Any book lover hates getting the question, “so what’s your favorite book?” Because it’s impossible to choose just one! Since it’s my BIRTHDAY today, I decided to go for the ultimate act of self-indulgence and list my 32 favorite books – one for every candle on my cake. These are the books I’ve read, re-read, and recommended, the ones I cherish most!

1. Seuss’s ABCs (proud to say this is my 11-month-old-nephew’s current fave)
2. Go Dog Go by P.D. Eastman
3. Richard Scarry’s Busytown (probably where my big-city dreams first took root)
4. The Little Engine that Could by Watty Piper (a pen name for Arnold Platt of the publisher Platt & Munk!)
5. Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey
6. Meet Kirsten by Janet Shaw (the first book that broke my heart)
7. Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder (the first book I remember reading on my own!)
8. Ramona Quimby, Age 8 by Beverly Cleary (the author’s 100th birthday was last week so my book club is reading this one this month…life comes full circle)
9. Betsy-Tacy Go Downtown by Maud Hart Lovelace(the whole series is a fave, but this is the first I read and, as book lover’s bonus, centers on Betsy’s own writing, her Uncle Keith who is an author, and a theatrical production of Uncle Tom’s Cabin!)
10. A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett(I yearned for the glamor of being orphaned and indentured, in a freezing attic with bread crusts to eat.)
11. Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfeild
12. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (the second book that broke my heart. RIP Beth, it’s an injustice that you died and bratty Amy married Laurie.)
13. Emily of New Moon (while I of course adore the Anne series, I gotta give the nod to L.M’s slightly less famous trilogy…)
14. I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
15. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
16. The Great Gatsby (I know, me and everyone else in America. But I just love it so and will gladly read any/all Fitzgerald fanfiction you throw my way. #FitzgeraldForever)
17. Lolita (come for the scandal, stay for Nabakov’s incredible prose…in his second language, no less)
18. East of Eden by John Steinbeck (vastly more fun than Grapes of Wrath, if you don’t mind the page count.)
19. The End of the Affair by Graham Greene
20. Paris Trout by Pete Dexter (To Kill A Mockingbird…but better!)
21. Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace (I know, I know! Snobby post-college me loved it and post-30 me defiantly still does)
22. Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
23. The Secret History by Donna Tartt (I’ll pause here to let Miriam yell at me about how much she hates The Goldfinch)
24. Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann (the first book I read after moving to NYC and now one of my lifetime faves)
25. A Novel Bookstore by Laurence Cosse (a book lover’s bookstore book…need I say more?)
26. Claire Marvel by John Burnham Schwartz
27. The Round House by Louise Erdrich (suspense, coming-of-age, and marginalized communities all in one amazingly powerful literary novel!)
28. My Education by Susan Choi
29. An Untamed State by Roxane Gay (warning: a brutal, beautiful, unforgettable novel)
30. The Magicians series by Lev Grossman (a lot of fun in its own right and for its nods to other fantasy classics)
31. Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson
32. …??? Leaving this one blank! What will be the next book I love and recommend and re-read?

This book-list-as-memoir was a lot of fun…and I think you can see the exact moment where I left the Midwest and started exploring literature outside the classics. Looking forward to a lot more exploration in the next 32 years! Share your favorites in the comments to make sure I’m not missing out! 

And thanks to Kemi for this perfect birthday card: