My Top 10 Favorite Books

The bright yellow sun shines down to provide warmth as I sit in my chair with a book in my hand enveloped in the story. For me, that is my perfect day. The ability to sit outside when it doesn’t feel like ninety degrees and read a book. As an avid reader of thousands of books, I have come across a few books that have stayed in my mind throughout the years. This is a list of my top ten favorite books of all time.

Starting at the top is #1 and sequentially goes to #10.

• The Names They Gave Us By: Emery Lord

Summary:

A girl, Lucy, was having the perfect life. A boyfriend, captain of the swim team, and an unbreakable faith. Then her mom gets sick with breast cancer… again. With summer already starting, instead of going to Holyoke, the church camp that her parents own, her mother insists that she goes to Daybreak, a camp with troubled kids. With her life already in shambles, she struggles to find her place. In the end, she finds friends, lasting memories, and more knowledge about herself and her family than she did at the beginning of summer.

Review:

This book has continued to be at the top of my list for the past couple of years. The book’s message continues to be relevant to this day because every one of us struggles at some point with our faith in the toughest of times and it shows that it is okay to have struggles that are different from other people. It’s a nice reminder that it is okay to not be okay.

• Crush By: Tracy Wolff

Summary:

Starting up where Crave ended, Grace is back, but her memories are still foggy and she keeps blacking out. With her continuous feeling like something is off, Hudson finally makes an appearance in her head and only she can see him. With Hudson in the picture, it makes it harder for Jaxon (Hudson’s brother) and Grace to be around each other. With the Vampire Court after Grace, the only thing that Hudson and Jaxon can agree on is that Grace can’t leave Katmere Academy, the only problem is that graduation is in three months. 

Review:

Out of the three books that are currently out in the series this one is my favorite. Grace starts to feel like she is going insane because she keeps blacking out for no reason and then Hudson pops up out of the blue when he is supposed to be dead, reading that part made my jaw drop. Throughout the whole book, Hudson went from the bad guy to the misunderstood narrative and then I was sold on Grace and Hudson together. There are still other factors that are in play for why I love this book more than the others, but I don’t want to spoil too much.

• Covet By: Tracy Wolff

Summary:

With graduation almost near, the Circle is divided on Grace’s coronation. After the Bloodletter reveals some insane news, Jaxon continues to grow colder by the day. The hits just keep on coming when an arrest warrant is out for Hudson and Grace’s supposed crimes. When they get caught and enter the prison that is supposed to hold them forever, it remains a mystery if they make it out alive and with the right mind they had when they were caught.

Review:

In the third book, the plot and the twists around every corner just had me coming back for more. I mean so many things were revealed that had my jaw dropping multiple times. The news about Jaxon and then the lifetime prison sentence in an inescapable prison that they are actually trying to escape from that makes you go insane each time you go in was pure genius on Tracy Wolff’s part because it was an amazing plot line. 

• Crave By: Tracy Wolff

Summary:

Grace ends up having to move in with her uncle and cousin in Alaska when her parents are killed in a car accident. Bye bye sunny San Diego and hello freezing Alaska. Katmere Academy is different to say the least, but Grace keeps getting odd looks that way overdue the looks she got at her old school. In comes a dark, brooding, and weird guy named Jaxon Vega to say the least. When he and Grace keep having odd encounters, everyone in the school knows what is going on and knows to stay away from Grace. That is until someone tries to murder her several times. Will Jaxon be able to protect her? Only time will tell. 

Review:

Usually the first book in a series is the best one, but in my opinion that isn’t the case with the Crave series. Although I really do love this book, it has more romance and not enough plot for my liking. The odd encounters between Jaxon and Grace were interesting to say the least, but as I found out more about Jaxon it made a lot more sense. I also loved at the very end of the book that there were bonus chapters from Jaxon’s point of view that made everything that much sweeter and more eye opening.  

• One of Us is Lying By: Karen McManus

Summary:

Bronwyn, Addy, Nate, and Cooper all end up in detention together with fellow classmate Simon Kelleher. When Simon turns up murdered, all four become suspects while their buried secrets may soon become revealed. Only time will tell who the real culprit is. 

Review:

This book was one that I had a hard time putting down. There were so many plot twists and truths that were being revealed throughout every chapter of the book. I really enjoyed how the narration switched between the four main characters. I thought that it was a good idea and it made the book flow really well. I never saw the ending coming. It was so unique from all of the other similar books that I’ve read and I was very shocked who it turned out to be. Pure genius and I loved that it was something different. 

• Two Can Keep a Secret By: Karen McManus

Summary: 

Ellery and Ezra are forced to move back into the town where their mother grew up and aunt went missing. Five years ago, Echo Ridge became popular when the homecoming queen was found dead at the town’s amusement park. Now they are moving in with their grandmother and another girl goes missing with anonymous notes posted all around Echo Ridge. The more time they spend there, Ellery realizes that there are more secrets in this town and in her family than meets the eye.  

Review:

I really liked this because it was similar to One of Us is Lying, but also different at the same time. I thought that it was really interesting that the threats were to Ellery who just got to Echo Ridge and doesn’t even know anybody. I thought that was strange at first, but when I finished the book it made a lot of sense. 

• Stalking Jack the Ripper By: Kerri Maniscalco

Summary:

Audrey Wadsworth has a love for medical examination which isn’t very fondly looked on in the 1800’s, so she practices in secret with her uncle. When murders start popping up around Whitechapel, by the notorious Jack the Ripper, she uses her examination skills to find out who is committing these murders and put them away for good. Even if that means going against her father’s wishes. 

Review:

First off, I really liked that the author used a woman in a field run by men because it was something different, especially in the 1800s. I also am a huge fan of the Jack the Ripper conspiracies about who it actually was and I thought that it was portrayed really nicely and had some facts about the actual murders and places of where they took place. It also had some historical aspects, which I am usually not a big fan of, but they did pull it in well with the mystery and I enjoyed it. 

• If I Stay By: Gayle Forman

Summary:

Mia was loving life. She had an amazing boyfriend, a loving family, and a big bright future in music. Then in a split second, the car crashed and everything else just became a blur. She can’t remember anything before the accident and all she can do now is to see what happens to the rest of her family. Will all turn out right in the end? Or, will one split second decision turn into the worst day of her life?

Review:

I absolutely loved this book. It’s one of the only books that made me almost cry because of everything that was happening to a seventeen year old girl. It was making me think how hard it is to go from having a brother, mom, and dad to possibly having it all taken away in an instant. This is one of the only realistic fiction books that I actually enjoyed and would read again. 

• The Maze Runner By: James Dashner

Summary:

Thomas wakes up surrounded by boys that he doesn’t remember and doesn’t remember anything about himself or even his name. The only way out is through a giant maze that changes every night. Not even a month later, a girl comes up that will be the last of the people in the Glade. The only way for them to survive is to go through the Maze. That is, if they can make it past the monsters after dark.

Review:

I read the whole series a few years ago and I loved the dystopian environment and the idea of going through a giant maze to survive. I also liked how Thomas and Teresa were so different from the other characters, like how they were able to communicate with telepathy, but only to each other. I also liked how they were a part of the people who decided to do an experiment with these boys and then ended up going into the Glade themselves.

• Five Feet Apart By: Mikki Daughtry, Rachel Lippincott, and Tobias Iaconis

Summary:

Stella has done everything that the doctors and nurses have asked to finally end up on the transplant list. Will has been in a hospital for most of his life too and just wants to get out and see the world before his time runs out. They both have cystic fibrosis. If they get closer than six feet apart then they could kill each other and Stella would lose her place on the transplant list. Although, can you really love someone from six feet apart?

Review:

Whenever I read this book, it was a couple of years before the pandemic (whenever we all didn’t know what it was like to be six feet apart). I felt so bad for them throughout the entire book that they couldn’t even touch each other. It was heartbreaking. I also love a good medical story and the fact that they loved each other was the icing on the cake. I love a good romance and I thought it was really something special.