The Hollow Kingdom Book 1 by Clare B Dunkle
“She had never screamed before, not when she overturned the rowboat and almost drowned, not even when Lightfoot bucked her off and she felt her leg break underneath her with an agonizing crunch. But now she screamed long and loud, with all her breath.”
Hallow Hill has a strange and tragic history. For thousands of years, young women have been vanishing from the estate, never to be seen again. Now Kate and Emily have come to live at Hallow Hill. Brought up in a civilized age, they have no idea of the land’s dreadful heritage-until, that is, Marak decides to tell them himself.
Intelligent, pleasant, and completely pitiless, Marak is a powerful magician who claims to be a king-and he has very specific plans for the two new girls who have trespassed into his kingdom.
The Book of Three by Lloyd Alexander (Book 1 of the Prydain Chronicles)
*The Book of Three* opens with a young man named Taran, who is an Assistant Pig-Keeper at Caer Dallben, in the fictional world of Prydain (based on Wales loosely). Young Taran thirsts for adventure, and wants desperately to be a hero, famous, *something* other than an “Assistant Pig-Keeper”. He gets his chance, but he may regret it. One day, literally out of the blue, the “oracular pig” Hen-Wen digs a hole and escapes her enclosure. A note that an “oracular pig” is exactly what it says on the tin, so to speak. It is an pig that is also an oracle that can prophesy information, so of course the bad guys want to get to her before she can be used against them. And there are bad guys, as we shall soon see. Despite Taran’s best efforts, Hen-Wen flees, so the boy goes after her. That is when things go from bad to worse for him. (Excerpt taken from buyer review…)
The Magician’s Nephew by CS Lewis (Book 1 of the Chronicles of Narnia)
In the first book of The Chronicles of Narnia, C.S. Lewis shows us how it all began — the glorious birth of Narnia at the hand of its unforgettable King. It is followed by six more books that collectively tell the history of a world that has become as real as our own.
The Princess and the Goblin by George McDonald
When Princess Irene is sent away to live in a great old castle-house in the mountains, her life is dull until she happens upon a hidden stairway. But whatever—or whoever—she finds upstairs will lead her out of doors and into the mountains where only the miners are brave enough to go…
“I have never concealed the fact that I regarded George MacDonald as my master: indeed I fancy I have never written a book in which I did not quote from him.” ~ C.S. Lewis
This is one of the best fairy tales ever told, written by George MacDonald, a master storyteller. This book is the kind of book that will keep both children’s and adults’ attention as they wait to find out about what happens to Princess Irene and Curdie as they go underground near the kingdoms of the Goblins.
“In a hole in the ground, there lived a hobbit.” So begins one of the most beloved and delightful tales in the English language. Set in the imaginary world of Middle-earth, at once a classic myth and a modern fairy tale, The Hobbit is one of literature’s most enduring and well-loved novels. This beautiful hardcover features cover art by J.R.R. Tolkien.
Bilbo Baggins is a hobbit who enjoys a comfortable, unambitious life, rarely traveling any farther than his pantry or cellar. But his contentment is disturbed when the wizard Gandalf and a company of dwarves arrive on his doorstep one day to whisk him away on an adventure. They have launched a plot to raid the treasure hoard guarded by Smaug the Magnificent, a large and very dangerous dragon.
Bilbo reluctantly joins their quest, unaware that on his journey to the Lonely Mountain he will encounter both a magic ring and a frightening creature known as Gollum.
Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers (His Fair Assassins Book 1)
Why be the sheep, when you can be the wolf?
Seventeen-year-old Ismae escapes from the brutality of an arranged marriage into the sanctuary of the convent of St. Mortain, where the sisters still serve the gods of old. Here she learns that the god of Death Himself has blessed her with dangerous gifts—and a violent destiny. If she chooses to stay at the convent, she will be trained as an assassin and serve as a handmaiden to Death. To claim her new life, she must destroy the lives of others.
Ismae’s most important assignment takes her straight into the high court of Brittany—where she finds herself woefully under prepared—not only for the deadly games of intrigue and treason, but for the impossible choices she must make. For how can she deliver Death’s vengeance upon a target who, against her will, has stolen her heart?
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Redheaded Jill 
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