The Books I Recommend Most Often

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There are a few books that live in my head rent free. They've shown up on this blog many, many times. I can't stop recommending them! In my defense, they're really good books. They belong in every blog post.

Here are 10 books that I'll obsess over until my heart explodes from eating too much nacho cheese. Enjoy.

The Books I Recommend The Most

Born A Crime: Stories From A South African Childhood by Trevor Noah

Adult Memoir

Trevor Noah’s unlikely path from apartheid South Africa to the desk of The Daily Show began with a criminal act: his birth. Trevor was born to a white Swiss father and a black Xhosa mother at a time when such a union was punishable by five years in prison. Living proof of his parents’ indiscretion, Trevor was kept mostly indoors for the earliest years of his life, bound by the extreme and often absurd measures his mother took to hide him from a government that could, at any moment, steal him away. Finally liberated by the end of South Africa’s tyrannical white rule, Trevor and his mother set forth on a grand adventure, living openly and freely and embracing the opportunities won by a centuries-long struggle.

Born a Crime is the story of a mischievous young boy who grows into a restless young man as he struggles to find himself in a world where he was never supposed to exist. It is also the story of that young man’s relationship with his fearless, rebellious, and fervently religious mother—his teammate, a woman determined to save her son from the cycle of poverty, violence, and abuse that would ultimately threaten her own life.

Why I recommend it: This memoir is brilliant. Each chapter reads like a short story about an incident from Trevor Noah’s childhood. I’m not entirely sure how he survived to adulthood. Between South Africa’s cruel laws and the trouble he brings on himself, he shouldn’t be alive.

This book is both accessible and insightful. I learned about South Africa in school, but a memoir made it real for me. You feel like you’re there with the author while he’s being thrown out of a moving car or (accidentally) burning down a white family’s home. While you’re reading about the author’s personal experiences, you’re also learning about South Africa’s history, culture, and flawed legal system. It’s a compelling book.

Even if you’ve never seen Trevor Noah’s comedy shows, you should read this book. I promise you’ll be entertained.

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Oryx And Crake by Margaret Atwood

Adult Science Fiction

At once an unforgettable love story and a compelling vision of the future. Snowman, known as Jimmy before mankind was overwhelmed by a plague, is struggling to survive in a world where he may be the last human, and mourning the loss of his best friend, Crake, and the beautiful and elusive Oryx whom they both loved. In search of answers, Snowman embarks on a journey—with the help of the green-eyed Children of Crake—through the lush wilderness that was so recently a great city, until powerful corporations took mankind on an uncontrolled genetic engineering ride.

Why I recommend it: My favorite Margaret Atwood book is The Handmaid's Tale, but I recommend this one more often because of Crake. He's a brilliantly terrible character. If I had to pick my all-time-favorite villain, I'd choose him. I love him because I understand his motives. He wants to help the world. He has good intentions. His plans just . . . go badly awry and end up causing the apocalypse. Oops.

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All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

Adult Historical Fiction

Marie-Laure lives in Paris near the Museum of Natural History, where her father works. When she is twelve, the Nazis occupy Paris and father and daughter flee to the walled citadel of Saint-Malo, where Marie-Laure’s reclusive great uncle lives in a tall house by the sea. With them they carry what might be the museum’s most valuable and dangerous jewel.

In a mining town in Germany, Werner Pfennig, an orphan, grows up with his younger sister, enchanted by a crude radio they find that brings them news and stories from places they have never seen or imagined. Werner becomes an expert at building and fixing these crucial new instruments and is enlisted to use his talent to track down the resistance. Deftly interweaving the lives of Marie-Laure and Werner, Doerr illuminates the ways, against all odds, people try to be good to one another.

Why I recommend it: My copy is jam-packed with pink sticky notes because I love the characters, the writing style, the nonlinear structure, the way the chapters are divided, everything. This book is a chunker (over 500 pages), but I read 300 pages in one day because I needed to know what happened next. Whenever I wasn’t reading the book, I was thinking about it. It’s been a long time since a book has had that kind of grip on my imagination.

I want to rave about everything, but there are too many spoilers. I guess I can say that my favorite element of the story is the jewel. Mixing the legend of the jewel with a WWII battle is pure genius. According to the legend, whoever holds the jewel cannot die. The book shows the lengths people will go to in order to save themselves (and others). Deep down, the characters know that magic and legends are wishful thinking, but there’s always a tiny chance they could be real, right?

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The Seven Husbands Of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Adult Historical Fiction

Aging and reclusive Hollywood movie icon Evelyn Hugo is finally ready to tell the truth about her glamorous and scandalous life. But when she chooses unknown magazine reporter Monique Grant for the job, no one is more astounded than Monique herself. Why her? Why now?

Monique is not exactly on top of the world. Her husband has left her, and her professional life is going nowhere. Regardless of why Evelyn has selected her to write her biography, Monique is determined to use this opportunity to jumpstart her career.

Summoned to Evelyn’s luxurious apartment, Monique listens in fascination as the actress tells her story. From making her way to Los Angeles in the 1950s to her decision to leave show business in the ‘80s, and, of course, the seven husbands along the way, Evelyn unspools a tale of ruthless ambition, unexpected friendship, and a great forbidden love. Monique begins to feel a very real connection to the legendary star, but as Evelyn’s story near its conclusion, it becomes clear that her life intersects with Monique’s own in tragic and irreversible ways.

Why I recommend it: I never thought I’d be obsessed with the love life of fictional celebrities, but here we are. Evelyn Hugo is one of my favorite protagonists. She’s confident, cunning, and will do anything to get what she wants. This novel is beautifully written and full of twists and surprises.

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Bridge To Terabithia by Katherine Paterson

Middle Grade Realistic Fiction

Jess Aarons has been practicing all summer so he can be the fastest runner in the fifth grade. And he almost is, until the new girl in school, Leslie Burke, outpaces him. The two become fast friends and spend most days in the woods behind Leslie's house, where they invent an enchanted land called Terabithia. One morning, Leslie goes to Terabithia without Jess and a tragedy occurs. It will take the love of his family and the strength that Leslie has given him for Jess to be able to deal with his grief.

Why I recommend it: The essay I wrote about this book got me accepted to graduate school, so there's that. It's also one of the books that made me fall in love with reading as a kid. The main characters, Jess and Leslie, were extremely relatable for me as a child. Just like me, they lived in a rural area and relied on their imaginations for entertainment. I'll always love this story because it shows that kindness is important, fears can be conquered, and belief in yourself is essential.

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The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Young Adult Dystopia

In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV. Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives with her mother and younger sister, regards it as a death sentence when she is forced to represent her district in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before—and survival, for her, is second nature. Without really meaning to, she becomes a contender. But if she is to win, she will have to start making choices that weigh survival against humanity and life against love.

Why I recommend it: I rarely stay awake all night to read a book, but this series kept me up way past my bedtime. It's all the dang cliffhangers! I couldn't sleep without knowing how it ended. Were you forced to read Lord Of The Flies in school? I was. The Hunger Games is like an updated version of that book. Same murderous vibes; more relevant to life in the current century.

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Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg And The Secret History Of The Vietnam War by Steve Sheinkin

Young Adult Biography

In 1964, Daniel Ellsberg was one of the Pentagon insiders helping to plan a war in Vietnam. The mountainous Asian country had long been a clandestine front in America's Cold War with the Soviet Union. The U.S. Government would do anything to stop the spread of communism—with or without the consent of the American people.

But as the fighting in Vietnam escalated. Ellsberg turned against the war. He had access to a top-secret government report known as the Pentagon Papers and knew it could blow the lid off of years of government lies. But did he have the right to expose decades of presidential secrets? And could one man, alone, face the wrath of the government?

This is the story of the seven bloody years that transformed Daniel Ellsberg from a government insider into "the most dangerous man in America," and of the storm that would follow when the secrets of the Vietnam War were finally known.

Why I recommend it: Don't let the serious suit man on the cover fool you. This book is wild. The pace moves like a thriller novel, and the author doesn’t leave out any of the scandalous (or slightly gory) details. I love that the author includes quotes from soldiers and photos from Vietnam. It shows the reasoning behind Daniel Ellsberg’s decision to leak the documents. People were dying in Vietnam because Washington couldn’t get its act together. The author really helps the reader understand Ellsberg’s frustration.

Most Dangerous kept me awake way past bedtime. I kept thinking, One more chapter, one more chapter. Then it was 2:00 in the morning, and I’d finished the book. Even if you’re not in love with history, it’s worth reading. It’s full of twists that will make your jaw drop. This is definitely not a dry textbook (even though the cover looks like one).

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Vicious by V.E. Schwab

Adult Science Fiction

Victor and Eli started out as college roommates—brilliant, arrogant, lonely boys who recognized the same sharpness and ambition in each other. In their senior year, a shared research interest in adrenaline, near-death experiences, and seemingly supernatural events reveals an intriguing possibility: that under the right conditions, someone could develop extraordinary abilities. But when their thesis moves from the academic to the experimental, things go horribly wrong.

Ten years later, Victor breaks out of prison, determined to catch up to his old friend (now foe), aided by a young girl whose reserved nature obscures a stunning ability. Meanwhile, Eli is on a mission to eradicate every other super-powered person that he can find—aside from his sidekick, an enigmatic woman with an unbreakable will. Armed with terrible power on both sides, driven by the memory of betrayal and loss, the archenemies have set a course for revenge—but who will be left alive at the end?

Why I recommend it: I find villains far more interesting than heroes, and this series has some epic bad guys. Victor and Eli do not disappoint. They will make you hate yourself for cheering them on. Even if you don’t like superhero stories, I recommend giving this book a try. It's a fast-paced, murderous romp through a familiar—yet dystopian—world.

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The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Young Adult Historical Fiction

It is 1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier, and will be busier still.

By her brother's graveside, Liesel's life is changed when she picks up a single object, partially hidden in the snow. It is The Gravedigger's Handbook, left behind by accident, and it is her first act of book thievery. So begins a love affair with books and words, as Liesel, with the help of her accordion-playing foster father, learns to read. Soon she is stealing books from Nazi book-burnings, the mayor's wife's library, wherever there are books to be found.

But these are dangerous times. When Liesel's foster family hides a Jew in their basement, Liesel's world is both opened up, and closed down.

Why I recommend it: It's the kind of book that makes you sit in stunned silence for a few seconds after finishing it. The story is a familiar one, but the writing is poetic and beautiful. There were several times where I stopped and reread sentences or whole paragraphs because I liked them so much. This is some of the most interesting writing I've ever seen. The strangeness of the language totally fits Death, the odd, nonhuman narrator.

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Scythe by Neal Shusterman

Young Adult Science Fiction

A world with no hunger, no disease, no war, no misery. Humanity has conquered all those things, and has even conquered death. Now scythes are the only ones who can end life—and they are commanded to do so, in order to keep the size of the population under control.

Citra and Rowan are chosen to apprentice to a scythe—a role that neither wants. These teens must master the “art” of taking life, knowing that the consequence of failure could mean losing their own.

Why I recommend it: Neal Shusterman is brilliant at world-building and does not shy away from difficult ethical questions. This is one of the most thought-provoking dystopias I’ve ever read. The series is packed with complicated characters who are forced to make tough decisions. Then there’s the action and the cliffhangers. OMG, the cliffhangers. I couldn't put this book down because I was always desperate to find out what was going to happen next.

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Which book do you recommend most often?