Here are my top 10 books:

10- Mists of Avalon by Marian Zimmer Bradley; it’s King Arthur told from a woman’s perspective.  I haven’t read any other King Arthur stories, so I can’t make any comparisons, but it’s certainly an interesting take on King Arthur.

9-Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen; it’s about a 93 year-old man in a nursing home who’s recounting his time in the circus.  I love the way it goes back and forth between past and present.  The main character, Jacob, is a really likeable character, and you can tell he really misses his time in the circus.

8- Me and Emma by Elizabeth Flock; it’s about an 8 year-old girl who lost her dad and has a mom who isn’t there emotionally.  She’s protective of her younger sister, and they run away from home.  It’s heartbreaking, and while I won’t give away, it’s not what I was expecting.  I just wanted to protect Carrie, and her courage stuck with me.

7- To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee; it’s one of the very few required readings that I actually liked.  It’s a classic, of course, but the characters drew me in.  Boo Radley, Scout, Dill, and Jem.  And of course, Atticus.  It’s been a couple years since I’ve read it, so it’s long overdue for a reread. 

6-The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd; in a way, it’s a coming of age story.  Lily (who’s 14) never knew her mother, so Rosaleen became her stand-in mother.  They make their way to Tiburon, South Carolina, which was written on the back of a picture that had once belonged to her mother, and they get taken in by 3 sisters.  It makes the list because home and family can be found in the most unexpected places.

5- But Inside I’m Screaming by Elizabeth Flock; it’s the 2nd Elizabeth Flock book to make the list.  Isabel is a news anchor working for the fictional ANN News, and while broadcasting Princess Diana’s car accident live, falls apart and ends up at a psychiatric hospital.  What struck me the most about it was her struggle to accept that she denied the problems in her life, while trying to accept that she is, in some ways, like the other patients at the hospital.

4-The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold; the reason why this is so high up is the fact that it’s told from the perspective of 14 year-old dead girl, who’s watching her family from her version of heaven.  I love that she’s narrating from how she sees heaven, and the aftermath of her death and the effect it has on her family.

3- The Pact by Jodi Piccoult; I mentioned this yesterday when I was talking about one of my plot bunnies.  Emily and Chris grew up together, and were best friends.  In high school, they start dating and she ends up getting pregnant.  She can’t deal with her pregnancy, and wants to go to college, plus, she saw Chris as a brother, not a boyfriend, so she decides to kill herself.  Chris tries to stop her, but he can’t.  He said they had a suicide pact.  He’s accused of killing her as he was with her, and because the gun used was his fathers, but he’s proven innocent.  It was a really difficult read, and took me several months, because I’d start crying every few pages.  I definitely identified with how hopeless she felt, and how she didn’t see any other way out.

2- Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen; I can’t put my finger on why I love this book so much, but it’s one of the few that I can read over and over without getting tired of it.  Can I just say that I love Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy?  Because I do.

1-The Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling; I love Harry Potter!  It’s not funny how much I love Harry Potter.  It’s my all-time favorite book because I can read the entire series, and then start reading Sorcerer’s Stone the second I finish Deathly Hollows.  I love the good-vs-evil, and how the choices we make are important in determining who we are, as shown with Voldemort and Harry.  And the characters!  Harry Potter’s been a big part of my life since high school, ever since I saw Sorcerers Stone on DVD.  So I’ve been a fan for about 8 years.  It’s had a huge impact on my life, and no matter how old I get, I always remember going to get Deathly Hallows at midnight, and staying up all night to read it.