Recommended Books

Ahh, books. They’re amazing. You can get lost in an entire world outside your own. I LOVE books, so here’s a page of my favorites.

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The Harry Potter series by J.K Rowling.

You ABSOLUTELY MUST read these if you haven’t already. They’re amazing. On a scale of one to ten I rate it about seventy-three billion and five.

Overview: Alright, if you don’t already know the story, it’s about a boy wizard whose parents were killed by the evil Lord Voldemort. He lives with his somewhat abusive uncle, aunt, and cousin. On his eleventh birthday a half-giant comes to his house to tell him that he is in fact a wizard, and that he can go to a special school for wizards. The series follows his seven years of school and his battle against He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, aka Voldemort. 

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The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins.

Again, MUST read. This book is amazing. The writing style is a little disorienting at the beginning, but you get used to it pretty quickly. 

Overview: In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV.

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The Fault In Our Stars by John Green

Oh, my God. Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh my GOD. I can’t even put my love for this book into words. I mean, books don’t get me actually sobbing that often, like, full on, tears-streaming-down-your-face sobbing. This book though, had me sobbing for about fifteen minutes at the end. The language is beautiful, the book makes you think, and honestly, even if you don’t think you’ll like it, you should still read it. I’m a pretty sci-fi/fantasy kind of reader, and didn’t think I would really like it as much as I did, but this is honestly in my top five favorite books. 

Overview: Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel’s story is about to be completely rewritten.

Insightful, bold, irreverent, and raw, The Fault in Our Stars is award-winning author John Green’s most ambitious and heartbreaking work yet, brilliantly exploring the funny, thrilling, and tragic business of being alive and in love.

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The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau.

There’s a story behind this one. When I was younger, I used to lay in bed thinking about what would happen if the world blew up or something. I thought that the most sensible answer was to burrow really deep underground and replicate the city above, stock it with everything humanity would ever need, and send everyone down there to live out their lives. Well, that’s pretty much exactly this story. This book is SO good, you have to read it. 

Overview: Pretty much explained above. It’s a four book series, The City of Ember, The People of Sparks, The Prophet of Yonwood,  and The Diamond of Darkhold.

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The Septimus Heap series by Angie Sage.

These books are aimed at a younger audience, but after Harry Potter I was itching to read another wizard-y book. 

Overview: Septimus Heap, the seventh son of the seventh son, disappears the night he is born, pronounced dead by the midwife. That same night, the baby’s father, Silas Heap, comes across an abandoned child in the snow- a newborn girl with violet eyes.  The Heaps take her into their home, name her Jenna, and raise her as their own. But who is this mysterious baby girl, and what really happened to their beloved Septimus?

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Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine. 

You’ve probably seen the movie version of this book. You know, the one with amazing Anne Hathaway? I loved that movie, but it’s nothing like the book. The book is a million times better than the movie. My mom actually met the author once, and I have her autograph on my book. I really like reading princess-y, old time-y books, and this is a great one. 

Overview: At her birth, Ella of Frell was given a foolish fairy’s gift— the “gift” of obedience. Ella must obey any order given to her, whether it’s hopping on one foot for a day or chopping off her own head! But strong willed Ella does not tamely accept her fate. She goes on a quest, encountering ogres, giants, wicked stepsisters, fairy godmothers, and handsome princes, determined to break the curse- and live happily ever after.

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Fairest by Gail Carson Levine. 

I loved Ella Enchanted so much that I had to check this book out. It was probably one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. Amazing book if you like fairytale books. 

Overview: Aza’s singing is the fairest in all the land, and the most unusual. She can “throw” her voice so it seems to come from anywhere. But singing is only one of the two qualities prized in the Kingdom of Ayortha. Aza doesn’t possess the other: beauty. Not even close. She’s hidden in the shadows in her parents’ inn, but when she becomes a lady-in-waiting to the new queen, she has to step into the light-especially when the queen demands a dangerous favor.

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Divergent by Veronica Roth

This book is amazing. I read it in three days, it was so good. If you liked The Hunger Games, you’ll definitely like this.

Overview: In Beatrice Prior’s dystopian Chicago, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Tris, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is—she can’t have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself. But Tris also has a secret, one she’s kept hidden from everyone because she’s been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers a growing conflict that threatens to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves… or it might destroy her.

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Delirium by Lauren Oliver

This book is amazing. I couldn’t put it down, I read it in about a day and a half, and I can’t wait to read the next two. The ending is amazingly sad and I just loved it. The idea that they live in a world without love, where everyone is detached and numb is shocking, but a great story. 

Overview: Lena Haloway is content in her safe, government-managed society. She feels (mostly) relaxed about the future in which her husband and career will be decided, and looks forward to turning 18, when she’ll be cured of deliria, a.k.a. love. She tries not to think about her mother’s suicide (her last words to Lena were a forbidden “I love you”) or the supposed “Invalid” community made up of the uncured just beyond her Portland, Maine, border. There’s no real point—she believes her government knows how to best protect its people, and should do so at any cost. But 95 days before her cure, Lena meets Alex, a confident and mysterious young man who makes her heart flutter and her skin turn red-hot. As their romance blossoms, Lena begins to doubt the intentions of those in power, and fears that her world will turn gray should she submit to the procedure.

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The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare

I love the idea of angel-descended Demon hunters, and I love the way Cassandra Clare has crafted her world. The details are thorough, so you feel like you’re really in the story, and the descriptions are rich and vivid enough that you really get a good vision of what’s happening.

Overview: A thousand years ago, the Angel Raziel mixed his blood with the blood of men and created the race of the Nephilim. Human-angel hybrids, they walk among us, unseen but ever-present, our invisible protectors.

They call themselves Shadowhunters.

The Shadowhunters obey the laws set down in the Gray Book, given to them by the angel: their mandate is to protect our world from the interdimensional parasites they call demons, who travel from world to world, razing and destroying everything in their path. Theirs is also the task of keeping the peace among the warring Downworlders: the human-demon crossbreeds we know as warlocks, vampires, werewolves, and faeries.

In their duties they are aided by the mysterious Silent Brothers. Their lips and eyes sewn shut, the Silent Brothers rule over the City of Bones, the necropolis below the streets of Manhattan that holds the dead bodies of slain Shadowhunters. The Silent Brothers keep the archival records of ever Shadowhunter ever born. They also watch over the Mortal Instruments, the three divine objects the Angel Raziel gave to his children. One is a sword. One is a mirror. And the last is a cup.

For a thousand years, the Nephilim have protected the Mortal Instruments. But that was before the Uprising, the civil war that almost tore the Shadowhunters’ secret world apart. Though Valentine, the Shadowhunter who started the war, is long dead, the wounds it left behind have never healed.

Fifteen years have passed since the Uprising. It’s August in New York; the streets blistering with heat. Rumors run rampant through Downworld that Valentine is back, at the head of an army of Forsaken warriors.

And the Mortal Cup has gone missing…

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The Infernal Devices series by Cassandra Clare

I love this series. I feel like I love every book I read, but it’s true. 95% of what I read Iove, and I truly love this book. It’s the same thing: Shadowhunters, except it’s set in 1878 London. There’s a different plot and characters (though if you’ve read TMI you’ll recognize some surnames) and you don’t need to read TMI to read this, nor do you need to read this to read TMI. One series will not spoil the other in any way. Be prepared for feels at the end of Clockwork Prince, because you will get them regardless of whether or not you want them, but it is so worth it.

Overview: When 16-year-old Tessa Gray crosses the ocean to find her brother, her destination is England, the time is the reign of Queen Victoria, and something terrifying is waiting for her in London’s Downworld,where vampires, warlocks and other supernatural folk stalk the gaslit streets. Only the Shadowhunters, warriors dedicated to ridding the world of demons, keep order amidst the chaos.

Kidnapped by the mysterious Dark Sisters, members of a secret organization called The Pandemonium Club, Tessa soon learns that she herself is a Downworlder with a rare ability: the power to transform, at will, into another person. What’s more, the Magister, the shadowy figure who runs the Club, will stop at nothing to claim Tessa’s power for his own.

Friendless and hunted, Tessa takes refuge with the Shadowhunters of the London Institute, who swear to find her brother if she will use her power to help them. She soon finds herself fascinated by—and torn between—two best friends: James, whose fragile beauty hides a deadly secret, and blue-eyed Will, whose caustic wit and volatile moods keep everyone in his life at arm’s length…everyone, that is, but Tessa. As their search draws them deep into the heart of an arcane plot that threatens to destroy the Shadowhunters, Tessa realizes that she may need to choose between saving her brother and helping her new friends save the world…and that love may be the most dangerous magic of all.

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I wrote none of the overviews except the Harry Potter and the City of Ember one. I got all the others from either the book’s website, Amazon, the book jacket, or a website for book reviews. 

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