Books have always been a very big part of my life. I remember sitting at the kitchen table at my parents house reading Itchy Itchy Chickenpox and More Spaghetti I Say! with my mom or my grandma by my side, helping me sound out words and turn the page for me. I was four years old when I got my first library card and we used to bring home stacks and stacks of books every week. I have always loved reading, being transported into a totally different world and falling in love with characters that I can come back to again and again and again.
I've noticed recently that I haven't been able to actually finish a book in a very long time. So I've set a goal to read 10 books this year. They can be books I've read before or new books, library books or Good Will books. These are the books that I find myself coming back to time and time again.
Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen // I was recommended this book by my therapist when I was a senior in high school. I think the first time I read it was the summer before I left for college and it captured my heart. I fell in love with the Great Depression era traveling circus world. Jacob, Marlena, August, and Rosie captured my heart and I love diving back into their world.
The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger // This book, hands down, wins the title of my favourite book of all time. The pages of my copy and dog eared and marked up to no end. I love the story of Claire and Henry and how they go through normal life, starting a relationship and getting married and starting a family while dealing with one little thing—Henry is a time traveler. Definite page turner, from cover to cover.
Harry Potter series by JK Rowling // I remember the first time I read The Sorcerer's Stone in second grade. I was catapulted into the world of Hogwarts and magic and I never looked back. My copy of Sorcerer's Stone is ratty and falling apart and all of my books are dog eared from being read time and time again. The last time I read the series all the way through was the summer before I left for Savannah, and I'm itching to read them again.
High on Arrival by Mackenzie Phillips // I owe this book a lot to my recovery from PTSD and depression. I pre-ordered it from Amazon after watching her interview on Oprah coming out about her incestuous abuse from her father, John Phillips, and devoured it in two days. I read during class, I read during dinner, I almost literally did not put this book down except to do homework and sleep. I did a report on it for my American Women Writers class in high school where we had to read a passage out loud and reading a paragraph on sexual abuse and drug abuse and what it means to be held captive by those things was extremely freeing for me in the process of my recovery from sexual abuse.
A Million Little Pieces by James Frey // another Oprah book. The first time I read this book I was fourteen and in a phase where I devoured memoirs about rehab and recovery from drug abuse and addiction. Even after all the controversy surrounding Frey and this book, it still remains as one of my favourites. I try to think of it more like a novel instead of a memoir to help lessen the sense of controversy that surrounds this book.
Looking For Alaska by John Green // This is another ratty, literally falling apart at the seams, very very well-loved book of mine. I remember going to the library and always looking at this book but passing it by for something else that caught my eye. The summer I went to the Lake Forest Writing and Thinking Workshop was the first time I picked this book up and actually dived in head first. Alaska and Pudge and The Colonel and Takumi never fail to make me laugh and then cry and then laugh some more.
The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien // THIS BOOK BLEW MY MIND. I read it for the first time in AP English Lit in high school and was just floored with all the discoveries of memory and storytelling and what really is the truth. It's a collection of short stories that are all about the Vietnam war and all I can say is keep a highlighter and a stress ball handy. You will feel all the feels.
Those are all of my favourite books that I find myself coming back to again and again. Read any good books lately? Let me know in the comments! My library card is always up for a workout.
