Books You're Thankful For/ Top 5 Wednesday

Books You're Thankful For/ Top 5 Wednesday

November 22nd, 2017

For this week's topic, we were supposed to pick out our top 5 books that we were thankful for. 

Top 5 Wednesday is a group created by Lainey of Ginger Reads Lainey on Booktube. It is now hosted by Sam of Thoughts on Tomes on Booktube. Here is a link to the group on Goodreads if you are interested in joining. 

5.) Disney's Wonderful World of Knowledge Vol. 10: Myths and Legends- This was one of the
books that I first fell in love with when I was probably about eight. I really do not know how many times that I actually read this book, but it was a lot. The major focus of this book is on Greek Mythology and this was my introduction to many of those myths. I have always loved Greek Mythology and I believe that this is one of the reasons. Also, Disney's Hercules. Each of the World of Knowledge books was told by a certain character and this one was by Minnie Mouse, which I had loved at that early age. I haven't picked this book up in a very long time and I might just do it sometime soon. It would be great to see again what really got me into Myths and Legends when I was a kid. I'm thankful for this book because of the love of both of these that was instilled in me at such an early age. This whole series is very good for children. I loved every book I read from them.

4.)  Douglas Adams, Neil Gaiman, and Terry Pratchett- I decided to put all three of these authors together because I am thankful for them for the same reason, their humor. Each author has written plenty of books that I could place on this list. Douglas Adam's The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is one of my favorite books and its dry sense of humor never ceases to make me happy. Even just thinking about this book brings a large smile to my face. If I had to I'd probably read it every day. Neil Gaiman's books also have this British humor. His books are all very different but there is almost always this wonderful humor. I love the wit that his books hold and they have become favorites because of it. Finally, Sir Terry Pratchett. Terry Pratchett's Discworld series is slowly becoming one of the best series that I have ever read. He's also becoming one of my favorite authors, let alone one of the authors that I admire highly. My one wish was that I could have met him and Douglas Adams before they passed away. I could not pick between any of these books or authors because I'm thankful for them quite equally. They all will also be on next week's list.

3.) The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger- This is my ultimate recommendation. It was one of my first adult fiction books that I ever read and became a favorite right away. I had first heard of this book when the trailer came out for the movie. I saw it at my high school's library and had to take it out before I saw the movie. The day afterward I stayed home very sick from school and literally laid on the couch all day reading it. Over the years since, I have read it five times. Each time I have still connected to it just as much as I did about seven years ago. I'm thankful for the writing style of this book. It is incredible with the non-linear format that Audrey Niffenegger writes in. This is the book that I could probably read at least once a month and would still adore it. It's my favorite book for a reason.

2.) The Land of Stories by Chris Colfer- I'm a big fan of retellings, especially fairy tale retellings. I grew up with the Disney movies and those stories became a passion of mine early on. Chris Colfer was my favorite actor from the tv show Glee and I remember finding out that he was writing a series with fairy tale retellings. I pre-ordered every single one of his books so far and don't plan on stopping anytime soon. Chris's books are some of my favorites and are my favorite retellings. I love his way of playing with the classic tales and making them his own. Watching his main characters, Alex and Conner grow up throughout the series has been a joy. This year the last of the series came out in July. It was a great wrap-up to the series. I'm thankful to be able to enjoy such a great series again that makes me think of my childhood with Harry Potter. The last time I felt the way I did at the end of a series was with Harry Potter and that was ten years ago. These books are everything to me and really are some of the best that I have ever read.

1.) Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J. K. Rowling- Like many who are fans of this series, it was the series that got me majorly into reading the way I do now. I was a reader before Harry, but I became an avid reader after Harry. It was actually the third book Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban that made me fully immersed in Harry's world. I received the first three books as a Christmas gift when I was around maybe nine. At that time I read the first book but did not enjoy reading too much. Then I saw the first and second movies. The Chamber of Secrets did not help matters (I had a large fear of spiders. I still do). Then I watched the third movie and fell in love with the story. I become totally engrossed in the series and I had to finish the series. Remus Lupin and Sirius Black were and still are my favorite characters. I am thankful for this series because when I think about it I become so happy. It brings back great memories of waiting patiently for the seventh book to release at midnight, staying up until three in the morning reading, and getting emotionally attached to so many characters for the first time. Harry Potter was and still is something I am most attached to and I don't know who I would be without this series. I'm thankful to call this my favorite series of all time and I would never change that for anything.