15 of my favorite books and why I read them.

I don't know what it is but I am so enthusiastic about books lately. And I like making lists all the time, so a list of my favorite books? Fuck yeah!

1. Going Bovine by Libba Bray. This book makes me question my reality. It's full of mind-fuck-sci-fi-ness and adventure and a badass angel with pink hair and also a talking gnome who is actually a Norse god. What more could you ask for? I mean, really. Plus Cameron [the main character] is pretty awesome too. Oh, and Gonzo. Badass. I could go on about it for ages, but I will stop here.

2. The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury. I had been meaning to read this book for over a year before I finally just bought it, and oh man, I was not disappointed. It's a bunch of short stories about all different sci-fi sort of things, and it's brilliant. Ray Bradbury is a genius. Seriously. My favorite is the one where the world is ending but nobody is freaking out. It's pretty beautiful.

3. The Mediator series by Meg Cabot. I know, I went from sci-fi to girly books, but these books are amazing in that I do not hate the main girl character. And she can see ghosts, so hey, still a little out there. Anyway, Suze is interesting. She's, like, girly but also can kick ass in a freaking mini skirt, which is awesome. The fourth book is my favorite. But I haven't read the fifth or sixth in about a year, so.

4. Tithe by Holly Black. Faeries in New Jersey. And the main girl's name is Kaye Fierch. Come on, why wouldn't you read it? But really, I love stories with SUDDEN REALIZATION followed by well this has turned into an adventure and HEY LOOK, sadness. It always wants me to write about faeries.

5. The Infernal Devices series by Cassandra Clare. I prefer these over The Mortal Instruments, personally. I just really like Charlotte. And more Magnus is always good. We love backstory.

6. Gray by Pete Wentz. A book by a musician, what a shocker, right? But it's brilliant. I always remember it as being scattered but that might just be because it's been a while since I read it. Anyway, the narrator is never named, and the way everything is describe is just...sigh. It's really pretty to read. And also upsetting because it's like, it's not about Pete's life but it also totally is. Anyway.

7. Jurassic Park and Lost World by Michael Crichton. Once you get past all the science jargon, it's great. I know some people probably like knowing all the science, and it's good to have a background, but I find it so dry and just all put in huge chunks. Mr. Crichton always does that. No, but really, the story is interesting and much better than the movies. God, what were they even doing in those things? Oh, and the foreshadowing is better!

8. Sphere by Michael Crichton. I'm not gonna lie, this book fucked me up for a while. It's all about how powerful your thoughts can be (combined with the weird sphere thing I don't remember if it was ever named but there was quantum foam?) and that these people just didn't know what was happening on the bottom of the ocean. Fucked. Me. Up.

9. Fight Club by Chuck Palahunick. It deserves its hype. Seriously. It started as a seven page short story (the part where he's in the office and nobody is saying anything about the bruises and shit, if I remember correctly). And it's a total mindfuck. If you've never read it, just do it. Unless you don't like gore-ish things. Because it's kind of gross.

10. The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness. A different Earth! Noise! A girl! A talking dog! This should probably be higher up on the list, but whatevs. I really like this book, even though it can be a little repetitive, because it's testing humanity. Who doesn't love that? Also it makes me cry. If you've read it, I'll just say Todd? (ohgodi'msosadagain)

11. The Daydreamer by Ian McEwan. It's a kid's book, really, but still great. The boy swaps places with his cat. 'Nuff said.

12. A Stir of Bones by Nina Kiriki Hoffman. The girl is living a 'picture-perfect' life (in '' on purpose) and then goes to a haunted house and meets a ghost boy, and it's lovely. There are apparently sequels but I haven't read them. I just really like this. And it's pretty short.

13. The Percy Jackson and the Olympians series by Rick Riordan. All of them. Every single one. It's like Tithe with the SUDDEN REALIZATION but not as sad. Although the last book did make me sad, but hey, that happens in battles. Percy is a lovely focus, and I have to say, Hades is my favorite god. No surprise there.

14. White Cat by Holly Black. It's got this great plot that just keeps you moving and wanting to keep going and there's a lot of foreshadowing (so much so that I got so mad at Cassel for being an idiot) and great side characters and dynamics and wow, I really like this book. It's a 'verse where there are some people who are Workers, as in curse workers. And there's a mob. And a girl. I just started Red Glove, so we'll see if that ends up on my list.

15. Zombies vs Unicorns by lots of people. It's a compilation of stories, either with zombies as a focus or unicorns. One of my favorites within it is Love Will Tear Us Apart because it's just funny. But there are all different takes on zombies and unicorns so there's probably your favorite theory/legend in there somewhere. This is great for the easily distracted reader; you can just flip to a different story.

So that's all I'm going to type because my house is 50-odd degrees and my fingers are starting to get mad at me for being exposed. What are some of your favorite books?