Author J Roe

Writing quirky characters on redemptive journeys

Complete list of Book Recommendations

As I approach my sixth anniversary as an author, I’ve been wondering how I can better serve you as my little business matures. Because many of you have grown to trust me and my book recommendations, I want to honor that. This page will be regularly updated as a complete list of book recommendations with my affiliate link to purchase ebooks and paperbacks on Amazon (and a corresponding blog article if I wrote one beside them). If you would prefer to support local bookstores and get paperbacks or hardbacks, here is my own little online bookshop’s affiliate link. I’m so excited to share these curated lists to you. Enjoy!

Pssst: If you’re looking for a Holiday Shopping list for your bookworm, check this out!

*Concerned about the paper shortage? Here is a link to a kindle or you can download the app on your smartphone.

**affiliate links do help provide a small commission to me and my family at no additional charge to you.

Newsletter Spotlight:

Each time I release a newsletter, whether it’s for my sweet romantic comedy readers or ya fantasy/fairytale readers, I recommend at least one book or series. And since you love bookish fun, writing updates, and special deals, I love sharing them with you. Join here for a teeny tiny pre-quel for my new sweet rom-com series or here and download a free book for fairytale lovers. The link to the recommendations will be rotated in and out of this spot for you to easily find. This winter, I am excited to recommend:

Sweet Rom-Com, written by yours truly as Jackie Q. Roe: The Facts and Fictions of Love and paperback

Fantasy, this season a Snow White retelling: Spare and Heir and hardback

Classics:

Find my Bookshop link to the Classic’s list here

Alice in Wonderland (blog)

Anne of Green Gables series (blog)

The Blue Castle (blog)

Christy and paperback

The Chronicles of Narnia (blog)

Frankenstein: or, the Modern Prometheus paperback (blog)

Grimm’s Complete Fairy Tales (blog)

Hans Christian Andersen’s Complete Fairy Tales (blog)

The Hobbit (blog)

Ivanhoe (still searching for a lovely edition for you)

Jane Austen complete set

Jane Eyre (blog)

The Screwtape Letters and paperback

The Secret Garden paperback (blog)

Middle Grade and Clean Young Adult Fantasy:

Carefully curated, these titles are great for sinking in and enjoying fantastic world-building, fascinating characters, and fun journeys. Should be appropriate even for “conservative” readers.

In most fantasy, violence is expected, but I have included otherwise clean books with great stories and:

  • little to no profanity
  • no open-door romance
  • little to no sexuality

Find my Bookshop link to the Middle Grade and Clean Young Adult Fantasy list here

Middle Grade Fantasy:

The Ascendance (blog) series includes:

Caraval and paperback

Children in the Night in paperback

The Enchanted Collection box set by Gail Carson Levine includes:

The Goose Girl (blog) and paperback

The Great Good Thing (blog) only in paperback

The Haven Series includes:

Inkheart and paperback

Nevermoor series include:

Percy Jackson and the Olympians series (blog) includes:

The Pirate Princess Chronicles (blog) series includes:

Story Thieves (blog) includes:

Young Adult Fantasy:

Between the Lines (blog) and paperback

Nadine Brandes:

The Girl the Sea Gave Back and paperback

Half-a-Soul and paperback

Harry Potter boxset series (blog) includes Harry Potter and:

The Journey series (Fairytales Retold):

The Looking Glass Chronicles:

The Lunar Chronicles (blog) include:

Selena R. Gonzalez

Mercenary and the Mage series include:

The Mireveld Chronicles include:

The Traitor’s Game (blog) trilogy includes:

The Winter King and paperback

Darker Young Adult Fantasy:

While I primarily recommend Clean Young Adult Fantasy that would appeal to those of a conservative background, the next section will include some books that might be offensive to those readers. As a result, I recommend discerning parents/adult mentors read these either before or with their teens so they can discuss some of the more controversial topics, choices, and language used. However, you will discover the stories are high-quality even if not falling under the more conservative “clean” category.

Read on for more in this complete list of book recommendations.

The Book Jumper (blog) and paperback

Cursebreaker (blog) trilogy includes:

Dance of Thieves Duology:

Fable and paperback

The Hazel Wood (blog) series includes:

House of Salt and Sorrows (blog) and paperback

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children and paperback

The Remnant Chronicles:

Star Daughter and hardcover

Young Adult:

The Big Easy and Other Lies and paperback

Fantasy Books:

The Wheel of Time series:

The Eye of the World and paperback

The King Raven (blog) trilogy includes:

Dystopian:

The dystopian books I have included here will primarily be young adult who band together with a newly formed found family to fight against evil tyranny of some sort. There will be violence, some romance, and mild profanity. Great books to read together as adolescents near adulthood and need to discuss what established systems seem wrong to them.

The Giver and paperback

The Hunger Games trilogy includes:

The Matched trilogy includes:

Historical Fiction:

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and paperback

The Mark of the Lion series includes:

Marta’s Legacy set (blog) includes:

Romance and Inspirational fiction:

During the Pandemic, I found that my reading tastes were changing and I was struggling to read books I had loved for such a long time. In this blog I go on to explain why I as mood reader needed to change it up. So this page will always have lots of resources to recommend for lots of different kinds of fantasy. But my second you will find books about faith and love. So I’ll include some of my favorites by subcategory. You can trust that the books I recommend will

  • very mild profanity (if any)
  • have great chemistry without explicit scenes
  • often share the Christian faith OR a more conservative background

Inspirational Fiction:

Please note, if Inspirational fiction does not have some element (however slight) of romance, I get bored. If this is not your thing, I do apologize 🙂 But if you’ve come this far on the journey with me, no doubt you’ve already picked up on this little quirk of mine. Right?

Dear Mr. Knightley and paperback

The Scarlet Thread and paperback

The Atonement Child and paperback

The Masterpiece and paperback

Leota’s Garden (blog) and paperback

The Mitford series includes:

Sweet Romance:

Emma St. Clair’s Sandover Beach series includes Sandover Beach:

Sweet RomCom:

(me as Jackie Q.) The Love and Laughter series:

Melanie Jacobson

Stand-alones:

Creekville Kisses:

Love in New Orleans:

Susan May Warren

The Josey series (only in paperback):

Michelle Pennington

Shaped by Love series includes:

Emma St. Clair

The Love Cliche series includes Falling for Your:

Cindy Steele

That Fine Line and paperback

Savannah Scott

He’s So Not My Valentine and paperback

Apple Valley Love Stories include:

Another Bailey Brother:

Christmas Books (because we need them!):

The Facts and Fictions of Love and paperback

Kiss the Girl and paperback

Scrooge and the Girls Next Door and paperback

Cocoa Kisses and paperback

One Small Secret and paperback

The Twelve Holidates and paperback

Christmas Spark and paperback

Sandover Beach Christmas and paperback

Shepherd’s Abiding and paperback

Christian Nonfiction:

While I believe the Bible is the ultimate guide to life, I have found the following books a help in my Christian walk. I have included the names of the authors because I think most of us know what voices we trust to speak truth into our lives.

Jennie Allen:

Get Out of Your Head and hardback

Burroughts-Powell:

Not in My Town paperback

Francis Chan:

Crazy Love and paperback

Corbett and Fikkert:

When Helping Hurts and paperback

Eldredge:

Bob Goff:

Love Does and paperback

(Early) Jen Hatmaker:

Madelaine le Engle:

Walking on Water and paperback

Catherine Marshall:

A Man Called Peter and paperback

Beth Moore:

Breaking Free and paperback

To Live is Christ and paperback

Stormie O’Martian

The Power of a Praying Wife and paperback

JacQueline V. Roe (yep, also me):

Memoirs of a Headcase: Held by the God of Hope and paperback

Priscilla Shirer:

Corrie Ten Boom:

Voice of the Martyrs:

Jesus Freaks and paperback

Anne Voskamp:

One Thousand Gifts and paperback

Philip Yancey:

What’s So Amazing About Grace and paperback

K.P. Yohannan:

No Longer a Slumdog paperback

Cindy LaFavre Yorks:

The Side Door paperback

About JacQueline

As the author of  The Journey series, a young adult fantasy retelling Rapunzel’s misadventures, JacQueline also wrote Memoirs of a Headcase: Held by the God of Hope, to share hope in the battle against chronic pain and depression. Currently she lives in North Alabama with her karate husband and three book-crazy kids. All opinions expressed on this website come from her own experience. Do not substitute it for professional therapy or medical advice. Any affiliate links used on this website will provide additional income to JacQueline’s family at no additional cost to you.

If you are a reader wanting to connect with JacQueline, you can get a free book here. Each month you will receive book recommendations and other booknerd fun.

Are you a writer or an author looking for help? JacQueline has been writing all her life and loves meeting others who think writing is living. As an author coach, helping other writers on their journey gives her joy. Schedule your free coaching call to learn what steps you should take next now.

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