Of course my list couldn’t be complete with out Twilight by Stephenie Meyer. I know I’ve gushed before, and I’m sure I will again, about how much I love Meyer’s series. But for me the best one is still the first one. I love that after reading Twilight you still get an impression of freshness and hope that in the later books isn’t there. It was great when I first read it and I still love it.

Tithe: A Modern Faerie Tale by Holly Black is another young adult novel that I wouldn’t part with for the world. Fairy tales and the retelling or reforming of classics has always been a platform that authors have used to a greater or lesser extent; some with more success than others. Holly Black is one of the few authors that has taken a basic idea, something that her readers can identify with, and then given it a totally original spin. Tithe is the first of a loosely connected trio of books that takes the classic idea of a fairy tale and re-imagines it for a new generation of readers. Last but not least is Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris. This is the first book of her Southern Vampire Mysteries, a series that has 8 books now with the newest release of From Dead to Worse. It’s always so hard to pick a favorite with a long running series but I feel the best place to start is with the beginning. Harris’ character Sookie Stackhouse is original and entertaining and the world that she lives in is almost ours, except for the vampires and weres. Reading this series is like eating a bag of chips, you just can’t stop.