Recs if you like The Golden Compass...
Fantasy books you can read instead of Harry Potter
JK Rowling is a bigot who uses her platform to hurt transfolks and other marginalized groups (plus she literally just quoted Mein Kampf on the bird site). If you're still supporting her in 2025, don't bother talking to me.
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Quest Thirst ๐ฆ (100+ Books under multiple quests)
Books that are part of 3 or more quests โจfor easier planning! Initially thought of making this on my shelf, hope the members of pb find this helpful!! (The list is incomplete, I'm working on checking & adding new quest books๐๐ป thanks for the love โค๏ธ๐ฅน)
47
Christianity As An Instrument Of Oppression
Fiction and non-fiction that examines how the Christian cultural hegemony and belief system has been co-opted as a tool of oppression and exploitation throughout history. Speculative works included, so long as the underlying narrative and commentary directly engages with some aspect of religious control as a primary theme. Always open to suggestions! (Please note that this List aims to critique Christianity as a worldwide institution, not to promote hate against individual practitioners)
41
stop supporting JKR!!!
books to get for the middle grade readers in your life that have similar vibes but are NOT Harry Potter (and are in fact better)
47
Good Book, Bad Movie ๐ฝ๏ธ
Crimes committed by movie studios against amazing books. โThe book walked, so these movies could trip and fall down the stairsโ - JadeLovesBooks โจ
317
animal side characters
books that feature an animal (real & fantastical alike) as a side character, companion, or a pet!
64
HRCYED 3.0 x Pagebound Quests (Titles Edition)
If we are going to do Qwordy's the Hardest Reading Challenge You'll Ever Do 3.0 - we should probably get some Pagebound badges along the way! I'm specifically going to be adding books from Quests and readalongs that go past the July start date and match at least one of these title prompts: Periodic Table, Familial Terms, Rainbow of Words (also Joseph's coat), Numerical Titles, Titular Counting 5+, Pun in the Title, and First & Last Name in the Title. Recommendations welcome!
20
Ologies Podcast Suggestions
Ologies is a weekly science podcast hosted by Alie Ward. Each episode, Ward interviews an expert from a distinct scientific field.
This unofficial list contains book suggestions made by the host or by her guests. I avoided extremely technical books or papers. Currently from episode 1 to 525 More details on these books and their associated episodes in my ever evolving spreadsheet.
In the spreadsheet there are also books not found on Goodreads and general book recommendations (like the entire bibliography of a specific author or group of people)
11
It's 2005 and you're at the Scholastic Book Fair
Books of the millennial reader's childhood (not just scholastic book fair). Sticking with chapter books, and not picture books :) All books pre-2005 Taking recs!
18
let me tell you my story
audiobooks where the narrator is the author! any book goes, no matter the genre. there may be multiple versions of the audiobook, but at least one version has the author as narrator. please suggest more in the comments!
33
Books Across Badges, A Multi-Quest Hit List
books that are part of 3 or more quests, for those readers with a completionist streak within and a personal plague of Too Many Books, Too Little Time.
7
Bears over Bears
Bears in all their shapes and forms and across genres (this includes sentient teddybears and memoirs). If not friend why friend-shaped?! As long as the bear is plot or character relevant the book can land in here. Feel free to recommend books to be added (maybe also tell me why you think the bear functions as relevant for the story). We bear bears!
32
Bears over Bears
Bears in all their shapes and forms and across genres (this includes sentient teddybears and memoirs). If not friend why friend-shaped?! As long as the bear is plot or character relevant the book can land in here. Feel free to recommend books to be added (maybe also tell me why you think the bear functions as relevant for the story). We bear bears!
32
Why is there a cowboy?
Books that are not westerns yet inexplicably include a cowboy in the cast.
19
gotta catch โem all
I wanna be the very best like no one ever was
in honor of Pokรฉmonโs 30th birthday, I put together a list of books that feel like pokemon, from just having a lil buddy hanging out to monster battles and more.
as always, taking any and all recommendations!
21
youโre going to ace that Accelerated Reader test
chapter books you probably read in elementary and/or middle school and you probably took the AR test as soon as you finished. cue nostalgia
16
Threee Badges for the Badge Gremlins
Do you love collecting tiny shiny objects (badges)? These books will count towards THREE quests, helping you collect all the shiny objects!
0
Banned books
A collection of books that are banned or challenged. Dive into these controversial works and explore what has been pushed for you to not discover.
5
เธฟษ โฆรโฎ โณโฃโฑคโณลฤ
Angelic abominations that are more akin to eldritch beings and monsters than visionary beauties.
14
R/Fantasy top Fantasy (and sci-fi) Novels (2025)
The top 100 fantasy novels according to the r/fantasy list as voted on by the community - this includes series (represented by the first book in the series) and standalones.
The list is in order with Middle Earth ( represented by Lord of the rings) being number 1 going down to the 100th.
(Note: Mistborn is position 8 while Cosmere is position 35 - as Mistborn is within the Cosmere I lumped it in with the 35th position so it is lower down than on the original list)
0
