The Hunger Games By Suzanne Collins
A dystopian story about a futuristic society called Panem. Ruled by a ruthless, wealthy Capitol that controls twelve impoverished districts, the government forces each district to send one boy and one girl to fight to the death in an annual, televised battle royale.

1984 by George Orwell
Follows Winston Smith, a low-ranking Party member living in a totalitarian superstate called Oceania. Under the constant surveillance of their leader, Big Brother, the Party outlaws free thought and individuality. Winston secretly rebels by keeping a forbidden diary and pursuing an illicit affair with his coworker, Julia.

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to The Galaxy by Douglas Adams
Seconds before Earth is destroyed to make way for an alien hyperspace bypass, an ordinary Englishman named Arthur Dent is rescued by his friend, Ford Prefect—an undercover alien researcher. The pair go on an absurd intergalactic journey, ultimately discovering that Earth was originally a giant supercomputer built to calculate the meaning of life

Lord Of The Flies by William Golding
is a classic 1954 novel by William Golding. It follows a group of British schoolboys stranded on a deserted tropical island without adults after a plane crash. As they attempt to govern themselves, their civilized society collapses, descending into chaos, violence, and savagery.

The Jellyfish Problem by Katrina Monroe
Is a debut novel about marine biologist Dr. Jo Ness, who is grieving the loss of her best friend, Aldo, and is called to a small Maine island to investigate a giant, glowing jellyfish terrorizing the community.

Time Travel for Beginners by Jaclyn Moriarty
Is a young adult novel about three strangers in Sydney—Anna, Teddy, and Jade—whose lives intersect at a mysterious "Time Travel Agency" that offers trips to the past, forcing them to confront personal challenges and the choices that shaped their lives, all while exploring themes of destiny, forgiveness, and moving forward.

Water For Elephants by Sara Gruen
Trigger Warning: Animal Abuse
In this Depression-era story, a young veterinary student named Jacob loses his parents and jumps aboard a traveling circus train. He is hired as the circus vet, where he falls in love with the cruel ringmaster's wife, Marlena, and forms a deep bond with a seemingly untrainable elephant.

The Notebook By Nicholas Sparks
A dual-timeline romance about Noah and Allie, who fall deeply in love as youths in 1940s South Carolina. Separated by her parents and World War II, they reconnect years later. The framing story reveals an elderly Noah reading their tale to Allie in a nursing home to help her fight Alzheimer's.

The Selection by Kiera Cass
35 girls are chosen via a nationwide lottery to compete for the crown prince's hand in marriage in a dystopian, caste-based society called Illéa. The story is often described as a royal, dystopian version of The Bachelor.

Love In The Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
A novel telling the epic, half-century-long love story of Florentino Ariza and Fermina Daza, set in a Caribbean port city. After Fermina marries the wealthy Dr. Juvenal Urbino, Florentino waits, enduring hundreds of affairs while remaining devoted to her, until Urbino's death allows him to pursue her again in old age, exploring themes of love, aging, death, and obsession through magical realism and lush prose.

Delirium by Lauren Oliver
Set in an alternate United States where love is classified as a deadly, incurable disease (amor deliria nervosa), the government mandates a surgical "Cure" for all citizens at age eighteen. Lena, a seventeen-year-old eagerly awaiting her procedure, meets Alex, an uncured rebel. She soon realizes that the regulated, sterile life she was promised is built on lies, and she must risk everything to escape her society.

Memoirs of A Geisha by Arthur Golden
A historical fiction novel set in Kyoto before, during, and after World War II. It follows the life of Chiyo, a young girl from a poor fishing village who is sold to an okiya (geisha house). Surviving harsh treatment, she trains in the traditional arts and transforms into the renowned geisha, Sayuri. Driven by an unrequited love for a wealthy businessman known as the "Chairman," her journey ultimately explores resilience, sacrifice, and the hidden complexities of geisha culture.

The Pillars of The Earth by Ken Follett
Set in 12th-century England during "The Anarchy", The Pillars of the Earth spans decades to follow the construction of a magnificent Gothic cathedral in the fictional town of Kingsbridge. The epic novel intertwines the struggles of a master mason, a devout prior, a disgraced noblewoman, and a mysterious stonemason as they navigate political and religious turmoil.

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon
A historical fiction epic set during the Golden Age of Comic Books. It follows two Jewish cousins—Josef "Joe" Kavalier, an escape artist who flees Nazi-occupied Prague, and Sammy Clay, a Brooklyn-born writer—as they achieve massive success creating a fascist-fighting superhero, The Escapist.

The Song of Achilles by Marion Zimmer Bradley
A retelling of the Trojan War told from the perspective of Patroclus. It chronicles his deep, romantic bond with the legendary hero Achilles, tracking their childhood friendship, exile, training, and tragic fates amidst the mythological war.

The Name Of The Rose by Umberto Eco
by Umberto Eco is a 14th-century murder mystery set in an Italian abbey. Franciscan friar William of Baskerville and his novice, Adso, investigate a series of bizarre, ritualistic deaths linked to a forbidden, labyrinthine library. The killer is ultimately revealed to be a blind monk, Jorge, who poisoned the pages of a rare book by Aristotle to prevent others from reading it.

The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
Henry, a librarian with a rare genetic disorder that causes him to involuntarily jump through time, and Clare, an artist who experiences their love linearly. Because they meet out of order, their passionate, tragic, and enduring marriage explores destiny, grief, and the struggle to build a life together.

A Game of Thrones by George R R Martin
Noble families in the fictional continent of Westeros scheme for the Iron Throne. When the king dies, his honorable Hand, Ned Stark, uncovers that the royal heirs are illegitimate, sparking a brutal civil war while an ancient, supernatural threat stirs in the frozen north

Eragon by Christopher Polini
A 15-year-old farm boy who discovers a mystical blue stone that hatches into a dragon named Saphira. Bonded as a mythical Dragon Rider, they flee their village with a mentor, Brom, to evade the evil King Galbatorix, ultimately aiding a rebel army in defeating dark forces.

His Dark Materials Trilogy by Phillip Pullman
A fantasy trilogy that follows brave youths Lyra and Will as they traverse parallel universes. Armed with an alethiometer (truth-telling device) and the Subtle Knife (which cuts between worlds), they ignite a multiverse war against a tyrannical cosmic authority

Holes by Louis Sachar
Stanley Yelnats IV, a boy plagued by a generational family curse, is wrongfully convicted of theft and sent to Camp Green Lake, a harsh juvenile detention camp. The boys are forced to dig deep holes in the desert under the guise of "building character," but Stanley soon discovers the cruel Warden is actually searching for a hidden outlaw's treasure.

Watership Down by Richard Adams
Follows a small band of wild rabbits led by brothers Hazel and Fiver. Warned of impending doom by Fiver’s clairvoyance, they flee their doomed warren. Surviving numerous predators and humans, they reach the safe hill of Watership Down but must venture out again to find female companions to save their colony.

Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment by James Patterson
Follows six genetically modified, 98% human kids with 2% avian DNA who have wings and can fly. After their youngest member, Angel, is kidnapped by human-wolf hybrids called "Erasers" and taken to a sinister lab called "The School," the Flock risks everything to rescue her.

Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll
After following the White Rabbit down a hole, Alice shrinks and grows, navigating a nonsensical landscape filled with oddities like the Cheshire Cat, the Mad Hatter, and the Queen of Hearts. When she is sentenced to execution, she defies them before awakening back in reality, realizing it was all a dream.
Six months later, Alice climbs through her living room mirror into a reversed world. The environment acts as a giant chessboard. Alice begins as a pawn and journeys across the board, encountering characters like Tweedledum and Tweedledee. After reaching the end, she is crowned a queen before waking up in her armchair

Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer
is a young adult fantasy novel about a 12-year-old Irish criminal mastermind who discovers a hidden, high-tech underground fairy civilization. He kidnaps an elf reconnaissance officer named Holly Short to hold for a ransom of one ton of gold, sparking a high-stakes war of wits and magic.

Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C Clark
is a hard sci-fi novel about humanity’s first encounter with an alien starship. The story follows a human crew intercepting a massive, empty, and mysterious 50-kilometer cylindrical vessel as it hurtles through the Solar System toward the Sun.

The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
The Handmaid's Tale is a dystopian novel by Margaret Atwood set in the Republic of Gilead, a totalitarian regime that overthrew the U.S.. Facing a fertility crisis, the government strips women of their rights and forces fertile "Handmaids" into reproductive servitude for elite couples. The narrator, Offred, struggles to survive and retain her identity.

Looking For Alaska by John Green
A coming-of-age novel by John Green that follows Miles "Pudge" Halter as he leaves for boarding school to search for "the Great Perhaps". He befriends a rebellious, complex girl named Alaska Young. The story is divided into "before" and "after" a tragic car accident, exploring themes of grief, love, and life's existential mysteries.

Sold by Patricia McCormick
Tells the story of Lakshmi, a 13-year-old girl in Nepal who is sold into prostitution. “The powerful, poignant, bestselling National Book Award Finalist gives voice to a young girl robbed of her childhood yet determined to find the strength to triumph.”

Last Night At The Telegraph Club by Melinda Lo
This National Book Award-winning novel is set in 1954, at the height of the Red Scare, when 17-year-old Lily Hu visits a lesbian bar called the Telegraph Club.

All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson
“In a series of personal essays, prominent journalist and LGBTQIA+ activist George M. Johnson’s All Boys Aren’t Blue explores their childhood, adolescence, and college years in New Jersey and Virginia.”

The Perks Of Being A Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
A coming of age novel about Charlie, a freshman in high school who is a wallflower, shy and introspective, and very intelligent. He deals with the usual teen problems, but also with the suicide of his best friend.

They Called Us Enemy by George Takei
A graphic memoir by George Takei that details his childhood experience of being forcibly placed in an American prison camp during the Japanese American incarceration.

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
A 1932 dystopian novel set in a futuristic "World State" where citizens are mass-produced in hatcheries and permanently conditioned to fit into rigid social castes (from elite Alphas to working-class Epsilons). The government maintains absolute stability and artificial happiness through genetic engineering, extreme consumerism, and a pacifying, emotion-numbing drug called soma.