Favourite Books/Recommendations

A book that I loved to the point where I finished it in two and half days (yes, it was that awesome that I couldn't put it down for anything) was

The Selection by Kiera Cass

The summary for it is: For thirty-five girls, the Selection is the chance of a lifetime. The opportunity to escape the life laid out for them since birth. To be swept up in a world of glittering gowns and priceless jewels. To live in the palace and compete for the heart of the gorgeous Prince Maxon.

But for America Singer, being Selected is a nightmare. It means turning her back on her secret love with Aspen, who is a caste below her. Leaving her home to enter a fierce competition for a crown she doesn't want. Living in a palace that is constantly threatened by violent rebel attacks.

Then America meets Prince Maxon. Gradually, she starts to question all the plans she's made for herself- and realizes that the life she's always dreamed of may not compare to a future she never imagined.

Genres would have to be (to my guess though) Romance and drama.

I think the story is going to have a second part to it titled The Elite (majorly guessing here; if you want to get a small hint of what the next book might be...)

The author's website is: Kiera Cass

Precious and Fragile Things by Megan Hart

It's sorta of a dark romance sort of thing. The lead female character gets abducted (sort of on accident) by the lead male character and is held captive. It's really sweet when it comes down to it, but at times it is certainly dark.

I think everyone should read Catch-22 by Joseph Heller. Like, it should seriously be required reading in high school. In my opinion, it's one of the top five best novels ever written.

I just finished The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides and it was incredible. I highly recommend reading it. It is beautiful, haunting, and I know I will be thinking about it for days.

I'm reading the 'Gone' Series by Michael Grant, there are 5 books so far, the next and final book is out in 2013. It is in the Escapism genre, it's about a town full of kids 15 and under, all adults have disappeared and they must fight the evil Darkness. Most of the characters have a super power [they are called freaks].
Beware - slight gore and in 'Hunger' cannibalism.

I recommend this book to anyone it is deeply about the human need to survive and what people are like in unnatural situations. It's addictive and the book covers [UK] are bright.

Happy reading xox ;]

Also,

The Trial by Franz Kafka
Less Than Zero by Bret Easton Ellis
The Stranger by Albert Camus (if you speak French, the original French text, L’Étranger is even better)
The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
Nothing by Janne Teller
Nausea by Jean-Paul Sartre (again, the original, La Nausée, is even better)

And absolutely everything by Fyodor Dostoyevsky.

The Green Mile by Stephen King

The story follows Paul Edgecomb, a prison guard working on Cold Mountain Penitentiary's death row, and his experiences with John Coffey, a very unusual prisoner.

I absolutely love this book. I have only ever cried at two books in my life and The Green Mile is one of them. It is, in one word, amazing. I would recommend it to anybody.

There are a lot of favourites to choose from, but I'd have to say To Kill A Mockingbird. It has always been my choice. Highly recommended.

Dead Poets Society by N.H Kleinbaum. I'm not too sure if it's a movie adaptation. Pretty thin and quick to finish. Perfect for those who are not too keen in reading thick books.

Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt. I know this is an autobiography, but it's also highly recommended. I read the book a few years back and remembered bawling, page after page. But not everything is heart-wrenching. There are some light-hearted moments as well.

I love love love Catch-22 by Joseph Heller, because it's actually funny, and I mean laugh-out-loud funny - I disturbed a lot of library sessions because of my incessant giggling. It's a war book, but it's funny, and also pretty intense. I wrote a dissertation on it and Johnny Got His Gun by Dalton Trumbo, another war novel that is a lot less funny. All Quiet On The Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque is also another great war book.

Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry Amazing western. A massive read, but a fulfilling one.

Deliverance by James Dickey. Awesome film, even better book.

To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk, One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey, and just about every Stephen King book ever are all my favourites. And of course Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell. I need more books.

Oh jeez. Give me a minute.

"If I Stay" by...I can't remember the author, but the book is amazing. You'd have to read it just to understand.

"Promise Not To Tell" by Jennifer McMahon. One of the most bone-chilling books I've ever read.

The Immortals series by Allyson Noel (not sure if I spelled that right). Her descriptions of Ever's deepest emotions are half-frightening, half-beautiful.

"To Kill A Mockingbird" by Harper Lee. This one touched me the most because I know what it's like to be discriminated against for how I look.

The Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan. His balance of humor, suspense, and tragedy is genius.

The Heroes of Olympus series, also by Rick Riordan. This Percy Jackson spin-off series has the same genius humor, suspense, and tragedy that the Percy Jackson series contains, but it's amplified in the Heroes of Olympus series.

Those are the only ones I can think of for now. -A

To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee is by far one of my favourite books, along with One Day by David Nicholls. I am currently reading The Shining by Stephen King and it is one of the very few books that has sent shivers up my spine.

The Host - Stephanie Meyer
The earth has been invaded by a species that take over the minds of their human hosts while leaving their bodies intact, and most of humanity has succumbed.
Wanderer, the invading "soul" who has been given Melanie's body, knew about the challenges of living inside a human: the overwhelming emotions, the too vivid memories. But there was one difficulty Wanderer didn't expect: the former tenant of her body refusing to relinquish possession of her mind.
Melanie fills Wanderer's thoughts with visions of the man Melanie loves - Jared, a human who still lives in hiding. Unable to separate herself from her body's desires, Wanderer yearns for a man she's never met. As outside forces make Wanderer and Melanie unwilling allies, they set off to search for the man they both love.

I know it's Stephanie Meyer and most people don't like her, but I had to admit the book was pretty good to me in my opinion

Unwind - Neal Shusterman
After a civil war—known as the Second Civil War or the Heartland War—is fought over abortion, a compromise was reached, allowing parents to sign an order for their children between the ages of 13 and 18 years old to be unwound—taken to "harvest camps" and having their body parts harvested for later use.

Absolutely amazing book.

Everlost/Everwild/Everfound (The skinjacker trilogy) - Neal Shusterman
Allie and Nick both die in a car crash. They're supposed to go towards that light at the end of the tunnel, but they bump into each other and get knocked into a mysterious world between life and death called Everlost. The world is filled with terror, and unexpected twists for the souls that reside there. Both Nick and Allie want their lives back, so they start exploring this new world, hoping to find a way back to their normal lives. There is a catch, however: If they stay stand still in the living world in one place for too long, they will sink into Earth. The longer they stay in Everlost, the more they forget about themselves in the real world.

c:

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
Looking for Alaska or Will Greyson, Will Greyson by John Green (Will Greyson, Will Greyson is also written by someone else)

A few of my favourites are:

Good Grief by Lolly Winston is about a young woman named Sophie Stanton and she becomes a widow at the age of 36. It's all about her breakdown and then her coping, I truly recommend someone reading this. It was one of those books where I found it in an airport waiting room, and the inside cover had an inscription something like "I really enjoyed this book, it's truly a treasure, so I leave it here for you to find and read, and once you're finished I encourage you to do that same so someone else can pick it up." I loved every minute of it!

Also, A Widow For One Year by John Irving is separated into 3 parts, the first of which taking place in summer of 1958(I believe). It's all about how a man and wife lose their two sons and have a daughter to try and make up for the loss. It's phenomenal and is my favourite book right below Harry Potter.

And of course the entire Harry Potter series by J.K Rowling is some of the best work I've ever read, and I am 100% proud of being in that fandom.

Two plays: Doctor Faustus by Christopher Marlowe, Twelfth Night by Shakespeare.

After Dark by Haruki Murakami
We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson
American Gods by Neil Gaiman
Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
The Aberystwyth series by Malcolm Pryce
The Gormenghast series by Mervyn Peake
Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov
Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
The Hitchhikers Guide Series by Douglas Adams
The Dirk Gently series by Douglas Adams
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
The Hundred Secret Senses by Amy Tan
Blow Up and Other Stories by Julio Cortazar
Le Petit Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

A book I found called 'Wither' by Lauren DeStefano.
I thought it was fantastic!
It's set in the not so distant future in which, due to our own obsession to acheive perfection we shorten the male life expectancy to 25 and the female to 20.

The name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
Hitchhikers Guide Series by Douglas Adams
A Song of Ice and Fire Series by George R.R. Martin (Only finished reading the third book.)

One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn - set in a Soviet forced labour camp in the 1950's and describes a single day of an ordinary prisoner.
The Stranger by Albert Camus - takes place in French Algiers and is a about a French Algerian (named Mersault) who kills an Arab man, the story's written in Mersault's point of view and is divided into two parts; before and after the murder.
I strongly recomend these books.
Oh, and George Orwell's Animal Farm. :)

A Song of Ice and Fire. It's a series by George R.R. Martin and you have probable heard about the first book A Game of Thrones.

They are amazing!

Archangel by Robert Harris is actually really good.
At first I saw it and picked it up, I read the blurb and a little bit on Wikipedia about it and thought "eh - it's something to do with Russian politics and Stalin - it's going to be boring". But after reading the first few pages, I found myself quite interested. And as I read on, I want to admit that I found it really hard to put down. I don't know why but somehow, Robert Harris really made it interesting to read!! And saying that, I usually read fantasy but this got my attention.

Really recommend!!