While we all wish that the Coronavirus would just go away, I think we all know that it's going to be here for a while. While this virus as become more than a nuisance in our daily lives, look on the bright side, with everything being canceled, we have way more time to read! Here are a few great books I've read this year that I think you'll enjoy during all this off time!
10. Tombquest by Michael Northrop
Alex Sennefer spends his idle time in the museum his mom works at, exploring the many wings and viewing incredible artifacts up close. Never in a million years would Alex expect The Book of the Dead, a series of Egyptian scrolls foretold in legend, to show up at the museum, let alone cause Alex's medical condition to flare up, pushing him to near death. When Alex's mom is told he isn't expected to survive, she knows that the only way to cure a curse placed by The Book of the Dead is to use the scrolls to break it. But even after Alex is cured, the book has no intention of letting him go his way. Alex's mom goes missing, attacks begin to happen around the city, and evil spirits known as Death Walkers have come back to life. The only way to save the world from a destruction millions of years old is to kill the Death Walkers once more, as well as locate the now missing Book of the Dead, and now it's up to Alex to fix it.
9. Immortal by Gillian Shields
While some would die for an invitation to the elite Wyldcliffe Abbey School, young Evie Johnson would want nothing less. Sadly, that is a future she faces, one far from home and any independence of her own. All of Evie's new classmates come from lavishly rich families, and are far from wanting to befriend poor scholarship student Evie, preferring to try and make her school experience as horrible as possible. Just when Evie considers escaping her horrible life at Wyldcliffe, she meets Sebastian, a mysterious young boy who has lived on the school campus for many years. Sebastian knows more of Wyldcliffe Abbey School's history more than he should, and he seems to have a strange connection to Evie. When Evie begins to see visons of a ghostly figure that resembles her, she begins to unravel the secrets of Sebastian's hidden past, one that will have her choose between true love and what's right.
8. The Girl Who Could Fly by Victoria Forester
You would never be able to guess that Piper McCloud was "different" just by looking at her. A seemingly normal little girl, Piper has lived on her family's farm since birth, harvesting apples day in and day out. But Piper has a secret, one that could cost her very life if the wrong someone found out- the fact she can fly. A trait she's had since she was a baby, the McCloud family is contacted by Dr. Hellion, a woman who runs a institute helping special kids like Piper. Fearing for her safety among the other townspeople, Piper's parents decide it's best if she lives at the institute for a while, perhaps even the doctor can find a way to help Piper hide her powers. At first, Piper likes her new home, a place where she can be herself, learn about her DNA, and talk to other kids who have special abilities like her. But the seemingly friendly institute is doing something unimaginable to Piper's new friends, a process that could hurt Piper next. Now it's up to her to free her classmates, as well as put a stop to the shady background of her captors.
7. Museum of Thieves by Lian Tanner
Jewel is a city controlled by the almighty Blessed Guardians, a council composed of only the strongest and the rich. Whatever the Blessed Guardians says goes, no matter what, and if anyone dares oppose them, they'll face horrible consequences. Children in Jewel are forced to stay locked up, bound by a guardchain until Separation Day, the day kids are allowed out of their chains and cuffs. When an unexplained murder causes Separation Day to be cancelled, Goldie, one of the bound children, makes a hasty escape to a future of freedom, but also one of danger. Seeking refuge in an old museum, Goldie discovers the museum is one that the thieves of Jewel can hide in, one that
s everchanging walls and hallways keep them safe from the Guardians. The thieves of the museum threaten the delicate power the Blessed Guardians have spent so long establishing, and now that wanted runaway Goldie is harbored with them, the Guardians will stop at nothing to kill her and her new friends.
6. Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit by Nahoko Uehashi
Balsa, after 30 years of periless battle and months upon months of experience of bodyguard training, may be facing her greatest challenge yet. Secretly hired by the queen, Balsa must protect Prince Chagum, a boy being hunted by his own father due to the fact Chagum is being possesed by an unborn water spirit, one that will bring an endless drought if it hatches. In truth, the water spirit is possessing the prince to prevent the drought, and if Chagum cannot reach the place where the spirit shall be born, the drought will devastate the land. With her own life on the line if she fails, Balsa must ensure the prince reaches his destination, no matter the challenges.
5. Horizon by Scott Westerfeld
No one had expected that day to go so horribly wrong. No one could have predicted that the flight would go down, leaving eight unrelated kids as the only survivors. Trapped in a alien biome, one that couldn't possibly exist on earth let alone in the supposed artic, the eight must learn to come together to survive the illusive and unexplainable new land. Animals and plants like the kids have never seen emerge, and the mysteries of the land and the plane crash seem to go deeper and deeper. If there's one thing for sure, the land doesn't want the kids to escape, and will do anything to keep them here, even if it means killing them.
4. Storm Siren by Mary Weber
The war that has been raging for several years around the kingdom of Faelen shows no signs of stoppings, only to continue and take thousands of more lives with it. But some even have it worse than being dead. One of them is Nym, a slave sold from master to master since she was a toddler. But it's not her work ethic that makes her desirable, nor her striking appearance, but the powerful secret that shouldn't even let her exist. Nym is not human, but far from it. She is an elemental, a powerful being that are outlawed to live, a species that are always born male. Sold to noblewoman Adora, Nym is handed over to Eogan, a special trainer with a special power of his own. Eogan promises to help Nym to control her deadly powers, at the price she will have to fight in the war she never expected to be a part of.
3. Son of a Witch by Gregory Maguire
Liir might be the son of the Wicked Witch of the west. Emphasis on "might". Found half dead in a dich by a traveling caravan, Liir is faced with a world he is unfamiliar with, one that relies on his somewhat sinister background. When news reaches Liir that some of his relatives might be alive, him and a few strange companions must travel across the most dangerous and uncharted parts of Oz to see if the rumors are true- or a trap for the possible son of the famous villian.
2. Etiquette and Espionage by Gail Carriger
From someone observing Mademoiselle Geraldine's Finishing Academy for Young Ladies, they might think of it as what everyone else believes it to be- a school "improper" girls shipped off to in hopes they'll finally learn some manners. Sophronia Temminnick is one of these unfortunate girls, sent off to the school after one of her frequent mishaps goes too far. But the seemingly normal manners school is not as innocent and basic as it seems. At Mademoiselle Geraldine's Finishing Academy, Sophronia will learn how to curtsy, complement, as well as kill her opponents. This school is exactly the adventure Sophronia's been waiting for, a place where flying men and polite werewolves are a common sight, it's encouraged to always carry a weapon, and new journeys are waiting behind every corner.
1. Seraphina by Rachel Hartman
Young Seraphina is more than talented. Her music brings tears to people's eyes, even making the most iron-hearted let their guard down. It's no wonder why she was hired to be the kingdom of Goredd's new court musican, but if they royals knew of what Seraphina really was, they wouldn't hesitate to slaughter her and her father. Here in Goredd, humans live in fragile unison with the fearsome dragons, beasts allowed freedom, but kept at a safe distance. Dragons here can turn into humans, or at least perfects replicas of one. Because of this, the subjects of Goredd have always been warry of dragonkind, secretly believing that they might be planning something sinister. When something terrible does happen in the kingdom, the tension between dragons and humans finally breaks, and rumors of war are on the rise. Seraphina is the only bond between the two worlds, but once she realizes what she must do, will she be strong enough to sacrifice everything to save the place she's never loved?
And that's it, y'all! Those are my top ten best quarintine reads, picked especially for you to enjoy! Make sure to stay safe, wash your hands, and keep reading!
-Valkyrie
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