The Happy Place 5: Books I’d Want With Me on a Deserted Island!
The Happy Place 5 is a monthly series where a few friends and I post 5 of our favorites books for a certain topic or theme. The name is from a Discord group that I am a part of. We created the space to have a positive environment for a handful of close friends. All of us are bookworms, and many of us are bookstagrammers and bloggers. So we decided to start a blog post series together! I’ll link my friends blogs and posts for this month’s topic at the end of this post.
Happy August! This month for our “The Happy Place 5” series, we are choosing books that we’d bring with us to a deserted island. I thought this was going to be difficult, but it turned out to be really easy for me! I was surprised. Also making this post really made me want to read all of these books like right now hahaha.
Middlegame
- Author: Seanan McGuire
- Target audience: Adult
- Series info: First in a loosely connected series (only book out so far)
- Genre: Science fiction/fantasy
Listen, we all knew Seanan was going to make it on this list. The only question was which book of hers I would pick haha. I chose Middlegame for a couple reasons. One, because it functions as a standalone, so I wouldn’t be sad that I couldn’t have all books in a series with me. Two, because it is completely mind-blowing, and I think each time I reread it I could find new things in it. And three, because it is just simply a masterpiece. The characters are interesting, the magic/science in it is cool, and idk man. If you want to hear me gush about it more I do that here (my review) and here (my love letter about Seanan McGuire) haha so go check out those posts. This book has been on my mind a lot lately since the cover for the sequel was just revealed!!!
Protector of the Small
- Author: Tamora Pierce
- Target audience: Young adult
- Series info: Omnibus edition of a quartet (complete)
- Genre: Fantasy
Another not-surprise!!! Because Seanan and Tamora Pierce are my top two authors so naturally TP had to show up as well. And listen – this edition is yes technically four books in one. But it’s a bind up!! So I’m counting it as one!! I make the rules here. Even though her first series remains my favorite for nostalgia reasons, this series is probably one of TP’s best. I love all of the friendships, the animals, and the adventures, and it’s just a really heartwarming series. This would bring me so much comfort being on a deserted island, because I know these characters so well it would feel like I wasn’t alone, that they were there with me.
Sabriel
- Author: Garth Nix
- Target audience: Young adult
- Series info: First in a series (main story complete, prequel upcoming)
- Genre: Fantasy
I know I’ve talked about this on my bookstagram, but I actually reread this book frequently. It is my FAVORITE audiobook – Tim Curry is the narrator and he does an incredible job. Sabriel made it into my choices today for a few key reasons. First of all, though it’s the first book in a series, it can be read as a standalone – aka what I said for Middlegame holds. Also, this book is about the titular character going on a journey to find her father, and for a lot of it she is mainly traveling alone. I feel like if I were stuck on a deserted island, it would bring me comfort to read about a woman on a journey who is feeling a similar loneliness. Another reason I chose it is because I just really love the story!! Necromancy! Talking magical cat creatures! Scary monsters! There are just so many great things in one book, so how could I not bring it with me?
The Mythic Dream
- Author: (multiple)
- Target audience: Adult
- Series info: Standalone anthology
- Genre: Fantasy
So I do want to bring a few unread books as well, and I decided that with anthologies then I can get a bunch of different stories in one book! This is one that I’ve been meaning to read for quite a while. It is a collection of classic myth retellings – and we all know I love my retellings. The myths explored are from many different cultures and civilizations, and the author lineup looks amazing!! Seanan McGuire, Rebecca Roanhorse, Neon Yang, Sarah Gailey, Amal El-Mohtar, and more??? I mean come on!!! This book really does sound like a dream come true.
This Place: 150 Years Retold
- Author: (multiple)
- Target audience: Adult
- Series info: Standalone graphic novel anthology
- Genre: Science fiction/fantasy
The other anthology I chose is this one, which is an graphic novel anthology that explores the last 150 years of history through the eyes of Indigenous creators. I’ve been meaning to read more work by Indigenous authors, so this was an easy choice. I think I’d learn a lot, and being stuck on a deserted island, I think it would be good to have at least one graphic novel so I can see some great artwork in addition to wonderful stories.
What do you think your choices would be for bringing to a deserted island? And have you read any of these books?
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