The Book Princess’s Favorites Shelf – aka books that got full princess trains

THE DAY HAS ARRIVED -what day you ask? The day where I showcase my book insanity and weirdness and just general book hipsterness in full force. If you have been following my blog for any length of time, you know I’m weird about my favorites. And when I say, weird, I do mean really weird. According to Goodreads, I have read a total of 1360 books. While I totally have read far more in my life, this is what Goodreads said. Do we want to know how many books are on my favorites shelf?

34.

That’s right – somehow out of 1360 books, I’ve got a total of 34 books that somehow have found a princess train rating. That’s a whopping 2.5% chance of becoming a favorite.

…that’s even a new low for me. Oh dear.

I don’t know why it is. There are a lot of books on my shelf that have gotten 4.5 and 5 stars, but favorites to me are in a whole new category. They are books that I absolutely adore; books that I want to actively reread and know I will; books that are perfection in every way (characters, ship, plot, etc.) or almost near perfection; they have characters that I will love foreverrrrrrrrrr or some ridiculously swoony parts that has me fangirling so hard it hurts; and most likely, they have funny parts that actually made me laugh out loud. I mean, that’s a lot, and the average book may have one or two of these things but fail to get the rest out of me, forever putting it in Tiana rating land forever.

So, now that I have showcased my absurdity, want to see what books that have somehow actually made it on the list?

Cheesy, Adorable Contemporaries THAT I CAN’T EVEN DEAL WITH

The Summer I Became a Nerd by Leah Rae Miller / Magnolia by Kristi Cook / Happy marriage?! volume 10 by Maki Enjoji / Something, Maybe by Elizabeth Scott / Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

Oh, these books. They literally put a smile on my face as I just gaze upon their cheesiness. THEY ARE SO CUTE AND SO ABOUT THE SWOONS. Basically, these books literally got all the Rapunzel ratings that this girl could ever give. MY HEART. THE FEELS. I literally just sit here and just fangirl so hard about these ships.

The Summer I Became a Nerd is literally my favorite contemporary of all time and is filled with so much comedy, adorable swoons, and just a super great coming of age story. AND IT KNOWS THE FANDOM LIFE.

Magnolia has some of the best hater to lover romance I’ve ever seen, and the tension between them was DELICIOUS (I feel so ridiculous for saying that but it was the only word that came to mind and it was brilliant).

The Happy Marriage?! manga series was really cute and adorable and this book just had me dying of cuteness.

Something, Maybe had one of my favorite ships ever, and I literally reread the point where the ship gets together over and over again because it’s just so brilliant. It leaves you cracking up laughing to just going OH MY FEELS back to chuckling. So much cuteness.

Everyone always talks about Perkins’ Anna and The French Kiss, but I’ve always preferred Lola. I loved Cricket and Lola as individuals and as a ship. Lola was so much fun, and Cricket was just adorable.

Theme Park/Favorite Settings

How Zoe Made Her Dreams (Mostly) Come True by Sarah Strohmeyer / Swoon at Your Own Risk by Sydney Salter / Devoured by Amanda Marrone / Project 17 by Laurie Faria Stolarz

Setting never really has played a big part in a story for me, but I can always admire a good setting in a book and an especially good world. Books with a theme park or creepy deserted asylum? Oh, yeah, then I’m hooked. For some odd reason, I’m total trash for this setting. I literally just have to see those few word descriptors in the summary, and my butt is picking up the book SO FAST. 

How Zoe is full of fluffiness, swoons, and an amazing Disney-like theme park…except, shhhhh…we’re not allowed to mention the Mouse. It’s just the right amount of absurdity in a cheesy contemporary, and they played with a lot of fun in regards to theme parks and Disney – which is brilliant.

Swoon is the book that holds one of my favorite lines ever in book history. It comes from a character that is dumber than a book rock and is literally one of those lines that literally probably no one else finds hilarious except for me. It’s like saying, Pudding. BUT I LOVE IT SO MUCH. And this book was funny, swoony, and home to one epic theme and waterpark.

Devoured is basically the darker version of How Zoe. It’s a fairytale based theme park except for the fact that it’s creepier, bordering on the paranormal, and part Snow White retelling. Yes, it has a dreaded love triangle, but it was so great between the paranormal aspect and the theme park aspect.

Project 17 is a favorite for a lot of reason, and yes, the setting is definitely a main one. This one isn’t so much as creepy now as it was in the past, but it has a really haunting, chilling setting of an abandoned insane asylum, getting ready to be demolished. It has charming and loveable characters, one super swoony ship, and a simmering plot that keeps me guessing the entire time.

Simone St. James

Lost Among the Living / The Other Side of Midnight / The Haunting of Maddy Clare

I love me some Simone St. James. She does this combination of gothic ghosties, adorable swoons, amazing World War settings, and fierce ladies. I’ve devoured every one of her books so far, and while I have enjoyed all of these, three have really resonated with me and I loved them far above the others. They aren’t YA, but if you’re ever looking for something outside of it, these books might not be a bad place to start.

The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer

Cinder / Scarlet / Cress

I’ve done so much fangirling over this series – why not two seconds more? Fierce ladies + adorable swoons and ships + AMAZING fairytale retelling aspects + one of the swooniest and most hilarious characters ever = this amazing series that still holds the most favorite series ever for me. (And yes, I had some minor issues with Winter that kept it from being on the list – we’ll see how it turns out in the reread).

Fierce Heroines

Daughter of the Pirate King by Tricia Levenseller / Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers / Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

Yes, if you give me a fierce heroine, it may totally change my opinion of the book, for sure. These books totally include some of the fiercest ladies I know and love. If you ask me who’s my favorite female character? You’re going to get one of these ladies, for sure. They showcase all sorts of different strength. From Alosa’s physical prowess and general pirate buttkicking to Isame’s emotional and physical strength to Nina’s and Inej’s just epic battle fighting skills while also being so strong in other ways – what is not to love about these ladies? And yes, they all do have adorable ships involved, but the love is so for these ladies.

The Big Empty Series by J. B. Stephens

The Big Empty / Desolation Angels / No Exit

I bet literally no one has ever heard of this series – truthfully, I never had either, but my mom and I accidentally stumbled upon it on Book Outlet a million years ago, and I loved it ever since then. I’m not sure what I even love the most about it – the complexity of the world, the amazing band of characters (I’m really into group narrators, I’m starting to notice), or the adorable ships (um, there is one that I so called in the third book and then it happened in the fourth book, and I literally screamed and it is the most book proud I’ve ever felt in my entire life). I still fangirl hard about the ship. It’s just so completely fascinating, and if you’re ever looking for some beginning dystopian without it being weird or completely insane, this is your book – I even hate those books but love this.

Also, those are some seriously sketchy covers. And yes, there is a fourth book, but I literally can’t remember anything about what happened in the second book no matter how hard I try, so it gets left off the favorite list.

My Fair Godmother Series by Janette Rallison

My Fair Godmother / My Unfair Godmother

It’s truly a feat when I can’t decide whether or not I like the first book in a series or its companion novel, but these two books make it hard. I think I’m slightly more partial to the second due to the ship, but they are equal parts adorable, stunningly hilarious, and full of fairytale fun and comedy. Imagine this as Once Upon a Time if the fairy godmother had been a flightly teenager going wrong. It’s such an amazing series, and I just sit here and stew in its greatness.

Adorable Ships

Pivot Point by Kasie West / Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy by Ally Carter / A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas / Gemina by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

Most of these books have amazing plots and captivating characters, but the truth is, I really fell for the ships in these novels. They were so cute and sweet and THERE WERE SO MANY FEELS THAT I CAN’T EVEN. 

Pivot Point is the lone non-contemporary book that Kasie West has done, but it just brilliant. It’s literally my favorite by her, and it’s in such a unique format and brings one of the most adorable ships. Oh, they were so cute, and it was such a fun, fascinating read.

I really need to reread the Gallagher Girl series, because this used to be so much fun. I loved this book, because while we lost our main ship with Josh, we were introduced to Zach, and my heart still loves that mysterious little spy. Oh swoon.

Rhysanddddddddddddddddddddddd.

And Nikkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk from Gemina. They gave me pictures, which was quite unfair.

Books that Made Me Feely Feel

Eliza and Her Monsters by Francesca Zappia / Geekerella by Ashley Poston / You Were Here by Cori McCarthy

These books are actually the ones that made my tear ducts think about working again. I don’t cry over books (but apparently I do for McDonalds commercials), but these books made me second guess it for a quick second. All of these contemporaries just hit me so hard in the feels.

Mysterious Mysteries

One of Us Is Lying by Karen McManus / The Telling by Alexandra Sirowy / All the Missing Girls by Megan Miranda

I have a weird soft spot for mysteries/thrillers, and there will always be a few times a year that I will get struck by a mystery mood that has me devouring them left and right. While it is hard to be completely original and not easily have your plot uncovered by the reader, these books left me guessing until the very end. They also did something a little bit outside the book whether it was with original format and beautiful storytelling (All the Missing Girls) or with dark and hauntingly beautiful writing that include a plethora of freaky fairytales (The Telling) or with a cast of characters loveable and damaged and one amazing ship (One of Us). 

The Lone Classic

The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde

If you’re ever going to read one classic in all of your life, please let it be this one. It’s hilarious, tropey, and oh so amazing. It has one of the greatest arguments ever over muffins as well.

And that’s it! Wow, that took forever to write. But now, you can see just what my favorites shelf is actually like after I literally talk how hipster and weird it is all the time. And maybe add a few of these to your TBR so we can fangirl/fanboy together?

What’s on your favorites shelf? Do we share any of the same? How hard/easy is it to get on your shelf? Let’s discuss in the comments below!