Favorite Books: The Always and Forever Edition

When I was writing The Life and Death of Terry Dodd so much of it came from my young adult and childhood experiences, and the books I read.

So many of the books I love are because of the magic they held for me as a child and still hold for me. And some of them go into "mood" book categories, which require a certain "mood" to want to read them.

I set out to write down a list of books that would go on my "Ultimate Favorite Books" list, high school to adult hood. Books I will love for eternity, that I will always be "in the mood" for, no matter what.

It came out surprisingly short.

In no particular order:

I Heard the Owl Call My Name, by Margaret Craven
Margaret Craven is quite honestly the most beautiful descriptive writer I have ever read. This book only nurtured my growing desire to explore the Pacific Northwest.

Persuasion, by Jane Austen
My favorite Jane Austen. Always.

Sarah, Plain and Tall, Patricia MacLachlan
Loved it when I was a girl. Love it still.

The Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Grahame
My sister and I, one day in early fall, we make a pie, we make tea, set out the cream and sugar, and we watch the animated film of this book. It's like the beginning of autumn celebration for us. But nothing ever compares to the book.

Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott
I only read this book, the entire thing, for the first time last year. But the March girls have been an inspiration and a hallmark to both me and my sisters all our lives.

Savage Sam, Fred Gipson
Daddy read this to us, six bright eyed kids tumbling over chairs and couches, listening to the Texas drawl and Travis and all his fifteen-year-old courageous boy-man bravery. Loving dogs goes way back in my family, too.

The Hundred Dresses, Eleanor Estes
For all the shy little girls out there who are artists at heart and are too afraid to share it.

A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens
I think Father Christmas did almost die when the world lost Charles Dickens.

To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee
If ever I wanted to write a book, I decided I wanted it be like this one.

One Thousand Gifts, Ann Voskamp
My mama said this book saved her life. And looking back, I think it saved mine, too. More like, it was a passage God used to turn hundreds of thousands of lives around to finding beauty.

Anne of Green Gables (the series), by L.M. Montgomery
Dear, wonderful Anne. She's really loved by this family of dreamers I live with.

And then there are some of which I have never read the book personally but know the stories so well! Books like Rascal and Summer of the Monkeys, Bridge to Terabithia.

What are your favorite books? The books you read when you're curled up in bed, sick with a cold, or just feel like reading all the time because you love them?