⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ all-time favorite books
Here are my top picks for the best books of all time. These are the five-star reads that altered my brain chemistry!
Heads up, this page contains some affiliate links, which means I may get a commission if you make a purchase. The individual links go to Amazon, but you can also view the full list on Bookshop.org, a nonprofit Amazon alternative dedicated to supporting indie bookstores (and my personal favorite website to shop for books online). To find out more, you can read our full affiliate disclosure right here.
books that defined my reading taste
LIT FIC
Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 by Cho Nam-Joo
ROMANCE
Seven Days In June by Tia Williams
Nonfiction
The Library Book by Susan Orlean
Poetry
cozy books to curl up with
COZY FANTASY
Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree
Cozy Romance
The Very Secret Society Of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna
Cozy Rom Com
The Bodyguard by Katherine Center
Cozy Graphic novel
Cozy Series
Cozy Sci-Fi
A Psalm For The Wild-Built by Becky Chambers
Cozy YA
A Castle In The Clouds by Kerstin Gier
Cozy Children’s Book
The Boy, The Mole, The Fox, And The Horse by Charlie Mackesy
essential reading
Memoir
LGBTQIA+
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
You Look Like A Thing And I Love You by Janelle Shane
NOTES On Success
CLASSIC
Letters To A Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke
YA
The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo
Middle Grade
For Creatives
weird and wonderful books
Dark Academia
Fantasy
The 13 1/2 Lives Of Captain Bluebear by Walter Moers
Contemporary
Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu
Mystery
Thriller
My Sister, The Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite
INCEPTION: Book Edition
The Woman In The Library by Sulari Gentill
lIT fIC
Strange Weather In Tokyo by Hiroma Kawakami
Classic
books with all the feels
YA
The Astonishing Color Of After by Emily X.R. Pan
CONTEMPORARY
A Man Called Ove by Frederik Backman
Found Family
One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston
HOPEFUL
TRAVEL
Audiobook
Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Here For The Metaphors
Clap When You Land By Elizabeth Acevedo
GUT-WRENCHING
fantasy books and fantasy worlds
CHILDHOOD FAVORITE
The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
Classic
YA STANDALONE
Every Heart A Doorway by Seanan McGuire
Harry Potter Nostalgia
listen to the audiobook
Celebrity Memoir
The Rural Diaries by Hilarie Burton Morgan
Celebrity Memoir
Celebrity Memoir
I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy
Celebrity Memoir
YA Mystery
Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson
Romance
People We Meet On Vacation by Emily Henry
BRING TISSUES
How To Say Babylon by Safia Sinclair
By A Favorite Author
classics (better than assigned reading)
Start wITH
Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
Gothic
The Phantom Of The Opera by Gaston Leroux
American Lit
FAVORITE CHRISTMAS REREAD
An austen
Short Story
The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
Dark Academia
The Picture Of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
Play
a few more favorites
Travel
Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
mystery
Finlay Donovan Is Killing It by Elle Cosimano
YA ROMANCE
Save The Date by Morgan Matson
Read At The Right Time
