Together We Read – Favorites

“What’s your favorite book?” can sometimes sound like a bland and uncreative get-to-know-you question, but often it serves as a rather enlightening inquiry through which you can learn quite a bit about a person. If nothing else, you may have a new book to add to your reading list.

We are continuing our Together We Read series and today we are playing favorites. Discover the favorite books, series, and authors from several in our SLOCA community. We’ve put the book titles in bold for an easy reference, but don’t miss all the rich insights shared. Join in the favorite fun and share your favorite books in the comments!

What is your absolute favorite book? Why do you think someone should add this to their reading list?

• Laurie Fletes: The Bible…it gives you hope.
• Deena Eschenbach: Little Women – It demonstrates the love of family, freedom to be who you were created to be, persevering in the hardest of times, and holding fast to faith. A sure foundation for every family and individual.
• Tracy Wick: The Help.
• Jill Richert: Augustine’s Confessions.
• Sarah Ryan: The Seven Decisions had a big impact on my life and allowed me the tools to heal a relationship within my family.
• Andria McGhee: All the Light You Cannot See by Anthony Doerr. I love this book because it shows how people could have grown up in such horrible situations, made choices that they were proud of and some they weren’t. The children were faced with challenges even before the war and that tenacity stayed with them through their other challenges. I love the hope and good that this book highlights in the midst of humans being their worst.
• Morgan White: Jane Eyre. It’s a beautiful coming-of-age story and is important for everyone — especially women — to read.
• Rebekah Venturini: Beastie Boys Book — It’s a fantastically nostalgic trip through the lives of the Beastie Boys and I loved every second of it. The hard copy is incredible because of all of the images and features, and the Audible version is equally incredible because they had tons of wonderful celebrities read each chapter. I love it because I was flooded with my own memories of my experiences during specific instances in the book. Now I want to write my own book about the Beastie Boys.
• Jennifer Martinez: The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner — love the freedom of stream of consciousness and the poetry of what can be conveyed this way, and the relationships are so powerfully rendered.
• Vanessa Stringham: Anne of Green Gables – it has impacted me in my positive outlook and attitude towards life as Anne thrives with her new family despite her initial circumstances.
• Stephanie Ridley: One of my absolute favorites is The Count of Monte Cristo. The story is complicated and covers the gamut of human intentions and motivations. It is engaging and keeps you on your toes! 
• Sharon Cumberland: Pride and Prejudice — Every time I read it I am so impressed by the variety and depth of the characters, the humor, and the beautiful language.
• Jenny Bischoff: All-time classic favorite is probably a tie between Jane Eyre and The Count of Monte Cristo. Jane Eyre is so beautifully written, the story is intriguing enough to keep you hooked, and Jane’s character is so strong and inspiring, you can’t help but love her and want to have her strength and conviction. The Count of Monte Cristo is just an awesome adventure/suspense/revenge story that is wonderfully fun but also gets deep into the human heart and mind. A great story to ponder and discuss with others, and it’s also beautifully written. Such good stuff! I’ll add two more recent, modern favorites: Peace Like a River by Leif Enger – this is a favorite I will read over and over for its haunting beauty and complex characters. And A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towels – I read this a few years ago and was just thoroughly delighted by it – a must-read!

What are some of your kids’ favorite books and/or book series?

• Laurie Fletes: The Chronicles of Narnia books, Geronimo Stilton series.
• Deena Eschenbach: The Boxcar Children.
• Tracy Wick: Sherlock Holmes (the new classics edition) and the Mr. Lemoncello series.
• Jill Richert: Nathan Hale Hazardous Tales, Edge Chronicles, Little House books, The Chronicles of Narnia books.
• Sarah Ryan: My daughter is obsessed with the Whatever After series. It is not my favorite but it does spark her imagination and she is always talking about how she wants a magic mirror and what would happen in her own story.
• Andria McGhee: Harry Potter, choose your own adventure, Amulet, Wings of Fire.
• Morgan White: The Pout-Pout Fish, Go, Dog, Go.
• Rebekah Venturini: The Day the Crayons Quit, The Book With No Pictures, Uni the Unicorn.
• Jennifer Martinez: Harry Potter, Bink & Gollie, Elephant & Piggie, The Boxcar Children, fairy tales (we have several compilations), Mo Willems in general, Beekle and Dan Santat in general, Tomie De Paolo (all the Strega Nona books), everything by Patricia Polacco (our recent discovery was The Christmas Tapestry, which was so moving).
• Wendy Shaw Dahl: How to Train Your Dragon, Harry Potter, Artemis Fowl, Eragon, Fablehaven. 
• Vanessa Stringham: We have a 4-year-old, so he loves The Bernstein Bears, and the Elephant and Piggie books.
• Stephanie Ridley: Ensio loves The Nocturnals and The Endlings. He also devours any curriculum book on the shelf. 
• Sharon Cumberland: The Mysterious Benedict Society, The Ascendance series, and the Nathan Hale Hazardous Tales are favorites of my 6th grader. My 1st grader loves The Owl Diaries, Gooney Bird Greene, and the Ramona Collection. 
• Jenny Bischoff: 8th grader says Where the Red Fern Grows and Gregor the Overlander series; 11th grader says Grace Lin’s books; Shannon Hale’s The Goose Girl and others in that series; Brandon Mull’s series (he has several), and Shannon Messenger’s Keeper of the Lost Cities series.