Sunday, January 29, 2012

Top 5 Sundays- Favorite Ghostly Reads

 

 

Top 5 Sundays is a fun meme hosted by Larissa at Larissa’s Bookish Life. If you’d like to participate, check out Larissa’s blog for all the details.

This weeks theme is: Favorite Ghostly Novels

I do love my fictional ghosts!! As a matter of fact, in both 2010 and 2011, my favorite reads of  the year were ghostly books and of course, they will be Number 1 and Number 2 on my list.

 

Unholy Ghosts (Downside Ghosts, #1)

1. Unholy Ghosts by Stacia Kane

Stacia Kane’s Downside series has to be my one of my absolute favorite series of all time. I’m talking up there with Harry Potter, its that good. This isn’t a YA read though; this dark & gritty urban fantasy is definitely on the adult end of the spectrum. The heroine, Chess, is employed by the Church of Truth  to either get rid of ghostly disturbances as they are reported, or debunk them as false claims. If you haven’t read this series yet, I highly recommend them!

 

 

Anna Dressed in Blood (Anna, #1)

2.  Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake

Anna is one of the scariest ghosts I’ve read in YA. This thrilling YA novel borders more on horror than paranormal. Told from the perspective of Cas, the charismatic ghost hunting main character, Anna Dressed in Blood has enough chills and thrills to satisfy any fan of ghostly fiction.

 

 

The Witching Hour (Lives of the Mayfair Witches, #1)

3. The Witching Hour by Anne Rice

I don’t know if I’m correctly categorizing this as “ghostly” but The Witching Hour certainly centers around an invisible spirit that creates a quite bit of havoc. Set in New Orleans’ famous Garden District, The Witching Hour focuses on a family of witches and the spirit that has been “haunting” them for generations. Anne Rice has such a talent for writing hauntingly beautiful darkly gothic stories, this is definitely one of her best.

 

The Graveyard Book

4. The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

I LOVE this book! I listened to the audio read by Neil Gaiman and I have to say, it was perfection. The Graveyard book tells the story of a boy named Nobody “Bod” Owens who has been raised in a graveyard by the ghosts and other supernatural residents. This dark and quirky novel is one of my absolute favorites by Gaiman.

 

 

Shade (Shade, #1)

5. Shade by Jeri Smith Ready

Shade is an awesome YA read about a world where everyone born after “the shift” can see and hear ghosts. Aura, the heroine, does her best to avoid dealing with any ghosts; that is until her boyfriend suddenly becomes one of them. The world that Jeri Smith-Ready created in Shade is a darkly fascinating place, where ghosts can testify in their own murder trials and wrongful death lawsuits, and the sinister "men in black" always in the background, and death doesn't necessarily mean goodbye.

 


What are your favorite ghostly reads? Leave a comment and let me know and if you participated in this weeks Top 5 Sundays, leave me your link so I can stop by. Hopefully I’ll discover some new ghostly reads to add to the ever-growing to-read pile.

 

 

 

 

 

 

4 comments:

Sam (Realm of Fiction) said...

Great list! Anna Dressed in Blood and Shade are two of my favorite books. I haven't actually read Unholy Ghosts (probably because it's not YA) but if it belongs to one of your favorite series of all time, I'll definitely have to check it out! :)

Maja (The Nocturnal Library) said...

I recently read Bad Girls Don't Die and loved it! Very creepy. There are sequels, but they don't sound as good. I don't like the plot summaries at all.
Awesome picks, Donna. I have to finish The Graveyard Book asap, I had to return it to the library and I just never picked it up again.

Aleksandra said...

Great list! The Graveyard Book & the Downside Ghosts series are on my top 5, too! I'm planning to get Anna soon & finally read it & I know I really should read the Shade series & The Witching Hour sounds so good, too :D

Rainy of the Dark (Rainy Kaye) said...

Love the list! I can't wait to read Anna Dressed in Blood.

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