First Chapter Tuesday: The Sisters of the Winter Wood & The House in Poplar Wood

First Chapter Tuesday is hosted every Tuesday by Vicki @ I'd Rather Be at the Beach. This is meme in which bloggers share the first chapter of a book that they are currently reading or thinking about reading soon. Join the fun by making your own post and linking up over at Vicki's blog, or simply check it out to find more new books to read!

For this week's First Chapter Tuesday I thought I would share some intros from two books that I've just started reading!

The Sisters of the Winter Wood by Rena Rossner
 

Excerpt:

"1: Liba

If you want to know the history of a town, read the gravestones in its cemetery. That’s what my Tati always says. Instead of praying in the synagogue like all the other men of our town, my father goes to the cemetery to pray. I like to go there with him every morning. 

The oldest gravestone in our cemetery dates back to 1666. It’s the grave I like to visit most. The names on the stone have long since been eroded by time. It is said in our shtetl that it marks the final resting place of a bride and a groom who died together on their wedding day. We don’t know anything else about them, but we know that they were buried, arms embracing, in one grave. I like to put a stone on their grave when I go there, to make sure their souls stay down where they belong, and when I do, I say a prayer that I too will someday find a love like that."

Goodreads

I have finally gotten around to picking this one up and so far it seems really promising! I'm enjoying the narrative styles and I love how magical it all feels.

Buy the book: Amazon | Book Depository

The House in Poplar Wood by K.E. Ormsbee
 

Excerpt:

"1: Felix

The last day of October was creeping into Poplar House. It came through fissures in the gables and mite-sized holes in the floorboards, bringing with it the scent of burnt oak branches. 

It was Halloween, and for Felix Vickery, it was the warmest day of the year.

All autumn long, Felix had worn gloves to bed and woken to a fringe of frost on his lashes. Even in the summertime, when the wood outside grew drunk on sunshine and the whole of Boone Ridge gasped for lawn sprinklings and fresh popsicles--even then, a dank chill remained in the house."

Goodreads

This is a middle grade ARC that was sent to me and I was really excited to start it because it's another Halloween read! I'm reading this book as my nighttime read and so far it seems really imaginative and interesting.

Buy the book: Amazon | Book Depository

What do you think? Would you keep reading these books? (And feel free to join in and make your own post!) 

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*Excerpts are taken from the novel itself; I do not claim to own any part of the excerpt.