My Favourite Reads!

I know I'm regularly reviewing new novels and golden oldies with everything in between, but I thought I'd make a post about my absolute favourite books that I can't get enough of.

#1
The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides

I will forever treasure my hardback of this book - it knocked me sideways and continues to give me chills every time I read it. A woman in a happy marriage with a beautiful life one day ties her husband to a chair in their living room and shoots him point blank in the head. She then paints a portrait of herself painting a portrait of him as he sits, dead. She never says another word again, and curious about this woman, a therapist engages her to find out why she did what she did.

#2
Into the Water by Paula Hawkins

The ending of this book had me sitting in silence for 10 minutes as I gathered what had been revealed in the very final line. Troublesome women through the ages being drowned in a local lake drew one modern woman to investigate its powers, only to end up dead herself, leaving a daughter and an estranged sister behind to figure out what happened to her.

#3
The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger

This tale of youth and going off the beaten path, misadventure and growth by force will always be a staple in my library. I find a bittersweet comic in the character of Holden Caulfield.

#4
Marley and Me by John Grogan

I know this isn't a traditionally deep or thought-evoking work of Shakespeare, but the comedy, love, and real life issues woven into the pages of this book has me fighting back tears and stifling laughs every time I read it.

#5
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

The endearing survival and story of a young orphaned girl in the harsh world of 1969 North Carolina had me enthralled from the first chapter.

#6
One Minute Later by Susan Lewis

I'd never really thought about organ donation and how giving (or withholding) organs from those in dire need of them can have such a shocking effect on them and their families. A beautiful lesson in the form of a book.

#7
The Sun and Her Flowers by Rupi Kaur

I couldn't have a favourite reads list and not include some poetry. Kaur has always been one of my favourite poets, and this edition of her work is about growth from a dark, cold place. It helped me through a rough time in my life; maybe my recommendation can help you through, too.

#8
The Green Mile by Stephen King

Brilliantly unique, as Stephen King's writing always is, John Coffey is a back man convicted of a heinous crime against two little girls. Prejudice in 1932 America has made this giant of a man out to be a monster, but is he?

#9
All Your Perfects by Colleen Hoover

This novel is another lesson in the form of a book; how relationships can twist into different shapes and turn into different colours - different than how we expected, or wanted. However if love isn't a feeling, rather a conscious choice, how can two people salvage their relationship when there doesn't seem to be any way back? Is there a even 'forward'?

And last but not least...

#10
The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole (Aged 13 3/4) by Sue Townsend

This is a story about a coming of age young boy who goes through more growing pains than most of us are subjected to, in the form of an absentee mother, a dad who doesn't have any more clue than the family dog, an old, gross man whom Adrian is forced to look after, unrequited love and traitorous friends! I read this once as a kid and didn't fully understand the comedy gold within its pages until I reread it again as a teen.

And those are my top ten favourite novels! I hope you've enjoyed looking through my humble recommendations. If you have read any of these please drop me a comment on my socials and let me know what you think of them and whether you would include them in your top ten.

If you haven't read some of these, let me know if you're going to be adding them to your TBR list!

Love and Light,

Melissa x