What do I have here? An excuse to rant and rave (and fangirl a little) about books I love, for an unprecedented amount of time? Sign me up lads.
First thing’s first – I am physically incapable of choosing one favourite book. Rather, I will list several favourites, along with the pile of books on my TBR, categorising by genre (because I am a nerd). Lets do this!
Young Adult Contemporary Fiction
- Looking For Alibrandi, by Melina Marchetta: (A YA Contemporary written by the Aussie queen herself, Melina Marchetta. Following Italian-Australian Josie’s coming of age story as she grapples with family, identity, and home, this novel will forever be a favourite.)
- Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, by Benjamin Alire Saenz: (This is Ari and Dante’s beautiful, lyrically written story of love, family and identity. It is one that I have found myself rereading time and time again.)
- I’ll Give You The Sun, by Jandy Nelson: (We follow the perspectives of twins Noah and Jude over two different timelines. It is not only about their journeys of self-discovery, but also about the family tragedy that tore them apart.)
Young Adult/New Adult/Adult Fantasy
- The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue, by Mackenzi Lee: (A YA Fantasy Historical Fiction full of romance, magic, adventure, pirates, witty banter, near death situations and 18th Century fabulousness!)
- Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom (duology), by Leigh Bardugo: (All I can say is that in my eyes, this duology is the epitome of top-notch YA Fantasy. If I continue to write about these books I will go on for pages … So, enough said – read it!)
- The Raven Cycle series, by Maggie Stiefvater: (I devoured this four-book series in three days, and here’s why: magic, psychic powers, ancient Welsh kings, curses, ghosts, demons, nearly-dying, actually dying, Wealthy Private School Boys, Not-So-Wealthy Private School Boys, A Badass Not-Psychic Girl Who Dislikes Private School Boys But Who Ends Up Becoming Besties With Said Private School Boys.)
- The Diviners, by Libba Bray: (A ghost murder mystery following a cast of psychic characters set in 1920s New York City … it is a big yes from me.)
- Pachinko, by Min Jin Lee: (A historical family saga through four generations of a Korean family who seek a better home, watch the home they left become divided and unrecognisable, live through the struggle of war and the political turmoil of Japanese colonisation. This novel is both a fictional and true story. It was fascinating and heart wrenching and powerful – definitely one that stands out as a favourite.)
- The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, by Annie Barrows and Mary Ann Shaffer: (Exploring both the hardships of war and the power of literature, this novel follows an English author as she finds herself post WW2 on the Guernsey Channel Islands amidst the one-of-a-kind Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society – aka the coolest book club in town.)
- The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, by Taylor Jenkins Reid: (An intricate, enthralling, eye-opening novel with constant cliff-hangers that led to me sacrificing many hours of sleep for answers.)
Children and Middle Grade Fiction
- The Magic Faraway Tree series, by Enid Blyton
- The Naughtiest Girl series, by Enid Blyton
- The Geronimo Stilton series!, by “Geronimo Stilton”
- The Spiderwick Chronicles, by Holly Black
- The Percy Jackson series, by Rick Riordan
- The Harry Potter series, by J K Rowling
+ every Judy Blume book under the sun
- Educated , by Tara Westover (Memoir)
- Dubliners, by James Joyce (Classic, collection of short stories)
- The Bloody Chamber, by Angela Carter (Classic, collection of short stories)
Books on my (ever-growing) TBR [My To Be Read list]
- Girls of Paper and Fire, by Natasha Ngan (Fantasy)
- The Ten Thousand Doors of January, by Alix E Harrow (Fantasy)
- Vicious, by V E Schwab (Fantasy)
- The Night Circus, by Erin Morgenstern (Fantasy)
- Ninth House, by Leigh Bardugo (Fantasy)
- Where the Crawdads Sing, by Delia Owens (Fiction)
- The Place on Dalhousie, by Melina Marchetta (Fiction)
- Circe, by Madeline Miller (Historical Fantasy Fiction)
- Midnight’s Children, by Salman Rushdie (Historical Magical Realism Fiction)
- Year of Wonders, by Geraldine Brooks (Historical Fiction)
- All the Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doerr (Historical Fiction)
- The Map of Salt and Stars, by Zeyn Joukhadar (Historical Fiction)
- The Lost Girls of Paris, by Pam Jenoff (Historical Fiction)
- Low Life: Lures and Snares of Old New York, by Luc Sante (Historical Non-Fiction)
- Franklin and Eleanor, by Hazel Rowley (Historical Non-Fiction)
- Emergency S*x and Other Desperate Measures: True Stories from a War Zone, by Heidi Postlewait, Kenneth Cain, Andrew Thomson (Non-Fiction)
- Our Man: Richard Holbrooke and the End of the American Century, by George Packer (Non-Fiction)
- The Alchemist, by Paulo Coelho (Classic)
I hope some of you find this helpful or interesting! Be sure to share your own favourite reads / any book recommendations as well! If you want to keep up to date with what I’m reading, follow me here:
Insta @ isthisnametakenyet
Goodreads @ isthisnametakenyet
(Thank you for the ask and the chance to go on about my fav books @jessicarevises !)
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