STANDALONES You HAVE To READ | Noel's Bookish Recs

  So I realized that I haven't been giving a lot of book recommendations or telling you guys what my list of ''forever favorite books'' are!
 However.... I have a list for my lists...so....

 My book recommendations will only be my favorite books that I definitely suggest and will be grouped in different lists (Ex: retellings, standalone, middle grades, etc.) 😀👏


So here's Noel's All-Time Favorite Standalone Books!

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

AMAZON | GOODREADS


  This ultimate classic is for any chick-flick lover, it's romance and comedy central! To this day I will read any retelling and any ''sequel'' of it that someone writes *squeals*.

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

AMAZON | GOODREADS

  Magic and romance intertwine in the fight for this magical circus, making this a forever favorite! I had been suggested to read this a while ago, but finally, read it and fell in love with it last year! While some bookworms re-read Harry Potter in the fall, this is the one I re-read in October!

Stitching Snow by R. C. Lewis

AMAZON | GOODREADS

 There is a sensitive theme in the plot that is only in the last couple of chapters, so this is not for a younger audience but it's a sci-fi Snow White retelling that makes you think of the Lunar Chronicles and Star Wars!
  There's nothing gone into detail with the sensitive theme (it's really just something dark in her past).

Austenland by Shannon Hale

AMAZON | GOODREADS

  Any fan of Mr. Darcy or Jane Austen at all has to read this!!

Eliza and Her Monsters by Francesca Zappia

AMAZON | GOODREADS

  She's a secretly famous writer of a webcomic online, and he's one of her biggest fans and doesn't even know it.
 An adorable and beautiful YA romance that will stick with you long after.

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë

AMAZON | GOODREADS

  Orphaned as a child, Jane has felt an outcast her whole young life. Her courage is tested once again when she arrives at Thornfield Hall, where she has been hired by the brooding, proud Edward Rochester to care for his ward Adèle. Jane finds herself drawn to his troubled yet kind spirit. She falls in love. Hard.

  But there is a terrifying secret inside the gloomy, forbidding Thornfield Hall. Is Rochester hiding from Jane? Will Jane be left heartbroken and exiled once again?


  This was the romantic classic that occupied my time when I wasn't reading Pride and Prejudice again, it's one that I've read numerous times and have watched every film version made of it!

Hawksmaid by Kathryn Lasky

AMAZON | GOODREADS


A wonderful Robin Hood and Maid Marian retelling, it's technically middle-grade, but it's got a special place in my heart!

Heartless by Marissa Meyer

AMAZON | GOODREADS

Long before she was the terror of Wonderland—the infamous Queen of Hearts—she was just a girl who wanted to fall in love.

Catherine may be one of the most desired girls in Wonderland, and a favorite of the unmarried King of Hearts, but her interests lie elsewhere. A talented baker, all she wants is to open a shop with her best friend. But according to her mother, such a goal is unthinkable for the young woman who could be the next queen.

Then Cath meets Jest, the handsome and mysterious court joker. For the first time, she feels the pull of true attraction. At the risk of offending the king and infuriating her parents, she and Jest enter into an intense, secret courtship. Cath is determined to define her own destiny and fall in love on her terms. But in a land thriving with magic, madness, and monsters, fate has other plans.

Roseblood by A. G. Howard

AMAZON | GOODREADS

A teen standalone retelling of the Phantom of the Opera, but with a paranormal twist and set modern day!

The Host by Stephanie Meyer

AMAZON | GOODREADS

  Melanie Stryder refuses to fade away. The earth has been invaded by a species that take over the minds of human hosts while leaving their bodies intact. Wanderer, the invading "soul" who has been given Melanie's body, didn't expect to find its former tenant refusing to relinquish possession of her mind.

  As Melanie fills Wanderer's thoughts with visions of Jared, a human who still lives in hiding, Wanderer begins to yearn for a man she's never met. Reluctant allies, Wanderer and Melanie set off to search for the man they both love.

The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren

AMAZON | GOODREADS

Olive is always unlucky: in her career, in love, in…well, everything. Her identical twin sister Ami, on the other hand, is probably the luckiest person in the world. Her meet-cute with her fiancé is something out of a romantic comedy (gag) and she’s managed to finance her entire wedding by winning a series of Internet contests (double gag). Worst of all, she’s forcing Olive to spend the day with her sworn enemy, Ethan, who just happens to be the best man.

Olive braces herself to get through 24 hours of wedding hell before she can return to her comfortable, unlucky life. But when the entire wedding party gets food poisoning from eating bad shellfish, the only people who aren’t affected are Olive and Ethan. And now there’s an all-expenses-paid honeymoon in Hawaii up for grabs.

Putting their mutual hatred aside for the sake of a free vacation, Olive and Ethan head for paradise, determined to avoid each other at all costs. But when Olive runs into her future boss, the little white lie she tells him is suddenly at risk to become a whole lot bigger. She and Ethan now have to pretend to be loving newlyweds, and her luck seems worse than ever. But the weird thing is that she doesn’t mind playing pretend. In fact, she feels kind of... lucky.

What are some of your favorite standalone reads??

Have you read any of these or plan to??



Thanks for reading!!
~Books with Noel

P. S. if you need prayers, please let me know in the comments!! Hope you're all safe and well! 💗