From the Library of B.C. Lewis

There were so many books that stand out for me in childhood, and so many authors who stood out for their never-fail nature.  Whenever I desired a great book of a certain style or genre, they were there, standing true and rarely ever letting me down.

The first chapter book I read was from the Frog and Toad series by Arnold Lobel.  I enjoyed the first one I read so much, I read the entire series of Frog and Toad books he had published.  My sister and I often fought over who got to read which one first, so I'm sure I didn't read them in order.  When I went back and read them a few years ago, I was still happily enjoying each one and I cannot wait to share those books with my daughter.

In this vein, I decided to let you all into my somewhat organized library of my favorites, my loves, my likes, my dislikes, my guilty pleasures, my current reads, and my desire to read lists.  This includes authors, books, and book series.  I will try to make sure I don't overwhelm you with too much information, but I love my books and I'll admit that this list was extremely hard to narrow down and choose.

My Favorite Authors:
Lois Lowry
Ray Bradbury
Roald Dahl
J.K. Rowling
Italo Calvino
Joseph Campbell

My Favorite Books/ Book Series:
The Giver by Lois Lowry
Gossamer by Lois Lowry
Skellig by David Almond
Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls
The Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury
Matilda by Roald Dahl
Beowulf
The Odyssey by Homer
Antigone by Sophocles
My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George
The Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
Stepping on the Cracks by Mary Downing Hahn
the perks of being a wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

My Guilty Pleasures:

Caroline B. Cooney Novels

The Goosebumps Series by R.L. Stine

Fear Street Novels by R.L. Stine

Betty Ren Wright Novels

The Berenstein Bears by Stan & Jan Berenstein

Curious George by (Margaret &) H.A. Rey

Threshold by Ben Mezrich

Newberry Award Winners

Any Series by Beverly Cleary

My Dislikes:

Emma by Bronte

Great Expectations by Dickens

The Twilight Series by Stephenie Meyer

The Percy Jackson Series by Rick Riordan

Charlaine Harris

Inheritance Cycle by Paolini

Books I've Read So Far This Year:

Life of Pi by Martel

Plague by Michael Grant

Lies by Michael Grant

Ranger’s Apprentice: The Lost Stories

Between a Rock and a Hard Place by Aron Ralston

My Favorite Genres:

YA Fiction

YA sci-fi/fantasy Fiction

Greek Mythology and Folklore

Short Stories

My Current Books/ Series:

*Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin (reading book 1 now)

*To The Lighthouse by Virginia Wolf (just about to start for Lit class)

Gone Series by Michael Grant (finished with all published materials)

The Enemy Series by Charlie Higson (finished with all published materials)

The Forest of Hands and Teeth Series by Carrie Ryan (finished with all published materials)

Ranger’s Apprentice Series by John Flanagan (finished with all published materials)

Tomorrow When the War Began Series (1 book left)

Fablehaven by Brandon Mull (1 book left)

Stoneheart Trilogy (2 books left)

I Want to Read:

Searching for Alaska by John Greene

Empire of the Sun by J.G. Ballard

The Candy Shop War by Mull

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

The Black Cauldron by Lloyd Alexander

Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice

World War Z by Max Brooks

So there you have it.  There are all my lists!  Please feel free to comment or ask questions about anything on my lists.  Yes, I'm admitting things that I normally don't.  I wouldn't normally admit to my family (and my sister, especially) that I do not like The Twilight Series all that much.  There are elements that I enjoy, and the fourth book was the best of the four.  However, I wasn't a fan of the climax of the entire series, nor was I a fan of her writing style.  This is why she is on that list.  And please, don't get me started on The Inheritance Cycle.  The first book was wonderful.  I stopped reading after the second book.  I just couldn't stand his blatant fan boy plot points and storylines.  It's Star Wars with dragons, and I drew the line at that discovery.

And while I know many people enjoy Charlaine Harris, particularly because they enjoy the HBO Series True Blood that is based on her book series.  I read three books and stopped when I pretty much discovered that it was Vampire Erotica.  Soft-core as it may be, I just couldn't get past that.  For me, there is so much more to literature, and I found that her use of that just got in the way of the real story of the series for me.  So I stopped reading them.

There are so many more books and authors that I could have put on all of these lists, but I wanted to make them somewhat manageable and I wanted to share where my brain finds joy in which words in which books.  

So, the great question is:  What is your favorite book and/or author?  Or even, what is your least favorite?  It's always great to share and discuss (and yes, even disagree if that's what comes of it).