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My 12 Most Popular Re-Read Books of All Time. Hi everyone welcome back to my blog.
Today we will talk about your favorite book but the question is What is Your Favorite Book of All Time?
If you want to me picking favorite books is so difficult because I could easily talk to you about recent faves.
But I never know which favorites are gonna stick around for long enough that they become all-time favorites.
12 Best Favorite Books of All Time
I'm kind of afraid that if I were to read them now I might not love them as much as then so I'm also a little bit hesitant of calling them all-time favorites.
Sometimes I give a book five stars because I loved it at the moment but it doesn't become a favorite because it just kind of fades away over time this is a list of books that didn't fade away.
If you were to ever ask me to pick one favorite book I would just die on the spot because I'd rather die and pick a favorite.
Here we recommend the 12 best favorite books of all time.
1. Vicious
Vicious by V. E. Schwab
this is vicious by Victoria Schwab oh this book. so imagine this there's a book about two academic rivals' best friends who have this hypothesis that if you have a near-death experience you might develop some superpowers and of course as the absolute geniuses that these students are they try it out on themselves. which obviously leads to complications fast forward 10 years they do have superpowers but they are now each other's mortal enemies and they're doing everything to kill each other.
that's some conflict right there the whole idea of the story is that we have a main character who really sees himself as the villain and an antagonist who sees himself as a hero. so it's kind of like flipped from what you're used to an anti-hero main character Victor who really does a lot of ethically ambiguous things and we have an antagonist with a god complex which I for some reason I really like antagonists like that there are people with special abilities kind of like x-men style which is one of my favorite types of magic systems and this book just has my favorite trope of all time which is academic rivals turned enemies and I blame watching too much naruto as a teen.
but the thing is I have like I think I've consumed like three pieces of media in my life with that trope like the academic rivals to enemies and I need more of it like I need like people are always like found family enemies the lovers have chosen one I just want academic rivals to enemies like uh it just does something to me I can't explain it's so full of angst it makes me want to cry in like the best way possible if any of my gushings sounds good to you then I highly recommend this one.
2. The Broken Earth Trilogy
The Broken Earth Trilogy: The Fifth Season, The Obelisk Gate, The Stone Sky by N. K. Jemisin
This book is the broken earth trilogy by N.K Jemison the first book being the fifth season I remember reading these last year like in quarantine when it was super hot in here and I could only sit on the balcony because everywhere else was way too hot and I was just reading these books and good times anyway.
if you take sci-fi and fantasy and you put them together you just get something wonderful that is this series it's a post-apocalyptic fantasy country where once every few hundred years there is something called a fifth season which is just kind of like a mini apocalypse where the land is just ravaged by natural disasters earthquakes etc and in this world there are also people with magical abilities.
the magic system is like seismic magic so people can create earthquakes and it's very it's a very hard magic system with very scientific very specific rules it's unlike any magic system I've ever read.
3. The Fifth Season
The Fifth Season by N. K. Jemisin
and in the fifth season you follow three female perspectives and how they're kind of dealing with this new fifth season that is coming and how they are learning to use their magic the thing about this book is that it's like one big mystery just the moment you start reading you're just like what is going on I don't understand this why are there flying gems in the sky why are what are these rock people why are there these bottomless pits that just seem to go to the center of the earth what the heck is going on here.
and what I really like about this book is that its super theme heavy it very heavily deals with themes of oppression discrimination rewriting history motherhood is beautifully woven into this adventure story
I would say that this book is absolutely something for you if you like sci-fi fantasy crossover and if you like stories that are just kind of like one big mystery where just slowly things unfold also if you really like unique world-building and magic systems I will say that one of the perspectives in this book is in second person
so instead of I or he, it is you did this you saw this and I know that for a lot of people that can be a real deal-breaker personally, I got used to it pretty easily so I wouldn't be too intimidated by it definitely give it a try but I do know that for some people that can really be a reason to just not get through this series so just a heads up but other than that I need ever, I need everyone to read these books okay.
4. The Hunger Games
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
the first one is of course the hunger games by Susan Collins. I need to put on my hunger games defense hats I am personally on the hunger games defense squad I will defend this book until my death and tell you about how fantastic it is I will fight everyone who thinks that this is just a shallow silly teen book that's only popular because teen girls like it.
the hunger games are genuinely good political commentary not only is it a critique of the horrors and childishness of war it is also a critique of how the people in power the capital in this case will pit oppressed people against each other to divert the attention from like the real oppressor and no not just because they literally have to fight each other to the death in the hunger games.
the hunger games books are filled with more subtle but super-accurate little details that allude to this thing of how the people are kept from standing up against the capital but instead just hate on each other I mean the climax of the story is literally Katniss refusing to let the capital put her and Peta up against each other because she knows she knows that the capital doesn't want the people watching to realize that they are the real bad guys after all okay candace Everdeen was gaining class consciousness in 2008 and we are not talking about it.
but that's not all not only is the hunger games a genuine good critique of political stuff as good dystopian is it is also a perfect representation of how dystopian society feels about teenagers' constant feeling of being perceived as having to think about who you are and how you want to present yourself to the world anti-authoritarian themes it perfectly fits puberty just because something appeals to the teenage experience doesn't make it less meaningful you just don't understand it because you're 31 years old hank I think that's enough of me ranting about the hunger games.
5. Angelfall
Angelfall by Susan Ee
okay let's move on to another quick old favorite of mine that I want to give some special attention and that is angel fall by Susan e just another one of those dystopian that I read back in the day but this one was just it just hit a different and no not because the apocalyptic element of it was just hot angels attacking the earth it was snarkier it subverted a lot of common dystopian tropes that I'd seen so far.
the main character was not a chosen one it had horror and gore elements in a way that I haven't seen in any other ya dystopian and I really liked that I really found out that that's kind of a thing I feel like there's some butterfly effect going on that started with me reading angel fall at 15 years old and has now ended in me loving the ninth house at 22 years old as something happened there.
6. Ninth House
Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo
The ninth house is not on my list of favorites even though I do love it I feel like I need to read a little bit more in the series before I can officially say that it's one of my favorites.
7. Six of Crows
Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
but I do have another Leigh Bardugo book on this list, of course, none of you are surprised that Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo remains one of my favorite books of all time I really thought this was just gonna be one of those books that I loved when I was 18 and would not love today but I recently reread it and I still loved it guys I still loved it.
this is the famous heist fantasy it takes place in 18th-century 17th century historical Amsterdam we follow a band of thieves swindlers thugs that go on this heist to break out and also the first break in a highly secure prison it has the found family trope it has a massive emphasis on the characters and their backstories and their relationships to each other has good banter it has angst so much angst which I know isn't everyone's thing but I do like it.
I think this book was like my first introduction to having slightly more morally ambiguous main characters and upon rereading I definitely see that these characters were really not that morally gray but at the time that I read this was just so different from the usual goody two shoes.
the worst thing I'd ever done is turn down the losing end of the love triangle main character and that was just really a breath of fresh air for me and that fresh air being main characters who rip out other people's eyes usually I really love books that heavily focus on characters and I also like it if my main characters are just like a little bit more morally gray and I figured it out by reading this book.
8. Radio Silence
Radio Silence by Alice Oseman
then next up we have actually a contemporary book yes I know surprise usually I don't like contemporary books especially not why contemporary books because I feel like I'm kind of old enough to the point that they tend to not really be relatable to me anymore and I especially don't like why I contemporaries that don't have romance because the only reason I usually read contemporary books is for the romance and yet on this list, we have a ya contemporary without any romance that I still absolutely adored.
and that is a radio silence by Alice Oseman despite all the things I just said and this did not seem like the book for me I decided to just give it a try and listen to the audiobook and I started listening to it and I just couldn't stop listening I just wanted someone to inject the story straight into my veins I needed all of it I was immediately addicted the plot is not really the point of this story it's how it's executed that makes this so wonderful.
I think this book is genuinely the best rendition of teenage insecurities about yourself and your future that I've ever seen like the kind of insecurities that you still have that still linger even when you're an adult but are kind of at their height at the end of high school or secondary school and it is one of the most authentic written contemporary ya pieces that I've ever read like it just feels so so real to the point that even though I am older now I can still really relate to it and it still feels well authentic on top of that.
This book explores themes of fandom sexuality friendship family being biracial not knowing what you want to do with your future like kind of the difference between what people expect of you and the kind of person that you've always been so far and the person that maybe you want to actually be this story just really spoke to me in many different ways really wonderful and I would recommend this to formerly gifted burnout kids.
9. The Gilded Wolves
The Gilded Wolves: A Novel by Roshani Chokshi
this is the Gilda Wolves series by Rashmichi so completely unexpectedly I just decided to pick up this book I heard that it took place in 18th century Paris that I had a found family trope and that there was a heist involved so I was like that sounds cool let me just pick that up to see what it's all about and it was just one of those books where you read the first chapter and you just immediately know this is gonna be a five-star read like that's one of the best feelings ever you.
if you were to ever ask me like what's your thing you know what's really your thing in why a fantasy I would just point you to this book we have a cast of fantastically lovable unique characters although I will say that the characters don't really shine and develop until book two it's also super diverse we follow main characters with all kinds of different sexualities and backgrounds and it's exactly the type of fun adventure that I want from a ya fantasy like the characters constantly need to solve these riddles and puzzles to get through like their heist and that makes me so happy.
there's this really strong focus on the kind of balance between science and more magic and myth and I'm a big nerd that gets really excited about that and the thing is I have a hard time recommending this book because I know that a lot of people just end up don't really like it and I still haven't figured out what makes it so that some people really don't care about this book and other people absolutely adore it but I've done my best so I've compiled a small list of things that I think if you like these things then you also like this book.
the first thing is if you're okay with a somewhat convoluted magic system that doesn't have a lot of rules and just takes a little bit of time to intuitively understand second if you get excited about solving riddles and puzzles also if you get excited about stories that grasp from a lot of different myths and religions and of course also if you get excited about the found family trap because that one makes me excited every time and it's in this one.
10. The Picture of Dorian Gray
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
This is the picture of Dorian Gray by oscar wow. so we have our main character Dorian Gray he is beautiful gorgeous loved by everyone if he lived today he will be a tick-tock star Rey would be like the male Bella Porch no doubt but he's not just gorgeous he's also a little bit naive very easily influenced by the people in his life.
then someone makes a portrait of him and it's not just any portrait because the thing with this portrait something that Dorian starts to notice over time is that the portrait slowly gets older but Dorian Gray remains young and Dorian gray just becomes obsessed with this painting of himself where he can see himself growing older whereas in reality he's remaining young and he can keep up this love that everyone has for him and he just becomes obsessed with making sure that no one ever gets to see this painting no one finds out what is going on he needs to make sure that he stays young forever.
what I love about this book is that it's basically a corruption arc you know usually you have like a redemption arc or just like a character development arc here it's just Dorian slowly losing it and it is wonderfully done and wonderfully set up also another thing that I really like about this book is we have these characters just having conversations with each other often about all sorts of interesting topics and ideas which are very fun to read it's beautifully like lyrically written.
so who would I recommend this to even though this book has no romance although debatable I would recommend this book to hopelessly romantic people it just has romantic vibes you know.
11. The Night Circus
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
This is the night circus because I am not original and everyone has this book as their favorite book but it's just really worth the hype I also know that this book isn't gonna be for everyone so I'm gonna do my best while gushing over this book to kind of give you an idea of if you would like this or not.
synopsis of this book that's already the hard part just follow this magical circus that appears out of nowhere at night where people have real magic but of course, the real-life people don't know that they just think whoa that's a really good magic trick but it's actually magic and we follow many characters in and around the circus-like a little boy that discovers the circus the creator of the circus the performers at the circus and at the heart of it the two magicians and the most powerful magicians at the circus who is in a contest with each other a magical contest but the kicker is that they don't really know what the contest is or what the point is and when it ends and of course, they fall in love with each other.
but I would say I would describe this book as not a romance novel but a love story the difference between that to me is that it's not a romance novel because it's not about the like it's not supposed to be super romantic and like a lovey-dovey and cutesy that it's not written to be like that it's just a wonderful story with these two characters at the heart of it and how their relationship influences the other characters and how the story unfolds.
yes the story doesn't really have a very strong plotline and it also doesn't really go deep into the characters or anything
but I just kept reading for two reasons:
firstly because of the mystery element, the whole circus is just shrouded in mystery this contest is shrouded in mystery and I kept reading because I just wanted to know what was going on and where all these characters would end up.
and secondly, despite there not being a lot of plot or character development I kept reading because of just how captivating and atmospheric the story is.
this book perfectly captures the feeling of going to a circus or as a theater show there's no real plot there are no real characters but you're just mesmerized.
12. The Tao of Pooh
The Tao of Pooh by Benjamin Hoff
This is the tao of poo by Benjamin Hoff this is technically non-fiction but it really reads like a fiction book. the story is basically the author of the book having conversations with Winnie the Pooh and through these conversations, they explain these Taoist principles in a really interesting and very clear-to-understand way I'm not a Taoist by any means I just think it's really interesting because the ideas that are presented in this book are so just like diametrically opposed to like the western religion of productivity that exists here.
so this book really feels like a breath of fresh air to me this time not because people's eyes are being ripped out but just because it's wholesome for example this book goes into the merits of simplicity not having to overcomplicate everything not forcing anything going with the flow etc and I reread this book every one or two years and every time I reread it I kind of get something new out of it and those are like the best kind of books that you can just reread over and over again and learn something new about yourself about the world every single time
so I highly recommend this one it's super short it's so easy to read and I really think that it would just be you know just like a great addition to everyone's life you just think about things in a little bit of a different way than what you're used to.
Conclusion of Favorite Book of All Time
I just get so happy like recommend all these books my favorite book of all time. I understand how painful it will be to just pick one, so you can pick multiple. maybe you've seen that we have a similar taste in books then don't forget to subscribe to my blog. so that you don't miss any of my other articles and share this article with your friends and family.
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