There are so many books that I have read throughout my life. There have been some books that I have not liked very much, but there have been some that I have fallen in love with. One of the greatest things about books, at least for me, is that if you fall in love with the book you do not only fall in love with the story. There are characters you fall in love with, places in the book you fall in love with, and how the story was written. There are so many different things about a book that can be liked and loved! There are some people who do not like to read, and when asked what they have read they have only read books they were forced to read in school. They have not given other books a chance! Maybe it was the genre they did not like, but there are so many other genres in literature. Maybe it was the author, but who knows how many other authors there are in the world? I like to read a variety of books. I have short books, long books, romance books, science fiction books, books by C.S. Lewis and Mark Twain, and books by John Green and Suzanne Collins. Some of my favorite books are To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly, and Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie.

To Kill a Mockingbird was a book I read in the tenth grade for English class. When we were first assigned the book I did not know what it was about. I had heard of it and I had heard of Harper Lee prior to reading the book, but I had no clue what it was about. I cannot pinpoint what made me fall in love with the book so much. Maybe it was the Finch family (Atticus, Jem, Scout), the setting (Maycomb County, Alabama in the 1930’s), or maybe it was the characters curiosity to find out about the crime that had happened and the children’s curiosity to find out about the house across the street. To Kill a Mockingbird is about the Finch family and a crime that had happened to an African American lad, Tom Robinson. Atticus Finch is a lawyer is tries to defend Tom Robinson of his accused crime of raping a white woman. The children are going to school (Scout for the first time) and they help in few ways with Tom Robinson and their father Atticus. They try to find out about the house across the street, which belongs to the Radley’s. Supposedly Boo Radley stabbed his mother and was crazy. I do not know what exactly made me love the book so much. I could read it over and over again. It will forever be one of my favorite books.

The Book of Lost Things became one of my favorite books because of the fantasy aspect of it. The entire book is all about twisted fairytales. Mainly all of the fairy tales are those of the Brothers Grimm. The Book of Lost Things includes Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, Briar Rose (Sleeping Beauty), Rumpelstiltskin, Little Red Riding Hood, The Three Army Surgeons, etc. In the book a young boy, David, mourns the death of his mother. His father starts to see another woman after his wife dies, and David comes to hate the woman. He is hurt when his father starts to date this other woman, he thinks his father is forgetting all about his mother. David’s father and stepmother have a child together, Georgie. David comes to hate not only Rose, but little Georgie too. Ever since Georgie was born David has been hearing his book talk to him and starts to see a person (The Crooked Man) in his room, throughout his house, and in his backyard. One night a plane crashes near David’s house; he ends up crawling through a hole in the garden wall. When he comes out he is no longer at his house, or anywhere near his home. He is in a new fantasy land. There he meets The Woodsman, who will help him get back home. Once in the land of the Crooked Man, David tries his hardest to get home. He encounters many different fairy tales throughout his journey, all of them twisted and surreal. This book is one of my favorites because of the fantasy aspects and the fairy tales. Ever since I was little I have always been a big fan of fairy tales. They make me feel joyous.

Peter Pan is one of my favorite fictional characters. I love that he never wanted to grow up and that he always wanted to stay young. There have definitely been times where I could relate to the feeling of wanting to always stay a child and never want to grow up. It has always been a goal of mine to read Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie. When I finally did get to read it I was beyond happy. Peter Pan is about a young boy (Peter) who can fly and never wants to grow up. He meets the Darling children (Wendy, John, and Michael) and wants to show them Neverland (the magical island where Peter lives). They have great adventures with mermaids and Captain Hook. I enjoyed Peter Pan so much that once I finished it I cried because I loved it so much.

I hope to come across more books in my lifetime that I can classify as some of my favorite books. Reading has always been one of my favorite things to do. I hope to never lose the joy in reading books.