I would caution from calling myself a bibliophil these days, since reading anything beyond Curious George Goes to the Circus is pretty scarce. But this weekend gave me with lots of opportunity to read while I was traveling. The time provided me with a renewed sense of love for reading and made me recall the books that have made the biggest impression on me over the years. Here, in no real order, are my top favorite books.

1. Scarlet Pimpernel – Perhaps this is justly placed at Number 1. Scarlet Pimpernel is favorite book and has been for years. If I’m going to read, and can’t find something to hold my interest, I turn to Scarlet Pimpernel. I’ve read it at least a dozen times. {Perhaps that’s why I don’t read a lot of books – I usually re-read all my favorites.}
2. Harry Potter series – Go ahead and laugh. Or agree with me. People seems so divided on the Potter series. I started the Potter series at this crazy, painful time in my life. It was a great escape from reality and I loved it. I’ve read the last 3 books several times and while I don’t plan to re-read them before the release of the last movie, they will come out again at some point.
3. Chronicles of Narnia – I grew up reading The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe but it wasn’t until Jonathan bought me the series that I had read the others. Amazing. Like most people know, there is such amazing allegories through out this series that just capture me. And my overwhelming love of lions doesn’t hurt.
4. I Never Promised You a Rose Garden – A harrowing semi-autobiographical story about a teenaged girl battling schizophrenia. Haunting in many ways, this book made me walk away realizing the true struggle and battle of mental illness.
5. The Alchemist – I read this book while struggling with my faith in my last semester of college. I read it back to back in less than a month. Then I made Jonathan read it. Then our friend, then my mom. And then I re-read it. God really used the Alchemist to push me over from complacency to  desire to seek Him.
6. The Bible – Jonah – As a Christian I will say that the Bible is by far the best “book” to read. It constantly speaks to me in new ways, revealing God’s heart to me. However, over the course of the years, no book in the Bible has spoken to me more than Jonah. A constant reflection of who I am in comparison to my great and mighty God, Jonah and I are two very similar people.
7. Pride and Prejudice – I’m not one for love stories {or romances}. And if I’m going to read one, I need strong characters, nothing fruity and shallow. If you’ve ever read Pride and Prejudice {or seen the movies} you know there is nothing weak or shallow about Darcy and Elizabeth. And while my little teenaged heart use to go pitter-patter for Darcy, my woman’s heart go pitter-patter for having my own Darcy.
8. To Kill a Mockingbird – I am fairly certain it is a right of passage for all Southerners to read Harper Lee. A beautiful book about racism, seeing past skin color and the heart of the Deep South.
9. The Hiding Place – While I was introduced to Corrie ten Boom as a child, it wasn’t until I read the Hiding Place as an adult that I fully comprehended the overwhelming truths in her book.
10. A Mr. and Mrs. Darcy Mystery series – I have slowly made my way through the first three books in this series since May. I think my willingness to already throw them into a favorite category comes from 1) my love of Austen, 2) my gratitude at the books stay so close to the true personalities of Darcy and Elizabeth. See my review here.

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