To my American readers: Happy Thanksgiving!
To my international friends: Um… happy Thursday!
I wrote Thanksgiving posts in 2012 and 2013, but have never talked about the books I’m grateful for – which seems strange now that I think about it, because I talk about books sooooo much on this blog!
So, without further ado, here’s my bookish Thanksgiving list!
1. The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer
I’d never read anything like these books before, and I never have since. And I doubt I ever will. MARISSA MEYER IS A GENIUS AND I WISH I HAD EVEN HALF OF HER TALENT. I look forward to reading the final installment, Winter, when it’s published next November!
2. Matilda by Roald Dahl
Best. Children’s. Book. Ever. When I first read this book at approximately age five, I related sooooo much to Matilda – and I still do. If you read only ONE Dahl book in your entire life, then A) your life sounds very sad and B) the book in 
question should be Matilda.
3. The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
All right, forget what I just said – this is also the best children’s book! I love this book to pieces and am immensely grateful that I read it two years ago. I do wish I’d read it when I was little, though. (I’m also grateful for its film adaptations, and look forward to seeing The Battle of the Five Armies in a little less than one month!)
4. Ash by Malinda Lo
High fantasy, fairy tale retellings, cute love stories between queer girls, beautiful writing – all these things make Ash the best book I’ve read thus far this year. Who knew that such a short book could inspire so much fangirlish glee from me?!
5. The Skulduggery Pleasant series by Derek Landy
I haven’t even finished this series yet, but I plan to read a few more of its books during the long Thanksgiving weekend. I’m anxious to continue reading these not only because they’re awesome, but because… honestly, I’ve been feeling a bit under the weather lately and these books never fail to cheer me up.
6. Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
Thanks to my friends for pestering me into reading this book! I read it over the summer and and couldn’t understand why I hadn’t picked it up earlier; it’s hilarious and Pratchett/Gaiman are a perfect authorly duo.
7. The Miseducation of Cameron Post by Emily M. Danforth
I have an uncanny knack for finding LGBTQ+ YA based on their covers alone, and I found this book at basically the perfect time. I was going through a lot of sexual-orientation-weirdness during the spring of 2013 (a few months before I came out) and this book meant a lot to me then and now.
8. Zac and Mia by A.J. Betts
I still have yet to review this, but I’ll get around to it… eventually. Anyway, this book is basically everything that John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars failed to be for me. It’s lovely and I highly recommend it.
9. The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde
This short play is absolutely brilliant, and makes me wish I had a TARDIS so I could hop back in time and talk to Wilde. This story is the best of both worlds: Reading it will make you seem highbrow, and it will make you laugh until your sides ache.
10. The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater
Time for a story! I read the first book of this series, The Raven Boys, during Thanksgiving 2012 and spent the rest of the day suffering from a massive bookish hangover because it was. Just. That. Good.
What books are you most thankful for? Let me know in the comments!
Musings From Neville's Navel 
Happy Thanksgiving to you, too! Gosh, Lunar Chronicles, Matilda, the Hobbit… and Harry Potter. 🙂
SO many books to be thankful for, right?! 😀
No kidding!
Ahh, these books! Just! I THANK THE EXISTENCE OF BOOKS!
And Happy Thursday back to you. 😛
YAY FOR BOOKS!
(Ehehe, thanks!)
Matilda is fantastic! I remember really relating to it 🙂 I love Pratchett and Gaiman! and Oscar Wilde! and Tolkien! So many good books 😀
It’s Friday over here 😉 but happy Thursday/ Thanksgiving to you.
I’m glad we have a similar taste in books! 🙂
As you well know, I love many of these books. I still find the Raven Boys somewhat confusing, but that might be a user error. And I actually only read Matilda a few months ago, and it has quickly become my favorite Roald Dahl book.
[sappy sentiment rises within me] In any case, I am thankful to have you as a friend.
I ❤ Matilda so much.
*tacklehug* And I'm grateful to have YOU as a friend! 😀
😀
Honestly, I love the story of Matilda in any form—book, musical, movie, they’re all great. I didn’t actually think much of Roald Dahl when I was younger (it was much more my brother’s thing), but I reread most of them over the summer and I realized, hey, Roald Dahl is a really good writer.
I know, right? There are few things I love more than reading/rereading a children’s book and realizing that I still love it, even though I’m way past the intended age range.
Ah, the Skulduggery Pleasant series! Possibly one of the best series I’ve ever read – certainly one of my most read. They’re such good books, pretty easy to read, and so funny too! I’ve met the author a couple of times at the Edinburgh Book Festival, and he’s a really lovely and funny person as well – I think it can often benefit the book if you like the author as a person, or is that just me? 😛
Yeah, I think that definitely helps. I mean, I love authors who have weird hobbies (Maggie Stiefvater raises goats…) and who interact with their readers a lot and write blog posts frequently (Malinda Lo). 🙂
She raises goats? That’s amazing XD Authors who interact with their readers are brilliant; I remember when I first started Beth Revis’ “Across the Universe” I emailed her to say how much I was enjoying it, and she not only got back to me, but did so quickly and wonderfully, and seemed really genuine about it too. I know Derek Landy tries to interact with readers as much as possible too, and I really appreciate that because of course they’ll be so busy, but just taking the time out makes me hold them in a lot higher esteem.
Ehehe, that’s so cool!! I’ve emailed Lev AC Rosen a few times, he wrote All Men of Genius which isn’t very well known but… I love it. And he responded! And we geeked out about Doctor Who! And basically that is the kind of author I want to be… oh, and Rick Riordan is another great example. He’s super active on Twitter.
It’s not one I’ve ever heard of, but geeking out over Doctor Who is always fun, and bound to be even more so when it’s with an author 😛 I’m not a fan of the Rick Riordan books I’ve read, and as I am Twitter-less, I often forget it exists – but I can imagine it can be quite a good medium to keep in touch/interact with readers!
I know, right?
Hey ! Great post ! I was hesitant in picking up ‘Zac & Mia’ & ‘The Raven Boys’ but I think I’ll get them now ! There are soo many books I’m thankful, but my #1 would be the Harry Potter series ( ❤ ) cause it got me reading in the first place. It's a bit (a lot?) cliché, but whatever :p xx
Thanks, I’m glad you enjoyed my post! 🙂