I have always been a bookworm, for as long as I can remember. My first "chapter book" was Charlotte's Web, which I plowed through in kindergarten. During elementary school I usually had two or three books on the go at one time, and in middle school, my friends and I would sign out V. C. Andrews' juiciest from the library and highlight the pervy parts and draw penises in the margins. Well, at least we were still reading and not smoking crack. I DON'T THINK A PENIS DRAWING IS GOING TO HURT ANYONE'S BRAIN CELLS!

My penis drawing days aren't over may be long gone, but I still love to read anything and everything. Novels, cookbooks, magazines, and yes, blogs. Books are among my favourite gifts to give and get. I always enjoy the book more than the movie. And I have mixed feelings about e-readers - I love the idea of having thousands of books just a download away but they're not really BOOKS, yanno? E-reader converts, what are your thoughts? Pros and cons? I need to know. I have a birthday in 99 days.

Here are some of my favourite reads from over the years.

Charlotte's Web: Made me cry then, makes me cry now. The whole story is heartbreaking. Lost pig, bound for death, farm animal friends rally to try and save him. It's too much and now I'm getting emotional.

Anne of Green Gables: I read the whole series (there are eight books) at least 10 times each.


Flowers in the Attic: This?? THIS is what literary types would refer to as "some fucked-up shit". By far the creepiest book I had read at this point (I think I was 11...probably too young to be reading about *SPOILER ALERT!!!* inter-sibling sex).

Pet Semetary/Carrie/Christine/Misery/IT/Etc.: I read a lot of Stephen King books in middle and high school. Stephen King was like my go-to summer author and I could finish one of his books cover to cover on one rainy housebound weekend. I remember laying awake until 3:00 AM one morning in the summer so freaked out by Stephen King that I couldn't get to sleep, and I had to wake up at 5:00 AM to get to work at McDonald's by 6:00. Terrified!

Fall On Your Knees: Speaking of sex amongst relatives. This is one of my favourite books ever - it's haunting and disturbing and completely effed up, but I couldn't put it down.

She's Come Undone: I laughed and cried and felt like I related to this book way too much, which is probably unfortunate.

Bridget Jones' Diary: This made me want to move to England, take up chain smoking, and make other poor life choices.

Confessions of a Shopaholic: Continuing on the theme of "British women making bad decisions". I've read every book in the series but definitely enjoyed the first one the best.

Good in Bed: Jennifer Weiner makes me want to write books. I love her style, I love how relatable the characters are, and I love how she manages to do chick lit without making you feel like a moron reading it.

Forever: Confession: I stole this from the library in high school. Ripped the UPC code right off of 'er and shoved it into my backpack. It's still at my parents' house on my old bookshelf. I think I told my mom they were "having a yard sale of all the old library books." Someone had already underlined the sex bits. Perverts.

And there you have it - just a few of my best-loved books from over the years! What's your favourite book? What should I read next?