Quill Favorites: My Top "Simply Can not stop reading" Books

Verse of the Day:

1 Peter 5:6 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:

Time. Energy. Willingness. Three things that from one time or another, I lack when it comes to doing some of the things I love most, such as reading! However, even in my most stubbornness of literary pitfalls, I can always depend on these beautiful stories to reel me back in to the wonderful art of written words. Without further or do, here they are!:

1. The Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett

"Everything's a story- you are a story- I am a story."

-Sarah Crew

2. Black Girl in Paris by Shay Youngblood

"How to look at Art

With your head. With your heart. From a distance. With your eyes shut tight. With your eyes wide open."

-Eden

3. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

"Sometimes people are beautiful. Not in looks.

Not in what they say. Just in what they are."

4. Leaving Time by Jodi Picoult

"The moral of this story is that no matter how much we try, no matter how much we want it....some stories just don't have a happy ending."

5. The Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden

"He was like a song I'd heard once in fragments but had been singing in my mind ever since.

-Sayuri

6. Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur

"How you love yourself is how you teach others to love you."

7. Suzanne's Diary to Nicholas By James Patterson

"Imagine life is a game in which you are juggling five balls. The five balls are called work, family, health, friends and integrity. And you're keeping all of them in the air. But one day you finally come to understand that work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back, the other four balls- family, health, friends, and integrity- are made of glass. If you drop one of these, it will be irrevocably scuffed, nicked or perhaps even shattered. And once you truly understand the lesson of the five balls, you will have the beginnings of balance in your life."

-Suzanne

8. Friends Forever By Danielle Steel

"Love is messy. If you really love someone, you can't avoid the pain. People die, people leave, things change, but sometimes it all works."

9. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

"We accept the love we think we deserve."

-Mr. Anderson

10. The Tea Rose by Jennifer Donnelly

"God didn't have to punish him; he'd created his own hell, for himself and by himself."

11. Night by Eli Wiesel

"For in the end, it is all about memory, its sources and its magnitude, and of course, it's consequences."

- Eli Wiesel

12. The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

"Women made the best bee keepers 'cause they have a special ability built into them to love creatures that sting."

13. Pumpkin Heads by Rainbow Rowell and Faith Erin Hicks

"People all sort of look the same to me until I talk to them. That's when they start to get interesting. That's when they start to....shimmer."

-Deja

14. The Little Shop of Found Things by Paula Brackston

"And where shall I look for thee, When I no longer hear that voice so dear? Where shall I seek the warmth that love made all things found glow bright and clear?

Look not to the heavenly stars, nor search the loft spires, nor bid the choir sing, I will dwell among the details of our lives; my memory will linger in all the found things."

-Daphne Burton-Gore

15. The Little Bookstore of Big Stone Gap by Wendy Welch

“Third places are those needed spaces, neither home nor work, where we are known by our names and valued for being whatever we decide to be -- the clown, the intellectual, the quiet person. Being part of a family is a wonderful thing, and I'm all for team-building at work, but having a place where you don't have to be anything to anyone makes a pleasant breather.”

-Wendy Welch

16. Old Friend From Far Away by Natalie Goldberg

“The things that make you a functional citizen in society - manners, discretion, cordiality - don't necessarily make you a good writer. Writing needs raw truth, wants your suffering and darkness on the table, revels in a cutting mind that takes no prisoners...”

-Natalie Goldberg

17. Jeremy Fink and The Meaning of Life by Wendy Mass

“A fight is going on inside me," said an old man to his son. "It is a terrible fight between two wolves. One wolf is evil. He is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego. The other wolf is good. he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. The same fight is going on inside you."

The son thought about it for a minute and then asked, "Which wolf will win?"

The old man replied simply, "The one you feed.”

-Wendy Mass

"Give me a kingdom I can read, throw me in and toss away the key." is what I say when it comes to the matter of a great read. There are books and then there are treasures, there are authors and then there are legends, people who were born to write and it lives and breathes a life of it's own even long after they are gone. My passion to become a writer was inspired by individuals such as these and I am glad I could share them with you all today.

If you were to make your own "can't put it down" book list, which would you choose? share them with me in the comments below and as always....

"For the love of life and literature, stay prayerful, stay positive and write on!"