Favorite Books of ALL Time

Since it’s the month of love, let’s talk about my favorite books of all time. The books that I lurve ♥️ I haven’t yet mentioned this on my YouTube channel or anywhere else that isn’t Goodreads. But let’s talk about them now, there’s 37 of them and growing… I’m sure… I ain’t eva gonna stop reading! The books aren’t in any particular order but I gotta little favoritism for the first one.

1. The World of Normal Boys by K. M. Soehnlein

Nobody ever talks about this book. I never see it mentioned anywhere. This was the author’s debut and I was blown away by this book… twice! On the second read I loved it even more than the first. It’s a coming of age story with a lot of dynamics and story depth. I found it to be a little sad but that’s perfect to me. 

2. Rainbow Boys by Alex Sanchez

Like… when are they going to adapt this into a series?? This needs to be a show. It’s a trilogy too but I favor the first book overall. I’ve read this twice as well and on the second read I forgot how hilariously funny this was. It’s also cute. This book also has my favorite trope in it which I was today years old when I finally realized that I love this trope and it’s the “makeover” trope; where a character goes through a physical makeover and they become hot shit from it. Love that.

3. The Help by Kathryn Stockett

I believe watching the movie is what got me into reading this book. The movie is good, was well adapted. I don’t remember too much from the book since it’s been over 10 years since I’ve read it but I do remember crying to my ex boyfriend over the phone about it, it’s a pretty sad story.

4. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

Listen… I read this book for the first time when I was 19 or 20 and loved the shit out of it! One of my favorite quotes of all time comes from this book. It’s a long winded paragraph sentence but the first line reads: “I recall certain moments, let us call them icebergs in paradise…”. I have yet to read this book for the second time. Owning this book is hard because I hate practically every cover version of it. They keep putting a damn little girl on the cover knowing dead well Nabokov told they asses not to. So I’m on the hunt to find a cover that I actually like. I gave up my old copy that I had because I hated the cover. But when I read this I remember being really impressed with how well written the story was for a man whose first language wasn’t English. I also found the writing to be humorous because ever so often Nabokov would change the POV to third person which was random as shit… and that’s one of my kinds of humor. The book ain’t for everyone but it’s a gorgeous read.

5. Someone Like You by Sarah Dessen

Sarah Dessen was one of my favorite authors back in high school… I don’t recall if I was reading her in middle school yet. Her older work reads so authentically which is one of the reasons why I love this book. I’m actually planning on rereading this book in March. March is a month where I take the time to reread books and I love this for me; I’m so excited to get around to rereading this. I consider this to be a Sarah Dessen classic… I don’t read her much anymore because I’ve outgrown her but the last couple of books I’ve read from her don’t have the same umph! as this one.

6. Shattering Glass by Gail Giles

This was a book I considered a fave back when I was younger. I’m sure I’ll still enjoy it but not sure if I’ll still consider it a fave after I reread it someday. But I did really enjoy this and still recall the story for the most part. It’s pretty dark and I realize that a lot of the teen fiction books I read back in the day (when they were called teen fiction and not YA) were pretty damn dark.

7. Dreamland by Sarah Dessen

This… this right here! Another Dessen classic. This story was unlike any of her other stories and I think that’s still the case to this day. This story dealt with domestic abuse in a relationship. It’s a sad story and I’ve read it twice. On my second time reading I noticed a couple of things that were like foreshadowing the story and I had that “ah-ha” moment when I noticed it. There’s some layers and depth here. This definitely stands out amongst all her other books.

8. I Am Charlotte Simmons by Tom Wolfe

I noticed that they’re coming out with new editions for Tom Wolfe’s books and I can’t wait to see if they make one for this because I’ll buy it… for a second time! Just like I’ve read this book two times… and this is a big book. I remember the second time I was reading it I was out on the town with my mom carrying this big book around. We happened to go to a pizza shop and I think the lady working there (who was also one of my high school cafeteria lunch ladies) made a comment about my book to which I informed her that it was my second time reading. She looked so confused and asked why would I be reading it again if I’ve already read it? To this day I still think about that moment. Like, think… why would I be rereading it? Maybe because I thought it was a good fucking story. Maybe because I really, really enjoyed it. Why would you consume something more than once? Maybe because you liked it. I guess a person who doesn’t read wouldn’t understand.

9. Goodbye, Janette by Harold Robbins 

Okay, this is a wild one… hold on lol. Growing up I discovered my mom’s box of books in the basement. I was 14 at the time. My mom had some Harlequin romance books in there which I also read a few of those. I would always sneak down there, look at the books and decide which one I was going to take back upstairs with me. I realize that the books that I liked I kept in my room and the ones I didn’t care about I brought them back downstairs. This had to be the case because to this day as a grown woman I still own some of those books that were down there but not all of them. This was one of them and I read it when I was 14. If you know you know. This ain’t a book for 14 year olds but guess what? I loved it at the age of 14! I tried to reread it when I was 16 but I only got maybe a quarter into before I put it down. I finally got around to reading it last year, 16 years later, and baybee… I still enjoyed the fuck out of this! I did knock it down a star but it’s still a favorite of all time for me. I was still obsessed but even more so with one of the characters in this. It’s a fast pace book, I couldn’t put it down and now I see why I loved it so much at 14.

10. The Blacker the Berry by Wallace Thurman

This right here is another one from my mama’s stash. It was waiting for me in the box down in the basement. I first read it at 14 and loved it. Reread it back in 2018 during a great week in a great year. It’s also one of my highly favorited books of all time. The story is so simple but packs a hard punch. That ending gets me every time. This book is very dear to be.

11. Invisible by Pete Hautman

This is the first book to ever make me cry, y’all. It’s one of those stories where you have to reread it because of the reveal at the end. Can’t wait to reread it some day… maybe even next month…

12. The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein 

Had to include this in my faves. Go way back with this one. Simply, it’s just a sad story with a message and I love me a sad story.

13. Forever… by Judy Blume

This is a book that I may change my position on. I can’t remember if I’ve read it twice or not but if I read it again I’m not sure if I’d still consider it a fave but of course when I first read it I loved it. The ending is kind of sad so… yeah… it got me.

14. A Separate Peace by John Knowles

I actually enjoyed reading books for school. I actually looked forward to what we were going to read next. I like people telling me what to read and giving me recommendations, I might not read it right away but that’s what Goodreads’ “Want to Read” is for lol. But this was a book I had to read in 10th grade and for some reason it always stuck with me. I think I liked it and I wasn’t sure why. I got around to rereading it back in 2019 and still… I was obsessed with it, I loved it. So I finally came to the conclusion like last year or the year before that this is a favorite. It still took me a while to figure out why but then it kind of hit me. This book made me realize what kind of formula I like in my stories. I like books that study relationships between men, whether that be a friendship, something platonic or romantic. Add in some sort of tragedy and a somber or sad ending and I’m sold! These are the types of books I like and the ones I write (check out my WattPad: michaliza).

15. Dread Locks by Neal Shusterman

When everyone was raving about the book Scythe (which I haven’t read yet) I wasn’t surprised because I knew who had wrote this and I was like, that book probably is good because Shusterman can write a story. I read this book back in high school and loved it so much. It’s a Medusa retelling, sort of, and I’m surprised not more people know about it. Spoiler alert though, it does have a sad and dark and jaw dropping ending.

16. On the Head of a Pin by Mary Beth Miller

To be honest I don’t even know what this was. I enjoyed it at the time. It needs a reread though. This book is heavy and dark as fuck! 

17. A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin

Ah yes… if you know you know. I’ve read this book twice and it was excellent each time. The show is my favorite of all time. Just a great time overall.

18. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini 

My first job ever was after high school working for my public library. Nowhere else would hire me, not the two McDonalds in the small city I grew up in or the grocery store. So I figured I was meant to work in a book environment which was a great revelation to me. One day when I was working there we got a box of book donations. A coworker and I were going through the box in the back. Eventually she takes out a book and holds it up to me and asks me if I’ve ever read it. The book was The Kite Runner. I told her no. She simply just handed it to me and said nothing more. Okay… say less… and she did lol. I read the book not too long after and… man. I remember having to stop reading while on the bus because I was about to cry. I think everyone should read this. This should be required reading. I still have the copy she gave me and I think about her all the time. I get the feeling that she might have passed away years ago but, man, she really gave me something memorable.

19. The Charioteer by Mary Renault

I need more people to read this. This is the best love triangle story I’ve ever read and it’s a classic from an author who was one of the first is not the first woman to ever write m/m romance! But tell me why I only gave this book 4 stars and consider it a favorite? I think because the ending was a little too vague for me… but I love this book so much. Funny little story. I had been looking for this book every time when I go to Barnes and Noble. Even up until some time last year. I obviously really wanted to own a copy. But then some months back I was about to head out one day, so as I’m leaving my room I happen to look over at my book shelf and noticed that the book. Was. Right. There. I literally gasped and stared at it because I had no idea where it came from, up until that point I didn’t even know I owned it, I don’t even really recall buying it but I was happy as fuck to see it lol.

20. A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole

This one is random as fuck, I know. This book isn’t easy to recommend so I’m kind of not going to lol. I don’t want to be the reason of confusion and disappointment but for me personally, the book was funny as fuck lol. It’s a humor not everyone is going to vibe with, some might even be a little grossed out by it which is understandable because the main protagonist is disgusting though very unforgettable. This book is outrageous and ridiculous.

21. Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin 

Another very interesting story I’m about to recall. I read this book during the worst point of my life. It was 2013 and the summer had taken a turn for the worst. I was really really really sick this year but won’t go into detail. It just also happened to be the year I started university in the fall as a transfer student. It was rough to make that transition from what I had endured that summer. While away at school I decided to pick this up. On first read I thought it was just okay and gave it 3 stars but I thought about it years later and wondered if I really felt that way about the book. Fast forward to 2018 which was the best year of my life, I decided to reread this book for the rereadathon which took place for a week in March and it was because of that year’s rereadathon which was a huge success that I decided to dedicate the whole month to mainly rereading books. So I reread this that week which was the best week in my life because all my rereads were hitting! And I was shocked because on second read I was in love with this. I bumped it up to 5 stars and made it a fave. It’s crazy how your mindset can really play a part in how you could receive a book or story. Because I wasn’t in a good headspace this book didn’t do much for me in 2013 but since I was much happier and healthier in 2018 it was one of the best things I’ve ever read. If I were to read this for a third time to break the tie… I bet big money I would still consider it 5 stars.

22. Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie 

Great author to begin with. This book made me tear up. I recall having a little embarrassing moment while reading this where a bus driver was curious as to what I was reading and I gave her a very vague synopsis, mentioning a war that takes place during the story. She wanted to know more about the war and which war but I didn’t really know how to answer her because it’s like, I knew what was going on in the story but it was hard to explain the story. I also at the time didn’t realize that this wasn’t a fictional war mentioned in the story… it actually happened. So I need to reread this to become better informed on the story.

23. Uzumaki by Junji Ito

Junji Ito became my favorite manga artist because of this right here. I remember I was reading this during Thanksgiving 2016 I believe. Right after eating I had to jump back into this story, it was too good. I was surrounded by family eating and chatting on Thanksgiving day while just sitting in the corner reading this lol.

24. Vicious by Victoria E. Schwab

Remember that formula I was talking about earlier of the kinds of stories I like to read? This is one of them. You take the relationship between two guys who become roommates/sort of friends to enemies and the story is dark as well, I was here for all of it. The timeline jumps are pretty wild but besides that this was so entertaining.

25. A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness

My feels, oh, my feels. This is a sob worthy story. It’s so good, I love me a sad story.

26. Horrorstör by Grady Hendrix

I think this was the first book I read by Hendrix and it was amazing. This book gives me such creative vibes, from the story to the look of the book. I was confused when I first read this because I was like, why is this funny? I thought this was a horror book. But it gets there… the lead up to it is awesome. I remember being creeped out by the change in furniture with each passing chapter and the one scene with the cam recorder filming the different rooms in the store. What a great first impression. I also could relate to how the main character was feeling about her job by the end of this story.

27. Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds

This read had me literally on the edge of my seat. I just kept flipping the pages, couldn’t stop reading. I think I was even holding my breath when it got to the ending. It’s very likely I was just because of how good and attention grabbing this story was. This book was very dark, it actually reminded me of the movie Tales From the Hood which scared the fuck out of me as a kid and even now to this day as an adult.

28. Monday’s Not Coming by Tiffany D. Jackson

Well if this isn’t a depressing little story we got here. It’s so good, though. The time line jumps in this is also pretty wild. Did not see the plot twist coming, I don’t know who could have seen that coming but it’s just so devastating.

29. Lord John and the Private Matter by Diana Gabaldon

I’m obsessed with Lord John Grey. He is now one of my favorite characters of all time. I haven’t read Outlander yet but I read this once I’d learned that Lord John is a gay character originally from the Outlander series. And I’m all about my gay boys and BL. I was shipping him and Trevelyan so hard. I also became in love with the name Trevelyan and had vowed to name my first born that lol. But one thing about me, I love my historical m/m romance books.

30. The Secret History by Donna Tartt

Ya’ll… listen… listen. I first started this book in 2019. I didn’t finish it until 2024. I’ve lost you but it’s okay. If I was loving the book why did it take me so long to read it? That’s the thing… I was loving this book so much that once I got to page 114 I set the book down, gave it 5 stars and didn’t really think to pick it back up because I already knew I was going to give it 5 stars so why not start something else? Thankfully my brain doesn’t work this way anymore. But I finally got around to picking this book back up last year and it was one of the highlights from that year for me. This book left me thinking about it for daysss once I finished it. That ending was everything! Perfection.

31. Friends and Lovers by Eric Jerome Dickey

Dickey is the first author for my Authors Galore challenge (see last post). I had never read anything by him so I decided to start from the beginning. This isn’t his first book, it’s his second I believe and it’s my favorite of his to date so far. The relationships between these characters felt so authentic and the romance was just right and realistic. Something does happen unexpectedly later in the story which threw the story off for me but the rest of the book over shadows that. This was still great to me.

32. I’m Thinking of Ending Things by Iain Reid

I don’t know where to begin with this one. This ain’t for everybody though, but it was for me. I highly recommend the audiobook to get the full experience… it’s creepy as fuck and also had me on the edge of my seat. I always thought this made for good ambience sound on a Halloween night.

33. Oona Out of Order by Margarita Montimore

This was so much fun! I don’t care if there were plot holes this was a great reading experience. I didn’t want to put the book down and I lowkey had a little crush on Crosby in this. I also discovered a new favorite song from this. Ugh! This was so good!

34. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

This was good, sad and pretty humorous. I remember balling my eyes out listening to Alexie talk about his friend at the end of the audiobook.

35. Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

This was very impressive and should be required reading. I can’t talk highly enough about this book, it was so creative and well done.

36. Megumi and Tsugumi, Vol. 1 by Mitsuru Si 

The way I instantly knew this story had playback value. I was in loooooove with this! It was so good. The smut was chef’s kiss and here I am finding Megumi, an anime character, fine as fuckkk! I went ahead and bought all the other books in the series after finishing this. Still waiting on Vol. 5… I don’t own that one yet.

37. Megumi and Tsugumi, Vol. 2 by Mitsuru Si

AhhhhhhgsjdmrusmdosnERMAHGERDandhdijjksinsjsmklsjhiakaldbh!! I loved this just as much as the first one. This can get read again and again for my enjoyment.

And those are all my faves to date. Can’t wait to come across more.

Type soon ✌🏾