Staff Picks for Fall 2019

Fall is the season of the book nerd. It’s cool, it’s quiet, and it’s the perfect warm drink and good book weather. So get ready, cause the night owls have some great picks for you this season.

Serpent & Dove by Shelby Mahurin

September 3, 2019

Bound as one to love, honor, or burn.

Two years ago, Louise le Blanc fled her coven and took shelter in the city of Cesarine, forsaking all magic and living off whatever she could steal. There, witches like Lou are hunted. They are feared. And they are burned.

Sworn to the Church as a Chasseur, Reid Diggory has lived his life by one principle: thou shalt not suffer a witch to live. His path was never meant to cross with Lou’s, but a wicked stunt forces them into an impossible union—holy matrimony.

The war between witches and Church is an ancient one, and Lou’s most dangerous enemies bring a fate worse than fire. Unable to ignore her growing feelings, yet powerless to change what she is, a choice must be made.

And love makes fools of us all.

Recommended by Jessica

Adorably awkward characters, witches, knights, French influence, magic, and amazing storytelling. If you love wordplay and sass, you’ll love Serpent & Dove‘s magic and Louise (aka Lou). If you love awkward naivete and watching prejudices get beaten down, you’ll love Reid and the Chasseurs.


Free Lunch by Rex Ogle

September 10, 2019

Free Lunch is the story of Rex Ogle’s first semester in sixth grade. Rex and his baby brother often went hungry, wore secondhand clothes, and were short of school supplies, and Rex was on his school’s free lunch program.

Grounded in the immediacy of physical hunger and the humiliation of having to announce it every day in the school lunch line, Rex’s is a compelling story of a more profound hunger—that of a child for his parents’ love and care. Compulsively readable, beautifully crafted, and authentically told with the voice and point of view of a 6th-grade kid, Free Lunch is a remarkable debut by a gifted storyteller.

Recommended by Dan

A middle grade memoir about not having enough money to buy food and the further complications it causes the family. It’s dark but it’s an amazing story.


Wicked Fox by Kat Cho

June 25, 2019

A fresh and addictive fantasy-romance set in modern-day Seoul.

Eighteen-year-old Gu Miyoung has a secret–she’s a gumiho, a nine-tailed fox who must devour the energy of men in order to survive. Because so few believe in the old tales anymore, and with so many evil men no one will miss, the modern city of Seoul is the perfect place to hide and hunt.

But after feeding one full moon, Miyoung crosses paths with Jihoon, a human boy, being attacked by a goblin deep in the forest. Against her better judgment, she violates the rules of survival to rescue the boy, losing her fox bead–her gumiho soul–in the process.

Jihoon knows Miyoung is more than just a beautiful girl–he saw her nine tails the night she saved his life. His grandmother used to tell him stories of the gumiho, of their power and the danger they pose to humans. He’s drawn to her anyway. 

With murderous forces lurking in the background, Miyoung and Jihoon develop a tenuous friendship that blossoms into something more. But when a young shaman tries to reunite Miyoung with her bead, the consequences are disastrous . . . forcing Miyoung to choose between her immortal life and Jihoon’s. 

Recommended by Maggie

I’ve already freaked out about this book in my review. If you love K-Dramas, rich fantasy and myths, and hard ass magic girls slowly falling in love with dopey human boys, then y’all, Wicked Fox is for you.

Published by Booked All Night

A podcast & blog about the young adult books that keep us up all night.

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