Little Things That Make Me Happy: # 1

Rereading a favorite book for the millionth time. For me, this means Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton and Many Waters by Madeleine L'Engle.

I've read each of these books so many times each that I've lost count. It rivals even the number of times that I've read the Harry Potter books. I've even read Parque Jurasico, the Spanish version of Jurassic Park.

The fact that I love Jurassic Park is a no-brainer; I love horror/thriller novels and I'm obsessed with dinosaurs. Not even kidding, I never grew out of the dinosaur phase of childhood. When I was in kindergarten, all the other kids wanted to be teachers and truck drivers and red crayons (uh, long story) and I was going to be a paleontologist. And yes, I knew the word. And could spell it. In kindergarten. So Jurassic Park is a win-win book for me.

The funny thing about Many Waters is that I'm not a huge fan of any of Madeleine L'Engle's other books. I find most of them wordy and over-complicated. Sure, I read A Wrinkle in Time and enjoyed it, but I've only read that twice, once on my own and then again because it was required for school. Does it sound cheesy to say that something about Many Waters just speaks to me? Which, in and of itself is funny, because Many Waters is of a semi-religious nature (it's about the biblical flood story) and I'm one of the least religious people you'll meet.

So, there you have it, two of my favorite books of all time. I recommend Jurassic Park to anyone who likes horrors, thrillers, action novels, or sci-fi that's not really sci-fi. (You know, it's all science-y without being about spaceships and aliens. It's the only kind of sci-fi I like.) I recommend Many Waters to anyone who likes....well, good books.