Top Ten Favorite Books

Gosh-I hardly know where to start, and I'll warn you, this post is kinda long. I just have so much to say about the books I love. I love to read. Love it so much that when I find a book I really like I will basically ignore the world that day and finish it all that same day. I love getting a brand new book and seeing all the pages I get to read. I'm always sad when I get to the end of a book---I get so excited to read a brand new story, and then it's over so soon! Anyway, now that I've revealed how much of a nerd I am (actually, it gets worse; just wait till you see the list) here are my top ten books.

10. True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Ruth E. Avi. I first read this book in fourth grade. Actually, my fourth grade teacher read it to our class and everyone, boys included, loved it. She read a lot of books to us and I had a hard time picking a favorite (Call it Courage, Banner in the Sky, Indian in the Cupboard series...all brilliant) but this one won out cuz I've re-read it the most. I even re-read it that same year with my mom. It's such an exciting book---seriously, all little girls should read this. And, I just found out it's being made into a movie. Yea!

9. The Sneetches and Other Stories by Dr. Seuss. Brilliant stories, fun words, silly rhyming. What's not to love? I'm not joking when I tell you my family quotes Dr. Seuss frequently (probly not hard to believe considering my blog name). I wrote a paper on the story/poem "Too Many Daves," in college. My brother sent us a picture from his mission of somebody wearing pale green pants like the ones in "What Was I Scared Of," and I still can't figure out why the south-going Zax didn't just let the north-going Zax leap-frog over him becuse that would've solved all their problems. It was hard to pick a favorite Dr. Seuss book, but since this one contained multiple stories it won out.

8. Princess Academy by Shannon Hale. I love the stories Shannon Hale writes. The fairly tale aspects she includes are always something new to me and so fun to discover when I read her books. The places she writes about are described so well that it's easy to imagine them as you read along. And the mother figures in her books are such wonderful woman; strong and honest and supportive, really such great examples.

7. Little House on the Prairie Series by Laura Ingalls Wilder. One of my earliest memories is of my mom reading these books to me and my three older brothers. It was so fun to sit near her for a half hour or so and just enjoy these stories. Although, I'm fairly certain that my fear of panthers stems from these books cuz I remember Pa being chased by one in Little House in the Big Woods. I don't care if there aren't panthers near where I live, they're still scary! And I was always amazed at how much Almanzo Wilder would eat (Farmer Boy) and it always made me hungry.

6. The Goose Girl series by Shannon Hale. I just read the fourth one in this series last week and couldn't stop put it down. Seriously, I was almost tempted to miss the BYU football game I was so into it. But, since I knew I'd be meeting Pat, T and April, I decided to put the book down for awhile:) The characters in these books are so engaging and fun to read about. I think Shannon Hale did a wonderful job making these new stories from fairy tales. The last one, Forest Born, was so exciting and interesting. I think any girl age 10 and older should read these series.

5. The Work and the Glory series by Gerald Lund. I won't lie---I was obsessed with these books. As in, I've read them all multiple times. It truly was a big reason why I got so into Church History when I was younger. That doesn't mean that when I lived in Nauvoo I looked for Steed Row, or that I actually think Nathan went with Parley Pratt on his mission to Canada---I'm not that obsessed. But those stories made church history more alive to me.

4. Another series, Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan. This books may have scored higher on my list if I had not just re-read #3 and #1; honestly, they're all interchangeably wonderful. Anyway, I had been talking about Twilight with my then-12 year old nephew and he told me about this new series that he really liked, even better that Twilight that he wanted me to read. I was kinda reluctant, but after he gave me the first book he kept texting to me to see if I had started it. Well, being the awesome aunt that I am, I finally started reading it on a road-trip I was taking with some friends. Coudn't put it down. LOVED it. Riordan did a great job making Greek mythology fun and engaging and I seriously laughed out loud in all five books. Multiple times. When I was reading it on the road trip, my friends kept asking me why I was smiling or laughing or whatever...I felt kinda nerdy when I showed them what I was reading, but I got over it. They are great books. I bought the fourth and fifth ones the day they came out and had them finished that same day. Shocker. I also shared them with a good guy friend last year, this one was 28 years old, not 12, and he also loves them.

3. Enna Burning by Shannon Hale. (I know-could I have more Shannon Hale books on here? Clearly, the woman is amazing.) I was assigned to read this book in an LDS Literature class I took my senior year at BYU. I'm not entirely postive (my last couple years there are kind of hazy) but I think it was taught by this woman's husband. If not, I know I took a class from him---just maybe not that class. Either way, I loved it. I loved the imagery, and the relationships in the story and how easy it was to cheer for the heroine. I didn't know at the time that it was part of a series---but this will always be my #1 favorite in that series cuz it was the first I read and I learned to love the characters through it.

2. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. I will ALWAYS love this book. It's one of the few I had to read in high school that I didn't hate. I love Scout and Jem's relationship, and I think Atticus is amazing. And have you seen the movie? Cuz that's just as wonderful. When I grow up I wanna be Miss Dubois; a mean old lady who sits on her porch with a gun on her lap and yells at little kids, "Don't you say 'hey' to me, you ugly little girl, you say 'Good afternoon, Miss Dubois.'" Classic. I wanted to put this book at number one so I appeared semi-scholarly, but I had to be honest...

1. Ella Enchanted by Gail Levine. SUCH a good book. It's so sweet and sincere and I just adore it. I could read it over and over...oh wait, I have. The movie was horrid! Seriously, the most awful attempt at book to screen I could imagine. I'm still angry about it. But, to calm the anger, I can always go back and re-read the book. The whole story just feels so genuine.

Alright, I kind of cheated with putting whole series on, but how could I pick a favorite?! And there are so many more I could include (Nancy Drew? Chronicles of Narnia? Not to mention the books that are in the back of my bookshelf---the ones I don't want anyone to know I own cuz they're so cheesy but I continue to re-read them semi-often). I also really enjoy reading biographies...but I usually don't re-read those once I've finished them and every single book on my top ten has been read by me multiple times. Except Forest Born, but that's cuz I just finished it last week.

Check out http://www.itsabeautyfilledlife.com for other Top Tens.