This article is going to be about my favorite books (so far)! I choose to write about them because books are such a good thing to have when you're stressed, happy, bored, need an escape, or even just need something to do during study hall. Reading has always been one of my favorite hobbies and I know there are a lot of people who love to read just as much as I do, so maybe this list will give them something new and exciting to read!

1. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

This book is my all time favorite book, and I feel like it always will be. I have read it numerous times and I never get tired of it. When I was in high school, a teacher suggested it to me, and once I started reading it, I could not stop. The story is excellent, and the characters have so many defining characteristics that I can see in myself and the people around me. The things Charlie goes through in high school are things that many people can relate to, and I think that this story was beautifully written. The book is written as a set of letters to a person who Charlie was told was a good friend, so he anonymously writes to them throughout the school year about everything that has gone on with his new found friends, Sam and Patrick.

2. The Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling

The Harry Potter books are classic. I don't know how to make a list of great books without including them somewhere. The idea of a whole other world that I could just escape to whenever I wanted to by just turning a page, is truly a great one. The world of Harry Potter is exciting and so different from the one we live in every day. Reading about the adventures Harry and his friends went on and the creatures they encountered on a daily basis was such an exciting part of my childhood. Then seeing the movies after we would read the books was even more exciting when we would see whether they scenes and characters matched up. The whole series was just magical (no pun intended)!

3. The Burn Journals by Brent Runyon

This book, though it is a very sad story, was hard to put down. This book is about Brent Runyon's suicide attempt in 1991 when he was 14 years old. He came home from school, doused his bathrobe in gasoline, and lit a match. Over 85 percent of his body was covered in burns, and yet, he survived. The Burn Journals tells the story of why he chose to attempt suicide, and why he later chose to fight to live. This book is devastating, and inspiring, all at once.

4. My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult

Jodi Picoult is one of my favorite authors and she has numerous brilliantly written novels. Just like her other books, My Sister's Keeper did not disappoint. The book is the story of Anna Fitzgerald, who was conceived to be a marrow donor to her older sister who was diagnosed with cancer at a young age. In Anna's lifetime, she has been subject to countless procedures and surgeries in order to prolong her sister's life. When she sues her parents for emancipation, it begins a court case that could tear apart her family. This story was excellent, even though it was very sad. I would most definitely suggest this book to anyone who wanted something good to read.

5. Lucky by Alice Sebold

Lucky is a memoir by Alice Sebold, who also wrote The Lovely Bones. The memoir is a story of how being raped in college changed the rest of her life. The story is gruesome, but it is amazing that someone could go through so much, and grow as a person through these horrible experiences. It may seem that I just love sad books, but I really just love to read the books where someone goes through some form of tragedy, and they still are able to come back from it and change their outlook on life.

Though I have many, many more books that I could add to this list, I won't, because the list could go on forever then. Books are a sort of escape from reality, and it was really helpful to always have something interesting to read throughout high school! I hope everyone enjoys my list, although it is very short!