July's FEATURED AUTHOR: Kelly's top 5 books...

Today, our Featured Author Kelly Meding stops in to share some of her favorite reads with us...

Trying to narrow down a list of favorite books is like trying to choose between Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup and Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough as my favorite ice cream.  I can't pick between them!  The list is also ever-evolving, I think, as my tastes change and I read new things.

However, in the interest of brevity, I think I've managed to narrow it down to five books.  And at least one reason why it's a favorite (plus some additional rambling).

5. WATCHMEN, by Alan Moore.  This is a new addition to the list, because I only read it last year for the first time (I know, I know).   And I can see why this graphic novel has earned its place on various Best Novel lists.  Anyone who dismisses it as just a comic book is an idiot, because it is so much more.  It's more than a book about superheroes, too.  It's a lot of things, and "amazing" is definitely one of those things.

4. DIFFERENT SEASONS, by Stephen King.  This collection of four novellas include the stories that eventually became the acclaimed films "The Shawshank Redemption" and "Stand By Me."  Trust me when I say the stories are even better, and the other two offerings ("Apt Pupil" and "The Breathing Method") are worthy reads, as well.  Of all of King's work (and I've read a good chunk), it's this collection that I always return to as my all-time favorite.  The novellas display King's ability to showcase human nature and tell enthralling stories, minus the blood and horror that he's regularly known for, and I think this shorter format is where he really shines.

3. THE STORY GIRL/THE GOLDEN ROAD, by LM Montgomery.  I always put these books together, because they are a duology that just have to be read as a unit.  More than the Anne Shirley books, I adore these stories about Sara Stanley and her friends/family in the small town of Carlisle, Prince Edward Island.  They are full of love, laughter, drama and heartache.  They inspired me to keep my own dream journal, and to try and see the story in every situation.  My copies are so worn the covers are flaking off, and it's about time I gave them both another reread.

2. THE OUTSIDERS, by SE Hinton.  Like many kids, I first read this in English class.  This was one of the first books to make me want to be a writer.  I was enthralled not just by Ponyboy and his friends, but also by the fact that the author wrote this book when she was sixteen.  Sixteen!  While my own thinly-veiled attempt to write my own version of this book is forever hidden away in my office, never to see the light of day again, I'll never forget the feeling I got reading that book for the first time.  Or how much it made me want to be like SE Hinton and publish that young.  It's another book I reread on occasion, and has one of the few movie adaptations that does the book justice.

1. WATERSHIP DOWN, by Richard Adams.  Okay, so maybe choosing one all-time favorite book isn't impossible, because if I had to pick one book to take with me to a desert island, it would be this one.  I read it for the first time in seventh grade.  Then I read it again right away.  I must have read it at least twice a year through high school.  It's been a few years since I've reread the whole book, but it's one that has always stuck with me.  And I don't care that it's basically a quest novel featuring rabbits.  It's an amazing novel, full of drama and hope and love and mythology and terrific characters (and any novel that can make me like a seagull gets extra
points).

So there they are.  My five favorite books (six, if you want to get technical about number three).  If you haven't read them yet, then get thee to the library and check them out.  I can't promise that you'll love them just because I love them, but you never know until you try, right?

I won't get technical about number three... *grin* I have to admit that none of these are on my read list, but that's something I'll rectify as soon as I can! What about y'all? Have you read Kelly's top five?