Clean Books for Picky Readers, Part 2

    Welcome back!
    In today's post, I'm going to give you all another five books/series that I found clean and highly enjoyable. Not all of the ones I have today are fantasy, but they are all really good.
    Ready?
    Here we go!

Entry #1: The Mysterious Benedict Society, by Trenton Lee Stewart
    I know, it isn't fantasy. But it is a middle-grade puzzle/mystery series, and it is really good. There are five novels in this series now, and I've read four of them (I never really got into the series prequel).
    The sheer amount of puns and wordplay in this series is astonishing. Also, I think it could technically be called satire, because it makes all kinds of points about modern society.
    Maybe you've seen the (Netflix?) TV show version of this story and think you know all you need to know about it. Do not make that assumption. I'm fairly confident that the TV series isn't nearly as good as the books are. Look them up, borrow or buy them, and read them. It's so worth it.

Entry #2: The Dragonslippers Trilogy, by Jessica Day George
    It's fantasy. It's got dragons. There's some romance. Also, there are some cool inventions and ideas to play around with. The humor is on point, the action sequences properly dramatic, the twists and emotional reveals wonderfully placed. These books are definitely worth reading again and again.
    I do recommend giving these to slightly older readers (say, 8+) for comprehension's sake, but these books are squeaky clean and safe for littler ones, too, if they have the attention spans for it.

Entry #3: Wildwood Dancing, by Juliet Marillier
    Quick warning: Do not read anything else by this author if you're interested in clean fantasy. I loved this book, but upon looking up some of the other things she's written, I, personally, was very unimpressed.
    However, this book is fantastic. It's a retelling of the Twelve Dancing Princesses with some delightful twists that you'll probably never see coming (I certainly didn't!), and there's romance, and it's awesome. I recommend this for readers 12 and up.

Entry #4: The Lord of the Rings, by J.R.R. Tolkien
    You probably knew I was going to mention this one, didn't you? Good, because this book is where the fantasy genre as we know it originated. Virtually every fantasy author since Tolkien has looked up to and ripped off his work in some form or another; the sheer number of themes and ideas brought up between all of his works means that you're going to find similar ideas in every author's work, especially at the beginning of their careers. Heck, even I ripped off elves and dwarves once or twice early on, and I was trying not to!
    This is a much older style of writing than we're generally used to, so as a bit of fair warning, it takes 150-200 pages for the plot to really kick off; and let's face it, the Frodo and Sam sections are as boring as a bit of blank wall, but I think that once you really get into this book, you won't want to leave. Give it time, patience, and some dedication. It'll be worth it.

Entry #5: A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking, by T. Kingfisher
    This is another book where I liked the one I read, but wasn't all that impressed with most of the author's other work. But this one was good, and I recommend it.
    This is a middle-grade fantasy comedy about a young baker with a man-eating sourdough starter and sentient gingerbread cookies. I am not an easy person to amuse, and most dedicated comedy shows barely see me cracking smiles, but this book had me laughing on and off from beginning to end.
    And I promise this book is clean. Promise.
    Well, there is that one part where the main characters climb up a...
    No. I need to stop right there so I don't spoil it. See what I mean when I say it's dangerous to get me talking about books?
    I rate this one for kids 10 and up, but honestly, eight-year-olds would probably enjoy it a great deal, too.

    There you are! Five more books/series to keep you busy on your reading journey!

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