All Aboard the Bookshelf Express Part One: The Favorite Books Line

I love reading. I absolutely adore it. When I was younger I wanted to be a professional reader, and read books for a living. As I grew older, I realized that is basically the job of an editor, so that's what I want to do. Ideally I would like to be a book editor, I think (how cool would it be to be John Green's editor?), but sometimes I have fantasies about being Meryl Streep in The Devil Wears Prada,because lets be honest she was fabulous (I know the monologue in the video by heart).  Anyway, the point of this post isn't really to rant about what a teen I am for loving The Devil Wears Prada so much, but to give you guys a little insight into who I am. You know that saying "never judge a book by its cover?" Well, that's all fine and dandy, but when it comes to applying it to people, I like to alter the saying a little. Instead of "never judge a book by its cover," the words I like to live by are "always judge a person by his or her books." Okay, so that makes my sound like the world's biggest book snob, but its not that I'm saying you shouldn't like someone who reads chick flicks (because lets be honest who doesn't?), I'm simply trying to point out that you can really tell a lot about a person by the kind of books they read.

Don't believe me? Lets take a look at my bookshelf and see what you can discover about me.

All aboard the bookshelf express! Currently we are riding the "my favorite books line," where I keep those books which are most important to me. Please note that I do not own every one of my favorite books, because the list goes on and on and on (like that journey song).

The first stop on this line is The Harry Potter Series. Harry Potter is the series that made me love reading. Actually, before Harry Potter, I was really struggling with reading at all. In fact, it took me until third grade to learn how. I have shared many of my best memories with Harry: Waiting outside a theater for ten hours dressed as Dumbledore in anticipation of the midnight premier of the final movie, crying my eyes out throughout that entire movie, wizard rock concerts... Basically I'm a huge nerd. But in all honesty, I don't think I can express how much this series means to me. I have a very hard time imagining that I will ever love a book as much as I have loved these. I struggled a lot with making friends and just generally interacting with people when I was younger (what am I talking about when I was younger? I totally still do. Have you seen the title of this blog?). And Harry and Co were basically my only friends at the time. I still have diaries full of conversations I wished I was having with them. Really the only thing I can say about them is that they truly are magical. (Yes I know that's uber cheesy, but its also completely true, and I won't take it back).

So, now that I've shown you all what a complete and total nerd I am, I bet you can guess what's coming up next. That's right! John Green Books! I've got all of them on my shelf, though Paper Towns and An Abundance of Katherines are my favorite. I know, its a shocker: My favorite John Green book is not TiFioS (she says as she prepares for an attack from Augustus Waters fangirls). I don't really have much to say about these except that they are fun, yet beautiful, and everyone should read them. Oh and DFTBA.

Similar to John Green, the next book we're going to is It's Kind of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzini. This book is one hell of a story. I don't think anybody is as good at expressing his or her narrator's thoughts in a simple and relatable, yet also  deeply moving way, as is Ned Vizzini. I think, especially with the stigma surrounding mental health, that this book is important for people to read, not unlike The Bell Jar, which (although not on this list) is another of my favorites.  

Next stop is...Inkheart! Inkheart was also one of those books that helped me love reading. I remember in particular reading over and over the line: "the girl with the clear, bright eyes, little pieces of sky fallen to the earth and caught in her dark lashes" (Funke, 383-384). I guess even in fourth grade I had a thing for poetic writing, because I thought that that line was the single most beautiful line ever written. I do still think its quite lovely. 

So I guess by now you all have realized that I have kind of a thing for fantasy. Particularly children's fantasy. That's why it should be no surprise to you that this  next stop on my bookshelf express is also a children's fantasy book. Although, this one is a lot more obscure than those previous few. It's called Dragon Slippers, and it's by Jessica Day George. Its very whimsical and all around I think it's the perfect book for middle schoolers, or for anyone who, like me, has a fascination with children's literature. 

Keeping with the fantasy theme (what can I say? It's my biggest weakness), the next stop is Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials. This series is one of those really popular books that no one seems to have read except me. You know the type I'm talking about: it's on just about every list of top books ever, but whenever you ask someone if they've read it, the response is "Oh, I've been meaning to," or "Not yet, but I saw the movie" (psshhh, all of us His Dark Materials fans know that the movie version of The Golden Compass was frankly demeaning to the book). I adore these books. I think the reason I love these books so much is that I can read them over and over and over and still find new and interesting meanings in each one of them. Also, the fantasy in these books is among the best I've ever read, and you know how I love my fantasy. Here's a picture of my 3 in 1 (ooh fancy) copy.

Speaking of the best fantasy story building in books, the next one on this line is The Hobbit. Classic nerd, I know. But you know what? I'm proud of it. I'm especially proud of my copy of this book. It's probably been my best secondhand find, as it is a hardcover illustrated copy. That's right illustrated! Sometimes I just gaze at the pictures to be completely honest. I love The Hobbit, and I feel like it's one of those book everyone has to read. It's world building is second only to that of Terry Pratchett's Discworld Series, which by the way is next.

Yup, it's Discworld time. I only own three of these books, though I've read many many more. The three I own are The Wee Free Men, Thud!, and Going Postal. Out of these, The Wee Free Men is by far my favorite, as I think Tiffany Aching is should be up there on lists of strong fictional women with such notables as Hermione Granger and Lizzy Bennet. Basically Terry Pratchett is the master of all things world building, so if you love books because they let you disappear from earth and slip into a fantastically creative and adventure-filled world, then you should definitely start reading his books.

The next book on this shelf is one by an author who's writing is very similar to Terry Pratchett: Neil Gaiman. I love many of his books, but the only one I own, and my favorite by far is The Graveyard Book. As the title suggests it's a little darker than the other children's fantasy books on my shelf, but definitely just as good. Gaiman has a talent to spin words the way no one else does, and if you haven't read it yet, I insist you go to your local library and rent it right now. 

You must be thinking wow, how many books does this chick have? Or if not, then you're probably thinking she's way too obsessed with fantasy. Well, as for that first thought, lets get something straight. I. Spend. All. My. Money. On. Books. Fellow bibliophiles out there will understand, so I don't feel like I need to elaborate on this. As for the second thought, don't worry that was the last of my fantasy books, unfortunately for those who don't appreciate children's literature like I do, there are still two more kids books at this next stop. Those two are: Revolting Rhymes and Fantastic Mr. Fox by Roald Dahl. Revolting Rhymes is phenomenal. It's probably the funniest book I've ever read, but also really makes me think about modern day fairy tales. So, I really enjoy the fact that along with being hilarious it is also teaching children to question what society presents to them (oh look at me being such a hipster). Fantastic Mr. Fox, on the other hand, is simply the most charming book out there, and Wes Anderson's movie adaption of it is no less fantastic (please pardon the horrible and very much intended pun). As a side note, Quentin Blake is probably my favorite illustrator ever.  

So now the final stop on this treasured train line are my classics. Sadly, I don't have many of these, but the ones I do have are by far the best I've read (of course everything's a matter of opinion). These books are: The Great Gatsby, To Kill a Mockingbird (who doesn't love Scout Finch), Pride and Prejudice, The Importance of Being Earnest (my favorite play and author), Macbeth (I love Shakespeare and this is my favorite of his. "Out Damn Spot") and I Capture the Castle. Chances are you have all know what at the very least three of these books are about, so I'm just going to talk about I Capture the Castle. To start things off this book is just beautiful. It has everything a book should have: romance, a strong narrator, adventure, humor. This book is a must read and re read and re read, because I promise Dodie Smith, author of 101 Dalmatians, will blow your mind. 

So, now lets go back to my original statement: "always judge a person by his or her books." I think that there are five essential qualities of mine that stand out as obvious from the books I love. Let's take a look, shall we?

1. I am a nerd: Let's be honest, I have way too much fantasy on my shelf to not be a nerd. On top of that the fact that I have every single John Green book on my shelf should be some indication to the fact that I'm a Nerdfighter.

2. I am whimsical: Again the huge fantasy collection I have points out the fact that I an one of those people who all ways has her head in the clouds. I guess you could call me a sort of Don Quixote...if you wanted to be unnecessarily frank, of course.

3. I wish I was still ten: I'm pretty sure that about half of these books are children's books, so yeah you could say I have childish taste, but I prefer to call myself "the female Peter Pan."

4. I'm a bit of a cynic: Aside from John Green and the classics I don't think that there's a single romance book on this list. On top of that, my favorite John Green book, Paper Towns, is by far the least romantic of his novels. That's just because, well I'm a Scrooge when it comes to these things.

5. I have a sense of humor: A lot of these books rely heavily on humor, because I often have a hard time getting through books that don't make me laugh. Funny is everything to me. There's a reason my favorite play is The Importance of Being Earnest. 

Well I hope you enjoyed your ride on the Bookself Express. Please travel with us again.