My Favorite Books: Part 1. The Honorable Mention Favorites

I’m not sure exactly what I expected when I decided to write a blog, but it certainly wasn’t this. I’m pretty sure I thought that no one would actually read my blog (besides the Senator, because I asked him to proof-read the first post…) but you, dear readers, have defied my expectations! The total page views have climbed over 100, and I can’t thank you enough! In fact, I'm kind of freaking out about it in the best possible way!!!  Hopefully you liked what you read enough to stay tuned as I continue to update.

Speaking of updates, this is one, in case you weren’t aware. I started working on this post this weekend and was expecting to have it up by the end of Sunday. But then, as always, life got in the way. I realized that between the 23rd and the 27th, which is next week, I have to turn in two research papers, a memorized presentation in Italian complete with an impressive Powerpoint, a movie report, two tests, and a final Theory project. I came to the sad realization that I needed to finish my research papers slightly more than I needed to write a blog post in between my rehearsals and concerts. However, do not despair, dear readers! I wasn’t about to miss my fortnight deadline 2 posts in!

So I’m currently typing this in between classes because I accidentally left my Music History research notes at home and there aren’t any practice rooms open, which is the norm during lunch hours. I’m typing frantically and I keep misspelling words like “people” but I AM getting this blog post written in my non-spare time! The next few blog posts may be typed in a similar harried fashion, but I hope they are of enough quality, or at least entertainment, to keep you interested in what I have to say!

Today’s post is about my favorite books, because 1. I love books and obviously this was going to come up sooner or later, and 2. One of my friends requested this as a blog post! (Speaking of, comment away and feel free to suggest ideas for posts! I’m always up for other people’s ideas!) 

I’m such a bibliophile that this post is Part One of…

wait for it…

seven.

That’s right, this post had to be split into seven sections because I love books that much, and this post was going to be longer than my two research papers combined if I didn’t divide my love of novels into parts. (Considering that this post, just part one, was six pages, it's probably an excellent thing I divided it up.)

If you’re reading this post and don’t enjoy books as much as I do, or at all, please don’t lose hope! I’m going to alternate my seven posts about my favorite books with posts on non-book-related topics. Otherwise, this wouldn’t be a blog about life, it would be a blog about fiction. And as much as that would fascinate me, I know I would be in the minority on that issue. And there’s so much more I want to write about, as well! So I’m going to be interspersing this series of posts with other things, some of which are already planned out and are just waiting to be typed!

But enough of this meaningless explanation. On to the meat of this post!

I identify myself as a bibliophile: a passionate lover of books (and really, of any written word). I’m rather obsessed; to this day, although I adore shopping for clothes, shoes, and especially purses, I can spend hours in Barnes and Noble or on Amazon.com and never get bored. I would buy books constantly if I could, and only saving money for necessary things like food keeps me from buying every hardback that sounds even remotely interesting. 

I’ve wanted to write books as long as I can remember (I recently found my first completed story…and it was absolutely awful. Maybe I’ll post it sometime…) and I’ve loved reading them even longer.  My parents used to read to me constantly, and as soon as I was able to read on my own, I didn’t stop. I read during car trips, I read during naptime in Kindergarten, and I read during meals (including dinner with my family) until the beginning of high school. I also read basically everything—every genre you could think of. I’ve consumed the entire children and Young Adult sections of the various libraries in my lovely hometown At-Least-Today-It’s-Not-Hailing-With-50-mile-an-hour-winds-Like-It-Was-Saturday, and I own enough books to put some of the libraries’ collections to shame. (At my last count, I had over 400 books in my room. As I haven’t thrown any away since that census and have collected even more since then, I estimate my current collection to be over 500.)

I give you this background to explain why this particular post topic was really difficult for me to begin (and why it had to be split into seven parts). Because I’ve read so many amazing novels over the years, narrowing down my selection to just five or even ten specific books is practically impossible. Therefore, today’s post is dedicated to the Honorable Mention list of my favorite books. These books, while amazing and influential and beloved alike, simply don’t quite make it to the top of my absolute favorites, but they’re really close and definitely worth reading. This is a very eclectic mix of novels, so brace yourself for a whirlwind of different genres. There’s a novel for everyone in this list!

So, in no particular order, here are my five Honorable Mention books/series/authors.

1. 1984 by George Orwell

I read this book the summer before seventh grade, I believe. I have a distinct memory of reading this at summer camp, not bothered in the slightest that other kids were out swimming while I was engrossed in this excellent dystopian adventure. I adore dystopia novels, and a few I’m working on myself pay tribute to that theme, but I’ve never encountered another story in this genre that in my opinion even compares to this excellently uncomfortable, terrifying, and horribly realistic book.

Interestingly enough, this was the first book that I ever read that had sex in it, which was definitely a strange way to get used to the idea of sex as a plot device. People who hardly know each other having sex to spite the government? My seventh grade mind was blown. 

I returned to this book a few years ago, when the AP English classes were finally discussing it. Due to a very complicated turn of events, I was not in AP English my junior or senior year, and sadly my Academic level (half-way between AP and the easy Regular-level class) English class didn’t get to discuss this book. (This was probably due to the fact that many of my classmates were too immature to handle reading and discussing a novel featuring sex, however politically motivated.) But as I remembered enjoying the book my first time around, I decided to re-read it anyway. It was just as enthralling the second time, and I was able to actually understand a bit more of it.

I also was captivated by the concept of Room 101—the ultimate torture device. I know without a doubt that my Room 101 would hold the buzzing of bees and wasps. (I’m rendered completely non-functional by the presence of a flying insect that has the power to sting me…I lose all control over my actions, I begin to flail, and attempt to get away, which is usually completely ineffectual and often extremely embarrassing.) The actual creatures would not be needed; the sound alone would send me over the edge. 

The concept of the all-powerful government being able to access even basic, private, primal fears in the successful attempt to control us all…genius. Pure brilliance. The slightly terrified thrill this novel produces in me is why 1984 is one of my absolute favorite novels.

On the opposite end of the spectrum from great classic dystopian novels falls the second of my Honorable Mention favorites:

2. Anything ever written by Meg Cabot, ever.

So I cheated; this isn’t a single book but an author’s entire collection of published works. Meg Cabot writes some of the most entertaining Young Adult and Adult fiction I’ve ever read (and some of the most attractive and swoon-worthy male characters I’ve encountered as well). Even in novels dealing with wild plots such as dating the prince of the Underworld or living (through a brain transplant) in a model’s body, her characters are both relatable and realistic. I think I’ve read every single one of her novels, and I buy and read her new works the day they are released. If you’re looking to pass the time reading a book with hilariously witty characters and entertaining plots, I can’t recommend Meg Cabot’s books more highly.

In an entirely opposite genre from romantic and silly Young Adult fiction, I also greatly enjoy

3. The science fiction works by Michael Crichton.

This list includes favorites such as Sphere, The Andromeda Strain, Timeline, and (of course) his most well-known work Jurassic Park. Michael Crichton knows how to write a gripping sci-fi story that leaves you hanging from the first page all the way through his dramatic conclusions. I discovered this author the first summer I spent at the Brevard Summer Music Festival, a 7-week orchestral music camp in the small town of Brevard, North Carolina. Every 4th of July, the town has a huge book sale that happens to coincide with the first week of the summer camp. I knew I had to explore this, and I stocked up on whatever novels looked interesting (50 cents a paperback, how could I resist?) which happened to include a big collection of Crichton paperbacks. When I wasn’t in rehearsals or practicing violin, I read these and I was instantly hooked. I love sci-fi, and reading more of it is on my to-do list for this summer, because I can’t get enough of it. But Crichton’s books hold a special place in my love for the the genre and a special spot on my Honorable Mention list.

My first summer in Brevard, I fell in love with science fiction. 

My second summer, I became hooked on

4. The Odyssey, attributed to Homer.

That’s right, one of my favorite novels happens to be the ridiculously long epic poem from ancient Greece. This was required reading the summer before my senior year of high school, and I devoured it without complaint. I’ve always been slightly obsessed with Greek and Roman mythology, and taking Latin in high school only furthered my fascination for it. I also had previously seen O Brother, Where Art Thou, which is a fantastic movie made even more enjoyable by knowing all the connections to the Odyssey. Anyway, although this book was dense and complicated to understand, I found every bit of it enjoyable. I plan on re-reading it relatively soon, either this summer or the next winter break, and writing some short stories based on it.

The last of my Honorable Mention favorites almost don’t count, as they are plays, not novels. However, I read several of them in English class, so for the sake of this list, I’ve decided they are worthy. These famous plays include

5. Hamlet, and the rest of the plays I’ve read by William Shakespeare.

To some, this may seem a cliché choice, while to others it may seem an extremely dull choice. But I’ve always loved the storylines that Shakespeare set to dramas even if they weren’t all exactly original. Hamlet is one of my favorites because of the title character’s beautiful and complicated descent into madness (and the great lines of dialogue that fit Shakespeare perfectly: brilliant and profound one scene, and bawdy and hilarious the next.) 

I also greatly enjoyed Macbeth, although not as much as Hamlet. Macbeth makes the list because I love prophecies and because Lady Macbeth is such an awesome, twisted female character. In my sophomore English class, we decided to read this out-loud as a group, and I got to read Lady Macbeth’s part in most of her scenes. As a lover of theatre, I relished acting out her famous line, “Out, damn’d spot!” as she descends into madness. Also, I can’t re-read this play without imagining our class’s Macbeth, who read in a brilliant and entertaining fairly authentic Scottish brogue.

Also included on this list is Romeo and Juliet. This is one of my favorites not because of it’s status as one of literature’s most beautiful love stories, because it’s actually a really creepy love story when you think about it. 13-year-old Juliet falls for 17-year-old Romeo at a party, they get married, and then they commit suicide over a period of—wait for it—four days. When is that EVER socially acceptable, or even close to romantic? But the true beauty of this play lies in the fantastic writing and the strength of the words that resonates with audiences and readers nearly 400 years later. Captivated by the beauty of the words, one can lose themselves enjoying this ludicrous romance. I had select lines from this play learned when I was twelve, because they were so instantly memorable!

One reason I adore this play in spite of its plot is because I actually got to perform it my senior year of high school. My varsity theatre class put on this production, which was way more difficult than it seemed at first. I was cast as Friar Lawrence, which, yes, is traditionally played by a man, but we lacked the number of guys necessary to perform this play accurately cast. At the start, I would have rather been (of course) Juliet, and if not that, Tybalt or Mercutio (I really wanted to die onstage) but as the Friar I got a lot of great stage time, some great lines, and an awesome scene with Romeo where I got to cry, “Art thou a man? Thy tears are womanish?” while tearing a knife from his shaking hands, so I ended up really enjoying the role.

This play was also a great challenge, as I struggled desperately to memorize lines in iambic pentameter (and Friar Lawrence had a lot of them.) Have you ever had to memorize complete monologues in strict rhyming meter? It’s really, really hard, and made me glad that I wasn’t cast as Juliet. (She and Romeo had the most lines, the Friar and the Nurse were in a close second because of all the extensive monologues.) But it was worth it; once you memorize a Shakespearean role, you feel like you can memorize anything and conquer the world! 

What made our show even more enjoyable (to the cast, at least) was our Futuristic Gangster setting, complete with trashed and spray-painted costumes, painted-on tattoos and dubstep-esque music for the Capulet party scene. As the female friar, my costume consisted of a torn-up wedding dress and a large black cross painted on my chest. It was quite an adventure, one that endeared me to this most famous of Shakespeare’s works forever.

So there you have it: my favorite books, part 1 of 7! The End.

Thoughts? Remarks? Are you even still reading, or did I lose you at The Odyssey? Yes, I know I’m a huge nerd, but I’m definitely okay with that! Anyway, I hope you enjoyed Blog Post #2. (Sorry for the excessive abuse of parenthetical phrases, of which this is one...that's what happens to my writing style when I'm writing in a hurry; I'll try to avoid it and the overuse of ellipses in the future!)

 I’m off to write my music history paper…wish me luck? Thanks again for reading! I’m really excited about this blog, and I wouldn’t have any reason to write if it wasn’t for you, dear readers! Keep an eye out for the next post; it won’t be about books but it should be fascinating!

Until then,

Julia