Top 10 Most Memorable Reads

1. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn - Betty Smith
I rarely read a book twice until I encountered this novel in the fifth grade and devoured it in order to reach my AR goal, then fell in love and read it again as soon as I felt I'd forgotten the bulk of the story line at age fourteen. I'm looking forward to reading it again next year.
2. The Perks of Being a Wallflower - Stephen Chobsky
 Charlie is the most honest and lovable protagonist I've ever had the pleasure of knowing, and this book is responsible for some my favorite profound-yet-obvious quotes. From "We accept the love we think we deserve" to Charlie's description of the paramount of what it means to be a teenager -  "I feel infinite," there are so many words, ideas, and events that manage to untangle the convoluted feelings every teenager has in a sentence and really hit home.
3. Nine Stories - J.D. Salinger
"A Perfect Day for Bananafish" was my first taste of a short story that had as much psychological dysfunction going as did many full-length novels. I loved it. After Nine Stories, a desire for more short stories (about mentally unstable characters, of course) led me to the next book on my list.
4. The Best of Roald Dahl
Twisted, sick and filled with fantasy, I love how much each story in this collection makes me think. In fact, it's one of the only books I've read where I prefer to take a hiatus after each section, rather than being unable to put it down. I can't move on to a man accidentally betting his daughter away to an undesirable suitor before I'm done pondering the idea that trees can scream... there's just so much to chew on in each little chunk.
5. Deadline - Chris Crutcher
I read this book while shadowing PCDS last year. It's the reason I got in a bit of trouble for going 'missing', because I was holed up in the library crying over the ending... and it was totally worth it.
6. The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
As far as a book I had to read for school, I'm generally pretty good about pacing myself through the duration of the unit by reading a few chapters a night. I didn't go to bed until about 5:00 a.m. so that I could finish The Kite Runner in 24 hours. I laughed, and I cried a lot more than I laughed, but the ending was so beautiful that I didn't even care whether I was crying over the book or just due to pure exhaustion.
7. Flowers for Algernon - Daniel Keys
This book combines the best of #1 and #2 and #5 on my list. I've read Flowers for Algernon multiple times with pleasure, and it's another book with a lovable, innocent and honest protagonist named Charlie, who will at some point in the story undoubtedly make me cry.
8. Bossypants - Tina Fey
It's incredibly rare that I laugh out loud while reading, but I couldn't stop while reading this recount of Tina Fey's life. It's sad, it's hilarious, and it's raunchy at times, but it all comes together to make for a comically real, relatable story that's worth a lot more than a few cheap laughs.
9. Why I'm Like This - Cynthia Kaplan
I read this book twice- once when I was far too young to understand a lot of the themes, and again when I could not only understand, but connect with many of them. It's served as a marker in the progression of my life and has some sentimental value when I think of it on an individual level. Other than that, it's just a great collection of stories.
10. The Watsons Go To Birmingham - Christopher Paul Curtis
This was the first book that I ever read at school and absolutely adored, ravaged, and cried over. I still remember tearing up over the part where Byron, the older brother, has an emotional breakdown when he knocks a pigeon off of a telephone wire with a cookie and kills it... and I haven't read this book in 7 years. I consider that staying power.