MY FAVORITE BOOKS! | 2016

Happy Friday, everyone! (Also, welcome back to my blog. I have been away for an embarrassingly long time, I know.)

I have been in a horrible Spring-Semester/Netflix/I-Have-A-Ridiculous-Amount-Of-Homework induced reading slump since basically January. It's been horrible. I miss reading so much, so so so much that it actually hurts me. (I have resulted to writing really bad, never-see-the-face-of-the-internet fanfiction for basically everything ever.)

One of the supposed "cures" to the reading slump is to reread a favorite book. I, however, do not have the time for this, nor do I have most of my favorite books with me. Instead, I am going to look back on some of my all-time favorite books.

HONORABLE MENTIONS: (because I only wanted a list of five) Carry On by Rainbow Rowell & The Martian by Andy Weir & Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

Look at their beautiful, beautiful glory.

These are in no particular order.

HARRY POTTER (The entire series, really): I have a bit of a different story accompanying my Harry Potter journey than most people--most "Potternerds" or other varying names. (Why am I putting this in quotations?) (It sounds sarcastic.) (I promise it's not; I am one.) My sister, who is six and a half years older than I am, is the part of the Potter generation that essentially grew up with Harry. She was eleven when the first book came out, and she forced my mother to stand at the bookstore doors at midnight with her to pick up the next book.

I won't pretend to have that experience. I wish I had that experience. When I was "old enough" to actually read the story, my sister was shoving it into my hands at every possible moment. I grew up reading, but because this was something my sister loved, I naturally--and probably force of will--hated it. I would sit at school with my elementary teacher's classroom copy of the book and try to force myself to read it. I read the first chapter and thought it was boring probably a dozen times before the day that I just read it straight through. The day that I took the copy home with me and read it at home.

I like to imagine my sister doing a victory dance in the background. Don't know if that happened or not, but I like to pretend.

At that point, I think all of the books were out or at least most of them. For the next few years, I read all of the books. (I also think this is the point in my life where I began talking to myself because I distinctly remember hypothesizing out loud while reading these books.) I don't remember when exactly I finished reading the books, but I think it wasn't soon before the release of the sixth movie because I was furious they blew up the Burrow in my self-righteous, middle-school anger.

OUTLANDER: Call me Sassenach. Do it. I will probably cry over Jaime Fraser. Historical fiction is my favorite genre (as you can tell by this list) and this is just such a wonderful, wonderful book and I need to read the rest of the series. I'm just intimidated, okay?

THE DREAM THIEVES: Talk to me about Ronan Lynch. Do it. I will probably end up in tears. Talk to me about Richard Campbell Gansey III. Do it. I will probably end up tears.

THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA: This book is not what you think it is. This book is not the play. It's not the movie. It's the best thing I think I've ever read. I definitely recommend getting this B&N edition--or at least some edition that has notes in it--and it's just. *flails arms*

A TALE OF TWO CITIES: I will admit, part of the reason (a very small reason, but still a reason nonetheless) that I dislike Will Herondale and Tessa Gray (and a little bit of Jace in COLS/COHF) is the fact that they love ATOTC so much. Let me try and describe this feeling to you. *clears throat*

So many people don't like Dickens. They hate Dickens because they were forced to read Great Expectations freshman year. I read this book in junior year with a teacher that loved it and explained all the symbolism and meaning to us. People still hated it, but I loved it. It's the best Dickens that I've read. So it's like my gem; it's my precious and when people that I am not predisposed to like enjoy this book, I get jealous.

From that description, you may think I am Gollum. I am not Gollum. I am not Smeagol. Pinky promise.

Have you guys read these books? What are some of your favorite books? Tell me down in the comments!