Book Recommendations

Many of you probably know by now that I'm a huge bookworm and I read in most of my spare time. I decided to put together a list of book recommendations that I really enjoyed and I think you will as well. Although my favourite genres are fantasy, science fiction and dystopian novels, I tried to pick books from a variety of different genres, but they're all teenage fiction.

The first book series is my absolute favourite and consists of 6 books, not including the prequel series. It's the Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare, the first book being City of Bones. When ordinary girl Clary Fray is introduced to shadowhunters, a secret race of humans that have angel blood, she discovers that her world isn't as it seems. After her mother is kidnapped, she goes on an unforgettable journey to find her, meeting friends and enemies. She encounters warlocks, vampires, werewolves, demons, angels and fair folk. This book series is so beautiful. The plot lines are really good and there are some huge plot twists and the characters are perfect. Although there is some romance between the main characters Clary and Jace (and some other side romances), there's also a lot of action and emotional parts to the book. I'd recommend this to girls and boys, as it's such a great book that anyone would enjoy.

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I decided to pick a contemporary book for the next one, as they're often quite popular as many people love to read about other ordinary people. Despite not being a huge fan of the genre, Looking for Alaska by John Green is the one book which made me doubt that. You may know him for writing the infamous The Fault In Our Stars, but I have to say I didn't think it was as good. Looking for Alaska is about a boy called Miles Halter (often called Pudge throughout the book) who moves to a boarding school and becomes friends with Alaska, The Colonel, Takumi and Lara. We follow the adventures of young adults experimenting with love, fighting and many more things, until the death of one of the main characters turns everything around. This is the first time I ever cried at a book, which just shows how well John Green can capture the audience with his writing. It's so emotional and well written, with all of the characters being really developed and deep.

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Another genre which I haven't read many things from is historical fiction. My friend Anna got me the Book Thief by Markus Zusak for my birthday back in January and I couldn't put it down until I'd finished it. It's a stand alone book that's set in Nazi Germany during WW2. Liesel Meminger is a German girl who is moved to the outskirts of Molching to live with Rosa and Hans Hubberman. After finding a book when her brother died, she goes through an adventure of learning to read, as well as going about her everyday life as a child before the war. She meets Rudy who she bonds with over their love of thieving and Max, who is a Jewish man in hiding. This book was really good and I certainly wasn't expecting what happened at the end! I also like how death narrates this book, it's very interesting.

en.wikipedia.org

As I really like fantasy novels, I'm also recommending this book series, which is Hush Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick. I'd call this more of a paranormal romance, as the main themes of the book relate to the relationship between Nora, a normal girl, and Patch, a fallen angel. In some of the later books, we are also introduced to Scott, one of many Nephilim, and various different archangels. I love this book as it shows how much Nora and Patch will go through to make their relationship work, despite it not being allowed by the archangels and other complications. There are so many interesting plot twists and the end of the last book 'Finale' is quite sad, so be prepared. I also like these books as they're quite a light read, averaging at over 400 pages per book, as it doesn't take ages to get into them and the action isn't too prolonged.

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The last book I'm going to recommend is a horror book, which is a new genre to me. I read the Woman In Black by Susan Hill after my English teacher telling me about it. I'd already seen the film, which I was terrified at, but I have to say I enjoyed the book more, which is usually the case. This book is written in the style of a Gothic novel, which makes it more original and haunting. Arthur Kipps attends the funeral of Alice Drablow. After sorting through her papers in Eel Marsh House, he encounters a ghost that is after children. This book is very chilling and probably a bit more mature than the others I've recommended. However, if you're into the thrilling, intensely scary scenes, they're only really at the end, but this book has some beautiful word choices and descriptions that I fell in love with.