What are your top ten favourite books or books you'd recommend to someone?
Okay, at least you didn’t ask for a favorite or anything, because that’s absolutely impossible on every level. But I can do ten, I’m pretty sure.
1. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Besides the fact that Shelley herself is a badass, my favorite thing about this one is that Shelley goes so in-depth into what makes someone human, and what makes someone a monster. My favorite thing about it is that it proves her point exactly: culture is quick to label Dr. Frankenstein’s creation the “monster,” but it’s really Frankenstein himself who thinks that the power of life and death in his hands. Shelley uses her incredible storytelling abilities to show that the only reason we don’t point fingers at the monsters among us is that they look just like us.
For instance, you don’t know exactly how messed up someone is until you realize that they put ranch on their pizza.
2. Any of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes Stories
These are confusing because Doyle published them in a really sporadic way, so they aren’t all together or even in a series of collections. I feel like if Doyle was alive today, he would be that person in class who insists on writing everything in complete sentences just to make everything harder on themselves. But the stories are really satisfying because they’re as logical as they are sensational, and when you’re done you feel like you helped solve the mystery yourself. Even though you really just wasted twenty minutes that you should have been using to finish Harrington’s homework.
3. Animal Farm by George Orwell
I like this book a lot, because it starts out very hopeful and optimistic. It seems like a Disney story at first, and then you keep going, and it’s kind of like Orwell just starts screaming “BITCH YOU THOUGHT-”. It’s super depressing, but it also twists your mind around like silly putty so that when you’re done you just sit there having an existential crisis for an hour or two. I love those books.
4. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by J.K. Rowling
You have to read these books, or we can’t be friends. They’re the best form of escapism money can buy, and the world is so developed that you just feel like you’re there the whole time. The pacing is also incredibly good, so it doesn’t feel like you’re reading seven books, but like you’re reading one narrative all the way through.
Just don’t read The Cursed Child. We don’t talk about that.
I have to put this one, just because of how many times I read it when I was little. For a while, I used to pretend that I had Matilda’s powers when I was bored, but then the “punishing your parents” thing caught my eye. I had a lot more fun with that one.
6. Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
Yeah, the man was profound, but there are so many puns. So many puns. If you’ve ever seen a copy of the book, there’s a reason that they call it “the brick.” To this day, I am convinced that most of that book’s volume consists of puns alone.
7. “Where is Here” by Joyce Carol Oates
This is a short story, but it’s so worth the list. I think about the plot of it all the time, and I’m still not sure if the stranger is a ghost or a future version of the son living in the house. It’s trippy, kinda like Animal Farm, but it’s also one of the coolest stories I’ve ever read.
8. Eragon by Christopher Paolini
This is like Lord of the Rings, but with cooler dragons and a Doctor Who reference. Also, the female characters in this book are incredible. There is a well-rounded, take-no-shit female love interest who actually turns the hero down, which never happens in high fantasy. Also, the leader of the rebellion is a badass who does not have to forsake her femininity to be one, and actually uses the “female” skill of financial management to aid in war efforts. There is also a middle-aged, slightly senile healer who I aspire to be when I grow up.
9. Dear Killer by Katherine Ewell
Okay, this book is absolutely incredible because it somehow makes you root for a murderer. Also, half the reason I am obsessed with it is because a) the author shares the name of the character and b) was approximately the same age as her serial killer protagonist when she wrote it. So I spend a lot of time questioning whether or not she’s a murderer who got away with it.
10. Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham
This book is one of my favorites, just because it’s practically a real-life story. Mauhgam’s life was almost exactly the same as the story he tells, so the emotions he taps into about losing his parents and moving in with his aunt are really raw. It helps you understand anyone who’s been in that kind of situation, which is why I read it.
