Books 📚

Books in Order: The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, Mockingjay

In what was once North America, the Capitol of Panem maintains its hold on its 12 districts by forcing them each to select a boy and a girl, called Tributes, to compete in a nationally televised event called the Hunger Games. Every citizen must watch as the youths fight to the death until only one remains. District 12 Tribute Katniss Everdeen has little to rely on, other than her hunting skills and sharp instincts, in an arena where she must weigh survival against love.

Books in Order: Cinder, Scarlet, Cress, Winter, Fairest

Follow along in the adventures, hardships, and romances of four princesses. Each book entails a new take on an old fairy tale, including Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel, and Snow White.

Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, or the Brothers Grimm, were well known scholars who made popular a multitude of fairy tales. Most of these stories are well known, such as “Rumpelstiltskin”, “Snow White”, “Rapunzel”, “Cinderella”, “Hansel and Gretel”, and “The Frog Prince.” But these aren’t the sweet and happy tales made popular by Disney: they are often way more gory and brutal and awesome.

Professor Lidenbrock discovers a manuscript that reveals the location of a passage to the center of the earth. Lidenbrock and his nephew Axel travel to Reykjavík, Iceland, and enlist a guide, Hans, to join their expedition. Journey to the Center of the Earth follows three adventurers who undertake a perilous expedition to the center of the earth.

Books in Order: Eragon, Eldest, Brisingr, Inheritance

Fifteen-year-old Eragon believes that he is merely a poor farm boy—until his destiny as a Dragon Rider is revealed. Gifted with only an ancient sword, a loyal dragon, and sage advice from an old storyteller, Eragon is soon swept into a dangerous tapestry of magic, glory, and power. Now his choices could save—or destroy—the Empire.

The Book Thief is a story narrated by a compassionate Death who tells us about Liesel, a girl growing up in Germany during World War II. She steals books, learns to read, and finds comfort in words. She and Max, the Jew her family protects, are the only main characters that survive the war.

Books in Order: The Lost Hero, The Son of Neptune, The Mark of Athena, The House of Hades, The Blood of Olympus

Seven demigods—Annabeth Chase, Leo Valdez, Percy Jackson and Piper McLean from Camp Half-Blood, with Jason Grace, Frank Zhang, and Hazel Levesque from Camp Jupiter—join forces. The novels detail a conflict between Greek demigods, Roman demigods, and Gaea also known as Mother Earth.

In the desolate, frozen northwest of Canada, a lone wolf fights a heroic daily fight for life in the wild. But after he is captured and cruelly abused by men, he becomes a force of pure rage. Only one man sees inside the killer to his intelligence and nobility. But can his kindness touch White Fang?

Heartless is the imagined back story of Lewis Carroll’s character the Queen of Hearts from his novel Alice in Wonderland. The story follows Catherine as a young woman who falls in love with the King’s new joker only to discover that he has been sent to Hearts for the purpose of stealing her heart.

“Katal!” The black bird repeated the two syllables again and again. “Katal! Katal!” As Gulliver Queen seeks out the meaning of the strange word, he is drawn into the world of international diplomacy – and dangerous espionage! As he follows the trail of clues, Gully acquires two friends from India who aid him in the search for a missing embassy guard.

Is it space travel that children dream of, or merely visiting other worlds? Todd had always set his heart on being an astronaut, but when he meets an alien and travels to another world, he doesn’t use a spaceship; he just hangs out in his own back yard. In Space Boy, Orson Scott Card, author of Ender’s Game, takes listeners into a strange and wonderful future, where people from another world regularly visit Earth, usually without being noticed.

Is Nick Allen a troublemaker? He really just likes to liven things up at school — and he’s always had plenty of great ideas. When Nick learns some interesting information about how words are created, suddenly he’s got the inspiration for his best plan ever…the frindle. Who says a pen has to be called a pen? Why not call it a frindle? Things begin innocently enough as Nick gets his friends to use the new word. Then other people in town start saying frindle.

Books in order: Pines, Wayward, The Last Town

Secret service agent Ethan Burke arrives in Wayward Pines, Idaho, with a clear mission: locate and recover two federal agents who went missing in the bucolic town one month earlier. As the days pass, Ethan’s investigation into the disappearance of his colleagues turns up more questions than answers. Each step closer to the truth takes Ethan further from the world he thought he knew, from the man he thought he was, until he must face a horrifying fact—he may never get out of Wayward Pines alive.

Books in Order: Divergent, Insurgent, Allegiant

Tris Prior lives in a futuristic world in which society is divided into five factions. As each person enters adulthood, he or she must choose a faction and commit to it for life. Tris chooses Dauntless — those who pursue bravery above all else. However, her initiation leads to the discovery that she is a Divergent and will never be able to fit into just one faction. Warned that she must conceal her status, Tris uncovers a looming war which threatens everyone she loves.

Books in Order: Red Queen, Glass Sword, King’s Cage, War Storm

Mare Barrow’s world is divided by blood—those with common, Red blood serve the Silver-blooded elite, who are gifted with superhuman abilities. Mare is a Red, scraping by as a thief in a poor, rural village, until a twist of fate throws her in front of the Silver court…let the adventures…begin!

Who does not know the story of the tortoise and the hare, or the boy who cried wolf? They are two of the many fables from Aesop, made legendary by time. The themes of the fables remain as fresh today as when they were first told and give an insight into the Ancient Greek world. Revive your childhood wonder and fascination with Aesop’s Fables.

A Wrinkle in Time is a science fiction and fantasy novel that follows the adventure of Meg and Charles Wallace Murry who rescue their father from captivity on planet Camazotz–in the process, saving the universe from the clutches of a evil power IT.

Books in Order: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, The Return of the King

The future of civilization rests in the fate of the One Ring, which has been lost for centuries. Powerful forces are unrelenting in their search for it. But fate has placed it in the hands of a young Hobbit named Frodo Baggins, who inherits the Ring and steps into legend. A daunting task lies ahead for Frodo when he becomes the Ringbearer – to destroy the One Ring in the fires of Mount Doom where it was forged.

When Mary Lennox’s parents suddenly die, she is sent to live with her uncle, Archibald Craven, on his remote country estate deep in the Yorkshire moors. While exploring, she discovers a hidden magical garden.

From the basics of physics to big questions about the nature of space and time, celebrated astrophysicist and science communicator Neil deGrasse Tyson breaks down the mysteries of the cosmos into bite-sized pieces. Astrophysics for Young People in a Hurry describes the fundamental rules and unknowns of our universe clearly – and with Tyson’s characteristic wit, there’s a lot of fun thrown in, too.

Books in Order: The Wishing Spell, The Enchantress Returns, A Grimm Warning, Beyond the Kingdoms, An Author’s Odyssey, Worlds Collide

The Land of Stories tells the tale of twins Alex and Conner. Through the mysterious powers of a cherished book of stories, they leave their world behind and find themselves in a foreign land full of wonder and magic where they come face-to-face with the fairy tale characters they grew up reading about.

The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling is an adventure story about a man-cub named Mowgli. Mowgli is hunted by an evil tiger named Shere Khan. Mowgli tries to live a peaceful life with other humans, but is too wild for them and too human for the wolves. Eventually Mowgli finds a home in the jungle with a pack of his own…

The Open Boat and Other Stories features four prized selections by Stephen Crane, recognized by modern critics as one of the most innovative writers of his generation. “The Open Boat” is based on a harrowing incident in the author’s life: the 1897 sinking of a ship on which he was a passenger; “The Blue Hotel” and “The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky” reflect Crane’s early travels in Mexico and the American Southwest; and the novella Maggie: A Girl of the Streets is a galvanizing portrait of life in the slums of New York City.

Books in Order: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Prince Caspian, The Voyage of The Dawn Treader, The Silver Chair, The Horse and His Boy, The Magician’s Nephew, The Last Battle

Four adventurous siblings—Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy Pevensie—step through a wardrobe door and into the land of Narnia, a land frozen in eternal winter and enslaved by the power of the White Witch. But when almost all hope is lost, the return of the Great Lion, Aslan, signals a great change . . . and a great sacrifice.

Passed down over centuries from India, Persia, and across the Arab world, the mesmerizing stories of One Thousand and One Nights (also known as the Arabian Nights) are related by the beautiful, young Scheherazade as she attempts to delay her execution.

Books in Order: Shadow and Bone, Siege and Storm, Ruin and Rising

The Shadow Fold, a swathe of impenetrable darkness crawling with monsters that feast on human flesh, is slowly destroying the once-great nation of Ravka. Alina, a pale, lonely orphan, discovers a unique power that thrusts her into the lavish world of the kingdom’s magical elite—the Grisha.

Books in Order: The False Prince, The Runaway King, The Shadow Throne

In a discontent kingdom, civil war is brewing. To unify the people, Conner, a nobleman of the court, devises a plan to find an impersonator of the king’s long-lost son and install him as a puppet prince. An extraordinary adventure filled with danger and action, lies and deadly truths that will have readers clinging to the edge of their seats.

The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling is an adventure story about a man-cub named Mowgli. Mowgli is hunted by an evil tiger named Shere Khan. Mowgli tries to live a peaceful life with other humans, but is too wild for them and too human for the wolves. Eventually Mowgli finds a home in the jungle with a pack of his own.

Stories of magic, superstition, and witchcraft were strictly forbidden in the little town of Salem Village. But a group of young girls ignored those rules, spellbound by the tales told by a woman named Tituba. When questioned about their activities, the terrified girls set off a whirlwind of controversy as they accused townsperson after townsperson of being witches. Author Shirley Jackson examines in careful detail this horrifying true story of accusations, trials, and executions that shook a community to its foundations.

Books in Order: Legend, Prodigy, Champion

Legend takes place in a post-war America that’s definitely not what it used to be. The government is totalitarian, and the class divides are pretty terrible. Day—one of the main characters—comes from the slums of Los Angeles, a place where people regularly die of the plague and are worked to death in factories. June—the other main character—comes from a rich and privileged family.

Who can outsmart a pack of pirates and the murderous Long John Silver? Who is fearless enough to single-handedly board a ship and steal it back? Who else but the most daring lad of all — young Jim Hawkins! Get ready for excitement and terror — from the moment Jim finds a treasure map to the final hunt for buried gold.

At first the girl is optimistic: they have food aplenty, candles for light, and even a visit from Lady Saren’s true love, Khan Tegus – though he can only call to them from outside their walls. But Saren is ill of mind, the outside world is changing, and their circumstances soon grow desperate. And even if they do escape, they must still face the eerie malice of Lord Khasar. To survive, Dashti and Saren forge a bond of devotion and deception that will test them to their limits.

Born with facial differences that, up until now, have prevented him from going to a mainstream school, Auggie Pullman becomes the most unlikely of heroes when he enters the local fifth grade. As his family, his new classmates, and the larger community all struggle to discover their compassion and acceptance, Auggie’s extraordinary journey will unite them and prove you can’t blend in when you were born to stand out.

Books in Order: Sorcerer’s Stone, Chamber of Secrets, Prisoner of Azkaban, Goblet of Fire, Order of the Phoenix, Half-Blood Prince, Deathly Hallows.

Harry Potter has never even heard of Hogwarts when the letters start dropping on the doormat at number four, Privet Drive. Addressed in green ink on yellowish parchment with a purple seal, they are swiftly confiscated by his grisly aunt and uncle. Then, on Harry’s eleventh birthday, a great beetle-eyed giant of a man called Rubeus Hagrid bursts in with some astonishing news: Harry Potter is a wizard, and he has a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. An incredible adventure is about to begin!

Books in Order: The Lightning Thief, Sea of Monsters, Titan’s Curse, Battle of the Labyrinth, Last Olympian

Percy Jackson is a good kid, but he can’t seem to focus on his schoolwork or control his temper. And lately, being away at boarding school is only getting worse — Percy could have sworn his pre-algebra teacher turned into a monster and tried to kill him.

Sherlock Holmes did not lose his life at the Reichenbach Falls. Nor has three years of absence taken away his power to startle the faithful Dr. Watson. But it is the Park Lane mystery—the murder of the Honorable Ronald Adair—that brings Holmes back to life and the search for the second most dangerous man in London. And when that case is satisfactorily concluded, Holmes is once again free to devote himself to examining 12 more of those interesting little problems that the complex life of London so plentifully presents.