9 Books to Read if You Loved The Ninth House, October’s B&N Book Club Selection

The Bear and the Nightingale (Winternight Trilogy #1), by Katherine Arden
Searching for another dark fantasy with a strong female protagonist? Look no further than Katherine Arden’s debut novel. In this deep-winter story set in medieval Russia, young Vasilisa Petrovna loves listening to her nurse’s fairy tales about Frost, the blue-eyed winter demon who spares the life of a maiden who does not fear him. Wild and fearless herself, Vasilisa cannot even be contained by her new stepmother whom her father brings home from Moscow. The God-fearing, harsh stepmother refuses to honor the helpful spirits in their home, though Vasilisa knows that this means the spirits will grow weak and become unable to defend the village from evil, which comes knocking soon enough in this stellar read.

The Night Circus, by Erin Morgenstern
Erin Morgenstern’s debut novel is infused with darkness and magic—perfect for fans of The Ninth House. The mysterious circus in black-and-white tents appears from out of the blue—called Le Cirque des Rêves, it is only open at night. It serves as the setting for Hector Bowen, better known as Le Cirque des Reves’ Prospero the Entertainer—to pit his daughter Celia, with her untrained telekinetic powers, against gifted magician Marco. Little do either Celia or Marco realize that only one of them will survive the epic battle they’ve both unwittingly been trained for since childhood. But Hector could have never imagined the two would fall in love along the way behind the canvas walls of the circus tent in this captivating page-turner.

Practical Magic, by Alice Hoffman
Alice Hoffman’s bewitching tale of love and magic would make for an excellent next read following The Ninth House. The Owens sisters—Gillian and Sally—have had the legacy of their family name following them since they were kids. Raised by their aunts, Gillian and Sally endure whispers, taunting, and gossip about being witches—a rumor their aunts almost encourage with their eccentric old house, mysterious concoctions, and crew of black cats. Sally left behind the witch rumor by marrying and having children, and Gillian, the wild child, escaped by running as far away as she could from their small town. But one day when Gillian shows up at Sally’s door needing her help, the pair realize they can’t escape who they are and the bond that ties them together.

The Rules of Magic, by Alice Hoffman
Alice Hoffman continues to enchant her readers and fans of magical realism with this prequel to her beloved novel Practical Magic, which covers the backstory of the eccentric aunts to Gillian and Sally. The Owens family comes from a long line of witches,  so Susanna Owens knows that her three children—Franny, Jet, and Vincent—possess powers that make them both uniquely powerful and dangerous. As a result, Susanna sets firm rules for her children to protect them from themselves, their family legacy, and the truth. But when the children visit their aunt in the small town in Massachusetts from which the Owens family hails, they soon uncover family secrets and the truth about their powers.

The Magicians (Magicians Series #1), by Lev Grossman
In Lev Grossman’s book for fans of both the Harry Potter series and The Ninth House, high school math genius Quentin Coldwater is fascinated by the Fillory and Further books, a series of children’s magical fantasy tales set in a mystical land. So when Quentin is admitted into Brakebills College for Magical Pedagogy, a secret school for magic, it seems that his dreams may well have become reality. But, as Quentin soon learns, there’s a dark and dangerous side to magic, his new school, and even the enchanting Fillory and Further children’s books. This prequel to Grossman’s bestselling The Magician King would make an excellent next book after finishing The Ninth House.

A Discovery of Witches (All Souls Trilogy #1), by Deborah Harkness
Witches and vampires and demons, oh my! This is the crew readers will encounter in the first book in Deborah Harkness’s All Souls trilogy. In the historical-fantasy novel, Diana Bishop is a university professor and a reluctant witch who rejects the magical part of her life—she hasn’t learned to master her witchcraft and avoids being around other witches. But she’s forced into the witchy world when she uncovers a lost enchanted manuscript deep in Oxford’s Bodleian Library. The manuscript’s reappearance summons a fantastical underworld and attracts the attention of others who have been searching for it, forcing Diana to come to terms with her connection to a magical community she has previously avoided.

The Poppy War, by R.F. Kuang
Inspired by the recent history and culture of China, R.F. Kuang’s debut historical military fantasy finds orphaned peasant girl Rin living a life of misery in Nikan, but when she sits for the Keju, the empire-wide examination designed to find talented youth, she scores in the highest percentile, which comes as a shock to the test officials, her guardians, and even Rin herself. She is even more shocked to be assigned to the prestigious Sinegard military school, home to the children of the Empire’s elite. Rin is a target at school for the color of her skin, her poverty, and gender, but she soon discovers that she has something incredibly powerful: an aptitude for shamanism, which could well save her people from a third major war in this compelling and mythical tale.

Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore, by Robin Sloan
Print certainly isn’t dead in Robin Sloan’s whimsical part-mystery, part–fairy tale, part–epic quest at the center of which lies a mystical all-night bookstore. In it, Clay Jannon loses his web design job in San Francisco to the Great Recession, and he finds himself working the night shift in Mr. Penumbra’s peculiar bookstore, where the few customers never seem to buy anything but instead check out super-obscure books. Clay begins to track the customers’ bizarre behaviors and crack various codes using media new and old, but when he brings his findings to his employer, he discovers that the bookstore’s secrets extend far beyond its many shelves of books, making for a perfectly mysterious and fanciful next read for fans of The Ninth House.

The Book of Speculation, by Erika Swyler
Erika Swyler’s debut novel is a bewitching story that makes for an excellent next read for those who enjoyed the magic and mystery (and architecture!) in The Ninth House. In it, young librarian Simon Watson lives in a crumbling-down house of mournful memories. With both of his parents dead and his little sister having run away, Simon struggles with whether he can free himself of the obligation he feels to the home his family left behind. One day, the arrival of a mysterious book—a log from the owner of a traveling carnival in the 1700s—on Simon’s doorstep coincides with a visit from his volatile sister, leading him to believe that much more sinister forces could be at work. And with July 24—the date upon which all the women in his family have died—looming, he has to get to the bottom of the mystery to save his sister.
What are you reading after The Ninth House?