Blog Chain: Your favorite books

Love the question for the blog chain started this week at Somewhere Nowhere In My Kingdom
What are my favorite books? Ohhh, since I love books, I love this question!

I have A LOT of favorite books, but to make this more interesting I'll do my best not to make them all YA fantasy. I'm going to keep my reasons for loving them pretty light and vague, since this post could easily end up being a book if I don't.

Anyone that knows me well or reads this blog regularly knows what's coming so let's just get this one out of the way.
1. Twilight (series) by Stephenie Meyer
I love this book because it captivated me AND inspired me to start writing. Since this is about my favorite books I won't go into defensive mode as a writer on why I love this book, I just do. I fell in love with The Cullens and of course was swept away with the dreaminess that is Edward. I lost a week of my life to this series and somehow along the way I just knew I had to write my own stories. It was like one of those crazy light bulb moments, which was especially crazy for me considering I never once had the desire to write before that day. So please don't ever tell me any part of my book sounds like Twilight or I will be very offended. Unless of course you think it's as addicting. LOL

2. Gilgamesh by ????
Didn't see this one coming did ya? We read this in my high school Humanities class. I loved it then and I love it now. I'm pretty sure it's one of the oldest recorded stories and the thing that amazes me is how it feels as if it could have been written today. It's a beautiful tale of love, friendship and loss.

3. Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
I read this right after my son was born when I spent hours either holding him as he slept or nursing on my lap. One hand held the baby, the other held the book. It was such a fun read. I envy her courage to overcome a very bad situation (though I still I wonder what kind of nasty stuff happened with that marriage!) and travel the world on her own. The food, the men, the locations, the self discovery, the food (that deserved a second mention) - I love it all! I'm not a big memoir person but this was just awesome.

4. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
I tried not to list all YA books but this had to be included! I don't even know where to begin with this one. SOOOOO good. The writing, the plot, the moral, the characters, they're all so incredible. I was sucked in right away and never lost interest.

5. Memoirs of Cleopatra by Margaret George
I found this book in a strange way. When I moved out to LA I was without my car for 2 weeks (it was being shipped), didn't know anyone and wasn't starting school for a week (no dorms so I was all alone!) I went to buy a book and looked for the biggest book I could find that actually looked interesting. This was it! It's massive, staggering at almost 1,000 pages! I laughed, I cried, I yelled at it. It's fascinating knowing she worked from actual facts about Cleopatra's life. And now that I'm a writer, I'm blown away with her word count and bravery to create such a story.

6. Harry Potter and the "fill in the blank" (series)
Harry will forever have a special place in my heart. The first book renewed my love of fantasy as an adult which of course opened up a whole new world of amazing books, including this series. I stayed up all night reading the first one and sobbed like a baby when I finished the sixth. (I'm just now starting the seventh because I promised my niece I'd wait for her to catch up, not to mention the fact that I have been dreading it all coming to an end) I want to go to Hogwarts, I want to be friends with Hermoine, I want to drink butterbeer and play Quidditch!

Go check out what the other girls say, you might just find some great summer reading suggestions!

Monday - Somewhere Nowhere In My Kingdom
Tuesday - Here
Wednesday - Girl With a Notebook
Thursday - From Elysium
Friday - Lin Wang - Teen Writer