10 Unforgettable Books I’ve Read and Actually Remembered
If you’ve been around the blog long or know me in real life, then you know that I LOVE to read.
I’ll read just about anything (with the exception of horror), but historical and contemporary fiction novels are my favorite.
Lately, my post about the 10 Most Memorable Books I’ve Ever Read has been blowing up on Pinterest. So, I figured I would expand that list to the other books that still live rent-free in my mind.
There’s no way to remember all the books that I’ve read. So, for me to actually recall the plot or characters of a book that I read years ago, it really has to stand out!
Here are 10 more unforgettable books:
[Disclaimer: While these books are memorable, they are not necessarily books that I gave 5-star reviews to. Some of them weren’t as well written as I would have liked, but they still had memorable plot lines and characters!]
The Lovely Bones
I read this book years ago when my girls were toddlers. Perhaps it’s because I was a fairly new mom or because it’s simply a story that rips you to pieces, but it’s one that I’ll never forget.
“My name was Salmon, like the fish; first name, Susie. I was fourteen when I was murdered on December 6, 1973.”
So begins the story of Susie Salmon, who is adjusting to her new home in heaven, a place that is not at all what she expected, even as she is watching life on earth continue without her — her friends trading rumors about her disappearance, her killer trying to cover his tracks, her grief-stricken family unraveling. Out of unspeakable tragedy and loss, The Lovely Bones succeeds, miraculously, in building a tale filled with hope, humor, suspense, even joy.
White Oleander
White Oleander (Oprah’s Book Club)
Not only do I remember this story, but I even remember that I read this on a flight to Dallas for a work trip.
To cover such a dark and depressing subject matter, this story was beautifully written.
The unforgettable story of a young woman’s odyssey through a series of Los Angeles foster homes on her journey to redemption.
Everywhere hailed as a novel of rare beauty and power, White Oleander tells the unforgettable story of Ingrid, a brilliant poet imprisoned for murder, and her daughter, Astrid, whose odyssey through a series of Los Angeles foster homes-each its own universe, with its own laws, its own dangers, its own hard lessons to be learned-becomes a redeeming and surprising journey of self-discovery.
A Piece of Cake
Wheeewww, this unforgettable book was a roller coaster of emotions for me.
I started out feeling so sorry for Cupcake. Halfway through, I really didn’t like her. I went from feeling sorry for her to despising her. By the end, I was proud of and respected her.
Orphaned by the death of her mother and left in the hands of a sadistic foster parent, young Cupcake Brown learned to survive by turning tricks, downing hard liquor, and ingesting every drug she could find while hitchhiking up and down the California coast. She stumbled into gangbanging, drug dealing, hustling, prostitution, theft, and, eventually, the best scam of all: a series of 9-to-5 jobs.
A Piece of Cake is unlike any memoir you’ll ever read. Moving in its frankness, this is the most satisfying, startlingly funny, and genuinely affecting tour through hell you’ll ever take.
The Great Alone
This was the first Kristin Hannah book I’d ever read, and I immediately went and checked out her other novels. (Something I hadn’t done since I discovered Rainbow Rowell.)
Not only was this an extremely entertaining read, and I had to know how life turned out for Leni, but it also made me want to plan a trip to Alaska ASAP!
A wild family drama set in the actual wilds of Alaska, this is the story of a father changed by the Vietnam war, his loving wife, and the 13-year-old daughter caught between it all. It’s a classic tale of nature vs nurture, steeped in layered characters, each with their own story to tell.
Code Name Verity
This is one of the very few unforgettable books that I have read more than once.
The sheer horror of the situation that the characters are in. The devotion and love that they have for each other – it’s hard to imagine.
This story and its unreliable narrator were so cleverly written. You’ll need to have tissues nearby to get through the ending, but the story is worth it.
October 11th, 1943 — A British spy plane crashes in Nazi-occupied France. Its pilot and passenger are best friends. One of the girls has a chance at survival. The other has lost the game before it’s barely begun.
When “Verity” is arrested by the Gestapo, she’s sure she doesn’t stand a chance. As a secret agent captured in enemy territory, she’s living a spy’s worst nightmare. Her Nazi interrogators give her a simple choice: reveal her mission or face a grisly execution.
As she intricately weaves her confession, Verity uncovers her past, how she became friends with the pilot Maddie, and why she left Maddie in the wrecked fuselage of their plane. On each new scrap of paper, Verity battles for her life, confronting her views on courage, failure and her desperate hope to make it home. But will trading her secrets be enough to save her from the enemy?
A universally acclaimed Edgar Award winner, Code Name Verity is a visceral read of danger, resolve, and survival that shows just how far true friends will go to save each other. This updated edition features a brand-new short story, essay from the author, a discussion guide, and more.
(The only reason I didn’t give this book 5 stars was that it had a lot of pilot/aviation technical flying descriptions that I found boring. Which seems to be a common complaint on Goodreads.)
Outlander
Outlander Complete Hardcover Series by Diana Gabaldon (Books 1-9)
I am not a fantasy reader or even a science-fiction reader. I’m not against them, per se, but I’m just not that into them, ya know?
But the Outlander series has had me in a chokehold since 2021. I downloaded the first 4 books when my husband deployed to help me pass the time. And I’ve slowly been working my way through them. (I’m currently reading the 9th book and I’m trying to drag it out because I’m going to be SO SAD when it’s over.)
There’s way less of a fantasy aspect to this series than I was led to believe. I would consider it more historical fiction than anything else. It has become my comfort read.
Scottish Highlands, 1945. Claire Randall, a former British combat nurse, is just back from the war and reunited with her husband on a second honeymoon when she walks through a standing stone in one of the ancient circles that dot the British Isles. Suddenly she is a Sassenach—an “outlander”—in a Scotland torn by war and raiding clans in the year of Our Lord . . . 1743. Claire is catapulted into the intrigues of a world that threatens her life, and may shatter her heart. Marooned amid danger, passion, and violence, her only chance of safety lies in Jamie Fraser, a gallant young Scots warrior. What begins in compulsion becomes urgent need, and Claire finds herself torn between two very different men, in two irreconcilable lives.
Their Eyes Were Watching God
I made it a goal to read more of the classics. As an avid reader, I feel like I should at least try! Plus, this one is set in my home state (Florida), and I always love reading about ‘home’.
I absolutely loved this book, and it was so much easier to read than I expected. Southern literature might be one of my new favorite genres and could provide another list of unforgettable books.
One of the most important and enduring books of the twentieth century, Their Eyes Were Watching God brings to life a Southern love story with the wit and pathos found only in the writing of Zora Neale Hurston. Out of print for almost thirty years—due largely to initial audiences’ rejection of its strong black female protagonist—Hurston’s classic has since its 1978 reissue become perhaps the most widely read and highly acclaimed novel in the canon of African-American literature.
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society: A Novel
Because I am a historical fiction junkie and have read TONS of books about WWII, it’s hard to keep them all straight. However, this one is uniquely written and heartwarming (when most WWII novels rip your heart right out of your chest).
I watched the movie after it came out, but per usual, the movie doesn’t hold a candle to the written words!
Juliet begins a remarkable correspondence with the society’s members, learning about their island, their taste in books, and the impact the recent German occupation has had on their lives. Captivated by their stories, she sets sail for Guernsey, and what she finds will change her forever.
Written with warmth and humor as a series of letters, this novel is a celebration of the written word in all its guises and of finding connection in the most surprising ways.
The Road
by McCarthy, Cormac :: The Road-Paperback
The Road was another book that I didn’t really expect to like. The weird writing took me a few pages to get used to, and because it is so short, I felt like I wouldn’t really get a ‘whole story’. But I couldn’t have been more wrong.
This book drew me in, and I couldn’t put it down. I finished it in a few hours and immediately turned on the movie. It definitely belongs on this list of unforgettable books.
A father and his son walk alone through burned America. Nothing moves in the ravaged landscape save the ash on the wind. It is cold enough to crack stones, and when the snow falls it is gray. The sky is dark. Their destination is the coast, although they don’t know what, if anything, awaits them there. They have nothing; just a pistol to defend themselves against the lawless bands that stalk the road, the clothes they are wearing, a cart of scavenged food—and each other.
The Road is the profoundly moving story of a journey. It boldly imagines a future in which no hope remains, but in which the father and his son, “each the other’s world entire,” are sustained by love. Awesome in the totality of its vision, it is an unflinching meditation on the worst and the best that we are capable of: ultimate destructiveness, desperate tenacity, and the tenderness that keeps two people alive in the face of total devastation.
The Diamond Eye
I know I’m coming at you with another WWII novel, but hear me out. The Diamond Eye was a phenomenal read, but my mind was completely blown to learn that it was based on a real woman!
This is the story of the world’s deadliest female sniper, and it is riveting!
Based on a true story, The Diamond Eye is a haunting novel of heroism born of desperation, of a mother who became a soldier, of a woman who found her place in the world and changed the course of history forever.
A lot of these unforgettable books are best-sellers and were extremely hyped up when they came out. Just trust me when I tell you that they live up to the expectations.
I hope you enjoy them as much as I did! And feel free to send me book recommendations. My TBR list is a mile long, but there’s always room for more!
