July Book List: On a Quest
A new month means a new reading challenge…and this month we are going on a Quest!
Admittedly I don’t do much questing…or reading about quests….but this month my book choices will be all about the quest!
So without further ado, here is list books with characters on a mission:
#1. The Tale of Despereaux
(Young Adult Fiction)
A minuscule knight, who happens to be a very brave mouse, is on a quest to cheer up a princess and put soup back on the menu for an entire kingdom. (I LOVE LOVE LOVE this book…I’ve read it to my kids at home…and to classes, of all ages, at school.)
#2. The Lost City of the Monkey God
(Non-Fiction)
Preston details his accounts of traveling with a filming crew to Honduras in search of La Ciudad Blanca. (I listened to this book in 3 sittings…while cutting and sewing up a quilt. It was fascinating!)
#3. My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry
(Fiction)
Elsa is only 7…but her grandma is 77 and wild…and they are best friends. Grandma has spent her life, not only rocking the boat, but also telling Elsa fantastical fairy tales. When Grandma dies she leaves Elsa a stack of letters to deliver, apologizing to people whom she has wronged. It is then that Elsa starts to discover the truth of her grandmothers fairy tales.
(This is another book that I adore. I cried and cried and cried some more reading this beautifully crafted quest.)
#4. Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea
(Classic Fiction)
Shipwrecks, submarines, giant squids, and an unhinged Captain Nemo make for a classic, albeit unsettling, under the sea adventure.
#5. Words on Fire
(Young Adult Fiction)
Audra lives on a quiet farm in Lithuania, when in 1893 Russian Cossack soldiers invade and she sets off on a journey to smuggle books and, hopefully, rescue her parents.
#6. The Alchemist
(Fiction)
Santiago, a shepherd, longs to travel the world in search of treasure.
#7. The Lord of the Rings
(Classic Fiction)
This series is filled with hobbits, wizards, trolls, fairies, adventure, precious rings….and of course world saving quests!
#8. A Wrinkle in Time
(Young Adult Fiction)
Meg and her brother must go on a quest with a crew of magical strangers to save their father.
#9. The DaVinci Code
(Fiction)
Langdon, a Harvard professor is called in the middle of the night to decipher the mysterious clues surrounding a murder in the Louvre….from that moment he is thrown into a quest not only to solve a murder but to wade through riddles and clues across two countries to help protect a historical secret.
#10. The Neverending Story
(Young Adult Fiction)
A young boy named Bastian finds an old book detailing another boys quest to stop “The Nothing” from destroying a word called Fantasia….little does Bastian know that he may be part of that quest.
#11. The Odyssey
The Illiad and The Odyssey are the OG’s of quests and so can’t be left off the list. Dive into either story for tales of harrowing journeys, angry gods, beautiful goddesses, and mythical creatures.
#12. The Last Unicorn
(Fiction)
The last unicorn on earth goes on a quest to find other unicorns of her kind.
#13. Harry Potter
(Young Adult Fiction)
I had to include the Harry Potter books…wizards, muggles, avenging parents, freeing house elves, finding horcruxes, vanquishing evil…it is my favorite quest series.
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So there you have it, a bakers dozen, the July Book List: On a Quest…13 books that will take you on a quest.
I’ve read every book on the list…except for “The Last Unicorn”…perhaps it is time for me to go on that quest.
Happy Reading!
(And if you have a favorite questing book, please share what it is in the comments!)
*If you are looking for a different kind of read this month…maybe a fairy tale….check out THIS LIST:
It is all about fairy tale retellings. Click HERE to check it out.
