One of my favorite things to do is share my book recommendations with other people. These are in no particular order, except for the first one, and all books are linked to purchase on Amazon! These are some of my favorite books of all time.
1. "The Art of Racing in the Rain" by Garth Stein
What it's about: This book is narrated by Enzo the dog. It opens with Enzo telling you that he is dying- he can feel it. The rest of the book is a celebration of Enzo's life as he retells the struggles and joys of the life he has spent with his humans. You are told the story of his family through his perspective, and even though you know Enzo is dying from the beginning, you cannot hold back your tears when his final moments come.
Favorite quote(s): “That which we manifest is before us; we are the creators of our own destiny. Be it through intention or ignorance, our successes and our failures have been brought on by none other than ourselves.”
2. "It's Kind of a Funny Story" by Ned Vizzini
What it's about: The reader follows teenager Craig Gilner as he struggles to get into a prestigious high school in New York City. The pressure he feels to get into a good school and get a good job when he grows up becomes too much for Craig, and one night he attempts to kill himself. He later finds himself in a mental hospital where he learns to deal with what's more than teen angst- and he makes a couple friends as well. What's cool about this book is that the author himself was once in a mental hospital, which makes the book that much more emotional.
Favorite quote: “People are screwed up in this world. I'd rather be with someone screwed up and open about it than somebody perfect and ready to explode.”
3. "Thirteen Reasons Why" by Jay Asher
What it's about: Clay Jensen has a huge crush on classmate Hannah Baker. Unfortunately, Hannah commits suicide and no one can figure out why she did it. One day Clay comes home from school to find a box at his door with cassette tapes inside. On them he finds Hannah Baker's voice and 13 reasons why she decided to commit suicide. She takes Clay on a journey through the town to experience what her life was like, and why Clay was one of those reasons she took her life.
Favorite quote: “After all, how often do we get a second chance?”
4. "When it Happens to You" by Molly Ringwald (yes, that Molly Ringwald)
What it's about: Told through multiple stories, the reader gets to explore a terminated marriage, a mother/daughter relationship, a mother whose son believes he is a girl, an unsuspecting love story, and the bond between an elderly woman and the child who lives next door. The reader gets to experience infidelity, heartbreak, death and grief, and love all within the covers of this book. This book is a page turner and something that can be read multiple times.
Favorite quote: "You may not cry at first. You may wonder why you don't cry, and you may even feel like there is something seriously wrong with you. You might look at yourself as though you were a character in a book or a movie and you might think to yourself 'Why isn't that woman crying? What's wrong with her?'"
5. "When I'm Gone" by Emily Bleeker
What it's about: Luke Richardson and his three children have just buried Natalie, Luke's wife and the kids' mother, after her loss to cancer. When they come home from the funeral Luke finds a blue envelope on the floor with his name on it- written in his wife's handwriting. In this first letter, Natalie tells Luke that over the course of her battle she has written multiple letters to him telling him how he should deal with her absence- but who is delivering the letters for Natalie? In the letters we discover that Natalie was hiding something from Luke their entire marriage and leaves him to discover it on his own. A beautiful story about grief, When I'm Gone makes you smile, laugh, cry, and keep turning the pages as you uncover the mystery of Natalie's life-after-death plan.
Favorite quote(s): “You can’t assume everything’s okay inside the house just because the paint isn’t peeling and the yard is neatly mowed.” “What they don’t know is this: appearing okay is a lot easier than actually being okay."
6. "The Dogs I Have Kissed" by Trista Mateer
What it's about: A collection of poetry, The Dogs I Have Kissed is truly something beautiful. Mostly written about relationships/breakups/heartache, you experience what the author has gone through with different relationships and the pain she felt.
Favorite quote: “I still have a lot of growing to do / and I know there is more room for it / in your absence.”
7. "I Wrote This for You" by pleasefindthis & Jon Ellis
What it's about: Another collection of poetry, I Wrote This For You combines words with photography in four different chapters: Sun, Moon, Stars, Rain. Much longer than most poetry collections- roughly 200- I Wrote This For You covers everything from joy to grief, and love and triumph.
Favorite quote(s): “You keep telling me to be glad for what we had while we had it. That the brightest flame burns quickest. Which means you saw us as a candle. And I saw us as the sun.” “You can be in love and you can be in a relationship. But they’re not always the same thing.”
8. "Exit Here." by Jason Myers
What it's about: Travis is home from college for the summer and has fallen back into his usual pattern of drugs and meaningless sex with women- or not so meaningless. His ex-girlfriend wants and doesn't want to get back together with him, leaving him extremely confused and feeling like his life is empty. This book is crude in one paragraph and gives you chills in the next. This book brings us through what a lot of college students go through when they're home for the summer, or when they feel like their life just isn't going anywhere. Give this book a chance, it might just teach you something.
Favorite quote: “What the fuck is love anyway? Is it a phone call the next morning? Is it picking up a hundred-dollar-meal tab? Is it flowers on the fifth date? Or is it sleeping on the wet spot?”
9. "A Stolen Life" by Jaycee Dugard
What it's about: In 1991 Jaycee Dugard was kidnapped and held captive until 2009. She was abused, raped, neglected, and became a mother, all while never being allowed to speak her name. Most people remember the kidnapping as well as the discovery of Jaycee Dugard, but most do not know what really happened to her. In this extremely emotional memoir, Jaycee takes you through what is was like to be out in public and people not recognize it was her. What is was like to be neglected and treated as an animal. And what it was like to finally be reunited with her family.
Favorite quote(s): “We live in a world where we rarely speak out and when someone does, often nobody is there to listen.”“Love is the easy part; it's the living without the love you need is hard.”
10. "Still Missing" by Chevy Stevens
What it's about: Annie O'Sullivan is a real estate agent who is kidnapped while showing a house to a man who, unknown to her, has been stalking her for weeks. The novel jumps between Annie talking to her therapist after her escape (not a spoiler, she tells you this in the beginning) and the real-time events of what happened to her as she was held captive. This book will make you feel sick, make you cry, make you angry, and make you realize you never want to go into real estate. This is one you will finish quickly because you want to find out more, no matter how disturbing it is.
Favorite quote: "But if somebody is telling you the sky is green, even though you know it's blue, and they act like the sky is green and they keep saying it's green day in, day out, like they really believe it, eventually you could start wondering if maybe you're nuts for thinking it's blue."
