Ever since I was a kid, I’ve loved to read.  I can still remember my mom taking me to the library for the very first time and picking out books with her.  I love going to bookstores and I always have some kind of book with me.  Here are some of my favorites:

1. A SUMMER TO DIE, by Lois Lowry:  I read this book when I was in sixth grade and I can still remember scenes from it.  If you’re going to read it, you’re going to need to have some Kleenex handy!
   
   
2. THE WORLD OF NORMAL BOYS, by K. M. Soehnlein:  This is an amazing first novel of a teenage boy in the 1970s realizing he’s gay.  At the same time, a horrible accident happens in his family.
   
   
3. LEAVE MYSELF BEHIND, by Bart Yates:  Another amazing first novel.  It focuses on Noah York, a teenage boy whose father has recently died and is just starting to realize he’s gay.  He’s also in love with the boy next door…and that’s going to cause problems when the kids at his high school find out.
   
   
4. HARRIET THE SPY, by Louise Fitzhugh:  I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve read this novel. 
   
   
5. HOLLYWOOD WIVES, by Jackie Collins:  Perfect beach reading.  A bunch of characters in Hollywood are all clawing their way to the top.  It was made into a very bad TV mini-series in the 1980s.  Of course I own a copy of it!
   
   
6. Anything by Sophie Kinsella.  If you haven’t read her Shopaholic novels, you don’t know what you’re missing!
   
   
7. Stephen King’s Salem’s Lot and Pet Sematary.  Two of the scariest novels I’ve ever read!
   
   
8. FLOWERS IN THE ATTIC, by V.C. Andrews:  This book redefines the word gothic.  You’ll read it in one sitting.  And then you’ll want to read the sequels:  Petals on the Wind, If There Be Thorns, Seeds of Yesterday and Garden of Shadows. But Flowers and Petals are the best.
   
   
9. SUMMER OF FEAR and I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER, by Lois Duncan:  One of the first “scary” authors I read as a teenager. Reading I know What You Did Last Summer made me want to read all her other novels. Which I did!