Top 10 Favourite Books

This is literally like picking my favourite children. This is next to impossible for me. But I'll do my best, probably forgetting half of them. I'm not going to go into too much detail, as this is just a list. And some I cheated with it being a series.   Note: There is no Harry Potter on this list. We'd probably be here all day talking about how amazing Harry Potter is. Plus it's just too self explanatory that my childhood is on the list.   Here we go: 1.) Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas. 7 book series, everything has been published at this point. Goodreads  I read this one back a few years ago, right when the third came out. I loved Aelin and her weird thing with changing names multiple times throughout the book. It made faeries cool and sexy, instead of a subspecies that really only exists to teach the protagonist about sex... Okay, that was one book but it's ruined faeries for me ever since. But Sarah J Maas has made me like them.   2.) The Library At Mount Char by Scott Hawkins. Standalone book that blew me away. It's honestly like nothing that I expected. It's the right mix of horror, weirdness, originality and characters that are strangely unlikeable. If you like weird fiction this is for you. I want to forget it so I can go back and read everything.   3.) Robin Hobb's "Realm of the Elderlings". Ship of Magic This has several trilogies in it, but I can't really discriminate. Even the weakest of the trilogies within it (4 book series "The Rain Wild Chronicles") is still well-written and had characters that I liked within it. Althea and Malta are some of my favourite protagonists, as they are bad-asses. Malta has one of my favourite character growth arcs that I've ever read. I particularly loved the Liveship Traders trilogy since it had pirates, dragons, and was nautical themed. I have a weird love of nautical books and there's no where near enough of them. 4.) Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury   After reading Ray Bradbury it's no surprise that someone composed a song with the lyrics "Fuck me Ray Bradbury, the greatest scifi writer in history". He's a fabulous writer that knows the important cords to hit and I think for his novels this is the best. I do love me some Fahrenheit 451, but I like this one more, since it's a little weirder and creeper. There's something so satisfying about reading about a creepy theme park, the idea of aging (both reverse and forward), good vs evil and loss of innocence when the nights get longer. This is a quintessential fall read! Interesting fact, this is actually part of a trilogy! I've had Dandelion Wine on my list for ages, but I haven't got around to it.   

5.) Uprooted by Naomi Novak    

When I was a kid I used to read "Short and Shivery Tales to Tell in the Dark", which was all dark and creepy fairytales, but I felt like I grew out of it. This book made me realize that I'm never too old for a fairy tale retelling. 

There's something so ominous about the description. "Our dragon doesn't eat the girls he takes, no matter what stories they tell outside our valley". The Dragon is actually a grouchy old wizard and our protagonist is unsurprisingly a girl who isn't beautiful and graceful. But with that, it's actually one that will surpass your expectations. She's an interesting protagonist, the forest setting is basically its own character (and not in a way that your English teacher used to say), and my favourite part was the relationship between Agnieszka and Kasia. I love a good girlmance and this has it. Their friendship was more exciting than the actual love story between Agnieszka and the Dragon. I like how it used Polish folklore, and ushered lesser known fairy tales to the forefront, as opposed to more Brothers Grim and English tales. 

6. John Dies at the End by David Wong (3 book trilogy, thus far)

This series gets better with each book. The first one feels a bit like a bunch of different ideas thrown together. The 2nd was about zombies and the third was about a shape shifting monster stealing children. All involve John and David who are "slackers", who work at a video store and have to save the world as they are the only ones who can see the monsters. They achieved this ability through taking an illegal drug called soy sauce. If you think it can't get weirder, just you wait. It does. I didn't enjoy the movie much, but I can't stop laughing when I read these books. It technically falls under horror, but just as easily falls under the new weird umbrella within fantasy. It taught me how much I love randomness and weirdness in my novels. David Wong is actually a pen name, and the author works at Cracked.com. This should give you an idea of the content. 

7.) Windhaven by George R.R. Martin and Lisa Tuttle. 

I feel like it was expected to put ASOIAF on this list, as I mainly read fantasies, but I decided to switch it up. I'm not good at waiting, so I like things already finished. 

This is George R.R. Martin's 2nd novel I believe, and it still contains some romanticism and almost idealism that his later novels begin to lose. This one takes place in the water world of Windhaven, and they spread news by the elite group of people called The Fliers. These people have wings made from the remains of the elite group called The Fliers. These people have wings made from the remains of space ships. Maris is the adopted daughter of a flier and wants wings, but his biological son gets them based off of tradition. Her brother wants to be a singer. They fight and change the system to allow her to get wings. It's interesting seeing how the young want to fight for change and to save the world, but as she gets older she begins to wonder if parts of things are good the way they are. And how much change is too far. It raises questions of perceptions changing as we age and how much change is good and how much is too far. I feel like the novel made me think about this and question it.

8.) Summer of Night by Dan Simmons  I'm realizing how many horror/fantasy novels I have on this list now.  This one was what I felt like It wanted to be. I know It was written in 1987 and this was written in 1992, but I felt like it did what It was trying to do better. I will be the first to admit I'm not a big Stephen King fan (I find his work overrated and his endings suck), I read most of his books when I was 13/14. The Shining is the one by him that I like. I think Dan Simmons is just a better writer, can do a good ending and this one had actual scary moments. It takes place in Elm Haven and is the first in the Seasons of Horror series. The boys are trying to solve what happened Tubby Cooke, and there's a strange solider in a WWII outfit. The horrors take place in the old school house as opposed to in the sewers. There's no creepy clowns to terrify children this time. The town and the character building were what makes this story so good.    9.) The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson I loved this book. I read it a few years ago and can see how it became a horror classic. The Netflix series is incredible as well, but completely different from the book it's based off of. Eleanor is written as a character that contains parts of ourselves that we wish to hide but we ultimately see ourselves in. She's not likeable and is deeply troubled. The house is also fascinating. You are left questioning is the house haunted or is it all in their heads?    10.) A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L'Engle.  I read this book so often as a kid. I felt a strong connection to Meg Murray. I haven't watched the new movie. I thought it looked awful with the animation and with how much I loved it as a kid, I didn't want a bad adaptation to ruin it for me.  I totally had a book crush on Calvin as a kid. Mrs. Who, Mrs. Whatsit and Mrs. Witch and Charlies Wallace were all interesting characters. I liked how smart the book felt as a kid and how it felt futuristic and fantastic but still very grounded in our world. I attribute this book (and A Swiftly Tilted Planet) to my love of reading and fantasy today.     Cheers! Jen