Interestingly enough, both of those books were co-authored with Webb’s writing partner Hazel Gaynor. Whereas, Queens of London is written by Webb on her own.

She has other individually authored titles out that I’ve been meaning to check out like last year’s Strangers in the Night about Frank Sinatra. Unfortunately, it never made it off my TBR pile though. So this year, I’ll definitely push this solo title to the top!

Queens of London also comes out on February 6th and takes on the criminal world of London post WWI. However, instead of your usual hardened male outlaws, Webb introduces us to a gang of female gangsters from Britain’s first female crime syndicate along with a determined female detective on their tail.


The Phoenix Crown by Kate Quinn and Janie Chang

This is another one I’m super excited about. I love Kate Quinn and she is treating us well this year with TWO new books being released! She’s got this one debuting February 13th and then she has The Briar Club coming out in July.

In case you don’t obsessively follow her like I do, she is the author of the fantastic books The Alice Network, The Rose Code, ooh and The Huntress, ok, do you see why I’m an obsessive fan lol? Everything she writes is just amazing!

As in most of her books The Phoenix Crown is another mystery/thriller type historical fiction. This one is a dual narrative, I suspect each written by one of the authors, and follows two very different women, Gemma and Suling, who are thrown together in San Francisco in 1906. They are each under the patronage of Henry Thornton, a railroad magnate, who collects rare Chinese antiques. His most extraordinary treasure? The legendary Phoenix Crown from the fallen Beijing Summer Palace.

But everything falls apart when San Francisco is rocked by an earthquake. Thornton has disappeared along with the crown. Until the crown suddenly reappears mysteriously at a costume ball in Paris five years later. Can Gemma and Suling get there fast enough to recover this precious treasure?


The Berlin Letters by Katherine Reay

I’ve only read Katherine Reay’s romance style books in the past. I love that they are modern day spins on past classic tales. Dear Mr. Knightly and The Austen Escape. I honestly didn’t even realize she wrote historical fiction and The Berlin Letters will be my first foray into her catalog. It’s getting great reviews by advanced readers though and looks really interesting.

In The Berlin Letters, Reay tells an exciting tale of a female CIA code breaker who risks everything to free her father from an East Germany prison during the Cold War. The Berlin Letters debuts on March 5th.


Becoming Madam Secretary by Stephanie Dray

This one was an obvious add to my Most Anticipated Books 2024 list for me. One, it’s about Frances Perkins who was pivotal to labor reform for women after the Triangle Fire. And two, I love Stephanie Dray! The Women of Chateau Lafayette was one of my favorite historical fiction books ever!

Becoming Madam Secretary is getting released March 12th and looks potentially even more exciting. Frances Perkins arrives in New York City at the turn of the century determined to make a difference. And she does just that, helping the children in crowded tenements and befriending politicians and activists in Greenwich Village.

However, when she meets young lawyer, Frankin Delano Roosevelt, she has no idea that life as she knows it has changed.They can’t stand each other at first, and yet their paths continue to cross. Little do they know they will go on to form a historic partnership that will carry them both to the White House and change the country forever.


Akmaral by Judith Lindbergh

Last, but not least is Akmaral by Judith Lindbergh. This one debuts on May 7th. Lindbergh is a newer author and I didn’t get to read her first book. But Akmaral really intrigues me.

It’s so far getting fantastic reviews by advanced readers.And I love that it’s a time period I know very little about and is so different from what you normally see on the shelves.

Before the Silk Road even had its name, nomads roamed the Asian steppes and women fought beside men. Like the other women from her clan, Akmaral is bound from birth to battle.

Talk about strong women! I can’t wait to find out more and learn about this ancient population history’s forgotten.


I hope you feel inspired and took down some books to preorder. What books are top of your list so far? Make sure you download your FREE Reading Log to keep track of your reads this year! Extra points if you send in a pic to share your progress! 😉


Did you enjoy this post? Make sure to check out some of my other Best Historical Fiction Posts and Book Lists below! Happy Reading!

Find more ways to spoil your inner bookworm!

Check out the Amaryllis Co. Shop, fully stocked with custom designs perfect for every book loving Amaryllis Girl! From shirts, mugs, wine glasses, and more, I have curated a shop with all of my favorites! SHOP HERE! You can also find my collection of bookish merchandise on Etsy.

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BEST Historical Fiction Books 2023

A Look Back at the BEST Historical Fiction Books 2023

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There were so many great historical fiction books that came out this year. And I devoured them all! So, this list was very difficult to whittle down. But here we go, in my humble opinion, the best historical fiction books 2023! And yes, they are in order of my faves! 😉

Best Historical Fiction Books 2023

Weyward by Emilia Hart

This book brings all the feels. There is a reason why it’s top of my best historical fiction books 2023 list! It’s creepy, yet demonstrates the most amazing sibling loyalty and girl power. Weyward follows three generations of women who have the gift of magic. Their lives are in no way easy, but man, do they end up rising up in the end!

The Spectacular by Fiona Davis

Oh, how I love Fiona Davis! She never disappoints and The Spectacular is a prime example. For starters, I love how she gets into such interesting examples of New York history through major landmarks. The building itself is always brought into such detail it becomes a character itself. Radio City Music Hall was no exception. This story honestly went into a way different direction than I originally anticipated (I thought I was just reading about the Rockettes) but it made the book that much better! Prepare yourself for a crazy bomber, a Rockette turned detective and a liaison with one of the first ever psychological profilers to hunt down a serial killer. It’s a fantastic ride!

Best Historical Fiction Books 2023
Best Historical Fiction Books 2023

Lady Tan’s Circle of Women by Lisa See

All I can say is Wow! After my three wise men post last week you can probably see I’m interested in acupuncture and Eastern medicine. So, this book hit all the right notes for me. Not only was it informative, it entrenched you in the culture. Feet binding, concubines, the rules women memorized and HAD to live by. And yet this book also demonstrated the important community and strength women cultivated. Overall, this is a fantastic Five Star Must Read and very much earned its place on the best historical fiction books 2023 list!

The House is on Fire by Rachel Beanland

This book literally was on fire! Beanland manages to really get us into the minds of multiple varying perspectives of victims trapped in the famous Richmond theater fire. The amazing part was that these different perspectives were from varying class and races. She really managed to capture the reality of Southern slavery and the opportunity the fire offered for some. A fantastic read that shouldn’t be missed

Best Historical Fiction Books 2023
Summer books: The secret book of flora lea

The Secret Book of Flora Lea by Patti Callahan Henry

This one gets you feeling all the feelings! Fourteen year-old Hazel and her five-year old sister Flora are evacuated to a rural village from war-torn London. To distract her young sister, Hazel creates a fairy tale story of a magical place called Whisperwood, their own secret place where they can escape. The unthinkable happens and Flora disappears, leaving Hazel alone to grieve.

Years later Hazel is working at a rare book shop. She comes across a manuscript that somehow tells the story of Whisperwood. No one else had ever heard the story except for Hazel and Flora. Could Flora still be alive? Hazel is determined to find out.

Homecoming by Kate Morton

This is a dark one, but so amazingly good! A man takes a walk on Christmas morning and finds a family who all died in their sleep under a tree in Australia. The book then follows the mystery to discover what happened to them. Multiple generations are involved and I can’t begin to tell you the twists and turns the story takes. I was completely enthralled! 

Best Historical Fiction Books 2023
Summer books: Did you hear about kitty karr?

Did You Hear About Kitty Karr? by Crystal Smith Paul

I not only heard about Kitty Karr. I loved Kitty Karr! A famous Hollywood actress surprisingly leaves her entire estate to the St. John sisters, three young wealthy Black women. Why did she do this? What was their connection? Elise St. John is determined to figure out why and her sleuthing uncovers some major surprises and secrets.

London Seance Society by Sarah Penner

I love Sarah Penner! Her book The Apothecary’s Daughter was one of my favorites. This one was quite different from that, but was still fantastic. A medium, famous for using her seances to solve murders, teams up with a girl searching for answers about her sister’s death. The two travel to London and team up with the elite men’s only London Seance Society to discover what really happened. However, they end up suspecting that instead of solving the crime, they might actually be entangled in one themselves.

Spring Book List
Spring Book List

The Mitford Affair by Marie Benedict

This was a different one for me. For starters, I have to say I didn’t actually like a single one of the main characters. They were all awful, unlikeable people. But that’s what made this book so captivating. The story is about a premier British family that aligned and became part of Hitler’s inner circle. Benedict manages to capture how and why these women were sympathetic to Hitler. The result is a runaway train that you know can’t stop.

Good Night from Paris by Jane Healey

What a bold and strong heroine! I loved this protagonist’s bravery in the face of occupied France. This story is based on a true story and really brings to life some of the heroic sacrifices American expats made in Europe during WWII. Another bonus was a Cameo secondary character appearance of famous journalist, Dorothy Thompson, who will be an important figure in future Ruth books as well. 😉

Spring Book List

Did any of these books make your short list for best books of 2023?


If you enjoyed this book list, make sure you check out Joyana’s other Book Lists HERE!

Find more ways to spoil your inner bookworm!

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Christmas Booklist

‘Tis the Season for Christmas Historical Fiction

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My 2023 Holiday Historical Fiction picks are ready for you!

So, we know I love historical fiction. But another one of my favorite things is reading Christmas fiction to get me in the mood for the season. So, the best combo possible for me? Christmas Historical Fiction! Join me in this round up for the year of some of my favorite holiday historical fiction finds!

Christmas Historical Fiction

A Quilt for Christmas by Sandra Dallas

A Quilt for Christmas is a Civil War themed story about the wife of a Confederate soldier. Eliza’s husband is gone for the holidays and she’s set to work creating him a special quilt to keep warm during the winter. Tragedy strikes and she is forced to lean on the women in her quilting circle and community. Then in a moment of moral question, she is asked to take in and hide a female slave. Eliza is then forced to question for herself what is right and wrong and on which side of the war she really stands.

Jacob T. Marley by William Bennet

What if we could hear the famous Dicken’s Christmas story from a different perspective?

Why was Jacob Marley punished for eternity? And why was he able to come back and haunt Scrooge? Jacob T. Marley by William Bennet explores these answers and tells the story of the doomed business partner who comes back to haunt the famous Ebeneezer Scrooge on that fateful Christmas Eve. 

Christmas Historical Fiction

Sherlock Holmes and the Christmas Demon by James Lovegrove

You know I love me a reboot on a classic literary detective! Sherlock Holmes is no exception. This fantastic holiday tale has Holmes taking on a case for a woman haunted by a Christmas spirit. 

Eve Allerthorpe stands to inherit a large fortune if she is of sound mind. But with a spirit haunting her and leaving her alarming packages that definitely is in question. When Holmes and Watson travel to the Allerthorpe family estate to investigate, they soon encounter more to the case than first appeared. They now face an additional spirit and a murder that brings everyone under suspicion.

A Christmas Story by Jean Shepherd

Ah, A Christmas Story. We all know and love the classic Christmas movie that forever made pink bunny costumes, leg lamps and the quote “You’ll shoot your eye out, kid”  a part of pop culture forever. But did you know that before the famous movie there was a book?

Check out the book that inspired the iconic movie!

Christmas Historical Fiction
Christmas Historical Fiction

Jane and the Twelve Days of Christmas by Stephanie Barron

Join our favorite Regency writer/character as she is snowed in at a holiday party at the prominent Chute family estate. One of her fellow Yuletide revelers is found dead and Jane is convinced it was foul play. But if Jane is correct in her suspicion, that means the killer is amongst her snow-bound companions. Can she solve this crime before it’s too late?

What are your favorite holiday reads and which books on my Christmas Historical Fiction List will make your reading list?

If you enjoyed this book list, make sure you check out Joyana’s other Book Lists HERE!

Find more ways to spoil your inner bookworm!

Are you a VIP Member yet? If you’re interested in seeing Joyana’s Bonus content and ALL of her past newsletters make sure you sign up today! JOIN HERE.

Have you read my FREE Triangle Short Story? Get your copy HERE!

Check out the Amaryllis Co. Shop, fully stocked with custom designs perfect for every book loving Amaryllis Girl! From shirts, mugs, wine glasses, and more, I have curated a shop with all of my favorites! SHOP HERE!

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List of Famous Children’s Books

The Ultimate Bookworm’s Checklist: 100 Must-Read Books Before You Grow Up

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November 1st was National Family Literacy Day. I love this concept because sharing my love of books is a cornerstone of my childrearing. I remember being pregnant and creating a list of famous children’s books I couldn’t wait to share. My childrens’ first field trips as babies were to the library with mommy. 

In addition to fostering a general love for reading, I feel books have become a way to create and share memories. Flipping through pictures of my children growing up, I have sooo many pictures of them reading with every member of the family- grandparents, aunts, cousins, parents, with each other etc. Reading has become a love language shared amongst the most important people in their lives. 

List of Famous Children’s Books

There is nothing quite so special as connecting with another person over a book. There are few toys I’ve kept from my childhood, but I have quite a few books I’ve passed down to my children. It has brought me great joy to see their eyes light up with excitement over some of my own childhood faves. Charlotte’s Web, Matilda, Harry Potter, Freckle Juice, it is a magical feeling to hear your children laugh at parts you remember loving yourself as a child. It’s like capturing the joy all over again ten-fold. There’s a reason why these books are on every classic children’s book list! They’re timeless and meant to be shared!

To encourage you all to share some of these childhood faves with the children in your lives, I’ve created a Childhood Favorites Book List. Please enjoy perusing it and I hope it brings some joy to your lives. See you next week!

Find more ways to spoil your inner bookworm!

Check out the Amaryllis Co. Shop, fully stocked with custom designs perfect for every book loving Amaryllis Girl! From shirts, mugs, wine glasses, and more, I have curated a shop with all of my favorites! SHOP HERE! You can also find my collection of bookish merchandise on Etsy.

Merchandise

Are you a VIP Member yet? If you’re interested in seeing Joyana’s Bonus content and ALL of her past newsletters make sure you sign up today! JOIN HERE.

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Scary Good Halloween Book List for Adults

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It’s Halloween and what can be better than some spooky historical fiction reads? In case you couldn’t tell from my post last week, my particular fave are fiction books about witches and magic. What can I say? I love a good, powerful woman. But I promise, I will not allow my favorite witch books to dominate this list completely. My Halloween Book Lists for Adults are adequately weighed with all the spooks and creepy. So here we go!

Halloween Book Lists for Adults

Starling House by Alix. E. Harrow

This is a brand new book out just this month. It was my Book of the Month pick. I will admit I found Alix E. Harrow because of my witch book obsession with her fantastic book The Once and Future Witches.

Starling House lives up to Harrow’s mastery as well. It can be described as a modern gothic fantasy. See the full description below.

See the full description below:

I dream sometimes about a house I’ve never seen….

Opal is a lot of things—orphan, high school dropout, full-time cynic and part-time cashier—but above all, she’s determined to find a better life for her younger brother Jasper. One that gets them out of Eden, Kentucky, a town remarkable for only two things: bad luck and E. Starling, the reclusive nineteenth century author of The Underland, who disappeared over a hundred years ago.

All she left behind were dark rumors—and her home. Everyone agrees that it’s best to ignore the uncanny mansion and its misanthropic heir, Arthur. Almost everyone, anyway.

I should be scared, but in the dream I don’t hesitate.

Opal has been obsessed with The Underland since she was a child. When she gets the chance to step inside Starling House—and make some extra cash for her brother’s escape fund—she can’t resist.

But sinister forces are digging deeper into the buried secrets of Starling House, and Arthur’s own nightmares have become far too real. As Eden itself seems to be drowning in its own ghosts, Opal realizes that she might finally have found a reason to stick around.

In my dream, I’m home.

And now she’ll have to fight.

Weyward by Emilia Hart

This was my Book Club pick this month and it was a fantastic read! It also provided a rich conversation and analysis.

See below for description.

A brave and original debut, Weyward is a spellbinding story about what may transpire when the natural world collides with a legacy of witchcraft.” ––Sarah Penner, New York Times bestselling author of The London Séance Society

Halloween Book Lists for Adults

I am a Weyward, and wild inside.

2019: Under cover of darkness, Kate flees London for ramshackle Weyward Cottage, inherited from a great aunt she barely remembers. With its tumbling ivy and overgrown garden, the cottage is worlds away from the abusive partner who tormented Kate. But she begins to suspect that her great aunt had a secret. One that lurks in the bones of the cottage, hidden ever since the witch-hunts of the 17th century.

1619: Altha is awaiting trial for the murder of a local farmer who was stampeded to death by his herd. As a girl, Altha’s mother taught her their magic, a kind not rooted in spell casting but in a deep knowledge of the natural world. But unusual women have always been deemed dangerous, and as the evidence for witchcraft is set out against Altha, she knows it will take all of her powers to maintain her freedom.

1942: As World War II rages, Violet is trapped in her family’s grand, crumbling estate. Straitjacketed by societal convention, she longs for the robust education her brother receives––and for her mother, long deceased, who was rumored to have gone mad before her death. The only traces Violet has of her are a locket bearing the initial W and the word weyward scratched into the baseboard of her bedroom.

Weaving together the stories of three extraordinary women across five centuries, Emilia Hart’s Weyward is an enthralling novel of female resilience and the transformative power of the natural world.

Halloween Book Lists for Adults

How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix

If you haven’t read a Grady Hendrix book yet, you’re missing out. I first became familiar with Hendrix after reading The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires.  It was disgusting, terrifying, hilarious and absolutely fabulous! How to Sell a Haunted House is Hendrix’s newest book and it very much lives up to Hendrix expectations.

Read below for full description.

New York Times bestselling author Grady Hendrix takes on the haunted house in a thrilling new novel that explores the way your past—and your family—can haunt you like nothing else.

When Louise finds out her parents have died, she dreads going home. She doesn’t want to leave her daughter with her ex and fly to Charleston. Louise doesn’t want to deal with her family home, stuffed to the rafters with the remnants of her father’s academic career and her mother’s lifelong obsession with puppets and dolls. She doesn’t want to learn how to live without the two people who knew and loved her best in the world.

Most of all, she doesn’t want to deal with her brother, Mark, who never left their hometown, gets fired from one job after another, and resents her success. Unfortunately, she’ll need his help to get the house ready for sale because it’ll take more than some new paint on the walls and clearing out a lifetime of memories to get this place on the market.

But some houses don’t want to be sold, and their home has other plans for both of them…

Like his novels The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires and The Final Girl Support Group, How to Sell a Haunted House is classic Hendrix: equal parts heartfelt and terrifying—a gripping new read from “the horror master” (USA Today).

Vampires of El Norte by Isabel Canas

I love Isabel Canas books. Her lyrical language and supernatural versions of classic genres are no short of pure magic. I first discovered her when I read The Hacienda last year. The Hacienda is Rebecca set in the aftermath of the Mexican War of Independence and was a true gothic story.

Vampires of El Norte is Canas version of a supernatural Western.

See a full description below.

Halloween Book Lists for Adults

Vampires and vaqueros face off on the Texas-Mexico border in this supernatural western from the author of The Hacienda.

As the daughter of a rancher in 1840s Mexico, Nena knows a thing or two about monsters—her home has long been threatened by tensions with Anglo settlers from the north. But something more sinister lurks near the ranch at night, something that drains men of their blood and leaves them for dead.

Something that once attacked Nena nine years ago.

Believing Nena dead, Néstor has been on the run from his grief ever since, moving from ranch to ranch working as a vaquero. But no amount of drink can dispel the night terrors of sharp teeth; no woman can erase his childhood sweetheart from his mind.

When the United States invades Mexico in 1846, the two are brought abruptly together on the road to war: Nena as a curandera, a healer striving to prove her worth to her father so that he does not marry her off to a stranger, and Néstor as a member of the auxiliary cavalry of ranchers and vaqueros. But the shock of their reunion—and Nena’s rage at Néstor for seemingly abandoning her long ago—is quickly overshadowed by the appearance of a nightmare made flesh.

And unless Nena and Néstor work through their past and face the future together, neither will survive to see the dawn.

What are your favorite haunted reads and which books on my Halloween Book List for Adults will make your reading list?


If you enjoyed this book list, make sure you check out Joyana’s other Book Lists HERE!

Find more ways to spoil your inner bookworm!

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