By Naomi

Today January 29th, we welcome the Year of the Snake. This year looks to be a year of wisdom, adaptability and it will bring a sense of transformation. We’ve got a couple of colleagues whose Lunar zodiac sign is a snake, and for them this year will bring many opportunities.

Snakes (the animal, not the zodiac sign) have been having a moment in books as well, as they symbolize rebirth, transformation, immortality and healing. They are featured on covers and in titles (and sometimes even as characters).

Of course, we wouldn’t be ABC if we didn’t have some nice recommendations of books featuring snakes or serpents.

Happy reading, and good luck in the year ahead!

It’s Your Year, Baby Snake – Ariel Hsu
Baby Snake is wise and funny! Celebrate the Snake (2025) in your life with this fun board book series introducing kids to each zodiac sign through positive personality traits and adorable animal characters.
You are wise, calm, funny, and thoughtful, Baby Snake! This exciting board book celebrates all the wonderful ways you interact with your world, and all the amazing attributes you have.
This wonderful book joins It’s Your Year, Baby Rabbit, It’s Your Year, Baby Dragon, and It’s Your Year, Baby Tiger in a new series introducing toddlers to each of the twelve Chinese zodiac animals through adorable characters.

Legend of the White Snake – Sheer Lee
A snake spirit transforms into a boy and must hide his true identity after falling for a headstrong prince in this lush, romantic retelling of the traditional Chinese folktale.
When Prince Xian was a boy, a white snake bit his mother and condemned her to a slow, painful death. The only known cure is an elusive spirit pearl—or an antidote created from the rare white snake itself. Desperate and determined, Xian travels to the city of Changle, where an oracle predicted he would find and capture a white snake.
Seven years ago, Zhen, a white snake in the West Lake, consumed a coveted spirit pearl, which gave him special powers—including the ability to change into human form.
In Changle, Xian encounters an enigmatic but beautiful stable boy named Zhen. The two are immediately drawn to each other, but Zhen soon realizes that he is the white snake Xian is hunting. As their feelings grow deeper, will the truth about Zhen’s identity tear them apart?

The Snake Who Loved a Sparrow – Nna Natsuo
A controversial courtship between a sparrow and the lonely snake who saved his life…
Komazu is a sparrow, and as a sparrow, there’s one thing he knows about they eat small birds. When he encounters Shiratō, the white snake, of course he expects the worst — but instead of trying to eat him, Shiratō saves him from a boar stampede and flees, teary-eyed, when Komazu lashes out in fear. When the sparrow realizes he’s perhaps misjudged snakes and decides to learn more about Shiratō, the two grow closer, first as friends and then as something more.
They are predator and natural prey, coming from different species and social castes; can love overcome the laws of nature, despite the differences in their way?
This book contains nudity, explicit sexual content and nonhuman physiology. It is intended for mature audiences only.

The Serpent and the Wings of Night – Carissa Broadbent
Human or vampire, the rules of survival are the same: never trust, never yield, and always – always – guard your heart.
The adopted human daughter of the Nightborn vampire king, Oraya carved her place in a world designed to kill her. Her only chance to become something more than prey is entering the Kejari: a legendary tournament held by the goddess of death herself.
But winning won’t be easy amongst the most vicious warriors from all three vampire houses. To survive, Oraya is forced to make an alliance with a mysterious rival.
Everything about Raihn is dangerous. He is a ruthless vampire, an efficient killer, an enemy to her father’s crown… and her greatest competition. Yet, what terrifies Oraya most of all is that she finds herself oddly drawn to him.

A Snake Falls to Earth – Darcie Little Badger
Nina is a Lipan girl in our world. She’s always felt there was something more out there. She still believes in the old stories.
Oli is a cottonmouth kid, from the land of spirits and monsters. Like all cottonmouths, he’s been cast from home. He’s found a new one on the banks of the bottomless lake.
Nina and Oli have no idea the other exists. But a catastrophic event on Earth, and a strange sickness that befalls Oli’s best friend, will drive their worlds together in ways they haven’t been in centuries.
And there are some who will kill to keep them apart.

A Serpent in the Garden – Howard Linskey
London, 1592. 28-year-old William Shakespeare is the rising man of English theatre. But plague has hit the capital, and the playhouses are to be shut. Livelihoods, and lives, are at stake.
Lady Celia Vernon is one of the first to perish – but did she really die of plague? Her cousin, the Earl of Southampton, orders Will to discover the truth in a London filled with conspirators, cutthroats and traitors.
The Queen’s spymaster, Robert Cecil, suspects the Earl of treason and orders Will to spy on him in return. Caught between two of the most powerful men in the kingdom, Will cannot possibly serve both masters, and could easily become the next victim of the killer he is trying to catch.
With his future, safety and life on the line, Will uncovers a devastating secret, and changes the course of his, and the world’s destiny forever.
An utterly compelling historical mystery offering a new and fascinating look into the personal life of the great William Shakespeare.

Lies on the Serpent’s Tongue – Kate Pearsall
A beautifully dark YA set in Appalachia tinged with magic, mystery, murder, and romance. For fans of House of Hollow and Wilder Girls! As Caball Hollow slowly recovers after a tumultuous summer, the James family must also come to terms with their own newly revealed secrets.
18-year-old Rowan James has spent her whole life harboring unpleasant truths—that’s what happens when you can smell people’s lies—and building walls around herself to block them out. Like her younger sister, Linden, who can taste the feelings of others, Rowan has long resented her gift, which has taught her that everyone lies and no one is who they seem to be. So when her old nemesis, Hadrian Fitch, the biggest liar of them all, shows up on her front porch—bloodied, broken, and asking for help only she can give—her first instinct is distrust. But something new is stalking the Forest that surrounds Caball Hollow.

The Kiss of the Basilisk – Lindsay Straub
Twenty-year-old Temperance Verus has never been kissed. But that’s what the basilisk is for.
Along with thirteen other contestants, Tem must train with a basilisk to learn the power of seduction and win the prince’s hand in marriage. When Tem is matched with Caspen, the Serpent King, she realizes she might actually stand a chance.
But with tensions rising between the basilisks and the humans, Tem is torn in two directions. As her bond with Caspen deepens, so does her connection with the prince. And when she uncovers a terrible secret about the royal family, Tem finds herself caught between two worlds . . . neither of which she can survive without.