I Love...Books!

Today, I am going to continue my I Love series with a different love: books!

Some of my fondest memories growing up revolved around devouring lots of books. I read almost every single Baby Sitter's Club, Nancy Drew, and Mandie book. I would read anything I could get my hands on.

As an adult, my reading habits have slowed down quite a bit...but I do have some favorites and some that I could read over and over again and not get bored.

The Harry Potter series

Yep. It's no secret around these parts. I love Harry Potter so much. I didn't start reading the books until after I got married; I finished reading them the year the movie for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince came out. The fun thing about waiting so long to read them was that I was able to read all of the books and then watch almost all of the movies after I was done.

My favorite, by far, in the series is the Prisoner of Azkaban. I think it's probably because Sirius *spoiler alert*, Harry's godfather, is my favorite character. I also love the time-traveling section in the book. I've always had a fascination with the concept of time travel and how it works when people jump from one time...but are still living in another...or even living in the time they jump to (some of my favorites on that subject are the book The Time Traveler's Wife - the movie was a bit disappointing to me - and the TV show LOST).

I don't always cry when I'm reading books, but I definitely did while reading this series. I also cried a lot while watching the last three movies. I know they aren't religious and they deal with magic...but I see God and His story all throughout the pages of this series. There are some beautiful parallels illustrated throughout the books, that are especially seen in the final installment. If you've never picked them up before, I highly recommend them. I think the series is fabulous.

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The Divergent series

This one isn't finished yet (Allegiant comes out in the fall!), but it stole my heart in the first book. I love the interactions between Tris and Four, the depth of the story, and the thought of living in a world like that: where people are pigeon-holed into a certain faction depending on how they score on a test. It's a fascinating and exciting read. I, as well as my friend who got me hooked on the books, really believe that there's a lot of Jesus stuff in the pages of this series as well. The struggles that Tris goes through internally seem very similar to the struggles someone would have when trying to figure out faith and life and everything in between. I read these books after the Hunger Games trilogy, which I thought was the best thing I had read in a long time, and I definitely enjoyed Divergent much more.

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The Hunger Games

Ok...I know I just said I liked Divergent better, but the Hunger Games trilogy really is amazing, too. I remember being in a restaurant with my author-friend a few years back, and she was explaining to me and another friend this book she had recently read about teenage kids who had to kill each other to get food for their families. I thought it was the craziest thing ever and quickly decided I would not be reading those books. Little did I know, just a few years later, that I would read them, and love them. I really enjoyed the first movie as well, even though there were some key things, especially in the beginning, that irritated me. I am a fan of the love triangles, and I love seeing what side people pick early on, before they know who is picked. So far, in all of the love triangle books I've read, I pick the guy the girl picks. Except for Vampire Diaries (the TV show. I haven't read the books). I've not a fan of who Elena is with currently. I'm holding out hope for the other one!

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Code Name Verity

I just finished this book yesterday and it was really good! It was the quickest I have read a book in the past year. I devoured it in a couple of days. It was a pretty easy read. A little hard to get into at first, but it definitely picks up and sucks you in. It's a beautiful story of friendship, set during World War II. I tend to like historical fiction quite a bit, and this book did not fail to deliver. My author-friend bought it for me for my birthday, saying it was the best book she had read in awhile. I highly recommend it if you're looking for something new to read.

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I am getting ready to start reading the Mortal Instruments series, followed by the Infernal Devices. I've heard the latter is better than the first, but since they both have some of the same characters, I'm going to read them in order.

I am very excited to be getting back into the habit of reading more and I can't wait to find some other good reads after I finish what I have planned.