In honor of National Book Lovers Day, my top 10 favorites

One Hundred Years of Solitude, by Gabriel García Márquez

A beautiful story of a family that follows generations, when I read it a few years ago, I was captured by the hints of fantasy and the raw portrait of the Buendía family. Set in a fictional town in Columbia, this story is complex despite the simple plot and quaint setting.

Speaker for the Dead, by Orson Scott Card

This is the second book in the Ender’s Game series and I actually prefer it to it’s predecessor, even though I do love Ender’s Game.  In Speaker for the Dead Card brings originality to science-fiction, you almost forget that it falls in the genre because the characters are so engaging and realistic.

I, Robot, by Isaac Asimov

This book is an episodic story of logic and ethics. Robopsychologist Dr. Susan Calvin tells a journalist of her life’s work with robots. The story begins by framing the three laws of robotics, which robots must follow, and Calvin gives accounts to the issues that come from these laws.

Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austin

Sort of an odd-ball on this list, but I love classic literature and Jane Austin’s most famous novel has always held a special place in my heart. There’s just something about going back to a time when politeness, civility and common sense won the day.

A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeleine L’Engle

When my mom first read this book to me as a child, it captured my imagination. Meg Murry’s adventures across time and space inspired my to try my hand at writing sci-fi.

Ender’s Game, by Orson Scott Card 

Ender’s Game changed everything for me. I first read it in college and it inspired me to delve deeper into genre fiction. It was actually kind of a major turning point for me. While I loved the science-fiction of my childhood, like A Wrinkle in Time and Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, as I got older, studying journalism, the fantastic sort of got away from me. Ender’s Game brought re-instilled the wonder for me.

The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien

Once not to love about the light, funny prequel to The Lord of the Rings. Everyone should take the journey and leave the shire once in a while.

Dune, by Frank Herbert 

Paul Atreides becomes the legend Muad’Dib in this sci-fi classic. Space, politics, betrayal, adventure- this book has so many things I look for in a good story.

The Plague, by Albert Camus

From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, by  E.L. Konigsburg