Hello everyone! So as you may or may not know, I am an avid reader, I am on Maternity Leave from my job at the Library (which we all know at this point that I won’t be returning to because we are moving!) and I was one of those kids that was always reading (and way above my reading level too, my parents had to monitor my content HARD so I wasn’t going into topics I wasn’t mature enough to understand). I decided to make a list of my ten favourite books … and a few spares!
1. Anne of Green Gables by LM Montgomery
Honestly, I don’t think it is any secret how much I absolutely love and adore Anne Shirley, so it will be no shock that this is on my list. I used to read the Anne books every summer (all 8 plus other short stories about Avonlea!) and I always dreamed of visiting Prince Edward Island and doing the Anne experience! I finally did in 2008 when I was on my way to Nova Scotia for University! I also have several editions of the first novel and lots of memorabilia in my house!
2. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling
It’s a general consensus among Harry Potter fans that this is the best book in the series. I’ve always felt this way, and I’ll be honest, this is the only book in the series that didn’t make me feel like absolute garbage at the end! Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE Harry Potter, but there always ended up being something that happened in the books (a death or major event) that just didn’t sit well with me. I’m the type of reader that gets very emotionally involved with my characters, and as the books progressed that became my greatest weakness. By Deathly Hallows, I was just a puddle of tears and it’s ALL JK’S FAULT!
3. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
I resisted Jane Austen for a long time. It didn’t feel like my genre. I am a very picky reader. My Mum has always been super into Jane Austen and I just didn’t see the appeal, until I was in University, needed a break from my academic textbooks and decided to finally read one of the Jane Austen novels my Mum had given me. Pride and Prejudice very quickly became one of my favourite novels and Elizabeth Bennet became the type of person to admire! I have read all of Jane Austen’s novels at this point (but never ask me to read Emma a second time!) and I have four different editions of Pride and Prejudice, read several P&P variations (thanks Mum) and Colin Firth will always hold a special place in my heart for being my favourite Darcy.
4. Dragon Springs Road by Janie Chang
Janie is a Canadian author who I have talked with over Skype and I absolutely ADORE her. Dragon Springs Road is her second novel and while her first, Three Souls was amazing, I seriously couldn’t put this one down! If you love history, drama and a bit of a spiritual aspect to your fiction, Janie Chang is the author for you!
5. Forever Julia by Jodi Carmichael
I had the pleasure of this novel being the first book that I ever reviewed as a freelancer. I also got to help choose this book as a winner in the Manitoba Book Awards the year it came out as a juror! Now, I will be honest, though I work in the Library field and get exposed to many different authors and books, I hadn’t come across a great deal of great fiction from my home province of Manitoba. Jodi changed that for me! Forever Julia is about a high school relationship that on the surface seems perfect, but there is an abusive underbelly that is so intense that you have to keep reading to see the outcome! I have 2 personal copies, one signed by Jodi that I keep to myself, and another copy that I lend to EVERYONE! I also bought a copy for my Library as that just happened to be my section for purchasing.
6. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
Have we noticed a pattern here? I am in my late 20’s and most of the books I like are for a younger audience. Well guess what? I really don’t care! I have always loved John Green books (Turtles all the Way Down is on my TBR pile!), but TFiOS was honestly just a different novel to me all together! It made me laugh, it made me cry and it gave a whole new meaning to the word okay. Also, thank you John Green for killing me emotionally when I read this book for the first time!
7. The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket
A Series of Unfortunate Events is such a great series, and while gloomy and depressing, it has a fantastic first book! While the Jim Carey movie sucked in my opinion, the Netflix series is doing a great job! Yes it has orphans and villains and it generally doesn’t ever seem happy, but I love these books all the same! Honestly, check them out, it’s thirteen books and you won’t regret it!
8. The Red Tent by Anita Diamant
This book was a surprising love for me, I’m not a religious person and this is a very religious book. We follow Dinah, daughter of Jacob and sister of Joseph (the biblical figures) who chronicles life inside of the Red Tent, a sanctuary of sorts for women of the tribe for love and support during menstruation and childbirth. We then follow her journey after leaving the village and reuniting with her father after a very long time. It’s currently on Netflix as a two-part miniseries.
9. The Geography of You and Me by Jennifer E Smith
Another teen book! Yes I know, but Jennifer E Smith is an AMAZING author, I’ve read everything she’s written. It was hard choosing just one of her novels for this list. I don’t even have a good reason why this general fiction style of YA fiction makes the list, it just makes me feel good when I read it! This book is about two teens meeting in an elevator when the power goes out, but are quickly separated by distance. They keep up correspondence and like I said, it just makes me feel good!
10. A Walk to Remember by Nicholas Sparks
Again, I’m not a religious person, and this book has a lot of religion added into it (even more so than the movie if you haven’t read the book). This is the classic love story of an unlikely pairing of the good girl and the bad boy, but this time the good girl is sick, and she’s just trying to live her life to the fullest before the worst happens. It of course doesn’t hurt that Shane West plays Landon in the movie, but the movie wasn’t out yet when I first came across the book.
Other notables
The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman
The Vagina Monologues by Eve Ensler
Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom
The Opposite of Loneliness by Marina Keegan
What are YOUR favourite books? Let me know in the comments!
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Until next time,
Amanda, xo.
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Amanda Diaries 
I need to get back into reading more. I love it yet I give so little time to it. Love The Fault in Our Stars & I also tend to go for books that are aimed at a younger audience too.
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I feel the same way! I’ve been working on the same book for weeks! 😩 Before G was born I was busting through books!
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