Curious about what I like to read? I know I always enjoy hearing about what’s on other people’s sacred bookshelves. You know the ones. Those few revered shelves reserved for your absolute favorite books; the ones that house the stories that you can’t help but read and reread; the ones set aside for only those books that no one had better move if they wish to keep all their body parts intact. Yeah, those shelves. Well, here are some of my favorites. Look, link, buy and enjoy! I highly recommend any and all of these.
Favorite Fiction (Adult)
Unfortunately, I don’t get the chance to read as much as I want, but that’s the way the cookie crumbles, I suppose. Part of it is due to the fact that I just don’t. Read. Fast. Enough. I hear of normal, busy people who still manage a novel a week. Oh, the envy! I try for just a couple a month while thinking longingly of my TBR pile chock full of wonderful titles. I think I have at least thirty books in that pile, not counting the ones I bought over the weekend. (I know, I know. I’m weak.)
But if you’re needing to supplement your own TBR pile, these are some books I’d definitely recommend.
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Bet Me, Crazy for You, and Fast Women by Jennifer Crusie
If you haven’t heard of Jennifer Crusie and consider yourself a romance reader, then you’ve been living under a rock. Fast Women was my introduction to the world of romantic comedy, and I’ve been an addict ever since. I consider Crazy for You to be my absolute favorite book of hers (heck, I even bought a red couch), but Bet Me was such a close second that I had to include it.
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Ain’t She Sweet? by Susan Elizabeth Phillips
Just as you can’t have a “Best of Romance” Reading List without Nora Roberts, you gotta have some SEP in there, too. The main character is one of my favorite heroines of all time. How can you not love a spoiled girl who gets hit hard by the real world, only to pull herself up, take her lessons with grace and strength, and then try all over again. You hate who she was, you love who she became, you root for her, and you totally forgive the fact that her name is Sugar Beth.
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Poison Study, Magic Study, and Fire Study by Maria V. Snyder
The first book in the Study series has what I consider to be one of the best beginnings ever. The main character has been convicted of murder and, on the morning of her execution, is given a choice between hanging and becoming the Commander’s food taster. These books are addictive. I had to wait before reading Magic Study until I had a large chunk of time free because I knew I wouldn’t be able to put it down. (Longest wait EVER.)
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Oh, come on… You weren’t really expecting me to compile a list of favorite books without including at least one from La Nora, were you? Granted, I have been woefully and inexcusably lax in Nora Roberts 101. I’m not going to tell you how many books I’ve read total from the insanely productive Ms. Roberts because you’ll either laugh hysterically or kick me. Maybe both. So we’ll just say that, of what I’ve read so far, Montana Sky is my favorite. I love the relationships between the sisters, and the men aren’t so shabby either.
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Gabriel’s Ghost and Accidental Goddess by Linnea Sinclair
Linnea Sinclair was my introduction to science fiction, and my initial reaction to reading Accidental Goddess (the first book of hers I picked up) was “How did I not know about this?? Is all sci-fi this good?” Her books, like all these listed here, are my personal drug habit. I get my fix only to want more. Why don’t these people write faster! Her book, Gabriel’s Ghost, won the RITA in 2006, and with good reason. If I can find a Gabriel in the real world, I can die a happy woman.
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Jezebel’s Sister by Emily Carmichael
From science fiction to westerns, can you tell I’m a bit schizo in my reading? Emily Carmichael’s books are just plain fun, and I highly recommend them all. Aside from Jezebel’s Sister being one of my legitimate favorites, how great is that cover? I had to put it up!
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A classic, this book has it all: intrigue, romance, and murder. Sure, there were times I wanted to slap the various characters in the novel, namely Mrs. de Winter, but the pull of this novel is undeniable.
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Pride and Prejudice and Emma by Jane Austen
Please. You knew it was coming.
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Nightlife, Moonshine, and Madhouse by Rob Thurman
These aren’t technically romances, though they have definite romantic elements. Instead, these books are a dark urban fantasty series featuring a pair of half-brothers who’ll have you chuckling even as they dodge an amazing array of mythical monsters. Forget just vampires and werewolves, Rob Thurman pulls all sorts of ghouls, goblins, and other creatures that go bump in the night from a wide variety of sources. Looking for inspiration on how to write out that black moment? This author’s the one to learn from.
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A Woman Named Damaris by Janette Oke
I picked this up at a tiny drug store on a road trip one summer when I was a teen. I’d never heard of Janette Oke, and I had no idea that this book is an inspirational romance. All I knew was that I’d run out of stuff to read, and I still had another three hours in the car ahead of me. This book had the most intriguing back cover copy of all the other dusty paperbacks on the shelf, but I should have known better than to let its humble beginnings fool me. This book has to be the most well-read in my collection, excluding many of the YA books (though that’s the case simply because I’ve owned the YA longer). But I’d be hard pressed to give you a clear answer as to why I love it so much. I just do.
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Baby, I’m Yours by Susan Andersen
Mystery, suspense, comedy, and a little sugar n’ spice? Sign me up! Susan Andersen usually manages to deliver on all of the above, so is it any wonder why I own all her books? And considering I’m a sucker for the mistaken identity schtick, Baby, I’m Yours is my favorite.
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The Romney Marsh series by Kasey Michaels
(Shown Above: A Gentleman by Any Other Name, The Dangerous Debutante, and Beware of Virtuous Women)
I’ve only read the first three of the series, but I knew from book one that I was hooked. (Thanks, Kate, for introducing the series to me!) My mission next pay day: find and purchase the complete set. Kasey Michaels is brilliant at making each book satisfying on its own while simultaneously unveiling an overall mystery that not only connects them all but leaves you eager for the next. Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant.
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Be warned. The full title here is Belladonna: A Novel of Revenge. This is not a romance, and it does not have the HEA I usually crave. But the book is beautifully written, the plot intricate and well-planned, and the ending is at least satisfying. Not only that, but it contains one of my favorite lines from a novel. (Which I’ll add here once I find it. I don’t want to misquote.)
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Whenever I had the opportunity in college to write a paper on the book of my choice, I always picked Frankenstein, and I found something new to write about each and every time. The ultimate Gothic Romance, this book is bittersweet. Don’t let the movies fool you, the novel plays with the idea of what really makes a villian. There’s more than one way to create a monster. If you haven’t read this book, then you should.
Favorite Young Adult
I read a lot as a kid. I mean, a lot. I wish I could still read that much but, alas, I’m all grown up now and have to spend at least most of my time doing silly things like going to work, paying bills, making grocery lists, “et cetera, et cetera, et cetera”. (Any fans of The King and I out there? Oh, Yul Brenner… *Sigh* Be still my heart.) The books I list here are ones that I still pick up and read.
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Winter of Fire by Sherryl Jordan
If someone put a gun to my head and told me to pick the most influential book in my life, I’d have to say Winter of Fire. I read this book and then immediately reread this book. In fact, this is probably the most read book in my entire collection. I love this book, I adore this book, I want to come back in another life as this book. Okay, maybe that last part is a bit of an exaggeration, but discovering Winter of Fire was like discovering a rare cure for a debilitating disease. Forget the “discovering a rare jewel” analogy, this books showed me the lifeblood of what books could be. The true soul of writing. And now I want to read it again…
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The Dark Vision Series by L.J. Smith
I adore this triology. My first true taste of romance and the thrill of a really good love triangle. I’m still half in love with Gabriel. I decided to choose between the Dark Vision series or L.J. Smith’s Night World series because I love them both equally. I still have all of the Nightworld series too, and I read them almost as often as the Dark Visions books. But the main reason why Dark Visions won out is because there’s a quartet about the Wild Powers within the Night World series, but the last books was never published. I mean, seriously. We’re talking about end-of-the-world, have to find the fourth and final Wild Power to save all of humanity and nada! Nada! It was never published! It still frustrates me, in case you couldn’t tell.
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The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare
This book will always have a special place in my heart. Not only is it a fantastic story, but it’s the book I read to my baby sister. The one she referred to as a “close-eye book” because it didn’t have any pictures, so I’d tell her to close her eyes so she could imagine what was happening in the story. Really it was a ploy to get her to fall asleep faster, but I was always shocked when she’d be able to tell me exactly where we left off the night before. I love this book so much I have a bad habit of buying it every time they it’s published with a new cover.
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Don’t Hurt Laurie! by Willo Davis Roberts
A book about child abuse, this was not a usual read for me. I’d borrowed it from the library, and something about it touched me. So much so that, years later, I had a hankering to read it again. I had to search awhile, but I found my copy and plan on never letting it go again.
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Babysitting is a Dangerous Job by Willo Davis Roberts
I wanted to pick only one book or series by each author, but these two books by Willo Davis Roberts are so different I felt I could get away with it. Besides, I was a babysitter, so this book scared the heck out of me.
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This is another book that I had to find again years later, though it was due to my own stupidity that time. In one of my many moves, I donated this book, thinking I could live without it. Wrong. Just like Don’t Hurt Laurie!, I began itching to read it again and had to find it all over again. I loved stories about people with unusual powers or abilities growing up. Still do, truth be told.
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The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi
Action, adventure, and a kick-ass heroine. What more could a young girl have asked for?
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Another action-adventure, this one contemporary and set in the Grand Canyon. I’ve always wanted to go white water rafting myself, so I loved this book simply because it allowed me to experience one of my dreams vicariously through the characters. Not to mention, it had my first introduction to a little over-the-shirt action. Scandalous!
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Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine
I didn’t read this one as a kid. In fact, a friend of mine recommended it back in college, but it’s fun, sweet, and an excellent take on the Cinderella fairy tale. (And soooooooo much better than the movie. Please don’t judge it by the muscial monstrosity!)
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Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones
Here’s another young adult that I didn’t actually read as a young adult, though I was only off by a few years. This is a whimsical book that’s much deeper than how it appears at first glance. While I’d say with this one, as with Ella Enchanted, that you shouldn’t judge the book by the movie adaptation, it’s not because one’s better than the other, but because they’re simply too different. I enjoy (and own) both, but they simple don’t compare.
