A Little Historical Fiction, A Little Fantasy

Try these books if you're looking for:

• historical fiction
• fantasy
• NOT dystopian
• some romance

Into the Wilderness 
By Sara Donati
F DONATI Wilderne #1
Settler Elizabeth Bonner arrives in the American Frontier and unexpectedly falls in love. Donati's books are compared to Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series because of the historical stories as well as romance. This book is full of character development as well as a strong female lead.

The Heretic's Daughter 
By Kathleen Kent
F KENT
Young Sarah Carrier tries to cope with life in Salem, Massachusetts, after her mother, Martha Carrier, is accused, tried, and hanged as a witch. Based on fact and the author's family history, the story portrays Martha, Sarah's mother, as a strong-willed nonconformist who knows she is a target of the zealots who pit family members against one another with their false accusations. Kent writes strong female characters into her stories and the historical detail is fantastic.

Confessions of An Ugly Stepsister 
By Gregory Maguire
F MAGUIRE
Gregory Maguire spins a tale based on Cinderella. Iris Fisher, her mother, and her mentally simple sister Ruth work as servants in the 17th-century Dutch home of an artist. Iris' mother ingratiates herself with the painter's patron and later marries him, making plain-looking Iris and Ruth stepsisters of the man's lovely daughter, Clara. The storytelling is magical and his characters drive the story. 

Trickster's Choice 
By Tamora Pierce
YA F PIERCE Daughter #1
Alianne must call forth her mother's courage and her father's wit in order to survive on the Copper Isles in a royal court rife with political intrigue and murderous conspiracy. Readers who like Shannon Hale will like the adventurous characters in Pierce's series.

Good Clean Teen (Reads) Fun

Try these books if you're looking for:

• teen books
• action/adventure
• good storytelling
• clean reads
• reads like Harry Potter, Ella Enchanted, Hunger Games, With a Name Like Love, True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle

Enchanted 
By Alethea Kontis
YA KONTIS Woodcutt #1
When Sunday Woodcutter, the youngest sibling to sisters named for the other six days of the week, kisses an enchanted frog, he transforms back into Rumbold, the crown prince of Arilland--a man Sunday's family despises.

The Naming 
By Alison Croggon
YA F CROGGON
A manuscript from the lost civilization of Edil-Amarandah chronicles the experiences of sixteen-year-old Maerad, an orphan gifted in the magic and power of the Bards, as she escapes from slavery and begins to learn how to use her Gift to stave off the evil Darkness that threatens to consume her world.

Insignia 
By S. J. Kincaid
YA F KINCAID
Tom, a fourteen-year-old genius at virtual reality games, is recruited by the United States Military to begin training at the Pentagon Spire as a Combatant in World War III, controlling the mechanized drones that do the actual fighting off-planet.

Crossing the Tracks 
By Barbara Stuber
YA F STUBER
In Missouri in 1926, fifteen-year-old Iris Baldwin discovers what family truly means when her father hires her out for the summer as a companion to a country doctor's invalid mother.

Great Action/Adventure Reads

Try these books if you're looking for:

• action/adventure stories
• focus on history and science details in the plot
• settings all over the world
• Reads like James Rollins, Steve Berry, Vince Flynn, Chris Kuzneski, Boyd Morrison, Clive Cussler, Matthew Reilly, Douglas Preston, Lincoln Child, Lee Child

Vulcan’s Forge 
By Jack Du Brul
F DU BRUL Philip M #1
The dramatic eruption of a volcano in the Pacific Ocean results in a world-wide battle for domination when it becomes obvious that Vulcan's Forge can provide a limitless supply of clean nuclear energy.

Hawke 
By Ted Bell
F BELL Alex Haw #1
A modern-day swashbuckler and one of England's most decorated naval heroes, Lord Alexander Hawke heads for the Caribbean on a top-secret mission for the U.S. government to locate an experimental stealth submarine built by the Soviets just prior to the end of the Cold War which has fallen into the hands of an unstable government planning a preemptive strike against the U.S.

Summer Chick-Lit Reads

Try these books if you're looking for:

• Some romance
• Good characterization
• Good plot
• Clean read

The Short-Straw Bride 
By Karen Witemeyer
ROMANCE WITEMEYE
No one steps on Archer land. Not if they value their life. But when Meredith Hayes overhears a lethal plot to burn the Archer brothers off their ranch, a twelve-year-old debt compels her to take the risk. Fourteen years of constant vigilance hardens a man. Yet when Travis Archer confronts a female trespasser with the same vivid blue eyes as the courageous young girl he once aided, he can't bring himself to send her away. And when an act of sacrifice leaves her injured and her reputation in shreds, gratitude and guilt send him riding to her rescue once again. Despite the fact that Travis is no longer the gallant youth Meredith once dreamed about, she determines to stand by his side against the enemy that threatens them both. But will love ever be hers? Or will Travis always see her merely as a short-straw bride?

Edenbrooke 
By Julianne Donaldson
ROMANCE DONALDSO
When Marianne receives an invitation to spend the summer with her twin sister in Edenbrooke, she has no idea of the romance and adventure that await her once she meets the dashing Sir Philip.

Some Well-Crafted Fiction

Try these books if you're looking for:

• fiction with well-crafted plots and characters
• stories that don't feel rushed but have a planned pace
• inspiring fiction
• YA fiction
• clean reads

Dragon's Milk 
By Susan Fletcher
YA F FLETCHER Dragon_C #1
Kaeldra, an outsider adopted by an Elythian family as a baby, possesses the power to understand dragons and uses this power to try to save her younger sister who needs dragon's milk to recover from an illness.

A Wizard of Earthsea 
By Ursula Le Guin
YA F LE GUIN Earthsea #1
A boy grows to manhood while attempting to subdue the evil he unleashed on the world as an apprentice to the Master Wizard.

Dragonsong 
By Anne McCaffrey
YA F MCCAFFRE Harper #1
Forbidden by her father to indulge in music in any way, a girl on the planet Pern runs away, taking shelter with the planet's fire lizards who, along with her music, open a new life for her.

Shadow Spinner 
By Susan Fletcher
YA F FLETCHER
This historical novel takes the reader back to Persia during the Middle Ages. It is the story of Marjan, forced to join the Sultan’s harem as she helps Shahrazod gather new stories to entertain the Sultan, thus saving Shahrazod’s life. The story introduces the reader to the fear-filled lives of women during the time, focusing on those kept behind the harem’s closed doors.

Realistic Fiction

Try these books if you're looking for:

• realistic stories from everyday life
• focus on characters and relationships
• Read like The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and How to Be an American Housewife

The House I Loved 
By Tatiana de Rosnay
F ROSNAY
Determined to protect her historical family home from Emperor Napoleon's orders to renovate 1860s Paris, Rose Bazelet establishes a defense in the basement of her house on rue Childebert and records her experiences in letters to her late husband. Also available as a downloadable eAudiobook.

The Language Inside 
By Holly Thompson
YA F THOMPSON
Raised in Japan, American-born tenth-grader Emma is disconcerted by a move to Massachusetts for her mother's breast cancer treatment, because half of Emma's heart remains with her friends recovering from the tsunami.

I'll Be Seeing You 
By Suzanne Hayes
F HAYES
With their husbands away fighting in the war in January 1943, Rita Vincenzo and Glory Whitehall have only their cross-country correspondence to keep them going.

Gilead 
By Marilynne Robinson
F ROBINSON
As the Reverend John Ames approaches death, he writes a letter to his son revealing uncomfortable family secrets. Also available as a downloadable eAudiobook.