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.
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! 💗
I really enjoyed The Host as well. It was very different than anything else I have read from Stephenie Meyer, but it was really cool at the same time.
ReplyDeleteYes!! It was so different from her other books, but so unique and I loved the romance and everything really. If I remember right when I first read it, I'd been very into romantic reads that weren't ''normal'' because I'd never really gotten into the high school romance ones or regular contemporaries (I like them more now tho).
Deletethere are many books here I have and I have been dying to get to like ELiza. I bought Stitching Snow precisely because of the cover's its Lunar Chronicles vibe! Hop you are well Noel!
ReplyDeleteThank you I am! Hope you're doing well too!! <3
DeleteStitching Snow is so good, and I definitely suggest it but warning: there is an adult theme brought up later in the book that is something the main character goes through!
Eliza and Unhoneymooners are favorites, but I also really enjoyed Austenland. It was very fun.
ReplyDeleteEek, yes!! (I'm mentally high-fiving you right now lol.)
DeleteThe Unhoneymooners! The Bathroom of Doom! Hahaha, I still crack up whenever I think about it. I really want to read Eliza and her Monsters, and The Night Circus was a lovely audiobook. <3
ReplyDeleteLindsi @ Do You Dog-ear? 💬
Yes, that was hilarious! I'm trying to get a friend to read it right now but I don't want to spoil her lol!
DeleteEliza and her Monsters was such a good read, cute doesn't sound right because honestly it's one of those books that are like unique with their own personality which makes it harder to describe! Hope you get to read it soon!! <3
I enjoyed Eliza and Her Monsters a lot! I loved that parts of Eliza's webcomic were included in the book.
ReplyDeleteI've been planning to read The Night Circus for a while, and I'm excited to see what I think of it!
Yes, I really liked that those were included! It made it feel like we got to go even deeper in Eliza's mind!
DeleteHope you enjoy The Night Circus!! It took me forever to pick up a copy, but I absolutely did not regret it!!