This is definitely a hard one. I mean, exponentially more difficult than choosing a flavor of ice cream. If I were to choose, I would have to say:

• One Second After – William Forstchen
• The Road – Cormac McCarthy
• The Clan of the Cave Bear – Jean M Auel

It is a strange and relatively random list of books, but I have to be honest. These are easily my favorite books of all time, and series for that matter.

One Second After was my introduction to Post-Apocalyptic books. It was so realistic that I would often dream of the plotline after closing the book at the end of the night. It is so realistic that I thought that it was actually a true story at first.

I really enjoyed the plot and the idea that if the United States were to be hit with multiple EMP’s that this is actually incredibly plausible. Newt Gingrich even wrote the foreword as the book itself had actually been presented to congress as a possible event that could potentially occur in our future.

There is a specific scene that I will always remember and without too many spoilers – it is essentially a breakdown of what might occur if hospitals did not have electricity. The scenes are heart wrenching and utterly revolting. Highly recommended.

The Road by Cormac McCarthy is another book regarding the collapse of society as we know it, into a state of chaos and desolation. In this book, a father, son and mother are trying to survive as best they can in a world destroyed by freak weather phenomenon and essentially it turned the entire world into a searing dustbowl.

This story touches on the desolation of an empty earth filled with opportunists and wayward souls staking claims on their own portion of the road.

This book is a realistic representation not of disaster, but of humanity in the fallout. It details the fall of humankind, the change in mentality, and the hard fought push to survive on a dying planet. The book details how survival isn’t just about the elements and starvation – it is about surviving in a world with intelligent human life that is also fighting with every ounce of their being to also survive.

Wow. This one. Man, this takes me back. I read this book, along with the others in the series (save for the last one) for my sixth-grade English class in middle school. I had to get special permission to read it due to the graphic content and sexualized material. No worries, I was young enough to read over the icky parts.

This is easily my favorite book series of all time. So much so that I have actually re-read the first book. For someone with ADHD, that is a rare occurrence. For this series though, it is not only warranted but recommended.

This series was actually a series that my grandmother had laying around and had read many, many times over. You see, my grandmother is a speed reader, and sometimes I honestly don’t know how she does it. She reads faster than my neurons fire – I swear. However, if my grandma recommends a book – read it. Her recommendations are always good (except for the Harlequin Romance series – ew).

I wish I had read more in my life and had more recommendations – alas, I do not read as much as I should, but I am working on a book a week now. Be it a novella or a full-blown novel, my goal is to read more to be able to write more.

This is a list of the many other books that I love and have read but did not list:

• Writing in the Dark
• The Giver
• Warriors Series
• Nothing but Blackened Teeth
• Maze Runner Series
• Junji Ito anything
• The Stand
• Fresh Fruit and Broken Bodies
• Butter Honey Pig Bread
• I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream
• Spawn Anthology
• The Only Good Indians
• Sour Candy