This non-exhaustive list of novels includes all of the books I read when I am in need of a good story and to get lost in another world. Each one is a stand-alone novel, meaning they do not have fifteen other books that follow it. Each one of these novels has a complete story that can be read from the front binding to the back.
1. "The Scorpio Races" by Maggie Stiefvater
"The Scorpio Races"
This is a tale that concerns a small island off the coast of Wales. But make no mistake, this island has something special about it: capaill uisce or water horses. Each year the island hosts the Scorpio Races, which are races competed on the deadly water horses that come from the sea.
2. "The Outsiders" by S. E. Hinton
"The Outsiders Cast"
This is a classic you've probably read in 6th grade, but a classic nonetheless. I urge you to resist this novel and re-read it!! I found myself understanding the story a lot more and was able to fully enjoy the adult humor and concepts that it has.
3. "A Crown of Wishes" by Roshani Chokshi
"A Crown of Wishes"
"I didn't know hurt. Or fear. When my skin gave way and my nails bent. I knew what it meant to be stripped down to your barest self. It meant seeing the world for what it was. I took off my skin and released the thing that had always lurked. Crept. And slept within me. A beast. A monster. A myth. A girl. What was the difference?" -"A Crown of Wishes"
4. "The Star-Touched Queen" by Roshani Chokshi
"The Star-Touched Queen"
Technically this novel breaks the rules of what I said earlier, as it is a prequel to "A Crown of Wishes". But these two stories could be read separately and alone, and still be 2 different stories. This novel follows the sister of the main character in "A Crown of Wishes" and tells the story of what happened when she went to the mystical city of Akaran and became its queen.
5. "A Prisoner of the Night and Fog" by Anne Blankman
"Prisoner of Night and Fog"
Set in 1930's Munich, a young ordinary German girl must make an extraordinary choice in Hitler's Germany.
6. "A City of a Thousand Dolls" by Miriam Forester
"A City of a Thousand Dolls"
The girl with no past, and no future, may be the only one who can save their lives.
Nisha was abandoned at the gates of the City of a Thousand Dolls when she was just a little girl. Now sixteen, she lives on the grounds of the isolated estate, where orphan girls apprentice as musicians, healers, courtesans, and, if the rumors are true, assassins. She makes her way as Matron's errand girl, her closest companions the mysterious cats that trail her shadow. Only when she begins a forbidden flirtation with the city's handsome young courier does she let herself imagine a life outside the walls. Until one by one, girls around her start to die.
7. "A Face like Glass" by Frances Hardinge
"A Face like Glass"
In the underground city of Caverna the world's most skilled craftsmen toil in the darkness to create delicacies beyond compare. They create wines that can remove memories, cheeses that can make you hallucinate and perfumes that convince you to trust the wearer even as they slit your throat. The people of Caverna are more ordinary, but for one thing: their faces are as blank as untouched snow. Expressions must be learned. Only the famous Facesmiths can teach a person to show (or fake) joy, despair or fear — at a price.
Into this dark and distrustful world comes Neverfell, a little girl with no memory of her past and a face so terrifying to those around her that she must wear a mask at all times. For Neverfell's emotions are as obvious on her face as those of the most skilled Facesmiths, though entirely genuine. And that makes her very dangerous indeed...
8. "Dark Life" by Kat Falls
"Dark Life"
Set in an apocalyptic future where rising oceans have swallowed up entire regions and people live packed like sardines on the dry land left, Dark Life is the harrowing tale of underwater pioneers who have carved out a life for themselves in the harsh deep-sea environment, farming the seafloor in exchange for the land deed.
9. "The Fault in Our Stars" by John Green
"The Fault in Our Stars"
Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel's story is about to be completely rewritten.
Insightful, bold, irreverent, and raw, The Fault in Our Stars is award-winning author John Green's most ambitious and heartbreaking work yet, brilliantly exploring the funny, thrilling, and tragic business of being alive and in love.
10. "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel
"Life of Pi"
Life of Pi is a fantasy adventure novel by Yann Martel published in 2001. The protagonist, Piscine Molitor "Pi" Patel, a Tamil boy from Pondicherry, explores issues of spirituality and practicality from an early age. He survives 227 days after a shipwreck while stranded on a boat in the Pacific Ocean with a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker.
I hope you found this list intriguing and are hopefully going to pick one of them up! Given everything going on, I think taking a break from technology and kicking back with a good book is good for mental health and a way to pass the time.
