Recommended Reading

Academia and Sartorial: It's Homecoming weekend at my university, and when you live in a town that owes its entire existence to a university, Homecoming tends to shut everything down. The university, all of the schools, and many businesses are closed today for the Homecoming parade, and there's a big pep rally tonight. Cary and I are skipping all of that because 1) we've done it all several times before, 2) our football team kinda sucks right now, and 3) my grandmother's 80th birthday party is tomorrow. So we're at my parents' house for the weekend instead, and this is what I wore yesterday for work and the drive down.

Fun Stuff: Friend Friday is all about books today. I love to read, so I'm really excited about this. We're supposed to share either our five favorite or five that we've read recently. I'm going with my five favorite. In no particular order, here they are:

1. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. I've mentioned before on this blog how much I love this book, but I'll say it again. This is the best book ever. It has everything you'd ever want in a book. I named my cat after one of the characters. It's that great.
2. The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien. I'm counting the whole trilogy as one book, since that's how Tolkien wrote it. Best part: Frodo and Sam's final climb up Mount Doom. It's such a great trilogy that I hate to say there's a worst part, but here it is: the Council of Elrond. Five minutes in the movie, fifty pages in the book, during which the plot completely ground to a halt.
3. Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. I know it's not politically trendy to like Ayn Rand right now, but I really loved this book. Beyond the philosophical message of the book, which is definitely interesting whether or not you agree with it, it had strong characters and a great plot. And now I know what "Who is John Galt?" means, so I feel like I'm on the inside of an inside joke when people say it.
4. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by JK Rowling. It was hard to pick one Harry Potter book above the rest (shout-out to Prisoner of Azkaban), but Deathly Hallows really had it all: a fast-paced, heart-pounding plot, a killer battle scene, a make-out session inspired by house elves, and formerly tame characters being total badasses (what's up, Neville Longbottom and Mrs. Weasley). Plus, the whole book (and really the whole series) was a wonderful reflection on love and death, and the power the former gives us over the latter. Definitely not just for kids, y'all.
5. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. I read this book approximately 587 times when I was a kid. Really, every little girl should read this book. Even though it's 150 years old, what it has to say about young women and how they relate to each other and the world still holds up.

So there you have it, y'all. My five favorite books of all time. There are tons of books that I love, but these are the five that will stick with me for the rest of my life. What about y'all? What are your favorite books?