Book Recs 1.0
Very much inspired by book recommendations of people I know or look up to, and the wonderful literature course I've been taking for a term and a half now, I've decided to do something I've wanted to for many years but have never done- making a list of book recommendations, both as a personal record of books I've loved and also just a way for me to gush over them and recommend them in general.
I should really do this more often in the future, but for now please enjoy this definitely this non-comprehensive list of books I have enjoyed since birth to present day. It's only a few of many, but they're all wonderful novels I've loved thoroughly.

The Outsiders by SE Hinton
I fell so much in love with this book when I read it at the tender age of just starting secondary school. I remembered typing out almost every other quote in the novel onto a word document because I wanted to treasure it, and just ended up buying the book months later. Such an intelligent and realistic coming of age novel about different social classes (the Greasers and the Socs), very rich characters and dynamics, and ultimately-even though I don't remember everything in the book- such a powerful story about youth, growing up, social class differences, and some of the tough things that youth face on the streets and in and around homes. I remember relating a lot to many parts of it even though my life at that time was incredibly different from the lives of the boys in the book- it just touches on many universal themes and ideas that any young adult-or anyone really-can relate to. Would definitely recommend- it's not very long and it can really be finished in one glorious sitting. 

The Harry Potter Series by JK Rowling
Really a no-brainer, of course.

Annie On My Mind by Nancy Garden
This novel is going to be one of those on my book shelf with a tattered cover and yellowed pages from a million rereads in a few years. I read it very quickly in a blur on holiday, genuinely rushed through it because it was so wonderful. A great LGBTQIA+ story about a girl named Liza who falls in love with another girl called Annie. Such a sweet story that I genuinely think everyone would enjoy in some way or another. It also has a very positive message about being proud of who you are, accepting who you are, and a nice happy ending. I remember almost being in tears, but not in a bad way. It left me feeling ultimately very hopeful and light hearted. A must read.

The Reader by Bernhard Schlink
I was blown away about how great this novel was. When I first read it I had bought it second hand off an older student in school, and I decided to start reading on the way back home-a forty five minute train ride which enabled me to finish the majority of the novel because I was so immersed and physically couldn't put it down. I remember describing it as a "raw, honest, amazingly powerful novel about morality and more, that inspires me to the core- to write better, to read more." In fact I wrote a short story shortly after finishing The Reader because I was so moved. I don't want to ruin too much of the plot (much of the emotional impact just comes from reading it through and letting it play out), but it's a powerful historical novel revolving around World War 2 (but not in the way you'd expect) that deals with issues such as literacy, morality, identity, national identity, the collective guilt of the second generation Germans, and the characters' psyche through an interesting structure and the narrative voice of Michael Berg. Although the narration can be quite different from other novels- almost matter of fact- I found it all the more raw and powerful that way. It can make you question a lot of things, especially since there are questions and ideas posed directly to you as you read it. I would read this again and again-and then read it again.

The Giver by Lois Lowry
Read this during primary school and the very beaten up copy lives in my bookshelf at the moment. But it can be a wonderful read for anyone. There's a reason why this book won an award and is seriously well-acclaimed. I haven't reread it for a while so excuse my maybe more vague recall of it, but let's just say it's a fascinating story about a non-typical futuristic society (I would say dystopian in a way, though it seems utopian at first) where there is no genuine emotion, no colour, and a lack of any real depth at all, and an incredibly eerie feeling to it, even from the very beginning. There's a reason it's called Sameness. The only people in that society who can access emotion and the contexts of the past is the Receiver- someone who holds the memories, both good and bad-including the emotions, colours, people, sights, sounds, everything-of the past. I don't want to ruin the story because once again this is one of those novels which requires reading through and experiencing all the revelations as it appears, but it'll leave you probably questioning or looking at our reality in a very different way. For a novel that deals with a society that is void of true emotion, this story will leave emotional imprints on you that linger with for a long, long time. And not in a bad way.

The Tale of Desperaux by Kate DiCamillo
Once again, I read this during primary school and loved it. Quite a strange but very endearing novel about the importance of stories, love, soup, a mouse, a rat, a young girl, and a princess. Hard to describe, but I would definitely read this- it's like a lovely fairy tale with surprising elements and just a wonderful fantasy.

Going Bovine by Libba Bray
First and foremost I'd like to apologize for not remembering many plot details about this novel as I read it a long time ago, but I've continued mentioning this book every time I talk about my favourite novels as it had such a great impact. Truly an adventure that goes through a frenzy of almost dream-like settings and characters and pretty much touches upon on everything and anything at all, it follows a dying boy on a series of experiences that will leave you feeling both bewildered and ultimately changed at the end. It's every surrealist painting you've seen done in letters and words. It's dark, it's beautiful, it's something you'd want to take on road trips and read in a tent with a flashlight under the stars. I can't do this book any justice here by just talking about it aimlessly, just go read it. And then pinch yourself and wonder if you're actually dreaming after you're done.

Looking For Alaska/Paper Towns by John Green 
I've loved both these John Green books; I read Looking For Alaska on holiday in Bali a year or two back and highlighted and wrote all over it, Paper Towns I read at home on the couch and didn't get up until it was finished. John Green is clearly already a very acclaimed author for good reason- two novels that deal with teenagers, existentialism, and just the issues that youth face in general. Both are more (young) adult novels that can deal with some mature themes but I enjoyed both of them very much. I remember pretty clearly that Paper Towns felt like a thriller at some points from the emotion I felt-but then again I was very much deeply into the story when reading it and didn't re-emerge until hours later.

The Assault by Harry Mulisch
Another historical novel that is just packed full of intelligent themes and the more you look into it, the more you'll find. It starts off with the shooting and assassination of Fake Ploeg Senior, a German Nazi Collaborator, by two people of the Dutch Resistance. The shooting started a chain of events for a young boy named Anton at that time, who had to watch his house burn down and his family taken away forever in one night because of the aftermath. Most of the novel deals with Anton's future, and him trying to escape his past, but at the same time his childhood tragedy returning again and again to his older self. Pieces of the puzzle emerge again and again throughout the novel, and at the end you finally learn the whole story of what and why things happened that night. Such an interesting story that was impossible not to dive head first in- I read it sitting at my desk and finished it rapidly, and was so emotionally invested in it I actually took a nap afterwards because of how much brain power and otherwise I was using to fully experience the novel. Some great themes like morality, making sense and coming to terms with the past, and the ethics of war.

Holes by Louis Sachar
Of course I'm going to include Holes on this list. A great novel about a boy named Stanley Yelnats who is sent to a disciplinary camp to dig holes in a dried up lake every day, but that's only the beginning. At first it seems simple-just a few amazingly endearing and well developed characters who follow the same routine and suffer through the gritty hard work day after day-but it quickly gets very interesting and complex. This novel deals with several stories at once-including many of the past and of Stanley's past-just via the setting of Camp Green Lake. There's almost no way anyone wouldn't enjoy this to some extent, and the movie adaption is great too. Read read read!

There are so many more books I could put onto this list but I'll just have these for now.One of my resolutions for 2015 is definitely to read more books so hopefully more of these to come!