TOP PICKS – October 2024
Welcome back to Top Picks!
Every month, we’re going to share with you our favourite reads of the month. We’ve rounded up our contributors and asked them each to recommend just one favourite read of the month.
A big thank you to Nils for coming up with this feature, and our contributors for taking part!
Let’s find out what the team has read this month…
Nils: Bringer of Dust by J. M. Miro
With it being Halloween month I decided to read a couple of spookier, darker books I had on my TBR and I actually read quite a few of them.
I started off with Sleeping Worlds Have No Memory by Yaroslav Barsukov which was a fantastic unsettling story of a mysterious tower, grief, fractured memories and monsters. I also buddy read the first two Songs of the Lioness books by Tamora Pierce with Beth and although these weren’t spooky they did have a fair bit of sorcery. We then jumped into a buddy read of The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman (not fantasy but a cosy mystery) and I had such a great time with four elderly friends living in a retirement village and solving murders.
I have also just finished So Thirsty by Rachel Harrison which is a fantastic little feminist vampire novel about two women in their mid thirties who finally start living after they’ve died.
My Top Pick goes to Bringer of Dust by J.M. Miro which is the sequel to Ordinary Monsters. This is a story set in the late 18th century and follows a group of children with extraordinary abilities, some of which are damn near terrifying! Miro’s writing is perfectly atmospheric, his world is dark and full of supernatural horrors, it is the perfect read for dark chilly nights.
Vinay: Death Tax by Andrew Givler
October was a pretty busy month packed with a bunch of interesting reads. I particularly enjoyed Adam Holcombe’s The Wishing Stone, book 2 in the Chronicles of Gam Gam series – book 1 was tremendously cozy but book 2 got pretty dark pretty quickly while still retaining that inherent warmth and heart.
Douglas Lumsden’s Claws of the Collector introduced a new series and a new character in this existing world and this book was a masterclass in rewarding long term readers of the series with a series of plot-related payoffs (Review here).
October however heralded the discovery of a fantastic series, Debt Collection by Andrew Givler. An urban fantasy series set in LA, encompassing hell, demons, demi-gods, faeries, among other species based on the simple concept of a wrongly crafted deal for a soul – think of Dresden meets Supernatural. This is a series that hits the ground running & just gets better and more imaginative with each book.
Book 4 in the series, Death Tax is my pick of the month – Death Tax deals with consequences and also showcases tremendous growth for the lead character especially in light of what transpires in book 3. This is a book that plays true to the adage of the lead character losing even when he wins. This series has flown under the radar a fair bit but its absolutely worth the investment
Kat: Garlic and the Witch by Bree Paulsen
October was a very varied reading month for me but the standout read was definitely Garlic and the Witch by Bree Paulsen, which was delightfully on brand for October.
A low stakes, beautifully illustrated graphic novel that follows an anxious bulb of garlic that tends a witch’s vegetable patch. It’s the sequel to Garlic and the Vampire and I am unbelievably disappointed that this series is only a duology!
Cat: Where the Dead Brides Gather by Nuzo Onoh
October has been busy for me, so I’m currently playing catch-up – halfway through many books!
My favourites this time were two I finished in a matter of days, they were so gripping: A Betrayal of Storms by Ben Alderson (gorgeous queer fantasy!) and the winner, Where the Dead Brides Gather by Nuzo Onoh, because I have never read anything like it.
Absolute magic from a culture far from my own, but with the voices of women and spirit that touched a deep chord. There were tears. I’m so grateful for my time in these amazing book worlds.
Theo: Love is a Crematorium and other tales by Mercedes M. Yardley
I have had a rather eclectic mix of reads this month, but funnily enough – with Halloween just around the corner – I have an obvious best pick. It’s Mercedes M. Yardley’s collection of very different short stories – Love is a Crematorium and other tales.
Yardley is the supreme mistress of whimsical horror, and this anthology includes some shocking images and dark themes, all described in deliciously light prose. I did post a review earlier this month – if you want to know more!
Beth: The Black Hawks by David Wragg
I do this every year – I’m going to read spooky books for spooky month, this will finally be the year I read Dracula! … And then I don’t. I did read a lot of books this month, but only one spooky one that I haven’t actually finished yet, the short story collection The Haunting Season.
As Nils said above, we’ve had three buddy reads this month, but outside of those, I’ve finally finally got round to reading David Wragg’s debut duology The Black Hawks and The Righteous. So it’s an easy Top Picks choice for me this month – The Black Hawks is hands down not only the best read of this month, but it’s up there as one of my best of the year. I was firmly on the grimdark train for so long, but after the events of 2020, I really struggled with dark reads and depressing things and everyone dying… but I still love the band of warriors politicky aspect. The Black Hawks is exactly this. It’s hilarious, there’s lots of fighting, there’s backstabbing – it’s a properly fun epic fantasy. There are plenty of serious themes to mull over, and the stakes are pretty high, but that darkness that looms over a lot of recent grimdark is, gratefully, missing.
What was your favourite read of the month? Share with us in the comments!
