#5
A Song of Ice and Fire Series
George R.R. Martin
I started watching the the HBO series Game of Thrones, which is based off this series about a year ago now. I completely loved the T.V. series, so of course I had to pick up the books. I asked my sister Anna to pick them up for me last Christmas, but she couldn’t find them, so she gave me an Amazon gift card and I ordered them! Thanks Ann!
I can’t even express to you the amount of love I have for this series. I am only part way done with this series and it is easily going to go down as an all time favorite, I don’t see anything knocking it off of my top 5 list. These are George R.R. Martin’s masterpiece!
This series has one of those twisting and turning plots that I have a tendency to fall for, and it’s done very well. I love following every twist, every death, and every betrayal. George R.R. Martin has successfully baffled me and made me truly think about every move the characters make. I love when books are challenging and hurt my brain!
#4
The Young James Bond Series
Charlie Higson
A lot of people find it odd that this is one of my top 5. I’ll tell you the story about how I obtained this book. I was 10 or 11 and I took a trip to Washington D.C. with my Mom and my Aunt. They were there for a business training and paid for me to tag along. So during some of their leisure time they decided to take me to the Spy Museum, because I thought spies were super cool when I was a kid, (well I still do, actually!) The museum was amazing, I loved every second of it, and I recommend you go if you find yourself in D.C. At the end of the museum it, of course, like all museums spit us out into a gift shop.
I remember looking for something specific, I can’t remember what it was since it was almost a decade ago, but to my dismay I couldn’t find it! So instead I grabbed a book with the title Silverfin, then I noticed that it had the subtitle ‘Young James Bond’. I was in love.
I read that book in like a week and had to wait a whole year for the next one. So what does any rational book addict do when the next in a series isn’t out yet? I read Silverfin three times!
That’s how I fell in love with this series, it helped define my childhood. I’ve religiously watched all the Daniel Craig James Bond movies, you could say I’m a James Bond freak… Thanks Charlie Higson!
#3
House of Night Series
P.C. and Kristen Cast
These books emerged into my life in middle school. I don’t remember how I obtained Marked (Book 1), I think it might have been at a school book fair, which it shouldn’t have been since it has very mature themes. But my school isn’t exactly known for its rule enforcement.
Anyways I read the first book and couldn’t put the series down. I read the first two books right off the bat and had to wait for the next books in the series. Throughout middle and high school I made it to about Awakened and lost interest, not because of the books themselves, but poor life choices. I reread them just a couple months ago and recaptured the old magic I used to feel when reading them.
These books made me cry, laugh, cuss, and everything in between, sometimes all at the same time. I feel like I related to Zoey and Stevie Rae very much, and it made the books very fun and emotional. These books helped me through hard times and I will never forget them. Plus the companion books are amazing and I love them too. I have a whole shelf just for the HoN series.
#2
Harry Potter
J.K. Rowling
I feel a tad like I’m betraying Harry Potter because I’m placing him in 2nd place, but bear with me. Harry Potter is only in 2nd because it is such a close tie with the next series, I had to go with the one that has made me feel the most emotion as first.
Believe it or not, I haven’t actually finished the Harry Potter series, I am still working on it. I get so close but then run into another fabulous series and can’t contain myself, then I spend so much time away from Harry Potter that I need to reread. I’ve reread the first 5 books three times… I have issues. But this time I will finish. I’m currently reading and I am prepared to finish!
Harry Potter is the series of my childhood, my mom had the first book, which I promptly stole from her and read. After that I got three different additions of this book series from various aunts for Christmas one year, and love them all. Harry Potter is inspiring, emotional, and has such a deep plot and character connection. It’s impossible not to love.
I’m a little bitter, because Harry Potter is a huge fad right now, I used to get mercilessly teased for my Harry addiction. But now everyone can run around all nimbly bimbly and read them no problem. I used to stow away my Harry Potter books when friends would come over so I wouldn’t get teased, guess I should have picked better friends. Crack that up to poor life choices again… Anyways good for all you beautiful Potterheads that get to wear your fandom on your sleeve, I didn’t get to do that for well over a decade! I practically hid my HP books under the stairs! (Harry Potter joke…)
J.K. Rowling changed the course of my life through her writing, and is a huge part of why I am an English major today. She taught me about true friendship, love, and family. I can always turn to her HP books when I need a pick me up!
Lord of The Rings (Including The Hobbit)
J.R.R. Tolkien
If you know me, you know that Tolkien is my favorite author. My dad used to read The Hobbit to me and my brother before bed. I loved it, I was a huge fan of the old cartoon version of The Hobbit also. Then 2 years ago on Christmas I obtained the full Hobbit + LOTR set.
The Fellowship is probably my favorite of all four books. I love Tom Bombadil, and my heart hurts that he’s not in the movies. Damn it Peter Jackson!
Anyways these books are fantastic, the imagery, the plot, the character development, everything. J.R.R. Tolkien is a master book craftsman! These books are what set the mold for fantasy today, I’d even say they are the beginning of the whole genre.
Tolkien created a world, languages, and races. He created a fandom that millions of people are apart of and are proud to claim. I am a very avid Tolkienite, I have no shame claiming my nerdiness today! Thank you Tolkien for shaping me as a person.
There’s honestly not enough for me to say about this series that could do it justice, you just have to read it… Seriously!
**BONUS**
Runner up!
Percy Jackson Series
Rick Riordan
Forgive me for I have sinned… I almost forgot the Percy Jackson series! Gosh I’m a dummy sometimes. My dad bought me all of these books, and I’ll tell you what thank the Gods (Another literature joke…) Do not judge this book by it’s crappy movie, these books are worlds apart from the garbage movies!
These books are deep and beautiful, for what I would call middle grade book. The characters are amazing, the world Riordan created is perfect, and the story isn’t dull in anyway, the evolving plot is done very well.
I wanted these books because I had a huge obsession with Greek mythology at the time, seriously if I could have a realistic career studying Greek mythology I would! Don’t tempt me! I love all the Greek stories and history. These books delve deep into the history and tweak and change the stories just enough to make them interesting for a young audience. Percy Jackson has a lot to teach, not just history.
These books are about friendship, family, and having self confidence. Percy Jackson is far from perfect, along with his friends/family and it makes them relatable strong characters.
Rick Riordan is an amazing author and has several spin off and other good series’s to read, Percy Jackson is definitely the best though!
As always thanks everyone for reading, I know this was longer than usual but I feel like you guys got to see a more personal side of me and also got to hear about a bunch of amazing books. Check these out, they will change your life for the better! Every single book has a 5 star rating from me!
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