Inspired by Lianne @ Eclectic Tale’s birthday giveaway from last year.

This weekend is my champagne birthday! A champagne birthday occurs when you turn the age of your birthday. In my case, I am 25 on the 25th. I love the symmetry of 25. I feel like at 25, I’m starting to make good progress with my life. I am so happy with everything I’ve achieved thus far. A few highlights just from the recent years include road tripping to two Cloud Cult concerts, graduating from university with a specialization in a field I love, moving to Japan to teach for a year, WWOOFing in Ireland and New Zealand, and of course, keeping up with reading and writing this blog! I haven’t been home for my birthday the past two years (in fact, I am out of town this weekend so hopefully I’ve scheduled everything correctly :P). I am excited to celebrate with friends and family in the upcoming weeks.

To commemorate this occasion on the blog, I’ve decided to share 25 of my favourite books. These are all books that quickly came to mind when I asked myself, “What are some books I love? What are some great books I’ve read recently?” I created this list off the top of my head, without too much thinking, so this is by no means a definitive or prioritized list of my favourites. (Creating this list actually made me realize I should update my favourites shelf on Goodreads…) Links to reviews where applicable.

• Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer
• Burial Rites by Hannah Kent
• Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
• Coraline by Neil Gaiman
• A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab
• The Evolution of Alice by David A. Robertson
• The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill
• The Gospel According to Jesus Christ by Jose Saramago
• The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
• The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
• The Hostile Hospital by Lemony Snicket (you may choose any book in the series)
• House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielwzski
• In the Night Garden by Catherynne M. Valente
• Inkspell by Cornelia Funke (review of Inkheart) (you may choose any book in the trilogy)
• Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami
• Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
• The Scar by China Mieville
• The Sight by David Clement-Davies
• The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender by Leslye Walton
• A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki
• Unwind by Neal Shusterman (reviews of Unstrung | Undivided) (you may choose any book in the series)
• Uprooted by Naomi Novik
• When the Sea Turned to Silver by Grace Lin
• White is for Witching by Helen Oyeyemi
• The Witches of New York by Ami McKay
• The Year of Secret Assignments by Jaclyn Moriarty

if you’ve got an opinion on any of these books, I’d love for you to share in the comments. Now onto the celebratory part – the giveaway! I am giving away one book of your choice from the above list (up to $25CAD value) via The Book Depository. The giveaway is open internationally to members of the online book community. A winner will be randomly selected and announced via Twitter on Friday 3 March (you do not need to have a Twitter account to participate). I will contact the winner via e-mail. They will have 48 hours to respond; otherwise I will draw again.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Have you ever celebrated a champagne birthday? Do any of my favourite coincide with yours? Which of these books are you curious about? Thanks for celebrating my birthday with me! 🙂