Favorites

Picking my favorites is much harder than I thought it would be.  Besides number 1, these are in no particular order.

1 - The Client by John Grisham - this was really the first big/long mystery book I read.  It was reccommended to me by my Grandpa, who I realize now I modeled my style after.  It was the book that got me hooked on mysteries and reading in general.

2 - The Harry Potter series - why pick one when they're all badass?
3 - The Lorax - first book that was read to me by my parents when I was young.  I used to be able to recite it word for word, and I cried like a nerd when I saw the Lorax section at Universal Studios.  I was 20 years old at the time.
4 - The Hunger Games series - once again, all badass.  Got me hooked on dystopian novels again.
5 - Les Miserables - REALLY long but a great read.  Combined with the score written, also my favorite musical.
6 - 1st to Die by James Patterson - I like the entire series, but this was the first Patterson book I read and it got me hooked on his series.  I've read all his other books to date, usually in one sitting.
7 - 50 Shades of Grey series - don't judge.  They're pretty good.
8 - Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L'Engle - great book, great author.
9 - The Circle Trilogy by Ted Dekker - my first Christian Fiction read.  The stories were great individually but incredible all together.
10 - The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks - by far my favorite Sparks book.  Mostly because the main character lets out her feelings through the piano, and I know what it's like to have emotions that you can't escape until you sit down at the keys.
11 - The Help by Kathryn Stockett - great book.  Hard to read at times, and even more frustrating to realize that it probably isn't far from the truth. 
12 - Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn - this book was crazy.  It had one of those endings that takes you by surprise, and you want to turn around and tell someone (but you can't because they probably have no idea what you're talking about).  I also liked that she doesn't write stories that always have happy endings.  But the endings do NOT disappoint.
13 - Redemption by Stacey Lannert - true story about a girl who murdered her father to escape abuse and went to prison.  Great story about someone turning their life around.
14 - A Child Called It by Dave Pelzer - I still remember the way I felt when I read this book as a kid.  Sadness, but mostly perspective that your life is not that bad, and the problems you think are extreme are really so minute in the scheme of things.  A hard read, but an eye opening read.
15 - Shutter Island - Dennis Lehane - a book with a crazy twist.  Loved it, so glad I read it before the movie came out.

Definitely not an exhaustive list, but this should give you an idea of the types of books I read.  Narrowing it down wasn't easy haha.  More to come.

<3, jacquie