Must Read Books!

I'm a big huge nerdy bookworm. I confess I go thru spurts of reading books back to back furiously. Then I might take a month off till I finally decide on the next book to read. I love horror, new age, psychological thrillers, or just plain disturbing tales. I also love reading about spirituality, psychology, of course poetry amongst other things.

Here is my list of Must Read Books.

1. Fahrenheit 451 – Ray Bradbury:

I truly loved this book. I read it in high school and plan on rereading it again soon. The main plot revolves around a future American society where books are outlawed. Basically they portray televisions that are consuming all of our attention and leave no room for true knowledge. I find this book amazingly on point with how our society is turning more towards technology and straying off the path of actual books.

2. Under the Dome – Stephen King:

Stephen King is my favorite author. This was a nice long read. It is all about a small town that suffers thru a mass destruction. You find your self trapped along with the other characters. The ending has a BIG surprise and will blow your mind!

3. I am Legend - Richard Matheson -
This is such a great classic zombie/vampire Apocalypse novel. I would call it one of the originals of its genre. It is a story of survival, as the last man in the world fights to stay alive in a world where only these disgusting creatures survive.

4. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children – Ransom Riggs

This is not a horror book. If you begin to judge this book by its cover hoping to be scared you will be disappointing. It is a heartwarming peculiar tale of a boy who is told tall tales all his life by his grandfather only to find out in the end, it is indeed a real story! You will fall in love with these young and peculiar characters!

5. Desperation- Stephen King

This was one of the scariest books I have read.

I have to say that it may be one of King's best. It throws you into a wasteland and has you running to stay alive. What a great book! You will tear thru this book and wish there was a sequel. I have to say the movie portrayed this book amazingly and made the characters ever the more real. It is about an ancient demon that possesses the body of a policeman, who completely annihilates the entire town. There's no running/hiding from this guy!

6. The Passage – Justin Cronin

This might be my favorite book to date.

It is nice and long too so it kept me entertained for a while. So MANY things happen in this book that you hope it will never end. Luckily there is a sequel to this! This is another type of zombie/vampire Apocalypse novel, but an entire society resisted being killed and managed to form a barrier to block out those evil creatures... however... all good things must come to a bitter end! :)

7. Odd Thomas, Series of 4 books – Dean Koontz

This is such a fun, quirky and hilarious ghost story. Dean Koontz outdid himself on this series. I hope to see a movie of this. He has you laughing, crying, frightened, and thoroughly enthralled. My favorite part of this book is how he incorporated the ghost of Elvis and made him a main character. Very Witty and yet so sad. Odd was born with a gift of seeing ghosts, and they pull him every which way and he takes you on some crazy adventures.

8. Room- Emma Donoghue

Now this book is completely outside my normal horror genre. It is more non fiction because it is based on true events, and this story will definitely put a dent in your heart. A young girl is kidnapped and held hostage for close to a decade. The Kidnapper impregnates her and she raises a young boy in a one room shed. The story is told from a 5 year old's perspective. It is a heart-wrenching tale, but definitely a must read!

9. 11/22/63- Stephen King

This book, left me at a loss of words. It is that amazing. It is about time traveling back into time to try and stop a chain of events from happening. Quite similar to butterfly effect. What I liked so much about this book is how I instantly feel like I am transporting back into time. You feel a sense of a major impeding disaster and you want to shout out to the main character to HALT!! This was a MAJOR winner in my book, everyone must read!

10. The Hunger Games, series of 3 – Suzanne Collins

I was skeptical about this series but then I fell in love somewhere in the middle of the first novel. It is a story of survival, it is devastating, yet it is riveting, It makes you want to learn to hunt and fight for survival because you never know what lies in the future.

11. American Gods by Neil Gaiman

This book is original, quirky and creates it’s own genre. It focuses on mythology and throws you deep into a ark and mysterious fantasy world. The characters are simply amazing, the book is like one giant ancient painting.

12. White Oleander – Janet Fitch

This was another book outside my normal genre, but completely disturbing to the point where it leaves a mark on your heart. It is about a young girl whose mother goes to jail for murdering her boyfriend. The girl goes thru many HORRIBLE foster homes to finally find one that she feels at home with. The woman commits suicide and the girl is devastated and somehow manages to pick up the pieces by the end of the story. The movie adaptation was GREAT as well.

13. The Vampire Chronicles : Interview with the Vampire, The Queen of the Damned, Pandora, Lestat, Blood and Gold, Vittorio, Armand. Anne Rice

Anne Rice is definitely one of my favorite authors. She is descriptive and makes you fall in love with her vampire characters. She transports you back into time and creates lavish and luxurious scenery. You want to live in the fantasy world she creates for you. However, these vampires are not glittery. They are cruel, manipulative, and vicious, yet poetic, artistic and beautiful all together. I adore Pandora, Marius, Akasha and Vittorio. This series is a MUST read if you love Vampires.

14. The Beach- Alex Garland

This was an AWESOME book and movie. It is based on one of the most beautiful beaches in the world, and a society that lives on it. Of course things go awry amongst the people there, and nothing can be peachy keen for long, it quickly downspirals into destruction and leaves you yearning for a life on this beach.

15. The Art of Seduction- Robert Greene

This is your instruction manual to life. If you read this book, it will change your perspective and the way your mind works. It is basically the cliff notes on how to manipulate your way into any favoring situation.

16. Edgar Cayce: The Sleeping Prophet

I wouldn't call even Edgar Cayce a psychic, I would call him a prophet. He had an amazing perspective that is fun to analyze. I think he is very underrated. Once you get into his mind you can never crawl out!