October is my favorite holiday! Day 1

I decided, since I basically celebrate the whole month of October, I should follow my heart and revel in what I love about Autumn. Today will be a book recommendation and and list of what I don’t actually like about this season. I view myself as a traditionalist.

First the list. Things I don’t like about Halloween season:

1. Depictions of blood, gore and death. It is almost like people revel in it.
2. Skimpy Halloween costumes
3. HORROR MOVIES. Not a fan of evil being given a winning hand. Not a fan at all.
4. Anything to do with zombies.
5. Most Tim Burton movies. (Exceptions: The Nightmare Before Christmas, Edward Scissorhands, the short film Vincent)
6. Wiji boards
7. Ghost shows or basically ANYTHING to do with possession
8. The movie Scooby-Doo On Zombie Island (1998)
9. Anything depicting children as evil
10. CANNIBALISM shown or described at all.

And there you have it. Now, Halloween is my favorite holiday. After seeing this list you are probably thinking how on earth this is the case. Quite simply, I celebrate the traditional Halloween. But I will get to that later!

Book recommendation #1!

The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making (2011)

Actually, I recommend this entire five book series by esteemed author Catherynne M. Valente. Though not a fan of her adult novels, I fell in love with this beautiful book from its first chapter. It follows a girl September who is taken to fairyland and has her heart grow to fill it. She meets a Wyvern, who is part library, saves the Madrid Saturday from his lobster cage, gives away her shadow and travels throughout a land which is always Autumn! A lot more than that transpires which makes reading it all the more wonderful!

What I like so much about this story is how much it broadened my vision and caught my imagination on fire! Valente has a way of painting with words which I find altogether charming. For Autumn lovers I say read the entire series! It is utterly delightful.

“Of course not. No one is chosen. Not ever. Not in the real world. You chose to climb out of your window and ride on a leopard. You chose to get a witch’s Spoon back, and to make friends with a wyvern. You chose to trade your shadow for a child’s life. You chose not to let the Marquess hurt your friend–you chose to smash her cages! You chose to face your own Death, not to balk at a great sea to cross and no ship to cross it in. And twice now you have chosen not to go home when you might have, if only you abandoned your friends.You are not the chosen one, September. Fairyland did not choose you–you chose yourself. You could have had a lovely holiday in Fairyland and never met the Marquess, never worried yourself with local politics, had a romp with a few brownies and gone home with enough memories for a lifetime’s worth of novels. But you didn’t. You chose. You chose it all. Just like you chose your path on the beach: to lose your heart is not a path for the faint and fainting.”

― Catherynne M. Valente, The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making

My Autumn Traditions: Books

October is my Favorite month. My birthday is on the 15th, Orange is my favorite color, pumpkins are my favorite vegetable, Autumn is my favorite season, I love the way the leaves change and some of my favorite movies can only be watched during this season.

Needless to say, I have a myriad of traditions I do the whole month. Since I will be traveling for over a year I thought I could list them in several posts so it does not seem I am abandoning them. This post is my October books/ series.

1. Avatar series, Clive Barker (2002-?)

I read this when I was fourteen and loved it almost instantly. The artwork is fantastic, the characters weird and exciting, the land of Abarat became my Wonderland and the story appeals to my German soul with how it mixes dark themes with beautiful ideas. Unfortunately, each book is released every four to six years. Ugh… I am still waiting for book four.

  

2. The Thief of Always, Clive Barker (1992)

Before there was Coraline there was this frightening coming of age story. The premise is so ingenious to me, where Mr. Hood lures children into a house where each time in the day is a different season. There is innocence and beauty in this story as well. Supposedly, Barker was planning to make it into an animated film but I think when Coraline came out that dream died.

  

  

3. The Cavendish Home for Boys and Girls, Claire Legrand (2012)

I discovered this book this year and absolutely loved it. With its spooky beginning and terrifying villain it made me wonder (since I was a teacher) how we as a society measure normalcy. Bugs have never been so scary nor manners school.

  

4. The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairland Series (2011-?)

This series speaks to my pumpkin and autumn loving soul. It is a modern fairytale with a lovely twist. If my dream life could be put into a book it would be these. I love the prose and conversations which take familiar ideas and give them a twist.

  

  

5. The Orphan’s Tales Series, Catherynne M. Valente

Gritty and alive with Eastern culture  this series surprised me with its insightful style and message. Many of the stories seem eerily familiar but interpreted from a female perspective.

  

6. Coraline, Neil Gaimen 2006

I read the book after I saw the 2009 film and love to devour it before I go to bed. If you did not notice, I love stories where children learn to fight their own demons. In this case, Coraline is more perceptive then she was in the movie and takes each of the trials with courage.

 

7. The Graveyard Book, Neil Gaimen (2008)

This book practically screams Halloween. It takes place in a graveyard and has vampires, werewolves and ghosts. True, they are not the real evil in the story. But, again, the main character must learn and grow even when chased by the murderer Jack.

  

  

8. A Monster Calls, Patrick Ness (2011)

Two years ago I read this book on Halloween and found its eerie sadness enchanting. This is truly one of the most powerful books I have ever read and love to reflect on its profound messages every Halloween. Autumn is the time when things go to sleep, when death creeps closer to our door. But death is not always a bad thing. I really hope they do not butcher this story in the upcoming movie. It would be a horrible shame.

  

  

 

8. Boneshaker Series, Kate Milford (2010-?)

This series is utterly unique and feels like an old post-civil war tale similar to stories like The Devil and Daniel Webster. It feeds off American folklore but sings like a steampunk novel, eerie and at times heart stopping.  I have often loved the idea of a crossroads being the beginning of something spectacular.