I’ve really missed doing Friday Favorites, and since no one was currently hosting it, Cait @ Functionally Fictional decided to jump into the gap. Each week, she provides a prompt, and I get to talk about my favorite books that fit the topic. Feel free to join in – the more the merrier!

I might as well just call this week ‘Gratitude Week,’ because it feels like all my posts have been either book reviews or posts about what I’m grateful for. Today’s prompt is books I’m grateful for. And there’s so many books I can be grateful for, for a variety of reasons, which I’ll explain next to the book. I’ve also included Amazon links.

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Here are some of my favorite books to be grateful for:

1. My Magic Telephone by Daphne Doward Hogstrom. This is the first book that I remember reading, and it sparked not only my love for reading, but also my imagination. I carried it around everywhere, and I still had it up until a few years ago. It was falling apart, but I duct taped it back together and gifted it to my great-niece. Amazon
2. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. I read this independently in high school, and it showed me that I could read difficult books and understand them, applying what I was learning in school. Also, it sparked my love of Russian literature, and reinforced that school reading wasn’t necessarily challenging me. Amazon
3. A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas. This was the first fantasy book that I read since I was a child, and it opened up a whole new world for me. As someone who spent most of my childhood in my own imagination, this quickly became my favorite genre. Amazon
4. Lost in Darkness (formerly Hook) by Gina L. Maxwell. I haven’t read romance since the 1990s, when it was nowhere near what the genre is today. It left me with an overwhelming distaste for the genre, until my friend insisted I try this book. I read it, and fell in love with the way Gina tells a story. This opened the door for me to start reading more romance, even if it isn’t my first choice of genres. Amazon
5. The City Beautiful by Aden Polydoros. This was the first time I ever really saw myself represented in a story that wasn’t related to the Holocaust. Growing up, there wasn’t a lot of Jewish representation unless it was Holocaust books, so I was so glad to see Jewish culture represented in a different way, especially in a fantasy setting. Amazon
6. Jade City by Fonda Lee. This was the first time I really participated in a buddy read, and I’ll never forget how amazing it was to have someone to gush about a book with, in real time. We got to come up with the most ridiculous theories, no matter how outlandish, and some of them actually panned out! It was a great read and a great experience with my buddy. Amazon
7. Marry Me by Midnight by Felicia Grossman. First of all, seeing a traditionally published book with a man with a kippah (yarmulke) on the cover was so affirming, since it isn’t something I’ve seen before. I loved seeing such an overwhelmingly Jewish story, and it was so well done! Amazon
8. Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. Traveling has always been a passion of mine, but I always used to think that women couldn’t travel alone. After reading this, I realized that not only could I travel alone, but I could have life-changing experiences away from home, and my gender didn’t have to hold me back from traveling solo. Amazon
9. Night by Elie Wiesel. Reading Holocaust memoirs is very difficult for me, but I always try my hardest to read them. I’ve read this one a number of times, and always take away something different each time. I’m grateful that true, nonfiction, survivor accounts exist, and that survivors took the time to recount the worst, most painful time in their life to record for posterity. Amazon
10. Moloka’i by Alan Brennert. Before reading this book, I had no idea that there was a leper colony in Hawaii. Not only did this book teach me about that, but it also delved into the colonization of Hawaii, and how the native population was treated. Books have educated me so much, and that’s just one of the many reasons I am grateful to books. Amazon

Which books are you grateful for?