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With a chill in the air and Halloween fast approaching its the perfect time to pull out some spooky reads. While some might like horror to get them in the mood for October 31st, I like to take a more historical approach! I’ve always been fascinated by witches in history, whether it’s the Salem witch trials or garden witches in 17th century England. Because I find the concept so fascinating, I’ve built up quite the list of witchy reads!

A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

Harkness’s books are a no brainer for me. Diana is a researcher at the Bodlein library who has turned away from her family’s magical legacy. When a mysterious manuscript crosses her path she’s forced to confront the world she’s tried so hard to avoid. Befriending a scientific researcher from All Souls college, Diana traces the manuscripts history as well as her own. Check out my review of the sequel here.

More books after the jump!

The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe

Howe’s book was a Barnes and Noble Discover Great New Writers pick and I couldn’t agree more! Connie Godwin is supposed to be doing her doctoral dissertation but when a family emergency takes her to Salem her work gets put on hold. Searching through the things in a family member’s attic she finds an old Bible with a piece of paper reading “Deliverance Dane.” Never one to leave a mystery unsolved, Connie digs into her past to find Deliverance Dane and her family’s connection to the witch trials.

The Witch’s Daughter by Paula Brackston

The newest in my witchy reading stash, Brackston’s offering is entrancing. Bess is new to town and just trying to make a living with her herbal sachets and teas, but teenage loner Tegan has other plans. Gradually Bess begins letting Tegan into her life, and lets down her guard in the process. As Tegan learns the craft, Bess shares stories about the old times when witches were hunted down. Tegan thinks the stories are fanciful tales but what if they were real?

The River of No Return by Bee Ridgeway

I reviewed this one a few months ago! Ridgeway creates a time-travel novel all its own by weaving the paranormal into every day life. Lord Nick Falcott is a member of the Guild, a group of individuals who have fallen through time. Suddenly thrust into the modern day he  must get acclimated to the present day. When he starts to notice strange things around him, Nick realizes there’s more to time-travel than the Guild told him. When he’s catapulted into his old life in 1815, Nick is on a mission to save the future and find out for what the Guild really stands.

None of those catch your fancy? Here’s a few other spooky books perfect for autumn:

• Dust and Shadow: An Account of the Ripper Killings by John H. Watson by Lyndsey Faye
• The Thinking Woman’s Guide to Real Magic by Emily Croy Barker
• The Book of Madness and Cures by Regina O’Melveny
• The Diviners by Libba Bray
• The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova
• Daughters of Witching Hill by Mary Sharratt
• City of Dark Magic by Magnus Flyte
• The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

This post was sponsored by Grammarly. All opinions and recommendations are my own.