For my 20th birthday, my parents gave me the greatest gift I could ever imagine: books. A total of nineteen I was able to add onto my bookshelf! I've already read through nine and I'm currently on the tenth, A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway.
I have way more than nineteen books on my bookshelf and I have created quite the collection for myself throughout the years. I love reading, much to the shock of my fourth-grade self, but I do have favorites when it comes to specific books and authors that I have encountered.
In a three-part series, I will read ten books and give you a list of the best books out of the bunch. For part one, I included a few books that I had read previously, simply because they were an all-around joy to read. Here are the top four books--from section one--that you should add into your library.
1. "Eleanor Oliphant is completely fine" by Gail Honeyman
Laken Pritchard
There have been very few books that I have really been able to connect with, and this is definitely one of them. Eleanor Oliphant is truly a character that I saw myself in, as I'm sure many other people will too. A novel that will not only have you rooting for the main character, but also have you looking into yourself, Eleanor Oliphant is completely fine is a beautiful novel that will have you turning each page in lightning speed.
2. "One Thousand White Women: The Journals of May Dodd" by Jim Fergus
Laken Pritchard
If you enjoy conspiracy theories and are interested in the history of the United States, boy is this book a treasure for you. While this novel claims to be fictional, there are many people who believe it to be true. This story follows a group of women, narrated by May Dodd, who were given to the Native Americans as wives from the U.S. government. I read this in less than a week, doing research trying to find out whether or not it was real...while all of the internet sources told me no, my great-grandmother told me that it was all too possible...
3. "My Grandmother Asked Me To Tell You She's Sorry" by Fredrik Backman
This is another novel where I connected with the main character, regardless of her being a seven-year-old, and I also connected with her grandmother. This is a story that will have you crying by the end, and I don't cry. Follow a seven-year-old girl and her "beast" while she delivers letters to important characters along the way to finding herself.
4. "The Dark Between Stars" by Atticus
Laken Pritchard
I've already written a whole article solely on this book, which is truly a piece of art. Poetry is something that doesn't come easy to most people, as for Atticus, I'm pretty sure God made him to do just that. If you enjoy falling in love, not only with Atticus, but also yourself, this book needs to be on your shelf.
