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⭐ Books Worth a Sniff
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items Books Worth a Sniff My personal collection of books that have earned a spot on Mochi’s very selective bookshelf. From dark mysteries and historical fiction to fantasy and science fiction, these are the stories that kept me turning pages, thinking abo...
Sections
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Carlos Ruiz Zafon - Historical Mystery (Fiction)
Orson Scott Card — Science Fiction (Fiction)
Andrzej Sapkowski — Fantasy (Fiction) The WITCHER series
Oliver Pötzsch — Historical Mystery (Fiction)
Carlos Ruiz Zafon - Historical Mystery (Fiction)
Carlos Ruiz Zafón — Historical Mystery (Fiction) Dark Barcelona streets, forgotten books, complicated characters, and mysteries that seem to get deeper the further you go. Zafón has a way of blending historical fiction, Gothic atmosphere, literary my...
If you’ve read The Shadow of the Wind, READ THIS. I absolutely love Carlos Ruiz Zafón’s Cemetery of Forgotten Books series, and The Prisoner of Heaven is such a fascinating piece of the larger story. It brings together characters and threads from the...
The Prisoner of Heaven
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The Shadow of the Wind — Carlos Ruiz Zafón I read this book when I was sixteen, and it has remained one of my favorite reads to this day. It was the book that marked my transition from young adult fiction into the kind of literature I still seek out ...
The Shadow of the Wind
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The grand finale of the Cemetery of Forgotten Books. If you’ve made it this far into Carlos Ruiz Zafón’s series, The Labyrinth of the Spirits is the payoff. It expands the story far beyond Daniel and the original mystery, bringing together characters...
The Labyrinth of the Spirits
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Dark, strange, atmospheric, and probably the most haunting of the series. The Angel’s Game takes you into a much darker corner of Carlos Ruiz Zafón’s Cemetery of Forgotten Books universe. Set before The Shadow of the Wind, it follows David Martín, a ...
The Angel's Game
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Orson Scott Card — Science Fiction (Fiction)
Orson Scott Card — Science Fiction (Fiction) Strategy, morality, identity, and the consequences of impossible choices. Orson Scott Card’s stories often take big science-fiction concepts and turn them into very personal questions about humanity, relat...
🧠 1. Ender’s Shadow If you liked Ender’s Game, you absolutely need to meet Bean. 🧠🚀 Ender’s Shadow tells the Battle School story from Bean’s perspective, and I actually love getting to see the events of Ender’s Game through someone else's eyes. Be...
The Ender's Shadow Series Box Set: Ender's Shadow, Shadow of the Hegemon, Shadow Puppets, Shadow of the Giant
🚀 1. Ender’s Game This is one of those science fiction books where I completely understand why people keep recommending it. 🚀📚 Ender’s Game follows Ender Wiggin, a brilliant but very young boy who is sent to Battle School to prepare for a possible...
The Ender Saga #1: Ender's Game, Speaker for the Dead, Xenocide, Children of the Mind, Ender in Exile
Mochi says: “So this kid can see where everyone has been… AND change the past? That seems like a lot of responsibility for one human.” 🐾😂
Pathfinder (Pathfinder Series #1)
Mochi says: “Wait… these are ALL different stories? Excellent. I don’t have to remember what happened 300 pages ago.” 🐾📚 If you like Orson Scott Card but don't necessarily want to commit to another giant science fiction series, Maps in a Mirror is ...
Maps in a Mirror: The Short Fiction of Orson Scott Card
Mochi’s Recommendation: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Mochi says: “More Ender? I have reviewed the evidence and have decided yes.” 🐾 If you've already made your way through the Ender Saga and Ender’s Shadow, this is exactly the kind of collection I’d pick up when I’m not r...
Ender's Tribe
Mochi says: “Wait… there are OTHER versions of you? I barely keep track of one human.” 🐾😂 If you like science fiction, parallel universes, alternate realities, and stories where one decision can completely change the course of a world, Reawakening ...
Reawakening
Mochi says: “They crossed into another world, and somehow things got MORE complicated. Humans really are committed to making things difficult.” 🐾😂 Ruins picks up with Rigg, Umbo, and Param after they cross the Wall into a completely different wallf...
Ruins (Pathfinder Series #2)
Pathfinder follows Rigg, a teenager who has a very unusual ability: he can see the paths people have left behind in the past. After his father dies, Rigg discovers that there are secrets surrounding his identity, his family, and his strange ability—a...
Pathfinder (Pathfinder Series #1)
Mochi says: “We have parallel worlds, time travel, mysterious powers, AND visitors? At this point, I’m just here for the treats.” 🐾😂 Visitors brings Rigg’s story to its conclusion as he and the others face the biggest threat yet. Rigg’s ability to ...
Visitors (Pathfinder Series #3)
Andrzej Sapkowski — Fantasy (Fiction) The WITCHER series
Andrzej Sapkowski — Fantasy (Fiction) Monsters, magic, politics, folklore, and characters who are rarely as simple as good versus evil. Sapkowski’s Witcher stories blend dark fantasy with Slavic mythology, sharp humor, complicated choices, and plenty...
If you’re ready to actually get into The Witcher books, this is the set I’d grab. 🐺📚 It has the five main novels of the Witcher Saga: Blood of Elves, The Time of Contempt, Baptism of Fire, The Tower of Swallows, and The Lady of the Lake—basically t...
The Witcher Boxed Set: Blood of Elves, The Time of Contempt, Baptism of Fire, The Tower of Swallows, The Lady of the Lake
🐺 1. The Last Wish Mochi’s Recommendation: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Mochi says: Approved. There are monsters, magic, and a very grumpy man with swords. 🐾⚔️ This is where I’d start the Witcher books. The Last Wish introduces Geralt through a collection of interconnect...
The Last Wish: Introducing the Witcher
Mochi’s Recommendation: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Mochi says: The wolf man has found a tiny human he apparently has to protect. Interesting. 🐾 Sword of Destiny continues Geralt’s adventures through another collection of stories, but this one starts bringing the larger ...
Sword of Destiny
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Mochi says: Okay, now we have a proper story. And apparently everyone is fighting over the tiny human. 🐾 This is where the main Witcher saga really begins. Geralt is trying to protect Ciri while Yennefer, kingdoms, mages, elves, and political ...
Blood of Elves (Witcher Series #1)
Mochi’s Recommendation: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Mochi says: Nobody is behaving. I approve. 🐾 Things get considerably messier in The Time of Contempt. Politics, mages, betrayal, war, and shifting alliances start colliding, and Geralt and Ciri are caught right in the m...
The Time of Contempt (Witcher Series #2)
Mochi’s Recommendation: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Mochi says: Geralt has assembled a very strange group of friends. I would like to join. 🐾 This might be one of my favorite things about the middle of the Witcher series: Geralt ends up traveling with a completely unexpe...
Baptism of Fire (Witcher Series #3)
Mochi’s Recommendation: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Mochi says: Ciri is having a very bad time. Someone needs to bring her a blanket. 🐾 This one gets darker and puts a lot more focus on Ciri and everything she’s been through. Her story becomes increasingly mysterious as ...
The Tower of Swallows (Witcher Series #4)
Mochi’s Recommendation: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Mochi says: We have come very far. I am emotionally attached now. 🐾 This is the huge conclusion to Geralt and Ciri’s main story, bringing together years of magic, war, politics, monsters, relationships, destiny, and abs...
The Lady of the Lake (Witcher Series #5)
Mochi’s Recommendation: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆ Mochi says: Wait. We're going back in time? Sure. More monsters? Excellent. 🐾 Season of Storms is a little different because it takes place earlier in Geralt’s timeline rather than continuing directly after The Lady of ...
Season of Storms (Witcher Series #6)
Oliver Pötzsch — Historical Mystery (Fiction)
Oliver Pötzsch — Historical Mystery (Fiction) Dark history, gruesome mysteries, folklore, and secrets buried deep in the past. Pötzsch’s novels bring historical settings to life while weaving in murder investigations, superstition, and plenty of atmo...
If you enjoyed The Master’s Apprentice, I’d definitely keep going with Johann Faust’s story. 🕯️📚 The Devil’s Pawn picks up the Faust legend in 1518 and takes things into Rome, France, alchemy, the papacy, Leonardo da Vinci, and—of course—a deal wit...
The Devil's Pawn
This is exactly the kind of historical fiction I get sucked into. 🕯️📚 Give me 15th-century Germany, astrology, forbidden knowledge, mysterious disappearances, superstition, and a man who may or may not have made a very bad deal—and I’m in. The Mast...
The Master's Apprentice: A Retelling of the Faust Legend