Series

Books like Bad Books: 9 series to read next

Bad Books is fantasy, about magic schools, set in contemporary and our world. The 9 series below are ranked by how much of that they share — each card says which parts.

Bad Books is 3 books, 2014–2017.

“The books in the series are Bad Magic, Bad Luck, and Bad News.”
from the catalogue description of Bad Magic

The Bad Books page →Narrow this list →

Magic Shop
Chrestomanci
The Indian in the Cupboard
American Gods
Worldweavers
The Sisters Grimm
Charlie (Roald Dahl)
Young Wizards
The Dark Is Rising

Magic ShopSeries

seriesBruce Coville7 books1982

Fantasy, about coming of age, set in contemporary and our world.

“Bruce Coville's Magic Shop books each send a different kid into Mr. Elives's strange antique shop, where an ordinary-looking item turns out to carry real magic and consequences.”
from the catalogue description

Start with The Monster's Ring →

ChrestomanciSeries

seriesDiana Wynne Jones12 books1977

Set in parallel universe and british isles.

“Greenwillow Books published a US edition within the calendar year.”
from the catalogue description of Charmed Life
Wikipedia CC BY-SA 4.0

Start with Charmed Life →

The Indian in the CupboardSeries

seriesLynne Reid Banks5 books1980

Portal fantasy.

“Lynne Reid Banks' Indian in the Cupboard series begins with the 1980 children's novel in which a boy discovers that an old cupboard can bring his plastic toy figures to life.”
from the catalogue description

Start with The Indian in the Cupboard →

American GodsSeries

seriesNeil Gaiman10 books1999

Mythic fantasy, about gods.

“Gaiman's 2005 novel Anansi Boys is set in the same mythological world and shares the trickster god Mr. Nancy, but follows a different protagonist and story, making it a loose companion rather than a direct sequel.”
from the catalogue description

Start with Keepsakes and Treasures: A Love Story →

WorldweaversSeries

seriesAlma Alexander4 books2007

Urban fantasy.

“What's more, her greatest strength may be the powerlessness she has resisted for so long.”
from the catalogue description of Gift of the Unmage

Start with Gift of the Unmage →

The Sisters GrimmSeries

seriesMichael Buckley9 books2005

Fairy tale retelling.

“Summary from copyright page: Orphans Sabrina and Daphne Grimm are sent to live with an eccentric grandmother whom they have always believed to be dead.”
from the catalogue description of The Fairy-Tale Detectives
Wikipedia CC BY-SA 4.0

Start with The Fairy-Tale Detectives →

Charlie (Roald Dahl)Series

seriesRoald Dahl6 books1964

Fantasy, whimsical and funny in tone, about coming of age, set in contemporary and our world.

Start with Charlie and the Chocolate Factory →

Young WizardsSeries

seriesDiane Duane24 books1983

About wizards.

“Across fifteen books published between 1983 and 2019, the two age forward in something close to real time as their missions escalate from New York streets to alien worlds and beyond.”
from the catalogue description

Start with So You Want to Be a Wizard →

The Dark Is RisingSeries

seriesSusan Cooper5 books1965

Mythic fantasy, set in british isles.

“The first book in the series, Over Sea, Under Stone, was originally conceived as a stand-alone novel, and the sequence gets its name from the second novel in the series, The Dark Is Rising.”
from the catalogue description
Wikipedia CC BY-SA 4.0

Start with Over Sea, Under Stone →

Why these

No sales rank, no star ratings, no readers also bought.

Shared terms are not a promise that a book feels the same. Two series can be far-future political intrigue and read nothing alike — what the ranking can say is what they are about, and each card says which parts it shares.

Questions readers ask

What should I read after Bad Books?: Magic Shop — the closest match to Bad Books on what it is about, not on what sells.
Where do I start with Bad Books?: Bad Magic. It is the entry the catalogue recommends for Bad Books.
How big is Bad Books?: Bad Books is 3 books, 2014–2017.

Books like Bad Books: 9 series to read next

Read next in Bad Books

Why these

Questions readers ask

Other series like this one