Bookshelf Tour + Recommendations Part 1

Bookshelf nr 1

Last month, I got a request to do a new and updated bookshelf tour, and since I did my last one over a year ago, I thought it was a good idea to simply comply and do it. ;) Plus, I happen to love bookshelf tours, both watching others’, and to make myself (excellent opportunity to caress my books). :)

This time, though, I thought I would do it a little bit differently. :)

You see, I’m one of those people who only buy physical copies of books that I intend to read more than once. Therefore, every single book on my shelves are, or  have been at one point, my favourites. Basically, I love these little darlings to pieces, and I want you to love them as well!

So, while showing you my books, I also want to try to persuade you into picking them up, by listing key words and such…plus maybe suggest other books that have similar styles and themes. Hopefully, you’ll find some books that you in particular might enjoy (if you know that you like funny books, sad books, etc.).

Comprendre?

Bien.

(That is French. I took it four years. I’m not particularly good at it. That’s basically all I know. Just kidding. I’m actually not kidding. This has absolutely nothing to do with the bookshelf tour. Sorry.)

Oh, and since I have a few books, I thought it would be best if I divided this thing into two parts. :)

Also, as you might know, I do have more books, but they’re at my dad’s place, and my shelves there have barely changed since last, so if you want to see what I have, just click here. :)

Let’s get this thing started :)

(click the pictures and they will magically become larger and prettier ;))

 ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦

Harry Potter by J. K. Rowling

Swedish Edition

2013 American Limited Edition Specialness

The Thoughts

These are probably the books on my shelf that I hold dearest. The Swedish ones I’ve had as long as I can remember, and the new ones are simply gorgeous.

By the way, do you think it’s weird that I have two sets of Harry Potter books next to each other? Because my friends do, and I don’t.

The Books

• Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

 The Synopsis:

Harry Potter has never played a sport while flying on a broomstick. He’s never worn a Cloak of Invisibility, befriended a giant, or helped hatch a dragon. All Harry knows is a miserable life with the Dursleys, his horrible aunt and uncle, and their abominable son, Dudley. Harry’s room is a tiny cupboard under the stairs, and he hasn’t had a birthday party in ten years.

But all that is about to change when a mysterious letter arrives by owl messenger: a letter with an invitation to a wonderful place he never dreamed existed. There he finds not only friends, aerial sports, and magic around every corner, but a great destiny that’s been waiting for him… if Harry can survive the encounter.

You should read this if you like:

• Middle Grade
• Magic
• Wizards & Witches
• Books taking place at schools
• Adventure
• Friendship
• Flawed characters
• Character development
• Brilliant detail
• Foreshadowing like holy crap
• Amazing side characters
• Owls
• Flying…things
• Magical creatures
• Continuity
• Childhood
• Growing up
• Long kept secrets
• Having your heart ripped out when you least expect it
• Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan

  ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦

Divergent by Veronica Roth

The Thoughts

Definitely one of my favourite dystopian trilogies. Also, great covers that match! 

The Books

• Divergent
• Insurgent
• Allegiant

The Synopsis:

In Beatrice Prior’s dystopian Chicago world, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue–Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is–she can’t have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.

During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles alongside her fellow initiates to live out the choice they have made. Together they must undergo extreme physical tests of endurance and intense psychological simulations, some with devastating consequences. As initiation transforms them all, Tris must determine who her friends really are–and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes exasperating boy fits into the life she’s chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she’s kept hidden from everyone because she’s been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers unrest and growing conflict that threaten to unravel her seemingly perfect society, Tris also learns that her secret might help her save the ones she loves . . . or it might destroy her.

You should read this if you like:

• Dystopians
• Action
• Strong female characters
• Romance-y OTP-ness
• Crying
• Unexpected deaths
• The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (and I don’t mean that they’re the same, just that if you like one, you’ll probably like the other)

 ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦

The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer

The Thoughts

Weirdly enough, I didn’t expect to like these when I first picked up Cinder in 2012, and now Winter is one of my most anticipated releases. I can’t think of a single thing I don’t like about them to be honest.

Also worth noting: my copy of Cress is signed! 

The Books

• Cinder
• Scarlet
• Cress

 The Synopsis:

Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl. 

Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.

You should read this if you like:

• Sci-fi
• Fairytale retellings
• Alternating PoV
• Kick-ass everything
• Comic relief
• fun fun fun
• Swoony males, man
• Future
• Cyborgs
• Pretty covers
• Great character chemistry
• Air travel/Space travel
• Seing a lot of the world
• Death by smiling too much

 ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦

The Complete Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

The Thoughts

When I bought this gorgeous thing, I wasn’t supposed to be spending money on books since I was saving up for a trip to France, but I just had to get it. And good thing that, because this thing is currently going for over $70 on Barnes&Noble, which I, quite frankly, think is crazy.  (That is no longer the case, thank god)

Oh, and to be honest, I haven’t started reading it yet, but I did read The Hound of the Baskervilles for school last year, so I have an idea of what the rest of the book’s like.

The Books

• The complete bloody thing, dude

The Synopsis (A Study in Scarlet):

In the debut of literature’s most famous sleuth, a dead man is discovered in a bloodstained room in Brixton. The only clues are a wedding ring, a gold watch, a pocket edition of Boccaccio’s Decameron, and a word scrawled in blood on the wall. With this investigation begins the partnership of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. Their search for the murderer uncovers a story of love and revenge-and heralds a franchise of detective mysteries starring the formidable Holmes.

You should read this if you like:

• Mysteries…ooh
• Bromance
• Cleverness
• Murder
• Shorter stories
• Main characters you love to hate
• Let’s be honest here, Sherlock BBC

 ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦

Inheritance by Christopher Paolini

The Thoughts

I absolutely loved this series a few years back, but I haven’t read them in a while, so I honestly don’t know what I would think now. I do know many people think it’s a rip-off of The Lord of the Rings, and whether or not that’s true, I can’t say.

This is the Swedish edition, by the way, if you didn’t recognise the covers. 

The Books

• Eragon
• Eldest
• Brisingr
• Inheritance

The Synopsis:

One boy . . .

One dragon . . .

A world of adventure.

When Eragon finds a polished blue stone in the forest, he thinks it is the lucky discovery of a poor farm boy; perhaps it will buy his family meat for the winter. But when the stone brings a dragon hatchling, Eragon soon realizes he has stumbled upon a legacy nearly as old as the Empire itself. 

Overnight his simple life is shattered, and he is thrust into a perilous new world of destiny, magic, and power. With only an ancient sword and the advice of an old storyteller for guidance, Eragon and the fledgling dragon must navigate the dangerous terrain and dark enemies of an Empire ruled by a king whose evil knows no bounds.

Can Eragon take up the mantle of the legendary Dragon Riders? The fate of the Empire may rest in his hands.

You should read this if you like:

• Dragons
• Fantasy
• Dwarves
• Elves
• War
• Magic
• Mentoring
• Travel
• Death
• Betrayal
• Character development
• Open endings
• Detailed descriptions

 ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦

Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld

The Thoughts

Another trilogy I didn’t think I would like mainly because it’s not what I usually read. It is absolutely stunning, though. Plus, the books themselves are great. They’re tall and feel a lot heavier than ordinary books, which sounds weird, but I love it! And let’s not forget the illustrations. Ah, those illustrations… 

The Books

• Leviathan
• Behemoth
• Goliath

The Synopsis:

Prince Aleksander, would-be heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, is on the run. His own people have turned on him. His title is worthless. All he has is a battletorn war machine and a loyal crew of men.

Deryn Sharp is a commoner, disguised as a boy in the British Air Service. She’s a brilliant airman. But her secret is in constant danger of being discovered.

With World War I brewing, Alek and Deryn’s paths cross in the most unexpected way…taking them on a fantastical, around-the-world adventure that will change both their lives forever.

You should read this if you like:

• Robots/war machines
• Alternating PoV
• Imaginative beasties
• History
• WW1
• War
• Steampunk
• Girls dressed as boys
• Useless princes
• Secrets
• Air travel
• Friendship
• Destiny
• Diplomacy
• Loyalty
• Major character development
• Tinges of romance
• Frustration…in a good way
• Ninnies
• Chaos Walking by Patrick Ness (they actually have almost nothing in common except boy-girl friendship out on adventures, but for some reason they remind me of each other)

 ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦

Chaos Walking by Patrick Ness

The Thoughts

This trilogy…amazing.

Also a bit taller. 

The Books

• The Knife of Never Letting Go
• The Ask and the Answer
• Monsters of Men

The Synopsis:

Prentisstown isn’t like other towns. Everyone can hear everyone else’s thoughts in an overwhelming, never-ending stream of Noise. Just a month away from the birthday that will make him a man, Todd and his dog, Manchee — whose thoughts Todd can hear too, whether he wants to or not — stumble upon an area of complete silence. They find that in a town where privacy is impossible, something terrible has been hidden — a secret so awful that Todd and Manchee must run for their lives.

But how do you escape when your pursuers can hear your every thought?

You should read this if you like:

• Running
• Alternating PoV
• Friendship
• CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT
• War
• Sci-fi
• New Planet
• Noise
• Different writing styles
• Incredible baddies
• Sweet romance
• Wow, way to break my heart
• Endings you love to hate
• Secrets
• Sadness
• Talking dogs/animals
• Mind reading
• Crying
• Oh, and if you think something good is about to happen…just keep reading

 ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦

More Than This by Patrick Ness

The Thoughts

Love the cover! Patrick Ness is one of my favourite authors. You should trust his awesomeness. 

The Books

• More Than This

The Synopsis:

A boy drowns, desperate and alone in his final moments. He dies.

Then he wakes, naked and bruised and thirsty, but alive.

How can this be? And what is this strange deserted place?

As he struggles to understand what is happening, the boy dares to hope. Might this not be the end? Might there be more to this life, or perhaps this afterlife?

You should read this if you like:

• Secrets
• Confusion…in a good way
• Plot twists
• Weirdness…in a good way

 ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦

Ignite Me by Tahereh Mafi

The Thoughts

I would do anything to get the full, matching set of this trilogy, but frustratingly enough, the first one only exists in paperback. Anger!

Deckled edges! 

The Books

• Ignite Me (third book in trilogy)

The Synopsis (Shatter Me):

Juliette hasn’t touched anyone in exactly 264 days.

The last time she did, it was an accident, but The Reestablishment locked her up for murder. No one knows why Juliette’s touch is fatal. As long as she doesn’t hurt anyone else, no one really cares. The world is too busy crumbling to pieces to pay attention to a 17-year-old girl. Diseases are destroying the population, food is hard to find, birds don’t fly anymore, and the clouds are the wrong color.

The Reestablishment said their way was the only way to fix things, so they threw Juliette in a cell. Now so many people are dead that the survivors are whispering war – and The Reestablishment has changed its mind. Maybe Juliette is more than a tortured soul stuffed into a poisonous body. Maybe she’s exactly what they need right now.

Juliette has to make a choice: Be a weapon. Or be a warrior.

You should read this if you like:

• Dystopians
• Metaphors
• Special writing styles
• Oooh, romance
• Weak becoming strong
• Oooh, unexpected
• Powers
• X-men
• Best funny but actually kind of serious leader and friend characters
• Sadness
• Pretty covers

 ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦

The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater

The Thoughts

This series is currently what’s keeping me up at night. I NEED Blue Lily, Lily Blue!

Also, The Dream Thieves is signed <3. 

The Books

• The Raven Boys
• The Dream Thieves

The Synopsis:

“There are only two reasons a non-seer would see a spirit on St. Mark’s Eve,” Neeve said. “Either you’re his true love . . . or you killed him.”

It is freezing in the churchyard, even before the dead arrive.

Every year, Blue Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother as the soon-to-be dead walk past. Blue herself never sees them—not until this year, when a boy emerges from the dark and speaks directly to her.

His name is Gansey, and Blue soon discovers that he is a rich student at Aglionby, the local private school. Blue has a policy of staying away from Aglionby boys. Known as Raven Boys, they can only mean trouble.

But Blue is drawn to Gansey, in a way she can’t entirely explain. He has it all—family money, good looks, devoted friends—but he’s looking for much more than that. He is on a quest that has encompassed three other Raven Boys: Adam, the scholarship student who resents all the privilege around him; Ronan, the fierce soul who ranges from anger to despair; and Noah, the taciturn watcher of the four, who notices many things but says very little.

For as long as she can remember, Blue has been warned that she will cause her true love to die. She never thought this would be a problem. But now, as her life becomes caught up in the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys, she’s not so sure anymore.

You should read this if you like:

• Alternating PoV
• Bromance
• Cars
• Ravens
• Boys
• Welsh kings
• Quests
• Mystery
• Latin-speaking forests
• Psychics
• Dreams
• Heartbreak
• Sneaky plot twists
• Foreshadowing
• Surprises
• Secrets
• Magic
• Baddies who might be bad, but maybe good
• Good guys who might also be a little bit bad
• Heartbreak oh did I already say that one
• Heartbreak
• LATIN
• BROMANCE
• CARS
• Eerie-ness
• I don’t care what you like, read these damn books

 ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦

The Wolves of Mercy Falls by Maggie Stiefvater

The Thoughts

Gorgeous covers, gorgeous stories!

Text in different colours! 

The Books

• Shiver
• Linger
• Forever

 The Synopsis:

For years, Grace has watched the wolves in the woods behind her house. One yellow-eyed wolf—her wolf—is a chilling presence she can’t seem to live without.

Meanwhile, Sam has lived two lives: In winter, the frozen woods, the protection of the pack, and the silent company of a fearless girl. In summer, a few precious months of being human… until the cold makes him shift back again.

Now, Grace meets a yellow-eyed boy whose familiarity takes her breath away. It’s her wolf. It has to be. But as winter nears, Sam must fight to stay human—or risk losing himself, and Grace, forever.

You should read this if you like:

• Prettiness
• Alternating PoV
• Wolves
• Winter
• Summer
• Werewolves, but the special and original kind
• Romance
• Guitar-playing
• Forests
• Self-destructive bad boys
• Poetry
• Sweet guys
• Family
• Pain

 ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦

The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

The Thoughts

Recently re-discovered my love for this book. You should read it. 

The Books

• The Scorpio Races

 The Synopsis:

It happens at the start of every November: the Scorpio Races. Riders attempt to keep hold of their water horses long enough to make it to the finish line. Some riders live. Others die.

At age nineteen, Sean Kendrick is the returning champion. He is a young man of few words, and if he has any fears, he keeps them buried deep, where no one else can see them.

Puck Connolly is different. She never meant to ride in the Scorpio Races. But fate hasn’t given her much of a chance. So she enters the competition — the first girl ever to do so. She is in no way prepared for what is going to happen.

You should read this if you like:

• Death
• Autumn
• Blood thirsty magical horses
• Small islands
• Alternating PoV
• Kind of different main characters
• Beautiful writing
• Subtle romance
• Family
• Well…death
• Horse racing

 ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦

And that, my friends, was my first shelf, and everything for this time.

Phew!

Part 2 coming tomorrow :)

Part 2

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