Favorite Books

Having asked my cousin Hayley a few days ago for some book recommendations, I thought I would also write a post about my favorite books. Now that I live down here, I really want to emphasize that I CAN, and DO read, because I LOVE to. There's nothing quite like curling up on the couch, under a Seahawks blanket with a good book and a steaming mug of hot chocolate a dash (COUGH COUGH) of Kahlua. Yes indeedy, best thing ever. And I forgot to mention the husband, finally home, sitting in the recliner, and the puppy lying at my feet. The cat? Who knows where he's at. But he's definitely causing trouble, wherever he is.

On to the books now.

1. Harry Potter series

Well, duh. They honestly probably are my favorite books, I've read them more times than I can count. Need I explain why I like them? I didn't think so. I finally met someone who hasn't read them- one of my coworkers hasn't read them because they're "too long." She is SO missing out. And they're not even hard reads!

2. Nicholas Sparks novels

He's a genius. Granted, most of his books follow the exact same plot line (boy meets girl, boy or girl makes dinner for girl or boy, sex follows after, someone gets hurt/something dramatic happens, and then either: 1. they get together, 2. they break up, or 3. one of them dies). It's like clock work. Still, they are just so warm and fuzzy it's easy to look past that. I own all of them (except the newest one, but as of today, it's been ordered on Amazon!). Granted, I dare any of you to read True Believer and not cry, but books are definitely worth the read. And it's so awesome to see love displayed in a way that's not raunchy and all about sex, like most TV shows nowadays. See? Reading IS better.

3. Janette Oke novels

Historical fiction and Christian novels, the Love Comes Softly series is set during the Oregon Trail period and the books are just warm and fuzzy and even cleaner than Nicholas Sparks novels! Actually, they're almost too clean. Anyways, this series focuses on the Davis clan- Marty Claridge loses her husband on the way out West, and instead of traveling home during the winter months, she instead has to get married the same day to Clark Davis so she has a place to live, and men and women couldn't live together unless they were related or married. She can't stand it, but like the name of the series suggests, they eventually fall in love and you forget in the end that they didn't even choose each other. There are 8 books in the series. They move quite fast and eventually start focusing on Clark and Marty's children. They're easy reads, and focus mostly on faith, marriage, and babies, but hey, it's right up my alley! Mrs. Oke has a few other series, too, which are also great, but if historical fiction with faith overtones float your boat, I would definitely start with the Love Comes Softly series.

4. Jane Austen novels

I have read all of them! They're such great classics, way better than Shakespeare could ever hope to be (BLASPHEMY! But it's no secret that I hate Shakespeare). Start with Pride and Prejudice, that's probably the easiest to understand. I don't know about y'all, but I found Austen's old English hard to comprehend at first, but I eventually got the hang of it. Go me. And the best part about them? They're WAY shorter than The Count of Monte Cristo, so you can probably read all six completed novels before you would ever get through CMC.

5. Philippa Gregory novels

You thought this was just a movie, huh? Nope. I've lost faith that Hollywood can write outstanding movies without copying books. ANYWAYS. Ms. Gregory writes historical fiction, emphasis on the fiction. If you like English history, you will love these books. She has written a book about all of King Henry VIII's wives. Albeit they are loosely based on actual history, but they still make for great books. She has several other novels based in that time period, but I've only read the Henry VIII books. Her books tend to be expensive, so unless I visit Portland's Powell's Books, or I go on a shopping spree for books on Amazon, I won't be reading any more of these any time soon.

6. Anne of Green Gables

I know, I know. But seriously, what greater love story is there than Anne Shirley and Gilbert Blythe? Great classics. I she can drone on for pages and pages of imaginary stories, but if you can look past those, what great imagery and creativity! And we all remember when we were young and imagined all kinds of stuff like that. The movies are awesome, too. They don't follow the books at all (well, the first one does, but after that, not so much), but they at least keep the relationship between Anne and Gilbert the same. But as much as I love this books, I have one criticism, L.M. Montgomery: seriously, what is up with the names you picked?! Gilbert? Marilla? Jem (which is a boy?) Grrrrrrrrr.

And, lastly, my favorite book as a child:

Island of the Blue Dolphins

Poor Karana. A Native American (or native South Pacificer, I can't remember), gets stranded on an island off the coast of California where she lives with her tribe. The tribe meets up with some Aleuts, who kill off most of their tribe, including the chief. The new chief leaves the island, and a ship returns to bring the rest of the tribe to the mainland. Karana's brother gets left behind, so she jumps ship, and instead of the ship turning around, she and her brother are now alone of the island and have to survive. It's a great story, absolutely amazing. It even keeps you interested without the use of dialogue. It's the quintessential survival story. Even though all of you are over 10, if you have never read it, you really should. It's even based on a true story!

The End.