Some of my favorite books! Mostly in no particular rank.

The Harry Potter series

“Bayley?” You say, “Hasn’t everyone already read Harry Potter? Can’t they just assume all book loving people of your age love Harry Potter? Why is it here?”

Well that isn’t a terrible point. But if I am to list my favorite books I must include this. This love affair began when I was in the second grade. I was cool (well, I wanted to be), I did not wear my glasses because they were for nerds, and definitely the nerdiest of pursuits was reading. So I would not read. Until someone told my mother to try Harry Potter. She attempted to read my sister and me the first chapter, my baby brother did not allow this, so my sister, Harry, and I were passed along to my dad. My life was transformed.

I have read these books more times than I could ever hope to count. I reread them every year and am always up to discussion.

Nonfiction

I’ll Be Gone in the Dark by Michelle McNamara

Born a Crime by Trevor Noah

Going Clear by Lawrence Wright

Fun Home by Alison Bechdel

The March Trilogy by John Lewis AND MORE

Smoke Gets in Your Eyes and From Here to Eternity by Caitlin Doughty

Harry: A History by Melissa Anelli

Fiction

Any

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

Adult

Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

Shades of London Trilogy by V.E. Schwab

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Ghost Talkers by Mary Robinette Kowal

The Mistborn Trilogy by Brandon Sanderson

The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry

Verity by Colleen Hoover

Uprooted by Naomi Novik

Young Adult

The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins

Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng

The Illuminae Files Trilogy by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner

A Very Large Expanse of Sea by Tahereh Mafi

Legend Trilogy by Marie Lu

The Witchlands Series by Susan Dennard

Fangirl and Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

This Savage Song and Our Dark Duet by Victoria Schwab

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

Dear Martin by Nic Stone

Sadie by Courtney Summers

Middle Grade

The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton

The Giver by Lois Lowry

Rick Riordan’s body of work

Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt

The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick

A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness

Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynn Jones - I have a confession: I do not enjoy this movie. The book is a straight up masterpiece and I cannot get down with the movie.