The Books of Bayern

I was recently perusing my book blog and realized that my very favorite series, well the one that is the closest in competition with Harry Potter anyway, is missing from this blog. Oops. I have  mostly been writing about my current readings, which means that many of my favorite books prior to this blog are not on here. So hopefully every so often I will be able to write about an "oldy but a goody", while continuing to keep up on what I am currently reading.

The series that I am referring to is called 'The Books of Bayern' by Shannon Hale. My best friend in high school gave me 'The Goose Girl' as a birthday present. I fell in love with the book and read it over and over and over again. I actually did not even read the rest of the books until I got to college. 'The Goose Girl' is by far my favorite book in the series and you can read it without reading the others if you wanted to.

This story is about Princess Anidori. After her father dies her mother decides that she is going to send Ani to Bayern, a neighboring kingdom, to marry the prince and hopefully smooth out the rocky relationship the two kingdoms have. Although Ani knows that this is an attempt to prevent war, she is hurt by her mother's utter disregard to her feelings. The trip to Bayern is very long and dangerous, and Ani has mixed emotions about what no only awaits her on the trip, but what her new life will be like in Bayern as well. During the trip something tragic happens, and Ani realizes that she no longer knows who to trust and is left completely on her own, having for the first time in her life, to defend for herself. And for a girl who has never even had to dress herself, this can be quite the challenge. This is a story of bravery, friendship, romance, and the journey to self discovery. It is a story that has found a place forever in my heart and one that I return to almost yearly.
In order:
The Goose Girl
Enna Burning
River Secrets
Forest Born