Hi everyone! If you've been reading for a while, you know that I
Memoirs & Autobiographies
The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls - I love anything written by Jeanette Walls, and most of it falls under this genre, but Glass Castle is my favorite. Walls tells her story starting from the beginning. She details her life and the struggles of growing up with with poor, dysfunctional parents who didn't mind being poor or dysfunctional. You understand the decisions she makes, whether you agree with them or not, and she follows herself into her adult life and how the choices of her parents continued to affect her. The story is captivating and unconventional, which I need in a memoir/autobiography. Walls doesn't preach life lessons, but truly tells her story. It's also being made into a movie this summer featuring my favorite, Brie Larson, so make sure you read it before August 11!
Fantasy
Passenger by Alexandra Bracken - Fantasy books are not my favorite, so given that I could not put this one down, it must be pretty great. I'm in a book club on Facebook and this was the book we read back in February. This story follows Etta Spencer, a regular girl, who finds out she has the power to travel through time when she falls through a portal and wakes up on a 20th century pirate ship. Etta soon realizes that she has two choices: further an agenda that could destroy the world and return to her family or start over and never see her family again. Fantasy might be one of my least favorite genres, but this book was a page turner and I could not put it down.
Mystery/Thriller
Dark Places/Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn - You're probably familiar with the author, Gillian Flynn, as her novel turned film Gone Girl has gotten a lot of attention in the past few years. Dark Places and Sharp Objects are very similar to Gone Girl in that they star characters that are absolutely insane and that you really do not see the ending coming. I've found that they are both much darker than Gone Girl, but it makes them even better in my opinion.
Science Fiction
Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes - Flowers for Algernon is one of my favorite books of all time! The story is super unexpected and makes you think a lot about the world. The basic plot is that the main character, Charlie, is a mentally disabled man who gets a surgery to restore some of his mind capabilities. Charlie has a lot of realizations about his life and the world that make him question everything he thought he knew. I love that this book is extremely realistic for science fiction and it's the kind of book that will keep you thinking long after you finish reading.
Historical Fiction
A Hundred Summers by Beatriz Wiliams - Set in the 1930s, Lily Dane's meets Nick Greenwald her perfect man, until he isn't. Seven years later, she meets him again and he's married to her ex-bestfriend. She tells the story of what happened then (1931) and how she's dealing with the aftermath now (1938) and you see Nick and Lily's story unfold. This can be categorized as both historical fiction and romance, but I think the historical element makes it a different kind of romance!
Romance
Beautiful Disaster/Maddox Brothers Series by Jamie McGuire - Speaking of romance, Jamie McGuire is a beautiful writer!! These are my favorite romance books, and I love them because in each book so much happens that it feels like you've read an entire book in just five chapters. I will admit that they are cheesy and super unrealistic, but they get me everytime. If you read these books, please let me know in the comments or on social media who your favorite brother is, I have to admit that I love Taylor!
Classic
Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery - Anne of Green Gables is one of the first "real" books I ever remember reading. I love the story because Anne is so real, and L.M. Montgomery makes her voice so relatable and familiar. With Anne of Green Gables you cannot go wrong.
Non-Fiction
An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth by Col. Chris Hadfield - I'm not going to talk too much about this one, because I did a whole post on it here. It kind of falls in the memoir/autobiography category, but it also has a lot of factual information about space which makes it more non-fiction-y!
Mystery/Thriller
Dark Places/Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn - You're probably familiar with the author, Gillian Flynn, as her novel turned film Gone Girl has gotten a lot of attention in the past few years. Dark Places and Sharp Objects are very similar to Gone Girl in that they star characters that are absolutely insane and that you really do not see the ending coming. I've found that they are both much darker than Gone Girl, but it makes them even better in my opinion.
Science Fiction
Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes - Flowers for Algernon is one of my favorite books of all time! The story is super unexpected and makes you think a lot about the world. The basic plot is that the main character, Charlie, is a mentally disabled man who gets a surgery to restore some of his mind capabilities. Charlie has a lot of realizations about his life and the world that make him question everything he thought he knew. I love that this book is extremely realistic for science fiction and it's the kind of book that will keep you thinking long after you finish reading.
Historical Fiction
A Hundred Summers by Beatriz Wiliams - Set in the 1930s, Lily Dane's meets Nick Greenwald her perfect man, until he isn't. Seven years later, she meets him again and he's married to her ex-bestfriend. She tells the story of what happened then (1931) and how she's dealing with the aftermath now (1938) and you see Nick and Lily's story unfold. This can be categorized as both historical fiction and romance, but I think the historical element makes it a different kind of romance!
Romance
Beautiful Disaster/Maddox Brothers Series by Jamie McGuire - Speaking of romance, Jamie McGuire is a beautiful writer!! These are my favorite romance books, and I love them because in each book so much happens that it feels like you've read an entire book in just five chapters. I will admit that they are cheesy and super unrealistic, but they get me everytime. If you read these books, please let me know in the comments or on social media who your favorite brother is, I have to admit that I love Taylor!
Classic
Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery - Anne of Green Gables is one of the first "real" books I ever remember reading. I love the story because Anne is so real, and L.M. Montgomery makes her voice so relatable and familiar. With Anne of Green Gables you cannot go wrong.
Non-Fiction
An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth by Col. Chris Hadfield - I'm not going to talk too much about this one, because I did a whole post on it here. It kind of falls in the memoir/autobiography category, but it also has a lot of factual information about space which makes it more non-fiction-y!
