My Absolute Favorites

Since my last lists have been the most popular of all of my posts, I thought I would create another one. I thought I would try something a little different this time, though. Instead of giving you a list of my favorite books, I am going to give you a list of my favorite authors, and my favorite books by those authors, plus the list of budding authors I could see on my favorites list in the future. These authors either haven't written enough books to make a a real decision, or I haven't read enough of their books to decide.

Favorite Authors:

1. J. K. Rowling
2. Cornelia Funke
3. Shannon Hale
4. James Dashner
5. Nancy Farmer
6. Ted Dekker
7. Christopher Paolini
8. Gail Carson Levine
9. Alex Flinn
10. C. S. Lewis

Potential Favorites:

1. Suzanne Collins
2. Kristen Cashore
3. K. L. Fogg
4. Ilsa J. Bick
5. Veronica Roth
6. Diane Setterfield
7. Dan Wells
8. Obert Skye
9. Michael Grant - for the Gone books (Lies is my least favorite, but all great besides that)
10. James Patterson - The Maximum Ride books (getting worse and worse, unfortunately)
11. Scott Westerfeld - The Uglies books (All great, but I didn't love the last 2 Midnighters books)
12. Lois Lowry
13. Ally Condie
14. Jane Austen - Pride and Prejudice (absolutely amazing)
15. Moira Young - Blood Red Road (amazing, book 2 to come out soon)
16. Cassandra Clare

Favorite Books:

1. The Harry Potter series (yes, all 7 books. I can't pick favorites out of those) - J.K. Rowling
2. The Inheritance Cycle (book 3, Brisingr, is probably my favorite) - Christopher Paolini
3. The Books of Bayern (I adore book 2, Enna Burning) - Shannon Hale
4. The Inkheart series (can't pick a favorite!) - Cornelia Funke
5. Ella Enchanted - Gail Carson Levine
6. The Thief Lord - Cornelia Funke
7. Dragon Rider - Cornelia Funke
8. The Hunger Games (I adore all 3, even Mockingjay) - Suzanne Collins
9. The Circle books (That is Black, Red, White and Green) - Ted Dekker
10. The Giver - Lois Lowry
11. The Serpent Tide (I don't love books 2 or 3) - K.L. Fogg
12. Ashes - Ilsa J. Bick
13. The Maze Runner series (can't pick favorite) - James Dashner
14. The 13th Reality series (I just want book 4!) - James Dashner
15. The House of the Scorpion - Nancy Farmer
16. The Sea of Trolls (check out the amazing audio book) - Nancy Farmer
17. Book of a Thousand Days - Shannon Hale
18. Beastly - Alex Flinn
19. The Chronicles of Narnia (If I threw a dart, probably Dawn Treader and Last Battle are my favorites) - C.S. Lewis
20. The Matched Books (Crossed is better than Matched) - Ally Condie
21. The Graceling Realm books (Graceling is my favorite) - Kristin Cashore
22. The Mortal Instruments (I think book 4 is the low point, all the rest are amazing) - Cassandra Clare
23. The Thirteenth Tale (as if I haven't raved about that book enough) - Diane Setterfield
24. The Leven Thumps books (can't pick a favorite) - Obert Skye
25. The John Cleaver books (I like the 2 that I have read, still need book 3) - Dan Wells

Well, I just hope I haven't overwhelmed you. Please give me feedback on my posts so far so that I can hopefully write the things that YOU, the reader, want to read about. Also, suggest books you love. Happy reading!

4-Part June Wrap-Up

Happy summer, readers! I have been reading like mad all summer, and I have actually gone down to only 2 behind in my goal, but I went from 7 behind to 2 behind in one week, so I know I will catch up. I finished reading Bitterblue, the whole Green Mile series, The Devil Wears Prada, Midnight in Austenland, Insurgent, The Replacement, Grammar Snobs are Great Big Meanies, The Dangerous Days of Daniel X, Bruiser, and, finally, I am NOT a Serial Killer. Wew, I have been doing nothing but reading this summer. I am not going to summarize these books, I will just let you know how the writing is and the overall opinion I had of the book.

Bitterblue, book #3 in the Graceling Realm, by Kristin Cashore. Fantastic writing, though I think it took a while to get going. I think I like the first 2 books more, but book 3 was still amazing. It was also nice to read about someone in the world of Gracelings who wasn't a Graceling, nice new view on things. I highly recommend the series. Book 1 is called Graceling

Rating: 4.5/5








Green Mile books by Stephen King. In order: The Two Dead Girls, The Mouse on the Mile, Coffey's Hands, The Bad Death of Eduard Delacroix, The Night Journey, and Coffey on the Mile. These books get better as they go along, I promise. The first 3 are good, but I love the last 3 more. The final book is my favorite. Warning: some language. This is Stephen King, after all.

Rating (average): 4/5



The Devil Wears Prada Lauren Weisenberger. If you have seen the movie, this is nothing like that. Names are the same, and I think some characters have the same personalities as described in the book, but that is where the similarites end. I didn't like this book. I didn't sympathize with the main character, but I was still mad at other characters for treating dear old Andy the way they did. So, overall, I hated all of the characters. And if you want me to like a book, give me a reason to empathize with the main character at the very least. Warning: again, bad language.

Rating: 2/5




Last of all for today, The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff. Ok, this book kept leaving me feeling.... empty. I just kept feeling like I was reading a good book, but I wasn't reading it like it was a good book. The characters were nice, but they didn't feel real. The story wasn't all there. Just overall, it seemed like this book should be good, but it didn't quite feel right. Warning: some bad language in this book. It is no Stephen King, but there IS language. You have been warned.

Rating: 3/5