Bookshelf

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I read a lot so I have a lot of books to recommend people. Most of them are series, so I may only make one entry for the series. Especially since a few of them are long or on-going. Warning you now, it's a lot of sci-fi and some fantasy. And I don't limit myself to age appropriate because I'm too old to give a damn. There's going to be some kids books on here. I already know this is going to be a long-term project as I go thru my G00dreads and grab the books I want to share. Keep checking back I guess?

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Wayward Children Series

By Seanan McGuire

Wayward Children is a series of novellas that take place at a boarding school for children who have journeyed to magical lands and been forcibly returned to the real world. The volumes alternate between being set at the school versus showing the lives of the children while they were in their alternate worlds.

This series is so important and special to me. It gives me reason to be excited at the beginning of every new year, as the books are released each January. Not only is Seanan McGuire one of my favorite authors, but she's also one of my favorite people to follow on social media. She's queer, so everything she writes is queer, and this series is no exception. The cast is so diverse and the characters are so deep and real. All of the kids (and most of the adults, including the owner) of this boarding school has gone through Doors to own fantasy world and, for one reason or another, come back to this world. Most of them are still looking for their Door home.

The odd numbered books are set in the present day and follow some of the kids at the school as they go on quests they're definitely not supposed to be going on. The even numbered books tell some character's backstory of how they found their Door and what happened on the other side of it. Being novellas, these books are quick and easy reads (I've read many of them 4+ times) but despite their short length, nothing feels rushed. You get exactly the amount of information required to tell a good story, and nothing more or less. They're wonderfully paced, delightfully written, and even include beautiful illustrations. If you read nothing I recommend, read these books. I'm begging you. And then come tell me, I love talking about them.

InCryptid Series

By Seanan McGuire

InCryptid is a series of urban fantasy novels that follow multiple generations of a family of cryptozoologists who protect supernatural beings from discovery by humankind.

I've never gotten into one of these kinds of long, on-going series before, but this one is definitely worth it. The books follow a family of cryptozoologists, with the narrator rotating every couple of books. We get so many different perspectives of what this supernatural life is like. Every member of the family is unique and interesting and their adventures are always a thrill. And honestly, the books only get better as they go. This isn't one of those series where the same thing happens over and over, there's no formula being followed. It's just one crazy roller-coaster with twists and turns you will never see coming!

Alechemical Journeys Series

By Seanan McGuire

Alechemy, evil plots, secret worlds hidden right under our noses. This series has it all. It's really complex and hard to follow sometimes, but if you just trust and keep going, it is more than worth it in the end.

Wayfarers Series

By Becky Chambers

This series is a practically brand-new subgenre of sci-fi that people are calling "cozy sci-fi". Everything Becky Chambers has written so far fits into this new genre she invented. Each book in this series is connected and chronologically follows the previous, but they aren't one continuous narrative. The books each follow a different group of people and are mostly slice-of-life type stories, set in space, with aliens and shit. They are all connected though, but you'll have to read them to understand how.

I've honestly never read such wonderful culture building as I have in this series. Each alien species we meet, even the futuristic humans, have a thoroughly fleshed out culture that you learn about in a very natural and casual pace. There's no long history class chapter to explain everything to you, you just pick it up as you go. And the diversity! Oh! The diversity!! The aliens aren't just "humans but better" (looking at you (lovingly) Star Trek), they are truly ALIEN. Even the humans are wondefully diverse. A friend of mine referred to it as "queer-norm", where in this future setting, queerness is completely normalized and things like "coming out" aren't problems or even plot points. The Galactic Commons (the government uniting all of these alien species) has a common language (translated to present day English for us) including gender neutral pronouns and honorifics, so you see those used very frequently.

I genuinely recommend this series to all queers forever. See what a future could be like with us properly included. It's not utopia, it's just cozy.

Monk and Robot Series

By Becky Chambers

This series is more "cozy sci-fi" from Becky Chambers. It follows a non-binary tea monk and a robot who are searching together for the answer to the robots' question: "what do humans need?" In a time where humans have learned their lessons about over-industrialization, this is actually a difficult question to answer. But following them and enjoying their world with them is a wonderful experience.

To Be Taught, If Fortunate

By Becky Chambers

This stand alone novella follows a crew of astronauts as they explore some exoplanets, knowing the Earth they return to will be very different from the one they left... if they can return at all.

Ender's Game

By Orson Scott Card

Ender's Game is a 1985 military science fiction novel by American author Orson Scott Card. Set at an unspecified date in Earth's future, the novel presents an imperiled humankind after two conflicts with an insectoid alien species they dub "the buggers". In preparation for an anticipated third invasion, Earth's international military force recruits young children, including the novel's protagonist, Andrew "Ender" Wiggin, to be trained as elite officers. The children learn military strategy and leadership by playing increasingly difficult war games, including some in zero gravity, where Ender's tactical genius is revealed.

A classic sci-fi novel that got turned into a terrible movie. Seriously, don't bother with it. This book is much darker than it seems on the surface, and moreso if you read the parallel novel, Ender's Shadow. The rest of the Ender series is almost completely disconnected from the first book, but still worth reading once, in my opinion. It follows Ender and Valentine across the expanding universe as humans colonize more planets and Ender faces his guilt over what he did in the first book. And then there's a lot of completely unhinged stuff going on that I can't even begin to describe.

There is also a series that goes along with Ender's Shadow, the parallel book that follows the character Bean, who is basically the "back up" for Ender, should he fail. I haven't read the Shadow series, but it follows Bean and the other battle school kids as they return to Earth and become the center of the world war that breaks out.

Ready Player One

By Ernest Cline

Genuinely, one of the nerdiest books ever written. A treasure hunt style story set in a future with a popular virtual reality world full of nerd references from the 80s, this is easily one of my favorite books of all time. I even highly recommend the audiobook, which is narrated by Wil Wheaton. Unfortunately, the movie was horrendous. It's not even the same story, so please do me a favor and DON'T watch it. Read the book. Or the audiobook. (Wait, isn't there a sequel? Yeah, and it's.... fine. I think this books stands better on its own, personally.)

The Hunger Games Series

By Suzanne Collins

We all know this series. Seriously, it's been a huge hit for the books and the movies. The main series follows Katniss, a girl just trying to stay alive in a horrible game that pits her against other children in a fight to the death. She accidentally becomes the face of the rebellion when her actions of love are seen as defiance. I really love this series so much, I've reread it multiple times. The story is amazing, the characters are so well written, the world is so well designed. I even love how, for once, the protagonist of a YA dystopian series is shown to have weakness and be traumatized by the things she's gone through. More protagonists should be suffering from PTSD.

Even the prequels of this series are amazing. The first one, taking us way back to the 10th game (64 years before book 1), shows us that our antagonist from the main series, President Snow, has always been an awful person, even as a teenager. The second, taking place during the 50th game, follows Haymitch, Katniss's mentor. Honestly, I love his story so much and it made him one of my favorite characters in the series.

The Legendborn Cycle

By Tracy Deonn

Let me start this off with: at the time of writing this, I have not read book 3.

We've got black girl magic mixing with privileged white boy magic here. Seriously. A black girl is infiltrating a secret society of demon hunters who are descended from King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table to find out the truth to her mother's death. She gets in way over her head very quickly, diving head first into not one, but TWO magical worlds she previously knew nothing about. And by the second book, there's a THIRD magical world.

Now, the second book has some pacing issues. The author tried to pack in way too much new information in an attempt to keep this series a trilogy. It's going to be at least 4 books now, if I'm not mistaken. The first book was fantastic, the second was very good if you set aside the fact that the characters never get to breathe. I have high hopes for the third since the author took longer to work on it and decided to extend the series.

The Disasters

By M.K. England

A kick ass, action packed, stand alone novel about teens in space. What more could you want? Oh, not a single protagonist (it's a group) is a cishet white male. If I remember correctly, only the antagonist is. Bonus points for the leader of the group being a bisexual brown boy! There's even a trans girl?? Could this get any better?? Did I mention it's in space?? YA sci-fi that isn't romance centered is a bit... rare. Althought this bookshelf might have you thinking otherwise.

The Aurora Cycle

By Aime Kaufman & Jay Kristoff

Teens on a space adventure! Really my favorite type of story. We've got a group of space teens fresh out of space academy, who pick up a girl in cryostasis on a derelict ship. She's way out of her own time and she's got that "chosen one" destiny stink all over. Honestly, I live for this stuff. The characters are really diverse and interesting. The aliens do suffer from "Star Trek syndrome" (they're all human shaped) but they're still fun.

The Illuminae Files

By Aime Kaufman & Jay Kristoff

Wow, would you believe it, but there's MORE teens on a space adventure! This series is probably best read in a physical format due to the amount of artistic rendering of some of the passages. It is honestly visually beautiful. However, I'm happy to report that the audiobooks are also incredibly well done! The visuals are surprisingly well represented with audio. The way the story is told is also incredibly unique. We are following not a direct narrative, but a series of files compiled to form a story of the events that took place. Some of these are logs, transcriptions of security camera footage, text messages, personal diary entries, etc. It's a very cool way to tell a story and its a good story being told.

Note: I'm well known for not liking gore or horror. This series has a bit of an exception. There's a part in the first book that is incredibly graphic zombie horror on a space ship. If this were made into a movie, I wouldn't be able to watch it. So heads up.