Top 5 Wednesday: Books I’m Thankful For

Top 5 Wednesday is hosted by Sam from Thoughts on Tomes, and you can check out the Goodreads group to see more topics for this month!

Notice how it says “top 5” yet I manage to sneak 25 titles in there. I’m Mega Thankful for books, always.

1.  Harry Potter by JK Rowling

I’m a broken record saying this, but Harry Potter truly was my gateway to the my love of reading as a kid. My life revolved around Harry Potter as a teen, and it was such a comfort to have as a shy, awkward kid who wasn’t great at making friends or being cool, but had Hogwarts to escape to. These books were also basically the reason I studied abroad in England during college. Harry Potter has very truly helped me become the person I am ❤

2. The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater

Another broken record, but the Raven Cycle was the first book series I became seriously passionate in YEARS when I read it last year. The characters, the world, everything reawakened my love of reading. It lead me to start this blog because I wanted to review and talk about it, which has lead me to make all the friends I’ve met on here, which strikes me as a very Raven Cycle Thing. I also buddy read it with one of my best friends, which makes it hold an even more special place in my heart (and we met Maggie just this past Monday!).

3. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

This might be a unique reason to be thankful for this book, but when I was a 14 year old freshman in high school, I was not the happiest of young teens, but I had an amazing English teacher who assigned us this book (among others- Romeo and Juliet, Of Mice and Men, Great Expectations. All of which could go on this list for similar reasons), and I became so touched by the story and passionate about it and the characters, it revived my gloomy soul. This book and the teacher who taught it to me greatly influenced how I felt about studying English, and even though I went on to be an English major in college, that will forever be my favorite English class, and this book will always hold an extremely special place in my heart.

4. The Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan

I’m veery thankful to the original Percy Jackson books for starting my passion for Greek mythology. They lead me to take a Greek mythology course in college, to all the AMAZING retellings I’ve read since (Song of Achilles, An Arrow’s Flight, Till We Have Faces, to name a few), to the Iliad itself, which I read last year. These books have truly enhanced my interest in mythology, which, before, was basically nonexistent.

5. A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

I’m thankful for this book and the astronomical amount of pain it caused me, Amen.

I also feel like this book solidified by friendship with fellow bloggers Rachel and Chelsea. Once you bond over the pain of A Little Life, there’s no going back. We love the pain.

Exhibit A: 

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I’m an thankful for books and bookish friendships and the stories that make us enjoy being alive :’) What books are you thankful for??