Covers of Books I Love - A Challenge (Part I)

What are my seven favorite books of all time? It's like asking a parent to admit their favorite child, but I'll give it a whirl.

Recently, a friend challenged me to one of those Facebook daily posts - seven days of posting the covers of books I love. No explanations. No reviews. Just seven pictures of books to promote literacy during the COVID-19 quarantine.

Well, if anyone knows me, I can't just post something. I'm a writer. I'm wordy. I don't just want to show you the books! I want to tell you how good they are!

So... without further ado, here are the seven book covers of books I love, the reasons I love them, and why you should too!

Day 1: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets/Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (J.K. Rowling)

WARNING: MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD

If you've never read or seen any of the Harry Potter series, I suggest you move on to the next book cover. Seriously. Do not pass Go. Do not collect $200. Just move along so nothing is spoiled.

Ok, now that we have that out of the way, every true Harry Potter fans knows its nearly impossible to pick a favorite in the series. J.K. Rowling did such a fantastic job, it's incredibly difficult to pick one book over the others. However, when asked, I've been able to narrow it down to two: "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" and "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire". These two books are crucial to the series. Both books are the turning points of the series, in my opinion, and are much darker than their predecessors. In both "Chamber of Secrets" and "Goblet of Fire", Harry and Co. are forced to face some major, adult issues and are forced to witness truly horrifying events, such as the death of a friend. Plus, there's some major foreshadowing (Tom Riddle's diary anyone), and who doesn't love the wizard equivalent of both the World Cup and Olympics occurring in 636 pages.

Day 2: Cross my Heart and Hope to Spy (Ally Carter)

I'll admit, there was a real void in my life when Harry Potter came to an end. My summers from first to seventh grade were consumed by the newest book release, and I was a lost, wandering reader who didn't quite know what came next when Voldemort was dead and gone.

Enter Ally Carter, Cammie Morgan and The Gallagher Academy. These books helped usher a new, mature, 12-year-old Kelsey into the world of reading, one that was very different from the Wizarding World of HP. These books revolve around Cameron Morgan's educational experience at the Gallagher Academy, a school for exceptional'C young women (who want to be spies). "Cross my Heart and Hope to Spy" is the second book in the series, and the reason I fell in love with it (mostly because I thought it was book one and read it first). I recommend this book (and series) to anyone, and if you shoot me a text or email, I'll really go more in depth into how much I really love it!

One for the Money (Janet Evanovich)

Janet Evanovich was yet another key author to my evolution as a reader. Her Stephanie Plum series was the first true "adult" series I ever read (even though I read it for the first time as a 13 year old). My mom first introduced me to her in my Harry Potter lull, when I was looking for something that wasn't exactly witches and wizards but wasn't true crime either. She gave me "One for the Money" for Christmas and I've never looked back. I've read every book in the Stephanie Plum series (all 26 and counting) and all the books in the Lizzy and Diesel, Fox and O'Hare and Knight and Moon series. My personal favorites are Plum and Fox/O'Hare (con artists have a special place in my heart), but the other are all very close seconds! Highly recommend for anyone who needs a strong, hearty laugh or needs to know fictional character's lives are just as dysfunctional as their own.

Angels and Demons (Dan Brown)

Full disclosure: I grew up in an Italian Catholic family. My parents weren't strict and overly conservative, but we went to church every Sunday as a family, and I went to catholic school from the time I could walk (pre-school) until receiving the final diploma of my education career (college BA at this point). I was very engrained in catholic teachings from the time I could walk, so my interest in Angels and Demons confuses many of my friends. This book is absolutely fascinating in so many different way. Yes, it involved religion, specifically the Catholic church, but it also incorporates art and history, two subjects I love to study in my spare time. Underneath all the "controversial" and religious topics is a true mystery, one that kept me on the edge of my seat until the final page. Plus, this is the first of a five book series (the most famous being "The Da Vinci Code"). Trust me, the books are WAY better than the movies (especially "Inferno).