I am completely aware that this sounds alarmingly nerdy, and maybe even a bit sad, but there is nothing that satisfies me more than reading a good book. I love being consumed by a book to the point where it alters the way I view other things in the world.

Unfortunately, book worms like myself don't typically get much free time to read for pleasure during the school year. When summer comes along, we can be expected to shut ourselves up in our rooms and read for hours upon hours — and bask in every second of it. You would only understand this if you love books as much as I do, but sometimes it's actually a little inconvenient when people ask to hang out over the summer.

I know I sound like a freak, but before you judge me and cast me off as anti-social, put yourself in my shoes. Imagine being an active participant in an alternate universe and feeling the emotions of a fictional character so acutely when suddenly your phone buzzes and it's someone inviting you to come back to the real world. I'm not saying I don't love my friends or want to spend time with them, because I love them to death, it's just a normal introvert reaction. Yuck, social skills. I've found that the solution to this issue is making friends who are eagerly willing to browse Barnes and Nobles with you.

Whether you openly embrace reading or avoid it like the plague, there is so much to be gained from books. Especially in the summer when you can flip page after page with your bare toes buried under the warm sand while waves rhythmically crash to the shore in the background.

Motivated by my deep love for all things literature, I've compiled a list of favorites that I'd recommend for anyone and everyone. Here are all 20 of them:

1. "Eleanor and Park" by Rainbow Rowell

A heartwarming, yet heartbreaking, story about misfit love. "Eleanor was right. She never looked nice. She looked like art, and art wasn't supposed to look nice. It was supposed to make you feel something."

2. The "Harry Potter Series" by JK Rowling

The audience range that these books appeal to is truly amazing — an authorial accomplishment that only few could achieve. If you haven't read these books, you need to. It's as simple as that.

3. "On The Road" by Jack Kerouac

The thing that I found most captivating about this book was the introduction. It explained how Kerouac modeled the plot and characters after events in his own life, making the process of reading the book itself much more insightful into his motivations as an author. Kerouac actually wrote this book as one continuous manuscript, but it was later separated into paragraphs. His writing is beautiful, honest and urgent.

4. "It's Kind of a Funny Story " by Ned Vizzini

This book offers valuable perspective into mental illness from the eyes of a teen boy. Vizzini wraps a lighthearted bubble around the dark world of depression and mental hospitals. There's also a film adaptation, which always makes reading more fun.

5. "Let the Great World Spin" by Colum McCann

I was actually assigned this book in a literature class and, judging by the cover, thought it was going to be painfully boring. Luckily, I was in for a pleasant surprise. McCann, recipient of a National Book Award for this work, paints an image of varying ways of living in New York City in the 1970s, and intersects each character to portray the beautiful disaster that is life along the way.

6. "In Cold Blood" by Truman Capote

Capote doesn't just tell the story of a gruesome crime, he elicits a complicated sympathy from the reader for the two men behind it. This book will make you think.

7. "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer

I'm a big fan of Krakauer's journalistic style of writing. "Into Thin Air" tells a firsthand account of his deadly quest to summit Mount Everest, one that will give you the haunting illusion that you are right there with him. There is also a film adaptation of this book available, but it doesn't do Krakauer justice.

8. "Into The Wild" by Jon Krakauer

A true story following the transcendental life of Chris McCandless, a counter conformist way of living that led to his lonely death in an abandoned bus in the harsh Alaskan wilderness. The story of Chris McCandless is truly captivating since he was so much like your typical young adult, but at the same time was so bold, different and daring. The film version of this is much better than "Into Thin Air," so I'd definitely recommend watching (after reading, of course).

9. "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini

I am currently in the process of reading this book, but I can confidently recommend it due to the amount of personal agony it has me in. This portrait of Afghanistan and one man's quest for redemption after causing unthinkable pain to a childhood friend is heartbreaking, consuming, vulnerable and plain old unfair. It honestly torments me to have to put this book down. There's also a film adaptation of this that I have yet to see, but it's there if you are intrigued by this story.

10. "Damned" by Chuck Palahniuk

Palahniuk does satire enviably well. This work of fiction claims that everything you've heard about Heaven and Hell is true, and that almost everyone is in Hell. It's pretty hard to avoid damnation when you're sentenced for picking your nose over a maximum number of times or dropping your first F-bomb. This book is absolutely hilarious and offers readers a glimpse into the dreaded world of Hell.

11. "Doomed" by Chuck Palahniuk

The sequel to "Damned", and a worthy read for all of the same reasons.

12. "Slaughterhouse Five" by Kurt Vonnegut

Billy Pilgrim is possibly one of the most pathetic characters ever, but that contributes to the impact of Vonnegut's anti-war novel which just so happens to largely take place in Germany during World War II. It's also pretty interesting to read about Billy's alien Tralfamadorian hallucinations. "Everything was beautiful, and nothing hurt."

13. "Looking for Alaska" by John Green

Green must vividly remember everything that came with being a teenager, because he always manages to capture the essence of young adult fiction so well. "Looking for Alaska" is my favorite work of his, even though Alaska was a highly irritating character. Head's up, there's a huge plot twist in the middle.

14. The "Delirium" trilogy by Lauren Oliver

I'm not usually a big sci-fi person, but Oliver's trilogy had me hooked. In a dystopian future, love is considered a disease and once people are a certain age they undergo a procedure to cure them, and are then matched with an appropriate spouse. Lena, the central character, has found herself in the grasps of love and will do anything to hold onto it, even if that means putting herself in danger and sparking a revolution. There was a brief television series of this that rightfully got cancelled because it was so bad. If you read the books, don't watch it because it will just infuriate you.

15. "I Never Promised You a Rose Garden" by Joanne Greenburg

Greenburg offers a valuable glimpse into one of the darkest and most misunderstood cognitive diseases: schizophrenia. This story of suffering and survival is both haunting and inspiring.

16. "Reconstructing Amelia" by Kimberly McCreight

After her daughter commits suicide, a heartbroken and confused Manhattan mother tries to connect the pieces of Amelia's life in an effort to prove that she did not jump. Along the way, she discovers that her seemingly happy, ambitious daughter was concealing secrets darker than she ever could have imagined.

17. "Brain on Fire" by Susannah Cahalan

A first-person account written by a New York Times journalist tells the story of her strange, sudden affliction that turned her into someone no one could recognize. She has no recollection of her month of madness besides what is provided through witnesses, medical entries and videos. Watching Cahalan come to terms with the person that she was when her disease was in its most aggressive stages and how she used her experience to give others a diagnosis is truly captivating.

18. "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" by Ken Kesey

This is my all-time favorite book, and the movie, starring Jack Nicholson, just happens to be great too. The plot revolves around Randle P. McMurphy's entering a mental institution and challenging the patients' submissive way of life. I won't spoil anything, but the ending is both heartbreaking and rewarding. The metaphors and prose throughout this book are absolutely beautiful. Disclaimer: Nurse Ratched is the worst.

19. "Where I'm Calling From: Selected Stories" by Raymond Carver

I am a huge proponent of Carver's discomforting, realist style of writing. His no-nonsense narrative style aids him in presenting an honest image of the human psyche. This collection of short stories includes some of his most well-known works such as, "Cathedral" and "What We Talk About When We Talk About Love," and many others that are equally insightful. "I could hear my heart beating. I could hear everyone's heart. I could hear the human noise we sat there making, not one of us moving, not even when the room went dark."

20. "One More Thing: Stories and Other Stories" by B.J. Novak

Novak, best known as a writer and actor on "The Office," is always reliable for comedic relief. This collection of stories made me laugh time after time, and that in itself is reason enough for why you should read it.

May your reading be happy and your books be plentiful!