Yes, that's rights, favorite books, as in more than one. Of course, as a Christian, my favorite book of all-time is the Bible, especially the New Living Translation (NLT). However, I am also a life-long lover of books of all kinds, so I can't make a post about favorite books without mentioning others I have enjoyed over the years. I'm not going to give you a numbered list like I did in my previous "30 Days" posts; instead, I'll just tell you about them, and, if you like what you hear, you can go seek them out.
By now, you all probably know how nerdy I am in a lot of respects, so, naturally, I love various kinds of science fiction and fantasy novels. I've mentioned before about Star Wars and Star Trek novels, and they really are quite good. You might think that they're just shoddily written books meant to cash in on the popularity of George Lucas' and Gene Roddenberry's blockbuster space operas, but you'd be wrong. In fact, many times, the writers of the SW novels do a better job than Lucas ever did with writing the films' screenplays. Michael A. Stackpole and Aaron Allston's works, such as the X-Wing series and I, Jedi, are perfect examples of that. The Trek books are great, too; among my favorite ST authors are Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens, John Vornholt, and Diane Carey.
In my Day Two post, I mentioned that I love superhero movies, especially Spider-Man 2, which is my favorite film of all-time. I'll admit to not being a fan of superhero comic books--the only comics I like are ones in the daily paper, such as Garfield or Mother Goose and Grimm; more on that later--but I have quite enjoyed novels about superheroes from the DC and Marvel universes. I am currently reading the Gamma Quest trilogy, which is an amazing X-Men/Avengers/Hulk crossover. Other such titles I've loved are: the Legacy Quest, Chaos Engine, and Mutant Empire trilogies (all X-Men,) the Justice League of America series (which features well-known DC superheroes, including Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, and the Flash) and the Doom's Day trilogy (featuring a smattering of Marvel heroes such as Spider-Man, the Incredible Hulk, the Fantastic Four, and even Iron Man.)
But wait...there's more! Other sci-fi/fantasy series that I have enjoyed are: the Acorna series by Anne McCaffrey, Margaret Ball and Elizabeth Ann Scarborough; the Circle trilogy by Ted Dekker; Isaac Asimov's Robot City by various authors; and, last but certainly not least, the Academy and Alex Benedict series by Jack McDevitt.
Despite being a nerd, there are other types of books I enjoy besides sci-fi and fantasy. One such genre is mysteries. I've read quite a few of Agatha Christie's works, and loved all of them. Lee Goldberg also did a very good job with (some) of the Monk and Diagnosis Murder books, although a few novels in each series--not all of them--were quite crude. The same goes for Colin Dexter's Inspector Morse series. (If you want to know which ones in those series are not crude, take a look at my book review page on Facebook or LivingSocial.) Even lesser-known authors such as Jim Walker, Randy Alcorn and Kathy Herman have written some good ones. Of course, how could I bring up mysteries without mentioning Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of the iconic Sherlock Holmes?
I'm going to make a confession here: Despite being a 23-year-old guy, there has been some fiction that was not intended for people my age and/or gender, but I still really enjoyed it. One of my recent favorites was Janice Thompson's Weddings by Bella series. The three books are all reminiscent of classic movie "romcoms" such as While You Were Sleeping, Ella Enchanted and Leap Year. Other "girly" favorites of mine include Melody Carlson's True Colors series and several books, especially the Above the Line series, by Karen Kingsbury. When it comes to more guy-friendly juvenile and young adult fiction, I have enjoyed the Alex Rider and Diamond Brothers series by Anthony Horowitz, the Dreamhouse Kings books by Robert Liparulo, the Time Quintet by Madeleine L'Engle, Maximum Ride by James Patterson, and, of course, Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling.
I don't do much non-fiction--other than the Bible, of course--but I will say that the ...For Dummies titles are very informative and fun. Also, for many years, I have enjoyed the Garfield books by Jim Davis. I wouldn't call them non-fiction if it weren't for them having Dewey Decimal numbers when I see them on the library shelves. The Man in the Mirror by Patrick Morley and The Life You've Always Wanted by John Ortberg are Christian devotional books I'm working through right now, and they're good so far.
Whew! What a long post. Any comments?
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