books i recommend
Discover my curated list of must-read books! From Patricia Briggs' Mercy Thompson series and Richelle Mead's Vampire Academy to Charlaine Harris' Sookie Stackhouse novels, explore thrilling paranormal fiction, vampire sagas, and young adult favorites. This hand-picked collection spans urban fantasy and juvenile fiction—perfect for fans of supernatural adventures and bestselling series like Twilight, House of Night, and Harry Potter. Find your next captivating read today!
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Vampire Academy
by Richelle Mead
“We’re suckers for it.” — Entertainment Weekly Join the legion of fans who skyrocketed this six-book series to the top of the charts. Start here, with the first book that kicked off the international #1 bestselling Vampire Academy series. Adapted into an original TV series streaming on Peacock! Love and loyalty run deeper than blood. St. Vladimir’s Academy isn’t just any boarding school—it’s a hidden place where vampires are educated in the ways of magic and half-human teens train to protect them. Rose Hathaway is a Dhampir, a bodyguard for her best friend Lissa, a Moroi Vampire Princess. They’ve been on the run, but now they’re being dragged back to St. Vladimir’s—the very place where they’re most in danger. . . . Rose and Lissa become enmeshed in forbidden romance, the Academy’s ruthless social scene, and unspeakable nighttime rituals. But they must be careful lest the Strigoi—the world’s fiercest and most dangerous vampires—make Lissa one of them forever.
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Frostbite
by Richelle Mead
“We’re suckers for it.” — Entertainment Weekly Book two in the international #1 bestselling Vampire Academy series! Rose loves Dimitri, Dimitri might love Tasha, and Mason would die to be with Rose… It’s winter break at St. Vladimir’s, but Rose is feeling anything but festive. A massive Strigoi attack has put the school on high alert, and now the Academy’s crawling with Guardians—including Rose’s hard-hitting mother, Janine Hathaway. And if handto- hand combat with her mom wasn’t bad enough, Rose’s tutor Dimitri has his eye on someone else, her friend Mason’s got a huge crush on her, and Rose keeps getting stuck in Lissa’s head while she’s making out with her boyfriend, Christian! The Strigoi are closing in, and the Academy’s not taking any risks.... This year, St. Vlad’s annual holiday ski trip is mandatory. But the glittering winter landscape and the posh Idaho resort only create the illusion of safety. When three friends run away in an offensive move against the deadly Strigoi, Rose must join forces with Christian to rescue them. But heroism rarely comes without a price…
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Shadow Kiss
by Richelle Mead
WHAT IF FOLLOWING HER HEART MEANS ROSE COULD LOSE HER BEST FRIEND FOREVER? Rose Hathaway knows it is forbidden to love another guardian. Her best friend, Lissa – the last Dragomir princess – must always come first. Unfortunately, when it comes to gorgeous Dimitri Belikov, some rules are meant to be broken . . . But since making her first Strigoi kills, Rose hasn't been feeling right. Something dark has begun to grow in her mind, and ghostly shadows warn of a terrible evil drawing nearer to the Academy's iron gates. And now that Lissa and Rose's sworn enemy, Victor Dashkov, is on trial for his freedom, tensions in the Moroi world are higher than ever. Lying to Lissa about Dimitri is one thing, but suddenly there's way more than friendship at stake. The immortal undead are on the prowl, and they want vengeance for the lives that Rose has stolen. In a heart-stopping battle to rival her worst nightmares, Rose will have to choose between life, love, and the two people who matter most . . . but will her choice mean that only one can survive? PRAISE FOR THE VAMPIRE ACADEMY SERIES 'Mead . . . weave[s] a unique and mesmerizing mystery with a whodunit ending that even the most skilled detectives will not predict . . . this little gem is sure to be a hit.' - VOYA 'Teens able to handle the edgy elements will speed through this vamp story and anticipate the next installment.' - Booklist 'In a world that seems saturated with vampire books, Richelle Mead has created characters and a world that is both unique and believable.' - TeensReadToo.com Visit penguin.com.au/vampireacademy Visit betweenthelines.com.au - the destination for Young Adult books.
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The Sookie Stackhouse Novels
by Charlaine Harris
Presents the adventures of supernaturally gifted cocktail waitress Sookie Stackhouse as she deals with her increasingly complicated love life and an underground world of vampires and other paranormal beings.
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Blood Bound
by Patricia Briggs
“Kick-ass were-coyote auto mechanic Mercedes Thompson” (Publishers Weekly) has leapt to the forefront of today’s urban fantasy heroes, thanks to bestselling author Patricia Briggs. Now, Mercy finds herself in the middle of a bloodbath—with only one way out... Mercy has friends in low places—and in dark ones. And now she owes one of them a favor. Since she can shapeshift at will, she agrees to act as some extra muscle when her vampire friend Stefan goes to deliver a message to another of his kind. But this new vampire is hardly ordinary—and neither is the demon inside of him. When the undead and the werewolves sent to find him don’t return, the local vampire queen turns to Mercy for help. A coyote is no match for a demon, but Mercy is determined to get her friends back—including the two werewolves circling around her heart.
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Iron Kissed
by Patricia Briggs
“Expect to be spellbound”* by Patricia Briggs’s #1 New York Times bestselling series starring Mercy Thompson. Being a lowly “walker” in a world of vampires, werewolves, and fae once kept her safe. But Mercy’s bark—and bite—are not so harmless any more… Though Mercy can shift her shape into that of a coyote, her loyalty never wavers. So when her former boss and mentor, Zee, asks for her help, she’s there for him. A series of murders has rocked a fae reservation, and Zee needs her unique gifts, namely her coyote sense of smell, to sniff out the killer. But when Zee is accused of murdering the suspect Mercy outed, he’s left to rot behind bars by his own kind. Now it’s up to Mercy to clear his name, whether he wants her to or not. Mercy’s loyalty is under pressure from other directions, too. Werewolves are not known for their patience, and if Mercy can’t decide between the two she cares for, Sam and Adam may make the choice for her... *Lynn Viehl, New York Times bestselling author
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Bone Crossed
by Patricia Briggs
Welcome to Patricia Briggs’s world, a place where “witches, vampires, werewolves, and shape-shifters live beside ordinary people” (Booklist). It takes a very unusual woman to call it home—and there’s no one quite like Mercy Thompson. By day, Mercy Thompson is a car mechanic in the sprawling Tri-Cities of Eastern Washington. By night, she explores her preternatural side. As a shape-shifter with some unusual talents, Mercy’s found herself maintaining a tenuous harmony between the human and the not-so-human on more than one occasion. This time she may get more than she bargained for. Marsilia, the local vampire queen, has learned that Mercy crossed her by slaying a member of her clan—and she’s out for blood. But since Mercy is protected from direct reprisal by the werewolf pack (and her close relationship with its sexy Alpha), it won’t be Mercy’s blood Marsilia is after. It’ll be her friends’.
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The Vampire Diaries: The Awakening and The Struggle
by L. J. Smith
Elena: the golden girl, the leader, the one who can have any boy she wants. Stefan: brooding and mysterious, he seems to be the only one who can resist Elena, even as he struggles to protect her from the horrors that haunt his past. Damon: sexy, dangerous, and driven by an urge for revenge against Stefan, the brother who betrayed him. Determined to have Elena, he'd kill to possess her. Collected here in one volume for the first time, volumes one and two of The Vampire Diaries, the tale of two vampire brothers and the beautiful girl torn between them.
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The Vampire Diaries: The Fury and Dark Reunion
by L. J. Smith
Elena: transformed, the golden girl has become what she once feared and desired. Stefan: tormented by losing Elena, he's determined to end his feud with Damon once and for all—whatever the cost. But slowly he begins to realize that his brother is not his only enemy. Damon: at last, he possesses Elena. But will his thirst for revenge against Stefan poison his triumph? Or can they come together to face one final battle? Collected here in one edition are the third and fourth volumes of The Vampire Diaries, a riveting conclusion to the tale of two vampire brothers and the beautiful girl torn between them.
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Hunted
by P. C. Cast
The good news: Zoey's friends have her back again and Stevie Rae and the red fledglings aren't Neferet's secrets any longer. The bad news: Ancient evil with the face of an angel has been let loose, that and various other nasties (whose faces aren't so angelic). Grandma Redbird is in trouble. Heath is in trouble. The House of Night is in trouble. Okay, let's face it , Zoey's whole world is in trouble! But when the trouble comes from a being who appears to be beauty personified, will the world believe it? Especially when only a teenager and a group of misfits are the only ones who really understand the danger he brings. Will Zoey have the strength and wisdom to reveal the truth? Especially when, in the House of Night, the truth is often hard to come by.
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Tempted
by P. C. Cast
A latest entry in the series that includes Hunted and Chosen finds High Priestess-in-training Zoey Redbird juggling three prospective love interests while investigating a dark force lurking beneath the Tulsa Depot that is forcing her into a confrontation with Kalona.
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Touch the Dark
by Karen Chance
THE FIRST NOVEL IN THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING CASSANDRA PALMER SERIES! Cassandra Palmer can see the future and communicate with spirits—talents that make her attractive to the dead and the undead. The ghosts of the dead aren’t usually dangerous; they just like to talk…a lot. The undead are another matter. Like any sensible girl, Cassie tries to avoid vampires. But when the bloodsucking mafioso she escaped three years ago finds Cassie again with vengeance on his mind, she’s forced to turn to the vampire Senate for protection. The undead senators won’t help her for nothing, and Cassie finds herself working with one of their most powerful members, a dangerously seductive master vampire—and the price he demands may be more than Cassie is willing to pay....
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Claimed By Shadow
by Karen Chance
Clairvoyant Cassie Plamer has inherited new magical powers-including the ability to travel through time. But it's a whole lot of responsibility she'd rather not have. Now she's the most popular girl in town, as an assortment of vamps, fey, and mages try to convince, force, or seduce her-and her magic-over to their side. But one particular master vampire didn't ask what Cassie wanted before putting a claim on her. He had a spell cast that binds her to him, and now she doesn't know if what she feels for him is real-or imagined...
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Embrace the Night
by Karen Chance
View our feature on Karen Chance's Embrace the Night. Cassandra Palmer may be the world's chief clairvoyant, but she's still magically bound to a master vampire. Only an ancient book called the Codex Merlini possesses the incantation to free Cassie-but harnessing its limitless power could endanger the world... Read Karen Chance's posts on the Penguin Blog.
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Harry Potter Paperback Boxed Set: Books 1-7
by J. K. Rowling
For the first time, Rowling's seven bestselling Harry Potter books are available in a paperback boxed set. This is the ultimate Harry Potter collection for Potter fans.