Books are secret keepers, they hold onto memories long after you've forgotten them. Something magical happens when you pick a book up after a long time; they transport you back to that moment when you first decided to look inside, greeting you like an old friend. These books have that magic over me and many others of my generation. We may not have read them all, but we certainly knew them.

1. "The Magic Tree House" by Mary Pope Osborne

"Dinosaurs Before Dark" was my first chapter book and the best introduction to the reading world (outside of picture books) a kid could ask for. It had action, adventure and best of all, dinosaurs. I am unashamed to admit that I continued to read the series even after I outgrew them.

2. "Where the Sidewalk Ends" by Shel Silverstein

I don't think I would have ever learned to like poetry if it wasn't for Shel Silverstein. The poems were just so silly and fun.

3. "The Chronicles of Narnia" by C. S. Lewis

In the third grade, I had to do a book report on "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe;" about the same time, the movie came out. Everything was about these books, and though they were hard to read at times, the story was so engaging. I was instantly enthralled. When I moved into my college dormitory, I secretly held out hope that my wardrobe would take me to Narnia.

4. "Harry Potter" by J. K. Rowling

"Harry Potter." Need I say more? I probably loved them a little too much, which, combined with all my nostalgia, has made them insuperably, one of my all time favorites.

5. "Percy Jackson & The Olympians" by Rick Riordan

This book series explains why I did so well in interpreting Greek myths in high school. Percy was dealing with everything I was dealing with at the time I read his story, but he was so much cooler because he was a demigod, and he could smite his enemies with water. Take that middle school bullies.

6. "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins

Suzanne Collins was a master at twisting my emotions. I learned this early on with the "Gregor the Overlander" books, but soon everyone else was feeling it too. "The Hunger Games" has come to be the face of fictional dystopian societies (although it certainty wasn't the first book of its kind) and just about everyone read it, even my dad.

7. "Twilight" by Stephenie Meyer

Not everyone read "Twilight" or its counterparts, but we all know someone who did. It was the first 'grown-up' novel many of us had access to. For me, it was the first story line I had ever read that followed an epic romance. I remember sitting in my best friend's living room the morning after her "Twilight" themed sleepover, blushing as I read Bella Swan's description of Edward Cullen for the first time.