Hello bookworms!
I am here with a brand new book list! We all need suggestions every once in a while when we don’t feel like we have something to read. So below I’ve provided a special list that is not by me, but by the people who I’ve asked across social media.
“What is your favorite book?”
I was surprised and pleased about the results. Below I have listed off these books and why they are favorites.
The Neverending Story
Author: Michael Ende
The cult classic is comprised of almost two stories that really seem never ending. It has fantastical elements and an epic adventure. The little cowardly boy finds friendships, enemies and becomes a hero -> villain -> hero again! I just love it! It’s meant as a child’s story but has such deep philosophy symbolism that adults can enjoy.
-Amanda Holbert
To Kill a Mockingbird
Author: Harper Lee
It was my first book I read that really made me think how people lived before the Civil Rights movement.
-Alice Moore Teets
My Name is Memory
Author: Ann Brashares
I’m not much for romances but this book makes me want to believe in true love.
-Cierra Minter
Frankenstein
Author: Mary Shelley
It’s the most perfect exploration of what it means to be human in literature. In the end, it isn’t the creature who is the inhuman monster, but rather it is the human beings who reject him based on his differences who are truly monstrous.
-Beth Rogers
Without Remorse
Author: Tom Clancy
It’s a book that’s not afraid of getting deep into the grit of the inbetween of a secret agent type of guy. It’s detailed about scenes that are considered taboo to most people. It’s not the focus, but rather the details that actually set up the relationships between the main character and the people he ‘saves’ and why they need saved.
-Alexander Wensel
Welcome to Night Vale
Author: Jeffery Cranor & Joseph Fink
It’s based on a podcast of the same name. One of the most creative and far out books I have ever read! Definitely not a run-o-the-mill read. Everything about the book is unique. It has a little bit of everything, including mystery, humor and drama.
-Luke Smith
The Empty House and Other Ghost Stories
Author: Algernon Blackwood
Granted it’s not a novel, it’s a compilation of like eleven of his short stories (I normally read short stories since I have an extremely short attention span). Each story is extremely horrifying and Blackwood’s attention to detail in each story is beyond amazing and leaves you creeped out, or in a state of awe, that you get lost in the world that he’s painting.
-John Charles Stahlman
Jane Eyre
Author: Charlotte Bronte
It’s one of the first books that got me back into reading as a teenager. I remember being drawn to Jane because we has similar personalities (both being quiet and artistic). As an adult, I love it for the imagery, the strong female characters, and plot twists.
-Kirsten Beckerle
The Five People You Meet in Heaven
Author: Mitch Albom
It kind of stretches the concept of the idealistic ‘Heaven’ that most depict through religion, especially the Garden of Eden idea I as a Catholic envisioned. Instead, it reaches into the idea of five people you met in your earthly life that somehow changed or paved the course of that life. It makes the protagonist think back on, not only how he lived his life (whether he was heroic or a failure), but also how he could redeem himself or accept what was. It’s a moral question and an eye-opening idea that we got to the end and still make the choice to be infinitely good.
-Rae Rankin
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
Author: Stieg Larsson
It’s my favorite for a million reasons: strong characters, a realistic quality supporting its mystery, a well-developed pace, and how much it taught me. Lisbeth is my hero, she has the courage I have always wanted to possess and I continue to strive for. Blomkvist encourages me to write. Martin Vanger taught me to trust in my instincts, that being afraid of coming across as rude is not worth losing your life.
-Rachel Rodgers
Where the Red Fern Grows
Author: Wilson Rawls
This book is about a young boy longing for hounds and the love, loyalty, friendship, and the bond between the young boy and his dogs is an absolutely amazing, tear-jerking story that fills your heart.
-Tori White
The Stand
Author: Stephen King
Although good and evil were portrayed by Mother Abigail and Randall Flag spectacularly, it seems to me that biological & germ warfare could well be the way it all goes down. Only the strong survive. As T.S. Eliot said, “This is the way the world ends, not with a bang, but a whimper.”
-Cindy Riggs
The Alchemist
Author: Paulo Coelho
The narrative follows a poor Shepard boy. It’s about finding your personal destiny.
-Anne Marie Belldina
A Court of Mist and Fury
Author: Sarah J. Maas
Fae and magic and fighting, character development, secrets revealed and so much amazing writing!
-Caitlin Cobern
Outlander
Author: Diana Gabaldon
I like the genre, historical fiction. It’s my favorite. Just going back in time like, I love it.
-Susan Clark
Long Walk to Freedom
Author: Nelson Mandela
It was on of the best books I’ve ever read on leadership, written by a tremendous leader. It gave me a view of a different culture, too. It was over 600 pages of uber small print, and yet I couldn’t put it down because he was also a master storyteller.
-Wilson Harvey
The Midwife of Hope River
Author: Patricia Harman
It’s a current favorite. It’s about a midwife in West Virginia during the time of the Great Depression. It really shows the struggles the went through and I think it is a fascinating read.
-Delena Teets
Secrets of a Charmed Life
Author: Susan Meissner
It’s about two sisters who lose each other during the London Blitz when they are young and follows their stories through old age. It goes back to tell the story. Reading how the sisters find themselves as they grow up searching for one another, discover stories about their hidden past, and eventually find each other again keeps the pages turning!
-Tabitha Kuckuck
Gray’s Anatomy
Author: Henry Gray
The human body and how it works has always fascinated me so for one book to encompass so much information on it in one place with the illustrations making it easy to visualize what is being talked about.
-Richard James Sho-Silva
Blood + Chocolate
Author: Annette Curtis Klaus
This book reached out to me at the age of fourteen (I’m twenty-four now) and it’s been just about the only book I read every year in July. This book follows a young werewolf girl, Valerie, as she tries to regain her life after a terrible fire swallows up most of it. This is a time of turmoil for her as she discovers what it is to be growing up and discovering herself. The bout of romance she finds in a meatboy causes her to split in half as she is torn between her pack and this fascinating, new venture because it’s not normal to mix with humans. She is trying to find herself and I understand that completely. There are times when I’m torn by decisions and lost, trying to find myself as well as feel comfortable in my skin. This book poses the unique question of what is stronger or more important: blood or chocolate?
Plus, I did warn you that I love a good book with werewolves. The little bits of detail really tied Valeria between wolf and human.
-Kat J.
I want to say thank you to all who have contributed their favorite book. I’m certainly interested in reading a few of these and the choices really express who you are. Again, thank you.
More to come soon…
-K.
The Scarlet Reader 
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