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My Personal Favorites

People often ask me what my favorite book is. And while this is an annoying answer, it is also the truth…I don’t know.

I understand my answer is frustrating, but it’s only because I find it so difficult to compare two novels that are drastically different from each other in prose, genre, style, length, or any other category.

It’s one thing to ask me my favorite YA fantasy novel, but it’s hard to answer the universal question of: What is your favorite book ever?

For that reason, instead of giving you just one favorite, here I will list several that I personally consider some of my all-time favorites.

Disclaimer: As I grow older and change and expand my ever present reading list, so do my opinions. Books that I said used to be my favorite may go down in rank (Twilight anyone?) or books that I used to hate I can re-read and appreciate something about it that I hadn’t before (Lord of the Flies). That being said, I’m sure there are books I’m forgetting or leaving out or haven’t read yet, but at the present moment, these would be my favorites.

Please take it with more than a grain of salt, or better yet, please take the whole salt shaker.

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Favorite Children’s Series

1. The Harry Potter Series

2. The Penderwick Chronicles

3. Peter and the Starcatchers

I mean…was there even a question? Harry Potter is iconic and to this day, the series gives me feels that are unrivaled. But seeing as the Harry Potter series is what started my love of reading in the first place…I owe it a lot. And for all of those that never asked Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is my favorite HP novel followed closely by Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

Favorite Middle Grade Series

  1. The Clique Series

  2. The Land of Elyon Series

  3. Holes

  4. The Giver

  5. The Outsiders

This has…quite a range in terms of quality and subject matter. But most of these I read during pre-pubescence and when I was voraciously reading anything and everything I could get my hands on. I was 12 and books like The Clique and Gossip Girl were the pinnacle of literature to my tiny brain. Thank god that time is over.

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Favorite YA Fantasy

Even though Harry Potter could probably also win this category, I will leave it out for now as I put in in Children’s series.

  1. The Wicked Lovely Series

  2. Six of Crows Duology

  3. The Raven Cycle Series

  4. Dark Rise

  5. The Dark Artifices Series

    For a long time, I considered Melissa Marr, author of the Wicked Lovely series, my favorite author of all time. There are others added to that list now (Leigh Bardugo, Maggie Steifvater, etc) but she was the original. I read the Wicked Lovely series when I was in 8th grade and it still strikes me today as one of the most inventive and fantastical YA fantasies that mixes fairies, romance, and the dark and gritty in an addicting concoction that has stayed fresh even after all these years.

Favorite YA Fiction

  1. The Foxhole Court (All for the Game trilogy)

  2. The Captive Prince Trilogy

  3. The Absolutely True-Diary of a Part-time Indian

  4. The It Girl Series

  5. The Selection Series

I’m sure I am forgetting many, many more, but these books and series are what come to mind currently. The Foxhole Court to me is the epitome of a diamond in the rough. Not nearly as popular or well-known as the others, but I’ve read that series three times now. There’s something about the characters and the relationships that is unbelievably memorable and always drags me back for more.

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Favorite Adult Fiction

  1. Station Eleven

  2. Red, White, & Royal Blue

  3. If We Were Villains

  4. The Host

  5. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo

Adult fiction is a genre that I delve into sporadically and with mixed results. I definitely tend to vibe with YA more and most of my beloved characters and series are heralded in by YA. That being said, Station Eleven is INCREDIBLE. I read this novel in college and it blew my mind. I would highly recommend. And yes, despite what any one says, I thought The Host was a very enjoyable read.

Favorite LGBTQ+ Novels

  1. Autoboyagraphy

  2. Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe

  3. Proxy

  4. Coda

These were hard to choose as there are other books (like Red, White, & Royal Blue that could be added, but since I had them in different categories I went with novels I hadn’t listed yet. Autoboyagraphy was just perfection. I loved every single word of it. Please go read it.

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Favorite Classic Literature

  1. Of Mice and Men

  2. 1984

  3. The Catcher in the Rye

  4. The Lord of the Flies

  5. Wuthering Heights

I do read other things than YA, fiction, and fantasy, occasionally. I’ve either read most classics through school or through being an educator, but Of Mice and Men once made me cry for an entire weekend. That book is so short and yet packs the biggest punch.

Favorite Shakespeare Plays

  1. Macbeth

  2. King Lear

  3. A Streetcar Named Desire

  4. The Crucible

  5. The Merchant of Venice

I have read Macbeth so many times now I think I could recite certain lines in my sleep. This play is Shakespeare’s shortest, but also his best in my opinion. Lady Macbeth will forever live on as the most badass woman to ever murder several people and her lines will forever remain iconic.

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Favorite Short-Stories

1.The Metamorphosis

2. The Cask of Amontillado

3. The Lottery

4. The Monkey’s Paw

I don’t make a habit necessarily of reading short-stories, but these are some I’ve come across over the years and absolutely love for different reasons, although most of these on the list weirdly align with more horror elements.