Top 5 books with ghosts ?
Happy Tuesday bookworms!! Today’s Top 5 Tuesday topic is top 5 books with ghosts!!
This month we have a kind of Halloween theme going on so let’s talk about your fave ghosts ghosts. I don’t read spooky or horror books, so please sit back and get comfortable while I find some fantasy books that have ghosts in them… (ahhh… why do I do this to myself?! ?)
Top 5 Tuesday is back!! If you missed the October topics post, please click here, to check what topics we have for the remainder of this month!! Top 5 Tuesday was created by Shanah @ Bionic Book Worm, but is now being hosted here, @ Meeghan reads (yep… still weird).
top 5 books with ghosts
The Raven Boys – Maggie Stiefvater
Hello, my name is Meeghan. Welcome to Top 5 Tuesday where every week I will try and put at least one Maggie Stiefvater book in the list so that I can scream about my favourite author.
Also, no spoilers in the comments please, because no one even realises there IS a ghost in this series until about halfway through. Also, I love this ghost. Would 100% adopt them. Randomly thinks about them all the time. Although, I randomly think about this series all the time. Would 100% adopt all of them. Maybe not Declan…
The Wicked Deep – Shea Ernshaw
OK, so I totally get that the three Swan sisters are moderately evil. And every year they literally enact the curse on Sparrow. But also, they are totally badass!! I kind of liked that they just do not care about the locals.
Also, while I had some issues with the ending of this story, I really liked how it was kind of a murder mystery. It felt like you had to try and figure out who the sisters were inhabiting before the clock runs out. It was a really interesting spin on a ghost haunting and/or witch curse story.
Darkwood – Gabby Hutchinson Crouch
To be fair, the ghost in this one doesn’t turn up until about halfway (maybe two thirds of the way?) through the book. But, I really liked the inclusion of her as a character, and especially the impact that she had on the other characters. She definitely adds a different dynamic to the rag-tag crew of ‘heroes’ in this story.
I’ve recently gotten a copy of Such Big Teeth, which is the second book in the Darkwood series, and I love that she’s still in the story for this one too. The author could have absolutely sent her on to a final resting place, but no. She’s still here being sassy and giving the others hell. ?
Sabriel – Garth Nix
I don’t know if this counts, but, as the one who is making the rules up as I go, I am totally including it. Sabriel is the Abhorsen, someone who deals with the spirits / undead, and returns them to beyond the veil. While I don’t have a favourite ghost in this series, I do love the way that the spirits are portrayed in this. It’s definitely my favourite necromantic series that I have read. Not just Sabriel, but this entire series is so good, and I love the way that it deals with grief and what is ‘good vs evil’ in terms of necromantic magic.
Also, Garth Nix is one of my fave Aussie authors, so he gets a bonus point for that too!
The House with Chicken Legs – Sophie Anderson
Another book with no specific ghost that I loved, but absolutely my favourite way that they are involved in the story. In a lot of Slavic folklore and inspired stories, there is a character called Baba Yaga. Baba Yaga is many things, depending on the story itself. Mostly she is an evil witch who eats children (think of the old witch in Hansel and Gretel) and surrounds her house with a fence made from human bones. Sometimes she is a “good witch” and will dole out a favour or help a lost person in the woods. But occasionally she is a neutral witch, and her role is often to lead the dead to their final resting place.
In The House With Chicken Legs, all of the Yagas (yes, there are lots and sometimes there are men Yagas too), are there to lead the spirits that come to their houses to their final resting place beyond the hearth. They kind of play the role of a ghost guide. The Yagas travel the world, they throw a party and talk to all the ghosts, and then they send them gently on their way. And that thought kind of brings me some comfort. (More so than the eating of children, anyway…!)
Please don’t forget to link to one of my posts (not my home page), and I will link back to all of your posts as soon as I can!! (Because I know it’s Tuesday afternoon here, but it’s probably still Monday lunchtime elsewhere…)
PARTICIPANTS
The Book Connection
Jillian the Bookish Butterfly
The Punk Theory
A Fictional Bookworm
DB’s Guide to the Galaxy
Evelyn Reads
Ketutar Writing
Hail and Well Read
Beware of the Reader
Zezee with Books
Lady Book Dragon
What are your top 5 books with ghosts?
30 Comments
bookishinbed
Oh I have only heard of The Raven Boys and The Wicked Deep. I read The Wicked Deep. Overall was an enjoyable book. I know the author has another book that I have been thinking of checking out.
meeghan
Yes!! Shea Ernshaw is amazing. Her other book is Winterwood!!
bookishinbed
I definitely need to check it out. I know they both have such beautiful covers.
Cheryl Malandrinos
Love your list. The Wicked Deep and The House with Chicken Legs both sound amazing. Love all these covers, too. Thanks for sharing.
http://thebookconnectionccm.blogspot.com/2020/10/top-5-tuesday-top-5-books-with-ghosts.html
meeghan
Thank you!! I hope you check out the books, they’re so great!!
evelynreads1
I just knew The Raven Boys was going to be on here haha! It is also on mine! Just like The Wicked Deep!
(www.evelynreads.com)
meeghan
?? Is it really my list if I don’t mention a Stiefvater book?!
dbsguidetothegalaxy
I still need to read Darkwood! Didn’t realise it had a ghost in it! The House with Chicken Legs sounds good!
meeghan
Both are so good and I love them!! Highly recommend!! ?
dbsguidetothegalaxy
Definitely will add both to my must-read list!
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Becky Lewis
I had a hard time this week coming up with 5 ghosts, apparently they don’t pop up too much in contemporary romance, lol!
meeghan
?? totally understandable!!
Becky Lewis
Good thing there is paranormal romance!
meeghan
???
Sofii @ A Book. A Thought.
I love this list! ❤️ I’ll check some that I didn’t know. I think you know, but I love The Wicked Deep SO MUCH, glad to see it on your list ?✨??
meeghan
Thanks Sofii ?
thepunktheory
We match with The Raven Boys! I bet it’ll be a popular choice this week. 😉
The House with the Chickenlegs looks to be right down my alley. As I kid I love Russian fairytales about Babayaga, so I’ll have to check this one out! 😀
meeghan
Oh yay!! Sophie Anderson has also written a book called The Girl who Speaks Bear. I haven’t read it yet, but I believe it’s her take on Ivan the Bear as well!! ?
ketutar
Oh, I forgot him! I keep forgetting he’s a ghost. 😀
Here’s my list: https://ketutarwriting.blogspot.com/2020/10/top-5-ghosts_13.html
meeghan
He is!! The poor soul ?
Sophie @BewareOfTheReader
I am sorry I went rogue today as I could not think of five boosk i had read with ghosts in them!!! Yiu have a great list Meeghan!
meeghan
I can’t wait to see your list when I get home tonight, Sophie!! ?
tasya @ the literary huntress
I love the reveal in The Raven Boys, that scene still gives me chills!
meeghan
Yes!!! It’s one of my favourites!! ???
Kat @ Novels & Waffles
Okay, so don’t hate me but…I’ve never actually read The Raven Boys? In fact the only book I have read by Maggie Stiefvater is Shiver…and I read that in high school so I remember about…0% of it. I’ve been meaning to pick up The Raven Boys since it is so well loved by the community but I just never seem to have the time (*shakes fist at my much-too-large tbr*) Seriously though, there are way too many books, and much too little time.
meeghan
Oh I totally understand that. And I would only recommend The Raven Boys to you if you like mythical quests, magic forests, found family, forbidden love, dream objects, possible ghosts, and amazing friendships. ? ?
meeghan
Also, thank you for sharing my post, Kat ???
Zezee
Lol! I keep forgetting that there’s a ghost in Raven Boys.
meeghan
? ? ? Valid.