A Shamelessly Long Book Recommendation List

I read about 20-60 books a year.  There are a lot of great books out there.  This is a list of my top favorites that I always recommend out.  I know here can be a lot of overlap in genres, so if I stick something in one category and you think it should go in another, well… probably?.

Also, some of these are YA, but if it is well written and has a great story, I don’t think it really matters. A good book is a good book. If it has an asterisk it means it’s a book I recommend for teens too, which means its content is appropriate for 14 year olds and up and they have a decent chance of catching most of the nuance. At the bottom is another list for Middle School age kids that I enjoyed.

Urban Fantasy

*The Raven Cycle, first book The Raven Boys, by Maggie Stiefvater. Four Teenage boys and a scrappy girl with odd powers and a historical mystery.  I can’t even with her writing.  Laugh out loud, beautiful wordsmithing, original story. 

The Iron Druid Series, first book is called Hounded, by Kevin Hearne. Super funny, love how he plays with religious figures from all over the world, fast read.

Mercy Thompson Series, first book is Moon Called by Patricia Briggs. I love a sarcastic main character. A First Peoples shapeshifter who works with one of the Tuatha De Danann (Old Irish Gods) and meets werewolf pack. Funny and a fast read. Anything by Patricia Briggs is pretty good.

A Discovery of Witches trilogy by Deborah Harkness.  So here’s the deal.  I hate (SUPER HATE) time travel.  It is a huge pet peeve of mine and ruins things for me all the time.  This book is the only book I have ever read with time travel that I did not throw against the wall or light on fire.

*The Warrior Heir by Cinda Chima.  I love her books.  I recommend them all.

Fantasy

The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss. Better than Lord of the Rings… sacrilege, I know. The third book in the trilogy is not finished yet.  And there is a short story.  Read. It. 

Terry Pratchet’s Discworld series.  My absolute favorites are The Last Continent, Going Postal, and *The Wee Free Men.  Hysterical, silly, and brilliant, Pratchet is one of my top 5 favorite authors.

The Sharing Knife by Lois McMaster Bujold. Ok, she wrote 2 books.  But the publishers thought they were to long so they split them both.  I think all four should be one book, but alas, it seems only men get to have epic long fantasy books left alone and in tact.  These are a great read though!

*The Codex of Alera, first book is The Furies of Caladon, by Jim Butcher. If after the Empire of Rome world history took a hard left. Now instead of (or during?) the Dark ages you have people able to control elementals.

Pawn of Prophecy (Book 1 of the Belgaraid series which is followed up by the Mallorean series) by David Eddings.  Old school fantasy.

The Redemption of Athalus by David Eddings. It’s been 15 years since I read it so all I remember is that it was interesting and good.

The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemison. This book messed with me because it is sad, but the story is so intriguing I could not let it go. I don’t read sad books, but this one is captures you.

*Children of Blood and Bones by Tomi Adeyemi

The Warded Man by Peter Brett.  Demon Elementals kept at bay with symbols scrawled on everything. Then a man shows up wearing with the symbols tattooed on his skin and can now fight back.

*Graceling by Kristen Cashore. A young warrior who begins to unravel a mystery about a distant kingdom as well as herself. This is a book I also recommend to middle school age peeps. 

Mystborn by Brandon Sanderson.  Really interesting take on magical powers. Unfortunately, I had a hard time getting into the following books.

*The Aeronauts Windlass by Jim Butcher.  Steam punk vibe that is fun. But be forewarned, it is part of a series and he has not finished yet.  *pout*

Raven’s Strike and Raven’s Shadow by Patricia Briggs.

-Note: I can’t in good conscience recommend the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan.  I love the series and someday I WILL finish it.  If you are down with epic, sprawling, multiple main characters over 15 ish books… then I totes recommend it.  Otherwise, I am not that cruel.

-Another Note: I want to love Niel Gaiman, I really do.  But his writing style or cadence just put me to sleep.  It makes me sad.  So anytime there is an adaptation of his books I watch them because his stories are so clever and interesting.

SciFi

Jaren by Kate Elliott.  And I am just realizing she has a whole slew of other books… how could I have missed that!!! Excuse me for a minute whilst I hop over to my online used books dealer.

Illuminae by Kaughman and Kristoph.  Amazeballs.  The story line is brilliant and twisty and has you questioning yourself every other chapter.  The writing style is super unique and clever as well. There is a second book that I have not had a chance to read yet.

*Enders Game by Orson Scott Card.  This is a book I give to people to introduce them to scifi when they say they don’t like it.  Only once out of the dozens of times I have loaned it out has a person said they were not that into it.  I also like the following books in this series but they are much more complex than the first.

The Gripping Hand, The Mote is God’s Eye, Ringworld and The Legocy of Herot by Pournell and Niven.  All different books.  All incredible. 

Old Man’s War by John Scalzi.

Dune by Frank Herbert.  Political intrigue at its best.  It is like LOTR in the fact that it can get somewhat tedious with a LOT of conversation and lack of action, but it is so worth it.

*The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglass Adams.  Silly scifi that gave us the answer to life, the universe, and everything.

Armegedons Princess by Anthony Pacheco.  I don’t even know how to describe this so I just pulled an excerpt: “ANGRY PRINCESS IS ANGRY. Investigator Lexus Nancy Toulouse, ex-soldier extreme: finds her Libido Generator is on the fritz, learns her old warship wants to "get back together", and loses whatever war-torn sanity she had left in a crime reenactment…”  (Warning: For Adult reading eyes only… and even then not for the sexually… modest)

Romance

Unbreak Me, by Michelle Hazen (Sexy Cowboy and New Orleans) Her other books are super awesome too! Modern Romance.

Warprize (First of Trilogy) by Elizabeth Vaughan. Fantasy Genre Romance

Maybe Someday by Colleen Hoover. Modern Romance.

Mark of the Witch by Maggie Shane. Modern day but discovering past lives as witches in the Middle East.

Cousins O'Dweyr Trilogy, first book is called Dark Witch, Nora Roberts. Sweet romance, modern day witches and wizards discovering ancestral purpose.

Driven to Distraction, First in the Road to Love series, by Lori Foster.  I also love her Body Armor series, Love Undercover series, and Men Who Walk the Edge of Honor series. Modern, Action Romance.

Night of Cake and Poets by Lani Taylor.  No drama, just pure happy.

Mystery

The Sister Fidelma Books (pick any) by Peter Tremayne.  Not the best writing, but this is forgivable since it is written by a historian that is an expert in medieval Irish History.  These are mystery books and although the stories are made up the context is completely historical and the main character is based off a reference to someone who once lived.

Naked in Death by JD Robb.  Murder Mystery Thriller type books.  This is a huge series.  I don’t generally like this Genre, but I really enjoy these.

Graphic Novels (Note: I am SUPER picky about graphic novels as it is not my preferred reading style and the Art can really matter to me.)

Lazarus by Greg Rucka, Michael Lark.  It’s a Graphic Novel Series that is super rad. Dystopian, near-future world which has been divided among sixteen rival families, who run their territories in a feudal system.

Monstress by Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda. The art in this is absolutely stunning.  Inspired by early 20th century Asia and Steam Punk, the story is about Maika Halfwolf, a teenage girl who shares a mysterious psychic link with a powerful monster.

Dystopian

Wool by Hugh Howey.  Honestly, I remember being super intrigued by this book all the way through, but it had its flaws.  I don’t remember much more.  But it has stuck in my memory, which is saying something, so I will recommend it.

The 5th Wave by Rick Yancy.  Listened to this on a road trip.  We often would sit in the car and not get out cause we didn’t want to stop listening.

*Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. Best dystopian books ever.

Ready Player One by Earnest Cline.  A nerdgasm for sure.

House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer.  Future north America that solved the war between US and Mexica by letting a Drug lord control a strip of land between the two.  And clones.

Fiction

Poet X by …...  The whole novel is written in poetry.  I can’t read poetry, but I can listen to it, so I did. And it slayed me. It is one I think you actually MUST listen too instead of read because the Author’s accent and emphasis is an important part of the story.

Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, Mansfield park by Jane Austin.  I love how subtly snarky she it.

Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver.  I enjoyed this book and have read her others.  I remember The Poisonwood Bible really capturing me, but I read it a million years ago and I vaguely remember the second half of the book being way more intriguing than the first half.

Non-Fiction

Let’s Pretend this Never Happened and Furiously Happy by Jenny Lawson.  She is the funniest story teller on the face of the Planet.  Bones, is you struggle with mental health, she makes you feel like a rock star.

In a Sunburned country by Bill Bryson.  Also super funny and I learned a lot.

A Fine and Pleasant Misery by Patrick McManus.  Hysterical stories of an outdoorsy sort.

Steal Like an Artist by Austin Kleon.  For anyone who is remotely creative.

Art and Fear by David Bayles and Ted Orland. This book was instrumental in me no longer feeling like a poser when I described myself as an artist.

You Just Don’t Understand by Deborah Tannen.  Humans are so freakin complex!  This book delves into the different ways of communicating and how gender culture plays a huge part.

Come as You Are by Emily Nagoski.  This book helped me unpack all the cultural and religious baggage and myths I had around sex and what is “normal”.  I wish I had found this book in my 20’s.

Talking to Strangers, and The Tipping and Point, and Blink by Malcolm Gladwell.  I also adore his podcast called Revisionist History.

Spook, Bonk, and Still by Mary Roach. I love this woman’s books, I just have a hard time with the cadence of her writing, so I listen to them instead.

Freakanomics by Stephen J. Dubner and Steven Levitt.  I have read it twice.  It is super fascinating.

The Secret Language of Color by Eckstut and Eckstut.  Both a broad coverage and in depth look at how we as humans deal with color.

Picture This by Bang.  This book on visual literacy is fun and explains why you intuitively respond to images the way you do.

Books I recommend for Middle and High School students that are great reads but don’t necessarily make my Adult Recommendation list (But obviously, as an adult, I read them and liked them so…. ):

Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor.  In Euro-centric cultures the phrase goes, “You’re a wizard, Harry!” (See book recommendation below.)  In West African centric cultures, it goes, “You’re a Leopard Person, Sunny!”

Harry Potter by J.K Rowling

Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld. This is a book I also recommend to middle school age peeps. It's 1914 and Europe is on the precipice of war between the German Clankers and British Darwinists. Both armed with futuristic weaponry and biotechnology a royal find himself on the run.

Across the Nightingale Floor by Lian Hearn.

Septimus Heap series, first book Magik, by Angie Sage.  We listened to all these on CD on road trips with our sons.  We all loved these books.  This is a book I also recommend to middle school age peeps.

Cinder by Marissa Meyer.  Ok, Ok, I know it’s a reimagined story of Cinderella, but it was really good.  Cinder is a gifted mechanic and a cyborg.

Uglies by Scott Westerfeld.  I really enjoyed these books and love the premise.  But, the case can be made that the main character’s use cutting as a solution in the second book so I don’t recommend it for people who I even remotely suspect this could be an issue for.

Divergent by Veronica Roth.  The last book in the trilogy is a might bit disappointing though.

Alanna by Tamora Pierce.  Girl who disguises herself as a boy to train as a knight.

Pride by Ibi Zoboi.  I remix of Pride and Prejudice.

Six of Crows by a Liegh Bardugo. Six kids from the slums pull of an epic heist. Super good book just not quite my cup of tea.  So not on my list above.

Miss Peregrines’ Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs.  Interesting story, loved the supplemental old pics that help tell the story.

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie