I have always loved reading. Even when life has gotten busy, it’s something that I’ve always managed to carve out time for. To spread the love, here are some books I’ve read, — both recently and not so recently — that you possibly won’t find on many other recommendation lists. Take my word for it, they’re all pretty awesome books, and some of them are even series!

1. Green Rider by Kristen Britain

If you’re looking for worldbuilding, magic, and suspense, this is the book for you. Fair warning, this is a fantasy novel that is the first in a series, the rest of which I’m highly looking forward to reading. Green Rider follows the story of Karigan G’ladheon in her quest to fulfill her promise to a dying messenger she meets — deliver his urgent message or watch the destruction of their kingdom.

2. Breaking Legacies by Zoe Reed

A stand-alone book, Breaking Legacies has all the elements of a good fantasy novel including dragons, magic, missing princesses, and more. Not only that, but it features LGBT characters that get their happy ending! The main character Kiena is a hunter hired by the king to track down his runaway daughter. Finding her is a simple task, but the princess presents a compelling argument for why she ran away. Kiena is caught in a mess of politics and magic that she must wade through for the good of her realm.

3. Song of the Lioness series by Tamora Pierce

Who can go wrong with Tamora Pierce? The first book of this series, Alanna: The First Adventure series follows the story of Alanna of Trebond and her journey to knighthood disguised as her brother, whom she traded places with so he could learn magic at a convent. Filled once again with magic and swordplay, this is another fantasy series you can really sink your teeth into.

4. Seraphina by Rachel Hartman

This is by far the most unique spin on dragons I have ever read. Seraphina is a gifted musician with a life-threatening secret living in a world of uneasy peace between dragons and humans, where dragons take on human forms in order to be ambassadors at human court. When a member of the royal family is assassinated and dragons are suspected to be the culprit, Seraphina is drawn into the investigation. She and the prince start to uncover a plot to end the peace, all while Seraphina struggles to keep her true nature hidden away.

5. Beauty Queens by Libba Bray

This young adult novel is a new take on the classic Lord of the Flies, but instead of a plane full of boarding school boys, it’s a plane full of beauty pageant princesses who must survive the dangers of a remote island. This funny at times and overall entertaining novel is a great addition to Golding’s signature novel.

6. The Abyss Surrounds Us by Emily Skrutskie

When one thinks of sci-fi, pirates aren’t exactly what comes to mind. The Abyss Surrounds Us is about futuristic pirates and the Reckoners that defend ships from them. The main character Cas is a Reckoner trainer-in-training, not an easy job since Reckoners are genetically engineered killing machines that can destroy whole ships by themselves. When Cas is captured by the pirate queen Santa Elena after the crew she was supposed to defend is massacred, she finds herself forced to raise and train a Reckoner for the pirate queen to take back the seas.

Hopefully one of these books has struck a chord with you. Now go forth and spread the love of reading!