Top 10 Books

My absolute favourite book of all time. I love how tragic and poignant the story is, with the creation and subsequent abandonement of the monster making the reader question the fairness of its actions. It also asks the question, one that is relevant to this day, of what is it truly to be human. If you haven't read it yet, I urge you to do so! Even if you think you dislike the premise because of how pop culture portrays Frankestein's monster. Because I promise you, the original work cannot be compared to the dumbed down, groaning version of the monster.

This is not the best book by any means. The writing can be sloppy at times, it relies heavily on tropes and it will never have that philosophical value that the classics have. Regardless, this book has secured its place into my heart forever. It has a very comforting atmosphere, one that puts an emphasis on healing trauma, instead of creating one more for a plot twist, or some sort of character growth. It's slow. It's comforting. And for those reasons, it's one of my favourites.

Since it's the fourth book in a 6-part-series, I can't recommend it to everyone, but I will say this: If you have a similar taste to mine, you will not regret starting.

A Hungarian classic, one that everyone in middle school is required to read. And I hate to admit it but I despised this book in third grade. I barely got through it. Since then, however, I have reread it 3 times already, and I loved it more and more each time. I think the strongest point of this novel is its characters. Some might say that the book is great "even though they are children" but I think that it is fascinating because the characters are children. Molnár Ferenc does an excellent job at capturing the childlike nature of the boys while also showing their values and flaws. This novel never fails to make me cry. And the very end of it is so haunting that I ponder about it to this day.

Yet another classic that I was required to read for school and that I ended up falling in love with. A play about opposites: man and woman, young and old, ruler and subject, god and mortal. Antigone and Creon, the two main characters, stand at the opposite sides, with their loved ones trying (and failing) to bridge the gap between them, eventually leading to a tragedy that could've been easily avoided if not for the stubbornness of both parties – and that is what makes it human. In a quest to defy the gods, it is easy to turn a blind eye to what truly matters.

The Picture of Dorian Gray was the first piece of Gothic literature I've read, and I could never quite get it out of my head. It is meant to provoke you, to question your vanity while showing you the slow descent of the protagonist as he goes from prim and proper Englishman into someone so deep into his own hedonism that he would give up anything for it. With a lot of wittiness packed into the writing amidst of all the darkness.

Amidst all of the darkness, Oscar Wilde packs a lot of wittiness into his writing, making it not only a thought-provoking read, but an enjoyable one.

It has been years since I've read this book, or any other books in the series. Despite that, this book series was a formative part of my childhood and I still think of them fondly. This novel reads very easily, providing a perfect opportunity for children to not only fall in love with reading but also Greek mythology. I know that was the case for me.

It is a purely sentimental choice, putting this book into the top ten, but I couldn't help it. This was the first ever book I bought alone, with my own money. I picked it randomly, but the content of it was exactly what I needed back then: A coming of age story that is nothing extraordinary but full of hope and possibilities. As simple as that.

I've read The Giver before I even knew what a dytopia was. I went into it without thinking too hard about it, but once I got to the core of the story, I remember not being able to put it down. As I was reading the main character deal with memories of other people, I could also see the memories in my own head, vividly. This story left me in absolute awe, while reading it, and also after finishing it. I recommend it to everyone, really – including myself. I'm due for a reread!

The first book in a 4-part-series, and this book sure takes you for a ride. The mysthicism and the occult is interwoven in the story, yet at the heart of it is a story of a group of friends. None of them are ordinary people, but they form a bond so profoundly human that it keeps them grounded in reality. There isn't really a plot in this book. Or there is, buti t takes a backseat. The main thing that this book tries to convey is a feeling, an aura, an impression of something indescribeable. It pulls you in to experience the book just as the characters do. Perhaps that is why it is so easy to form a connection to every odd member of this central friend group.

A classic whodunit mystery set in a high school setting, blending mytique and drama. Four students become suspects after their classmate dies right under their noses. Each of them have their secrets, but none of them could be murderers… Right?

This books kept me on my toes the whole way through. I was following along with the story while on the edge of my seat, trying to keep track of all the threads that would eventually lead to the solution of this mystery. Some tropes are recognisable, but they didn't bother me personally. I highly recommend it to any teen or young adult that loves reading myteries.