While I work my way through the Tiger’s Wife (100 pages in, and so far it’s only ok), I thought I’d keep up the posting by putting up some mini-reviews of my favorite books (all that I would rate 5’s, since I own the majority of them). There are so many that I feel I need to break them up by genre. First up? Fantasy/Sci Fi books, which is only fitting since the #1 on this list is my #1 of all time. The remainder of the books on this list and following ones are in no particular order.
1.
The Harry Potter Series, by JK Rowling- go ahead and laugh, but I can almost guarantee if you’re laughing it’s because you haven’t read these. Yes, the first few books are children’s books, but since I was about 13 when I first started reading them, it’s fitting. Sometimes I feel like I grew up with the characters in these books, which finally culminated when I was 22 and graduating from college. I am telling you, these books are amazing. I devoured the seventh book in about 15 hours and physically could not stop. JK Rowling’s writing is engrossing, and even after reading all of her novels hundreds of times, I still find things that she’s put in that foreshadow events to come in the books. The amount of thought she put into them is truly impressive. And even though I admit the first couple books are obviously targeted at children, when you hit about the third or fourth one, you can’t possibly think that anymore. The journey that Harry and his friends go on throughout the seven books is so enjoyable that I am still disappointed to this day that there are no more books about them for me to read. If you’re wondering, my favorites are in this order: Prisoner of Azkaban, Half Blood Prince, Goblet of Fire, Deathly Hallows, Sorcerer’s Stone, Order of the Phoenix, and Chamber of Secrets. Please note that the first two are two of my three least favorite. Seriously, give them a shot if you haven’t already.
2.
The Hunger Games and Chasing Fire, by Suzanne Collins- Set in a postapocalyptic world where a dictatorship has taken control, The Hunger Games is a fantastic book with a fairly morbid concept. Every year, two young “tributes” are sent to the capitol to compete in the Hunger Games, essentially a brutal reality show-esque fight to the death where the last one standing is the winner. To tell you more would ruin the plots of the two books, but suffice it to say that they are unbelievably difficult to put down. This series is actually a trilogy, but I can’t in good faith recommend the third of the books. After how the first two end, it is impossible to not read the third to find out what happens to the characters, but it’s just not the same.
3.
Ender’s Game, by Orson Scott Card- I read this book in high school for the first time and have read it several times since then. Who knew a book about kids being sent to space to attend battle school and fight for the survival of the Earth could be so interesting? Before you say anything, yes, there are aliens involved, but no, it’s not that weird. It’s entirely plausible as a futuristic world, and was the one of the first (and only?) books I have ever read that could be classified as science fiction that I actually enjoyed. Ender is a child military prodigy, born to two extremely intelligent parents and who has natural leadership and skills that attract the attention of battle school. He is sent to space to train for an upcoming war with the “buggers,” an alien race that has already attacked Earth, and is threatening once again. Battle school is looking for a commander to lead the army to defend against the buggers. It sounds bizarre, but I promise you the book is more about the relationships between the children at school and the preparations for the upcoming war than the aliens. It was an excellent read.
4.
Anything ever written by Roald Dahl- I wasn’t sure how to classify these books at first. However, after thinking about it, what else would you call books that consist of a young girl with mind powers, a chocolate factory with a flying glass elevator, talking animals, and a giant peach with giant talking bugs? I can definitively tell you that Roald Dahl’s books are the reasons I love to read. I loved Matilda more than anything I had read before when I first came upon it when I was little, and from there I read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, James and the Giant Peach, the Twits, Fantastic Mr. Fox, and all the rest. Roald Dahl is an amazing author, and though nearly all of his books are decidedly more for children, I encourage you to pick up and read a few if you haven’t read anything written by him. Start with Matilda. You’ll love it.
5.
The Artemis Fowl Series, by Eoin Colfer- another favorite from when I was younger, that I will still occasionally pick up and read. Artemis Fowl is smart, well written, and addictive. The titular character is a young, rich, genius with absent parents who is bored with his life, and obsessed with making any money that he can to increase the Fowl fortune. This leads him to a world that is decidedly magic, including fairies, centaurs, and dwarves. Kidnapping a fairy and requesting a ransom in gold for her return, the first book follows the conflict between Artemis and the fairies, and springboards from there into the following books.
Maybe this genre should actually be young adult fantasy books? It seems that with the exception of some of the later HP books and the subject matter of the Hunger Games and Ender’s Game, which are still nonetheless marketed as young adult, I haven’t read (or maybe I just haven't liked?) a whole lot of fantasy or science fiction that is written specifically for adults.
1.
The Harry Potter Series, by JK Rowling- go ahead and laugh, but I can almost guarantee if you’re laughing it’s because you haven’t read these. Yes, the first few books are children’s books, but since I was about 13 when I first started reading them, it’s fitting. Sometimes I feel like I grew up with the characters in these books, which finally culminated when I was 22 and graduating from college. I am telling you, these books are amazing. I devoured the seventh book in about 15 hours and physically could not stop. JK Rowling’s writing is engrossing, and even after reading all of her novels hundreds of times, I still find things that she’s put in that foreshadow events to come in the books. The amount of thought she put into them is truly impressive. And even though I admit the first couple books are obviously targeted at children, when you hit about the third or fourth one, you can’t possibly think that anymore. The journey that Harry and his friends go on throughout the seven books is so enjoyable that I am still disappointed to this day that there are no more books about them for me to read. If you’re wondering, my favorites are in this order: Prisoner of Azkaban, Half Blood Prince, Goblet of Fire, Deathly Hallows, Sorcerer’s Stone, Order of the Phoenix, and Chamber of Secrets. Please note that the first two are two of my three least favorite. Seriously, give them a shot if you haven’t already.
2.
The Hunger Games and Chasing Fire, by Suzanne Collins- Set in a postapocalyptic world where a dictatorship has taken control, The Hunger Games is a fantastic book with a fairly morbid concept. Every year, two young “tributes” are sent to the capitol to compete in the Hunger Games, essentially a brutal reality show-esque fight to the death where the last one standing is the winner. To tell you more would ruin the plots of the two books, but suffice it to say that they are unbelievably difficult to put down. This series is actually a trilogy, but I can’t in good faith recommend the third of the books. After how the first two end, it is impossible to not read the third to find out what happens to the characters, but it’s just not the same.
3.
Ender’s Game, by Orson Scott Card- I read this book in high school for the first time and have read it several times since then. Who knew a book about kids being sent to space to attend battle school and fight for the survival of the Earth could be so interesting? Before you say anything, yes, there are aliens involved, but no, it’s not that weird. It’s entirely plausible as a futuristic world, and was the one of the first (and only?) books I have ever read that could be classified as science fiction that I actually enjoyed. Ender is a child military prodigy, born to two extremely intelligent parents and who has natural leadership and skills that attract the attention of battle school. He is sent to space to train for an upcoming war with the “buggers,” an alien race that has already attacked Earth, and is threatening once again. Battle school is looking for a commander to lead the army to defend against the buggers. It sounds bizarre, but I promise you the book is more about the relationships between the children at school and the preparations for the upcoming war than the aliens. It was an excellent read.
4.
Anything ever written by Roald Dahl- I wasn’t sure how to classify these books at first. However, after thinking about it, what else would you call books that consist of a young girl with mind powers, a chocolate factory with a flying glass elevator, talking animals, and a giant peach with giant talking bugs? I can definitively tell you that Roald Dahl’s books are the reasons I love to read. I loved Matilda more than anything I had read before when I first came upon it when I was little, and from there I read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, James and the Giant Peach, the Twits, Fantastic Mr. Fox, and all the rest. Roald Dahl is an amazing author, and though nearly all of his books are decidedly more for children, I encourage you to pick up and read a few if you haven’t read anything written by him. Start with Matilda. You’ll love it.
5.
The Artemis Fowl Series, by Eoin Colfer- another favorite from when I was younger, that I will still occasionally pick up and read. Artemis Fowl is smart, well written, and addictive. The titular character is a young, rich, genius with absent parents who is bored with his life, and obsessed with making any money that he can to increase the Fowl fortune. This leads him to a world that is decidedly magic, including fairies, centaurs, and dwarves. Kidnapping a fairy and requesting a ransom in gold for her return, the first book follows the conflict between Artemis and the fairies, and springboards from there into the following books.
Maybe this genre should actually be young adult fantasy books? It seems that with the exception of some of the later HP books and the subject matter of the Hunger Games and Ender’s Game, which are still nonetheless marketed as young adult, I haven’t read (or maybe I just haven't liked?) a whole lot of fantasy or science fiction that is written specifically for adults.
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