Lauren Johansen

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There are a few reasons I wanted to make a Favorites/Recommendations page. First, though I have an About Me page, I feel like showing you the media and other art I love is a much better way to help you get to know me as a person.

Second, who doesn’t love finding new books (and movies and TV shows and . . .) to love?! If you like what I write or some of what I read, chances are you might like some of the unfamiliar titles as well. So give them a try if they look interesting!

Third, it can serve as a reminder of the importance of consuming for artists. When authors are asked for advice for aspiring writers, usually their advice comes in this order:

  1. Read (read a lot, read widely, read voraciously in your genre, read like a writer).
  2. Write (write a lot, write every day, nothing you write is ever wasted, write what you love, experiment with your writing).

Along with helping you learn to write well, consuming great art can inspire you and remind you why you create.

So happy consuming!

Favorite Resources on Writing and/or Editing:

Favorite Poets:

Favorite Art:

Favorite Short Stories:

Halloween Picks:

Christmas Picks:

  • Harry Potter
  • Nevermoor
  • I want to build this section out, so if you have a recommendation, please send it to me!

Graphic Novels/Stories on Webtoon:

  • Himawari House
  • Heartstopper
  • Rooftops and Roommates
  • Eaternal Nocturnal
  • Wayne Family Adventures
  • This is another section I’d love recommendations for!

Fairytale Retellings/Fractured Fairytales:

Favorite Chapter Books:

Favorite Alien Stories:

Favorite Zombie Stories:

Favorite Dystopians:

  • Hunger Games
  • The Giver
  • Maze Runner
  • Masterminds
  • I Am Mother
  • Matched
  • The Truman Show
  • The City of Ember

Quirky Fun:

  • Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians
  • Wishmakers
  • Half Upon a Time
  • Story Thieves
  • Convergence
  • Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
  • The Witches

Favorite Middle Grade Fantasy (that hasn’t already been mentioned):

  • The False Prince
  • Fablehaven
  • Ranger’s Apprentice
  • Princess Academy
  • Septimous Heap
  • Airborne
  • Leven Thumps
  • Ink Heart
  • Into the Mist
  • Iron Trial
  • Cece Rios
  • Magical Misfits
  • Percy Jackson
  • Eighth Day
  • Narnia

Favorite Mysteries:

  • Agatha Christie
  • Lockwood and Co
  • The Golden Spoon
  • Knife’s Edge: A Violet Vanstorm Interactive Mystery
  • The Westing Game

Favorite Romances:

  • Pride and Prejudice
  • Edenbrooke
  • The Host
  • Lunar Chronicles
  • This Time it’s Real
  • People We Meet on Vacation
  • Love and Other Great Expectations

Favorite Historical Fiction:

  • The Book Thief
  • Ruta Serpetys
  • Code Talker: A Novel about the Navajo Marines of World War II

Favorite Epics:

  • The Stormlight Archive
  • The Lord of the Rings
  • Harry Potter
  • Fablehaven

Favorite Middle Grade Scifi:

  • Dark Life

Favorite Thriller + SF/F:

  • Dark Life
  • The False Prince
  • Kalahari

Favorite Idea Fiction:

  • Inception
  • Tenet
  • The Island
  • Minority Report
  • Hunger Games
  • The Truman Show
  • The Giver
  • The City of Ember
  • Arrival
  • I Am Mother
  • The Matrix
  • Grounded: The Adventures of Rapunzel

Prose Poetry:

  • Ally Condie
  • Shannon Hale
  • Gail Carson Levine
  • Sabaa Tahir
  • The Little Prince
  • The Book Thief
  • Neil Gaiman

Favorite Superhero Fiction:

  • Spiderman (duh)
  • Big Hero Six
  • The Reckoners
  • Teen Titans

Favorite TV series and Kid’s Movies:

  • Rise of the Guardians
  • Avatar the Last Air Bender
  • Psych
  • Moon Knight
  • Teen Titans
  • Niko and the Sword of Light

Anime:

  • Nausicaa and the Valley of the Wind (and honestly anything Miyazaki)
  • Your Name
  • Erased
  • Frieren Beyond Journey’s End
  • Spy Family
  • The Water Magician
  • Secrets of the Silent Witch
  • Puss ‘n’ Boots (the wish one)

Nonfiction:

  • Bomb
  • Into Thin Air
  • The Hiding Place

Other YA:

  • The Outsiders
  • Name of the Wind
  • Red Rising
  • An Ember in the Ashes
  • The Stardust Thief

Steampunk:

  • City on Air
  • Rithmatist

Classics:

  • Tom Sawyer
  • Anne of Green Gables
  • A Wizard of Earthsea
  • The Little Prince
  • Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
  • Lord of the Rings
  • Pride and Prejudice
  • Peter Pan
  • The Secret Garden

Dragon Stories:

  • How to Train Your Dragon (the movie and the books, though be warned, they’re very different!)

Linguistics:

  • Prodigal Tongue

Realistic Fiction:

  • Frindle
  • The Outsiders
  • The Hate U Give
  • All My Rage

Adult SF/F:

  • Mistborn
  • Stormlight Archive
  • The Martian

Pacing

  • Cloud Cuckoo Land