I'm a reader. Not a casual I-read-a-few-books-a-year reader, but in the way that reading is probably my only hobby. As such, I've collected quite the cache of books and series over the years. These are some of the ones with the greatest impact on me.

1. Harry Potter series by JK Rowling

Do I really even need to explain this one? FRIENDSHIP AND BRAVERY.

2. Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind

These books are kind of like LOTR, but more reader-friendly. They're centered around Richard Cypher, a woodsman who lives in a world literally divided into magical and nonmagical until a woman named Kahlan comes stumbling into his path. Richard is forced to help her and learns along the way that he is a wizard. There are about fifteen books in the whole series, which is undoubtedly a lot, but Goodkind manages to keep the story interesting and exciting. I love this series because it teaches a lot of life lessons and it's such a creative fantasy story. Also, Kahlan is such a bangin' female character.

3. I Hunt Killers by Barry Lyga

Do you have a weird fascination with serial killers? Just me, then? Oh well. "I Hunt Killers" is about a guy named Jasper who's dad is a serial killer. Jasper is not, but a large part of the book deals with him figuring out the differences between him and his dad, as well as him helping the local police catch killers, hence the name. This is supposedly for a younger audience, but it can get pretty dark and graphic. I thoroughly enjoyed this book mainly because Jasper is really funny and relatable. It also made me wonder about the real life families of serial killers.

4. Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

Confession: I hate romance novels, and anything Nicholas Sparks. So when my friend told me to read this book and said it was romantic I was out. But, she talked me into reading it and it may be my favorite love story ever. It's the first book in a really long series centered around Claire Randall, a nurse in the 1940s. She, while in Scotland with her husband who is a historian, stumbles through a sort of ancient stone henge and right into the 1740s. She meets Jamie Fraser, and the rest is history (literally). You could classify this book as a romance or historical fiction because of how much you learn about Scotland's past while reading it. The plot is so original and the characters are so realistic, I got lost in this book.

Of course, I have a thousand more books I could write about, but these are the ones that I think of quickly when asked for my favorites. Notable runner-ups include Ender's Game, Tarzan, Pride and Prejudice, Memoirs of a Geisha, and The Cardturner.