10. Black Beauty by
Anne Sewell: This book beautifully portrays the life of a stallion called Black Beauty. It shows his struggles in the world when he is given to different owners who either treat him well, or abuse him. This novel makes us aware of animal mistreatment and abuse. It is a bittersweet, beautiful tale woven by Anna when she was at the last years of her life. It was one of the first books to have an animal as a protagonist.
This book has a touching story, everyone should read it.
9. Narnia by
C.S. Lewis: The Narnia series is a great combination of fantasy and Christian themes. Aslan, The Lion and creator of Narnia, represents Jesus Christ. You can see this especially in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe when he gives his life for Edmund.
8. The Giver and
Gathering Blue by
Lois Lowry: The Giver is a science fiction novel is about a community that seems utopian, but when Jonas delves deeper into how his community is run, finds out it is actually terribly dystopian. He tries to figure out how to escape. Gathering Blue is the sequel to this masterpiece.
7. Hatchet by
Gary Paulsen: This survival story tells the story of a boy who is lost in the wilderness because of a plane crash. He must figure out how to survive with just a hatchet he took with him, all the while dealing with trauma from the plane crash. I love good survival novels, and this one is the best of the best.
6. Redwall by
Brian Jacques: I had watched the animated version, and loved it. When I found four of the books in a book store, it peaked my interest, especially when I remembered the animated tv show. I love the flavorful cast of characters in this book series. The moles, sparrows, and so many more creatures all have a unique speaking style.
5. Pegasus by
Kate O’Hearn: A middle school fantasy series made up of six books. It gives the original Greek/Roman myths a new twist. It tells the story about Pegasus cashing onto the roof of a teenager’s (named Emily) apartment in New York City. From there she, accompanied by Joel (a human) and Paelen, (an Olympian) helps Pegasus avoid the CRU, a menacing government agency obsessed with the supernatural, and return to Olympus safely, all the while staying clear of vicious monsters with four arm and three eyes called Nirads, who are mysteriously targeting and focusing all their efforts on killing Pegasus and Emily. I’ve reread them recently, and they still have the charm and cliffhangers I fondly remember.
I highly recommend them for people who like fantasy, mythology, and some romance.
Emily x Paelen forever
4. The Hobbit by
J.R.R. Tolkien: This classic originally started out as a children’s book for Tolkien’s own children, but today it is loved by all ages. This book got me interested in Tolkien’s works, and eventually led me to reading LotR and discovering the epic story within. Let me quote the famous first lines,
“In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort.”
3. Maximum Ride: The Manga by
James Patterson (Author) and
NaRae Lee (Artist): I stumbled upon this manga series in my library. It was the first manga I had ever read, and I enjoyed every single second of it. This science-fiction series is about six kids, who had bird DNA inserted into them when they were babies and brought to a science lab called ‘The School’. They have wings. They escaped, and now they’re on the run. Erasers, half wolves half people, were created by The School to track the flock of kids down. When Angel, the youngest flock member, only six years old, gets captured, Max and the remaining flock race (or in this case, fly) to save her.
I recently got the first book of the novel form of the manga. The writing style in it is so different from what I’m used to. First off, it’s first person, which I don’t write in that much, second, almost every sentence is a thought from the main character, Max. Or it has a opinion from the Max. It reads like a journal. Sometimes she actually talks to us, the reader.
Example: ‘spiky brambles’ would instead be something like ‘wicked brambles.’
It’s definitely a wonderful learning experience. Getting exposed to different writing styles is a great way to further develop mine.
2. The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien: This epic fantasy never fails to inspire and captivate me. It was one of the series that inspired my novel. Tolkien’s world building is incredible. He even made up a language for his creative writing! He is what I aim to be as a writer. I might not be able to create a whole language, but I do want to have the same quality of world building, plot, characters, and writing skills. The Lord of the Rings is a perfect example of that. A simple Hobbit, Frodo, is tasked with saving all of Middle Earth by destroying the One Ring in Mount Doom. He has to withstand the temptations of the ring, and avoid the Ring Wraiths and other foul creatures. His faithful companion, Sam, is always by his side, and always willing to help. He stays with Frodo to the end.
This masterpiece is timeless. A fantasy classic; anyone who loves fantasy absolutely needs to read this trilogy.
1. Warriors by
Erin Hunter: A fantasy series about four clans of cats living in the wild. One of my all-time favorite book series ever. It has over 5 series, each with 6 books in them, as well as several super editions and novellas. My favorite is the first (The Prophecies Begin) and third (The Power of Three) series. In the first series, Rusty, a normal young kittypet, adventures out into the wild and stumbles upon Thunderclan. Because Thunderclan is running low on new warriors, the leader, Bluestar, recruits Rusty into her clan, giving him the new apprentice name of Firepaw. He’ll have to struggle to show his strength and worth to his new clanmates, and prove he is more than ‘a soft-hearted kittypet’. At the same time, he unearths a malicious plot to overthrow Thunderclan and rule the forest, thought up by one of his own clanmates!
Warriors has some of the best characters and plots I’ve ever seen. Definitely recommend.
How’d you like my list? As you can obviously tell, fiction, especially fantasy, is my favorite genre.
Call of the Wild and White Fang, both by Jack London.
I was thinking of putting Call of the Wild on my list, but I’ve only read an abridged version a few years back. I think I would like to experience the true, original story before ranking it. I’m sure that once I do it’ll be pretty high on my list, because I loved the abridged, but for now I’ll just keep it as an honorable mention.
1. The Harry Potter series (From my experience, there's two types of Christians: Those who boycott Harry Potter and those who love it. My family falls into the latter.)
My close family is the first haha. I personally don’t care, the Harry Potter series doesn’t interest me that much. Considering how many people I see who are shocked or slightly surprised when I haven’t read or watched Harry Potter, the series is most likely very overrated.
Lord of the Rings will always be better anyways
