So for October, we decided to read a book with ‘Halloween’ in the title. “How hard can that be?” we thought. There must be thousands and thousands of books. We’ll have our pick of length and genre and author. We could read practically anything we wanted! Oh, how wrong we were!
The only science fiction and fantasy book in my library with ‘Halloween’ in the title was in the teen room. An Isaac Asimov anthology of sf/f Halloween stories. “So what?” you say. “Sounds perfect for you!” Yes, well, so perfect that I read it already!
The next closest things were R. L. Stine books. Which, not so much with the adult-ness. Or sf/f really either. More horror. For adult books, apart from perhaps one mystery, I’m left pretty much with some nonfiction titles. Such as a history of Halloween, or Halloween crafts. (And I was told if I reviewed a craft or cooking book, I’d have to actually craft or cook something from it. Sounds like work!)
So, reluctantly, I wandered into the children’s section. Both virtually and physically. Our library has a little nook with holiday picturebooks. So there’s a specific Halloween section. Tons of titles there with ‘Halloween’ in them. Too many! I went a little crazy. I now have a stack of them. And that’s not even all of them.
Curiously, even the Halloween titles that aren’t picture books are specifically marked out as 1st, 2nd, or 3rd grade books. You reach a certain age (9 apparently!) and you no longer want to read books with Halloween in the title. I suppose you’ve moved on to Spooky, Haunted, and Trick-or-Treat. Or maybe you’ve moved on to Samhain. I don’t know.
So. I shall be reviewing a bunch of children’s books. Little tiny reviews. Until I get tired of it. So I’d better get cracking!
Those posts will follow in a day, or two, or three.
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