R is for Recommendations #AtoZChallenge

I love giving recommendations (book or otherwise), and I have been asked more than once for suggestions of what to read during this time. So, this is the post with all the recs! I was going to attempt to separate them into categories, but I just labeled them instead. I put pictures if I had them handily available because it would have taken forever to find pictures for all of them. Also, these are only the books I’ve read in the past five years. I mean, this list could go on, but I had to stop myself somewhere.

If you’re interested in any of them, please support a book and mortar bookstore that serves your neighborhood. Most are still taking orders and doing delivery. Bookstore Link can point you in the right direction if you don’t already have a bookstore in mind.

And this will be mostly children’s lit because you know how I roll. So here we go.

Comfort/Fun Books to Read during the Pandemic

Black Canary: Ignite by Meg Cabot (middle grade, graphic novel)

The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot (YA)

Size 12 Is Not Fat by Meg Cabot (mystery)

The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin (middle grade mystery)

Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones (YA fantasy)

Giant Days series by John Allison (YA graphic novel)

Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine (middle grade fantasy)

Meet the Latkes by Alan Silberberg (picture book)

Princeless series by Jeremy Whitley (middle grade/YA, graphic novel)

Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale (YA fantasy)

The Islanders series by Katherine Applegate (YA) — previously released as Boyfriends/Girlfriends and then as Making Out

Beach Blondes by Katherine Applegate (YA) — previously released as Summer

When Sadness Is at Your Door by Eva Eland (picture book)

Junie B. Jones series by Barbara Park (children’s)

The Extremely Inconvenient Adventures of Bronte Mettlestone by Jaclyn Moriarty (middle grade fantasy)

Fake Blood by Whitney Gardner (middle grade, graphic novel)

To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han (YA)

Ms. Marvel series by G. Willow Wilson (YA, graphic novel)

Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery (YA)

The Summer of Jordi Perez by Amy Spalding (YA)

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle (middle grade fantasy)

Sammy Keyes series by Wendelin Van Draanen (middle grade mystery)

The Mother of Black Hollywood by Jenifer Lewis (memoir) — best on audiobook

Greensleeves by Eloise Jarvis McCall (YA)

Leave Me Alone! by Vera Brosgol (picture book)

Zahrah the Windseeker by Nnedi Okorafor (middle grade fantasy)

The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde (play) — get the full cast BBC audio if you can!

The Great Cake Mystery by Alexander McCall Smith (children’s mystery)

The Storied Life of AJ Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin (adult)

Troublemaker by Leah Remini (memoir) — excellent on audiobook

The Great Greene Heist by Varian Johnson (middle grade caper)

Year of Yes by Shonda Rhimes (memoir/essays)

Why Not Me? by Mindy Kaling (memoir/essays)

Awkward by Svetlana Chmakova (middle grade, graphic novel)

One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia (middle grade)

The True Meaning of Smekday by Adam Rex (middle grade sci-fi)

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin (middle grade fantasy)

My Fair Godmother by Janet Rallison (YA fantasy)

The Hero’s Guide to Saving Your Kingdom by Christopher Healy (middle grade fractured fairytale) — awesome on audio

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling (children’s fantasy)

Kissing Ted Callahan by Amy Spalding (YA)

The Wedding Date compendium of books by Jasmine Guillory (romance)

A Corner of White by Jaclyn Moriarty (YA fantasy)

For this year’s A to Z Challenge, I have decided that I’m going to focus on my survival/coping strategies while practicing social distancing. What are the things that make it bearable? What helps alleviate my stress and fear–or at least what distracts me from both? Tune in tomorrow to see what I choose for S!