Andi's Top Reads — Part One
- Andi May
- Aug 29, 2022
- 20 min read
Updated: Nov 8, 2023
Thought I would compile a list of books that are some of my most favorite reads of all time, as well as what I find to be the most influential books to me as a writer. I find inspiration for writing from all different sorts of mediums, like dance, movies, TV shows, video games, comics, music, theme parks and rides, live performances. . . but I'll just talk about the books for now. As I started thinking of this list, I actually came up with a lot more books than I thought I would. I'll definitely have to do more posts on more books in the future. I know I DEFINITELY need to do a comic book post.
I'm terrible at writing overviews (there's just so much to say), so check out the links I've attached to Goodreads if you want to get an idea of what these books are about, if you haven't read them already.
This blog post is just me blabbing about how I came across these books, why I like them, and why I find them to be so influential. I recommend all of them.
Hope you enjoy.
Percy Jackson and the Olympians
The Heroes of Olympus
The Trials of Apollo
By Rick Riordan
Don't know what these books are about? Check out the links for Goodreads:
Percy Jackson The Heroes The Trials
& the Olympians of Olympus of Apollo
Throw me to the depths of Tartarus if I don't start off with these books. There is so much I want to say about them. This one little post does do not them justice at all. But, it wouldn't be right if I just picked one to talk about. I love every single one of these books.
My most favorite books, for so many reasons. Three different series, but are chronological and all exist in the same world. Fifteen books, and I find each and every one of them important to me as a reader and a writer. After reading the last book in The Trials of Apollo series, I’ve yet to find another series or another book that has hit me the same. Of course I’ve come across some fantastic books, but it’s these that are never going to be topped, never replaced, never forgotten. They’ve got a special place in my heart.
I was NOT a reader as a kid. I always thought it took up too much of my time. I’ve always loved a good story, but reading wasn’t fast enough for me. I couldn't get the story quickly in the same way I could with a movie, a TV show, or a video game. I was impatient. I always need answers right now. For whatever reason, it was The Lightning Thief and Twilight that showed me that pacing is part of the storytelling, and reading could be fun if you found the right book. These were the two books that showed me a book was just a movie in your head, too. I don't really remember which one of these two I read first, but I always refer to them as the books that made me a reader. . . and eventually a writer.
More on Twilight later, though.
My enthusiasm over the Twilight Saga has faded over the years, but it certainly hasn't for any of the books in the world of Percy Jackson. I’ve never been able to pinpoint exactly why the books mean more to me than anything else, but I do know that I love each book in each series for different reasons. I do know that I am someone that has to love the main character if I’m going to keep reading. Characters in stories are the most important part of a story for me. Sure, I love adventure, wild settings, magic, and superpowers, but a good story usually comes from the characters that live it. Percy Jackson was always charming, heroic, brave, an endearing idiot, absolutely hilarious, snarky and sassy, and always had his heart in the right place. And then the cool things about him: he’s the son of the Greek sea god Poseidon, he can control water, can talk to sea animals and horses, gets the mark of Achilles, becomes one of the greatest sword fighters of all time, has an amazing girlfriend. He surrounds himself with amazing characters in general, actually. That leads me into explaining one of the many reasons why I aspire to write like Rick Riordan. He’s a master of handling multitudes of characters and writing about all of them in such a way that they are never forgettable, never confused with other characters, and I find myself caring about what happens to each and every one of them. He then also writes characters that I love to hate. Characters—people—are the ones that live these stories. My favorite kind of story comes from a writer that remembers that.
I also think these were the first books that I experienced a book with magic and myth mixed into the real world, aside from I guess Harry Potter, but even he goes off to a magic school secluded from the rest of the world, and I didn't get into those books until after Percy Jackson. As a kid that played with Barbie, Lego, or did some sort of make-believe game in the backyard or in the pool, I always loved the idea that magic could be real. Almost all games I played as a kid involved pretending that magic was real. The Lightning Thief made that magic look possible on a page. Stories that make it look like magic and make-believe could be possible have always been enticing to me.
And, well, another reason why I love these books: Rick Riordan is a gem. He initially started writing these books for his son, but as the story grew, he worked towards making this story have something for every kid—and fiercely so. Of course he cares about this story, but it’s also very clear he cares about the people that read it. He’s an inspiring writer and human being.
I talk about these books all the time, and I shamelessly referenced them constantly throughout my graduate studies. I still have a lot to say, but I'll save it for another day.
Other random things about these books:
* We DON’T talk about the movies. Rick doesn't want you to talk about them, either. I’m still trying to comprehend how there’s not one but two in existence. (I love you Logan Lerman, but not here. Not this way.)
* We will, however, talk about the show coming to Disney Plus! I AM SO EXCITED. Rick Riordan and his wife are both there to help with every decision and every direction, so you know it’ll be good!
*If I had to make the EXTREMELY hard decision to pick just one book out of all of these, I think I'd pick The Son of Neptune. I'm pretty sure I've read that one the most. It's the book where we see Percy as a truly established hero. He's growing and struggling to become the hero in the first series, but by the time Son of Neptune rolls around nobody doubts that he had earned his right to be called a hero. He's even mistaken as a god in this book (which was one of the greatest things I have ever read in the history of ever)
*I reread House of Hades when I feel like emotionally torturing myself. . . and also when I want to see that Percy and Annabeth can get through and survive literally anything.
*Battle of Manhattan in itself is enough to make the first series amazing
*SOLANGELO ALL DAY EVERY DAY. Percy is my favorite character, always, but Nico and Will are always trying to steal his spot.
*There's a lot of rainbow in these books. It's beautiful.
Twilight Saga
by Stephenie Meyer
Don't know what these books are about? Check out the links for Goodreads:
If you’re Team Jacob, you’re dumb.
Yeah, I said it.
Anyway. . .
Say what you will about these books, but it just wouldn’t be right if I didn’t admit how important these books were to me through middle and high school. As I mentioned before, I honestly do not remember if it was Twilight or The Lightning Thief first that I swallowed whole and actually read for fun. They were both books that hit me at the same time and showed me that reading was fun.
Emo and goth was all the rage when I was in middle school, and Edward was quite literally the definition of all of that. Vampire stories were everywhere, and it’s all anyone really read. It was cool to read about vampires. Twilight was the top pariah, though, it’s what set off all the blood-sucking hype. I look back at the first time I read these books and marvel at how I managed to have the attention span to get through all those hundreds of pages, especially because I didn’t have any patience to read at all before I came across them. Stephenie Meyer uses a lot of words, dude. I am not somebody to judge a story based on length, because if it takes a thousand pages to tell a story, then so be it. But, when it comes to The Twilight Saga as a whole, it was a story that didn’t need as much word space as it took up.
But, then again, I still ate up every word. . . and enjoyed it. Like I said earlier, I have to love the main character for me to enjoy a story. I don’t know if I ever really “loved” Bella (I got annoyed with her a lot), but I certainly loved her point of view of the world, and I certainly loved her view of Edward. Generally I've never been a mushy gushy romance-loving person in any aspect of my life, but there was something endearing about Bella’s true heart for Edward and Edward’s protectiveness over Bella (though creepy and stalkerish most of the time). The development of their relationship was what sucked (pun intended) me in, and the fantasy twist of super-powered vampires and werewolves is what kept me there.
Don’t hate me for saying this, but the movies took a bit of the magic away from me. But then again, I’ve only seen the first one and just random bits and pieces of the last one, so I’m technically not the best judge. They’re super campy movies, but I suppose that’s part of the charm? I love Robert Pattinson to death, but I’d much rather take him as Batman than I would Edward. He's an amazing actor in general, severely underrated.
And, well, the magic I got from these books was that I could make it all look however I wanted it to look in my head as I read them. This is super bizarre and makes ZERO sense, but my Edward always had glasses. . .
. . .Call it the “Superman Complex”.
Superman is a true super being but pretends to be human. He wears glasses as his disguise. I guess I planted this idea on Edward but in a way that made sense for him. When I first saw trailers for the Twilight movie and saw that Edward wasn’t wearing glasses (which is, of course, exactly accurate) I already had a jaded view of the movies.
No, this reason isn’t exactly a valid one as to why I don’t like the movies.
But take that as you will.
Other random things about these books:
*I remember being at the Barnes and Noble midnight party with all my friends for the release of Breaking Dawn. Why don’t we get cool stuff like that anymore?
*I read Breaking Dawn in one sitting, starting the morning after that midnight party.
*I have no idea what happened to my copies of New Moon and Eclipse. They must've gotten lost in all the crazy mayhem of my friends and me sharing and trading books in high school. Oops.
*Another vampire series I've read and actually secretly enjoyed: The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod. 2000s goth cringe at its finest.
*I don't think I ever rooted for Team Jacob.
Midnight Sun
by Stephenie Meyer
Don't know what this book is about? Check out the link for Goodreads:
I think this book deserves a slot all on its own, separate from the rest of the Twilight Saga. Mostly because this book came out of nowhere, twelve years after the last book of the series released, and it was a more welcome surprise than I thought it would be. And it was better than its predecessors. In my opinion, Stephenie Meyer got way better at writing. It’s still a book that has no business being as long as it is, but there’s no doubt the magic I once felt from these books was reinvigorated all over again, despite the years that have passed since I even touched a Twilight book and how much indifference I had for the movies.
Let me tell you, after experiencing the story of Twilight through Edward’s point of view, I don't know if I want to go back to Bella's storytelling. Edward is a wayyyyy better storyteller than Bella. And then throw in his ability to read minds and see the thoughts of everybody around him, and then his sarcastic and cynical view of everything, it’s just glorious. We also see he is way more of a creepy stalker than we all had originally thought (he really liked watching Bella sleep). But, that is pretty much the definition of vampire, of Dracula himself. Stalking in the night, stalking his prey. Edward’s prey is just somebody that he ends up truly loving.
This book also made me Team Jasper. . . instead of Team Edward.
Jasper felt like such a minor character in the original saga. We saw glimpses of his background, but never enough to really get me to understand or appreciate him for who he is. But Midnight Sun. . . we see just how compelling and intriguing his backstory really is. What we see defines who he is, and there just becomes so much more depth to this character. Jasper’s role in Midnight Sun reminded me that this story is more than just the romance between Edward and Bella and all the mayhem that erupts directly from them. These characters all have stories.
Other random things about this book:
*I did not read the leaks of this book that hit the internet all those years ago. I was upset that that happened, I wanted to read this as Meyer intended me to. Hence why I was thrilled when this book finally got published.
*Edward is just really a creep, man. But we love him for it, don't we?
*I want another Ocean's Eleven but with Alice Cullen as the lead.
*Jasper beast mode all day every day.
The Song of Achilles
by Madeline Miller
Don't know what this book is about? Check out the link for Goodreads:
This book hit me out of nowhere. It’s predominantly a romance novel, so it’s a miracle I even read it in the first place. But, it’s one of the very few books outside of Percy Jackson that I couldn’t read fast enough. I read it too fast.
Every once in a while Rick Riordan posts some reviews on books he had recently read on his blog and on Goodreads. He only ever writes reviews on books he enjoys, and Song of Achilles was one of them. So, truthfully I owe it to him and his thoughtful review on this book for getting me to pick it up.
I’m not obsessed with what Rick Riordan has to say on anything. Not at all.
Plus I’m such a geek for Percy Jackson that I’m a geek for Greek mythology in general. A new spin on a classic tale always sounds enticing.
Anyway, this was a book that I knew full well how it would end, but hoped and prayed to the gods the whole way through that it would end differently. (If you don’t know anything about Achilles or the Trojan War, maybe you should pick up the Illiad. . . or at least watch Brad Pitt) Patroclus (usually depicted as Achilles’s friend, or an equivalent of a squire) becomes a heartfelt, thoughtful, kind, caring, and brave character in Miller’s writing. He becomes a bigger character here than he ever really has been in any other telling of the Trojan War. And the relationship Miller creates between him and Achilles is pure and genuine love. She does it so well, and it feels so believable and natural. Patroclus also shows the kinder softer side of Achilles, too, and he’s a character that’s always been depicted as a cocky, hard-headed, brawny brute. Miller made me love both of these characters, and made me root for their happy ending that would never come. She took two classic characters and made them something new, but in a way that feels believable and still makes sense with the stories that they are a part of.
As much as I love this book, it is a book I haven’t had the heart to read cover to cover again. I’ve reread certain scenes numerous times, but I just haven’t built up the strength to experience that tragic ending all over again.
It ripped my heart out so naturally I highly recommend it.
Other random things about this book:
*I always thought Odysseus was a cool hero, but after reading this I think he's actually really shady. Extremely intelligent, but shady.
*Even in death Patroclus has a heart of gold. My own heart breaks again thinking about it.
*Achilles is king of the Drama Queens.
*Rainbows
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
by J.K. Rowling
Don't know what this book is about? Check out the link for Goodreads:
I mean. . . of course I have to bring up a Harry Potter book. I considered mentioning the whole series as I did with Percy, but deep down I know this book has meant more to me and influenced me more than all the others.
If I haven't made it clear already, I hated reading as a kid. For the longest time the only way I was exposed to books was when I was required to for school or when my teachers in elementary school read out loud to the class. I was introduced to Beverly Clearly, Roald Dahl, and Dr. Seuss that way. I was introduced to Harry himself that way. It was my third grade teacher that read The Sorcerer’s Stone and The Chamber of Secrets to the class, the only two books that were out at the time. I didn’t really pay much mind to them, or understood what exactly it all was, as this was before there was massive hype. It wasn’t until after I was swallowed into Percy Jackson and Twilight, and when the first Harry Potter movie came out, that I picked up Sorcerer’s Stone and read it again for myself. After that, I was easily swept into the magical story. The books, the movies, the games, the theme parks, the costumes. . . I’ve loved it all. This story has spilled into the real world so much that it has very nearly made me believe magic is real, just perhaps in ways no one would ever expect.
There are scenes and elements in every Harry book that I’ve enjoyed, but Deathly Hallows as a whole just means something different. It was the seventh book in a series, the final installment. There was a lot riding on it, as this massive story was coming to a close, and there were oh so many threads that needed to be tied. And, for me, She Who Must Not Be Named (the author) tied all those ends perfectly. I just felt so satisfied with the ending. Of course it was hard to see something coming to an end, but when it ended in a way that just made sense, it made the absence of the story easier to bear. It was a tall order to end a big series in a fulfilling way, and I felt like it was. There was closure, but then there was also hints and understanding of what kind of future all the characters were looking at beyond this ending.
Harry was another character that I’ve absolutely loved, going along with what I’ve said repeatedly about how I have to love the main character if you want me to keep reading. In this story, it was always him that I cared about the most. An unlikely hero, a bit sassy sometimes, a bit emo sometimes (but I couldn't blame him), but always brave and always with a kind heart. I think about how everyone has a favorite character from these books, but so rarely do people say that Harry Potter himself is their favorite character. He was mine. Always.
As I’ve grown up I’ve certainly fallen in love with Sirius Black, too. He is a very close second to Harry. I think that partially has to do with the relationship Sirius had with Harry, though they had very little time to develop it (Sirius’s death was BY FAR the hardest death for me in these books, all across the board).
But then I also love Sirius Black because he’s a badass. I mean, he broke out of Azkaban. Can't get more badass than that.
Other random things about this book:
*My whole life every Sorting Hat quiz I ever took I got Ravenclaw. But, a few years back, when Pottermore got a revamp, I retook the quiz and got Hufflepuff. I'm not against this, though. So I'd say I'm a Ravenpuff.
*I'm still rooting for a book about the Marauders
*There are only four places in the world where you can get a Butter Beer, and I've been to three of them! Hopefully I can get that fourth one at some point.
*I adore Newt Scamander (he's amongst my favorite characters alongside Harry and Sirius. And Eddie Redmayne is bae), but when The Crimes of Grindelwald came out and destroyed a lot of canon, I was a bit bummed. I haven't even seen The Secrets of Dumbledore yet.
*I've been to the Studio Tour in London, as well as the "real" Platform 9 3/4 at King's Cross. It was incredible.
*I went on the Forbidden Journey ride six times in one day the last time I went to Universal.
*Hogwarts Legacy game comes out (hopefully) February 2023! Exciting!
Peter Pan
by J.M. Barrie
Don't know what this book is about? Check out the link for Goodreads:
I look at this story a little differently than I do all the other books I’ve talked about. I don’t know if I’d say the original story of Peter Pan is on the same “favorite” level as these other books, but it is by far the most influential book to me as a writer (aside from Percy Jackson books. . . naturally). Pirates, adventures, a magical world that exists beyond the second star to the right. . . I may or may not have written stories along those veins already.
The adventure is real and true in the story of the Darlings being whisked away to Never Land. I guess in some ways this adventure has all of the cliches (the good and the bad) you’d find in an adventure. But, this is a book that was a pioneer in these cliches, they weren’t cliches until after Barrie (and some other writers of his era) wrote them. It’s certainly a story where the magic and adventure feel real because it all takes place in a world that feels so easy to get to if a missing shadow just appears in your room. Just one little teensy dose of fantasy could lead to all of the fantasy.
The idea of “never growing up” was and still is an intriguing idea to me. Maybe we do all have to grow up, but the idea of “young at heart” has stuck with me because of Peter. Imagination is far more powerful for a kid, and it takes a great deal of effort for grown-ups to hold onto it. Peter’s story paints a picture of what imagination can do for a person, and how important it is for us to have it, how important it is for us to never let go of it. I hope I never lose the imagination I've been so lucky to have since I was a kid.
And then of course I need to talk about Captain Hook.
He was the first fantasy pirate I had ever heard of. Of course I only ever knew of the movie Hook and Disney’s version of Peter Pan as a kid, so I only saw this codfish one way. He wasn’t all that intriguing to me at the time, Maleficent was a far more intriguing Disney Villain (she still kind of is). It was either seventh or eighth grade I needed to do a book report on a book of my choosing that I took this opportunity to give the original story of Peter Pan & Wendy a chance. I immediately saw Captain Hook in a new light when I saw how much more depth there was to him, and I think that was about the same time my intrigue in pirate adventures as a whole was coming to fruition. (Pirates of the Caribbean movies were hitting theatres around then, too). I’d say Hook and Long John Silver are the most iconic pirates in the literary sense, they’re the ones that people remember. But Hook is part of a story that expands beyond pirate stories, and delves deeper into the need for imagination, make-believe, and magic. Hook is in the realm that I like being in.
I definitely need to give a chat about Long John Silver and Treasure Island, too. I’ll get to that blog post eventually.
On a final note, if you didn’t already know, Peter Pan was actually originally a play. It wasn’t a novel until years later, and it was actually published as Peter Pan & Wendy. When this was a play, Barrie was constantly changing the story and rewriting it. You could say it’s in a more finalized form in that novel.
But. . . I think that’s where some of the magic in this story lies. It keeps changing. It’s one of those classic stories that has been told and retold in so many different ways and in so many different interpretations. The main groundwork has pretty much always stayed, but there are things that are constantly twisting and moving around it.
Other random things about this book/story:
*I am not ashamed to say that I watched Jake and the Never Land Pirates almost every morning through college. Love that show.
*I just recently read Lost Boy by Christina Henry. . . and that book has flipped everything I ever knew or understood about Peter Pan. She wrote the story as if Hook was the good guy. . . and Peter was the bad guy. How she wrote it, well, it totally seems possible that Peter is secretly evil. I absolutely adore her version of Hook, or, well, he's known as Jamie in this book. This was a book that has emotionally destroyed me and shook my whole understanding on, like, everything. It has left me scarred, so naturally I highly recommend this, too.
*Milwaukee Ballet's version of Peter Pan is one of my most favorite ballets I have ever gotten to see.
*Robin Williams was true magic in just about every role he played. I miss him.
*I'll happily wait in the long line for the Peter Pan ride at Disney World every time I'm there. Though I could ride Pirates of the Caribbean over and over and over and never get tired of it.
*Captain Hook almost swept me away to Never Land last time I was in Disneyland. I was totally going to let him do it, too.
Pirate Latitudes
by Michael Crichton
Don't know what this book is about? Check out the link for Goodreads:
Perhaps one of the few books I’ve enjoyed reading that didn’t really have any fantasy or magical elements. It was certainly a wild ride of daring adventures on the high seas during the Golden Age of Pirates, a time that’s already shrouded in mystery and legend, but it felt to be much more grounded and within a plot that totally could’ve happened. It’s one of the few pirate stories I’ve come across that felt more historically accurate—though in an epic way—and actually went along with the M.O. of a pirate that sailed during the Golden Age.
But the Kraken did show up. And that was AMAZING. Honestly, you can’t really prove that the Kraken doesn't exist, anyway.
The politics of warring England and Spain felt very real in this story, too. At this point in history, piracy was sometimes ignored or even encouraged if it meant it would deal a blow to the enemy country. England stole from Spain, and Spain from England. Pirate Latitudes follows Captain Hunter and his wild band of pirates as they embark on a journey to steal Spanish treasure, but their expedition is backed by an English governor, and ultimately, England as a whole. This happened a lot. My most favorite pirate of all time, Sir Francis Drake, was one of the first to be treated as a pirate hero. He had the Queen of England herself back him as he raged all hell on the Spanish Armada. He was even knighted for it. He sailed decades before the Golden Age of Pirates even began, so piracy as a “noble” thing wasn’t anything new.
But, I digress.
Pirate Latitudes may be epic and full of adventure, but it shows what pirates really could do in history. It shows how big of a role piracy played in world politics. This story showed me that there is some truth behind epic adventures. Anyone could easily get swept away in the epicness of this story, but if you pay attention to the details and what’s between the lines you can see how very real some of this is. I also felt like the plot was so nicely written, it was clear and definitive. There were a lot of different elements and threads to keep track of, but it was all comprehensible and made sense. I appreciated this story in that I could just get the story and not get lost in the language or fancy wordplay. A lot of pirate stories out there are classics, which means they were written a long time ago when language was just totally different from how it is now and, honestly, that can get boring. This book kept the original adventure and intrigue of pirate classics, but it was written in a way that felt more updated and geared toward a reader of today.
This book also had some really badass pirate characters. Characters that kept me reading, that kept it wild and adventurous.
Other random things about this book:
*I came across this book fairly recently, actually, though it was published back in 2009. It’s actually a book that was published after the author died.
*The author is Michael Crichton. . . who also happens to be the author of Jurassic Park.
He’s also the creator of the show ER, if you ever watched doctor shows in the 90s.
* I did not see the twist with the Kraken coming. Everything was so grounded in what happened in real pirate history, it felt like the sea beast came out of left field. But, even so, it still felt plausible. Like I said, nobody can prove the Kraken wasn't real.
*Stealing from the rich is always fun.
*Just in case you need a reminder: pirates are LIARS and MURDERERS. It's part of the job description. They were BAD.
*The whereabouts of half the treasure is still a mystery at the end of this book. Maybe it's still out there.
*A lot of people die.
*Sanson is swine.
May no seas fare smooth.
—Andi May
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