So, to say the least, this school year was crazy. And as a consequence of this craziness, I haven’t gotten to read as much as I would like to, totaling only 16 books when last year I managed 22, and 23 the previous year. It makes me so sad that I wasn’t able to read more books than I had last year, but I did read some really, REALLY great books.
And in honor of the end of school and the beginning of summer, I did my book photoshoot outside! I’m so lame, but at least there is a different background than my usual white closet door or white comforter.
I’ll start with my five most favorite novels and continue in the order I read them. It was so hard to narrow them down to five, but here they are:
1. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
Of course this had to top my list and I know no one is surprised. I had read each Harry Potter novel as I was their age, starting at 13, and this was the finale, although I read this one first when I was 10. It makes me really sad now that I’ve passed all their ages and no longer have a chance to attend Hogwarts as a student, but I’ll always reread them and visit my wizard family lol.
Ok, so I wasn’t too excited for this book when I first got it, but OH BOY. This book was so freaking amazing in every possible way and I actually started to dream about it where I was the girl and it got crazy. I’ve talked about this book in a couple other posts so you can hunt those down if you want, but I highly recommend this book to pretty much everyone. It has action, some fantasy, romance, mystery, and a really well-done protagonist.
3. A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J Maas
This book I read right after An Ember in the Ashes, and I really didn’t expect it to be better than that one but I was so caught of guard. It started so slow and the premise seemed a little boring in the beginning, but all of a sudden the plot takes a huge shift and there’s all kinds of beautiful magic. This was definitely a tie for second, so I only put it as third since I read it later. It really was just an incredible and captivating story.
Right now I’m currently reading Queen of Shadows, but I’m still stuck in the beginning of the book. I discussed this novel in a few other posts as well, but it was suc a good refresher in the middle of the series. The new twist on the plot and everything that Maas did in this novel really renewed my love for the series, although the first book will always be my favorite.
I believe I spoke about this post in a couple of my last posts too, but I just really loved it! I love the unique plot, which is a twist on the divide between two classes, and the thing that sets the two classes apart: blood. I thought that was different from most other books in this genre that follow that same premise. If you’re looking for a renewed hunger games-like story, I highly recommend this book!
How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas C Foster
Although this was a book I read for school and it’s a nonfiction on how to analyze literature, I found it very useful and still pretty entertaining. I feel like this book really helped me throughout my AP Literature class, and my teacher had assigned it as recommended summer reading, and I also highly recommend it.
I wasn’t as in love with this novel as I really wanted to be because I love England and the 1800s, but I just really haven’t been a huge fan of the Shadowhunters.
This had been the first book I read in AP Literature, and it was pretty slow, but the overall meaning of the work in the time of female oppression was really interesting.
This was the second I book I read for that class, and I found it also interesting, but somewhat boring and hard to keep track of. I was confused for like half of the book and only when I started to take notes on it did I truly understand the meaning.
My friend has been borrowing this book since December, so it couldn’t be in the pictures, but I thought it was an amazing sequel to Red Queen, and I really liked that it stayed on task with the first book, unlike most books that kind of take a change in path.
This book is an oldie but a goodie. I was given this book by my now ex-boyfriend, so I really regret liking it so much, but it really was a good read.
The third book for AP Literature, and I actually really liked it. I would recommend getting the No Fear series of books for Shakespeare because it really helped me understand what I was reading since it had the actual version on the left page with the plain-English version on the right page throughout the whole play.
This is the sequel to Starters, which I read, I believe in Freshman year. I felt like it was a really nice closure to the duo with a really satisfying ending, although I don’t remember much of the first book, only what I needed to know for the second book.
The final book for AP Literature. This was honestly a really entertaining book. It was short and funny, since it’s a satire, and a great critique of people and their hypocrisy.
I really didn’t know anything about this book, and I feel like it’s the best way to go into this book because I was so surprised almost every other chapter, and it really kept the story interesting.
Don’t hate me, but…. I thought this was better than Cinder. There was so much more action and cool monsters and I loved all the new stuff happening in the series.
Thanks for reading!
-Taylor
Taylor is Reading 
