The best books for learning the old legends

This book is about a single lady, in an old house, living alone after a recent breakup. Being in a similar situation, it caught my attention and held it. All of a sudden, the strong female lead was battling the fae queen, helping nymphs through rivers, and transforming into a deer while battling addiction! Her best friends were a brownie and a djinn, she worked for a witch, her handyman was a Norse God, and her ex was a literal incubus. I learned a lot from reading this one, but it also got me to lookup more legends independently. Like the one about William Duffy and Janet Bird.

This is a story about a girl with a port-wine stain under her eye. Looking different, people treat her differently. The main character, Sophie, copes by carrying around a book called "The Big Book of Monsters" and identifying the monsters and humans around her. I found Sophie pretty knowledgeable on the subject of old legends! There were a few I hadn't heard of and had to look up myself. I also like her character development, and how she becomes more empathetic. Overall, it was entertaining and informative.

Have you ever had a book actively try to stop you from reading it? This non-fiction book was guarded like all doorways into Fairie. Every time I sat down to read it the kettle would come to a boil, or the phone would ring! I read it cover to cover though. Even finding it again to tell you about it was a challenge.

Holly Black co-wrote the Spiderwick Chronicles and knows her stuff. I found this series of graphic novels extremely entertaining, and chillingly true to the old legends. Black takes old legends from several Eurocentric cultures and has them coexisting in one single city, as just people, trying to make it. Poor Rue, the main character, is only half-human. When she finds out her mother is one of "the good neighbors"-- a fairy princess, she has to venture to her grandfather's realm to find her, meanwhile, a swan maiden is murdered up the street, and nixies steal her boyfriend. The drama of the series was riveting, as were the legends she called upon.

Out of all of my recommendations, this one probably has the most diversity. I feel Gaiman captured American culture through his immigrant eyes (he mentioned he had moved at the end of the book). There were Egyptian Gods, Hindu Gods, German fae I had never heard of, African Gods, and pagan Gods from all over. It really made me think about how American culture is like a patchwork quilt. But I also managed to learn a lot about legends I simply hadn't been exposed to yet.