(UPDATE: I’ve chosen to delete the recs in this post because it was from 2015 and I would now anti-recommend some of these books! Maybe one day I’ll write a new one.)
So, someone over on my fandom blog decided to take me up on my offer of personalized book recommendations for the summer. Except they are an omnivorous reader, so they just wanted my top five favorite books.
First of all, you should probably never ask that question of a librarian unless you have lots of time on your hands.
But here’s the problem with asking me specifically for my Top X Books of All Time: I either adore what I read, or I put it down. There’s rarely an in-between. There are SOME books that I forced myself through for the sake of school, and some that I enjoyed in the way you enjoy cotton candy dissolving into nothing. But the books that stick with me are the ones that really engage me intellectually or emotionally, or inspire the writer part of me stylistically. I do have some favorites that I enjoyed purely for a fun story, interesting world, and great characters, but that’s a separate list. This is the list of favorite books that affected me in some way. Most links will take you to Amazon, except in the cases where the book or story is available for free online somewhere. In no order whatsoever:
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BONUS short stories:
- Ten Rules for Being an Intergalactic Smuggler (the Successful Kind) by Holly Black in issue #52 of Lightspeed Magazine (free to read)
- Starfall by Saundra Miller in issue #52 of Lightspeed Magazine (free to read)
Yet More Bonus Selections under the cut. Seriously, just stop me. What books have affected or inspired you? Tell me in the comments!
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