Over the years I create list after list of my favorite books. Each time, the list changes. Well, here are my absolutely, positively, quintessentially favorites that stand the test of time. And no, you’re not going to find me stupid enough to use them for resetting passwords.

Books:

1. or 2. The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand – Is it the story of an architect or the story of life itself? I like this more than Atlas Shrugged.
2. or 1. Harry Potter by J. K. Rowling – Wizarding school. The entire series all individually belong here.
3. The Body of Christopher Creed by Carol Plum-ucci – He vanished. Did he flee or was he killed?
4. The Long Walk by Stephen King – Be careful what you walk for. It just might kill you.
5. The Bartimaeus Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud – What could be better than an alternate, magical London?
6. Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card – Boy wonder learns to fight the enemy.
7. The Dark is Rising sequence by Susan Cooper – The dark is rising. Start with book 2.
8. The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North – Groundhog Life instead of Groundhog Day.
9. The Giver by Lois Lowry – Heart because there is no heart. Life because of inequality.
10. The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss – This is the story you end up with when Tolkein and Rowling get together to create a brainchild.

Runners-up include:  Spin by Robert Charles Wilson; The Mouse that Roared by Leonard Wibberly; Welcome to the Monkey House by Kurt Vonnegut; The October Country by Ray Bradbury; The Eyes of the Dragon by Stephen King; The Wishsong of Shannara by Terry Brooks; The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis; the Discworld series by Terry Pratchett; A Stranger Came Ashore by Mollie Hunter; the Peter Pan…”trilogy” (The Little White Bird, Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens, Peter and Wendy) by James Barrie; A Separate Peace by John Knowles.

Movies and Shows:

1. Stand by Me – coming of age (in the 50s?)
   
2. Red Band Society – teens in a hospital
3. The Impossible – the 2004 tsunami in Thailand (based on a true story)
4. Big Hero 6 – genius kid and new friends take down a villain. Coming of age.
5. Billy Elliot – coming of age during the UK miners’ strikes. Straight boy wants to do ballet
6. The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe – saving a world from evil
7. Interstellar – humankind goes to the stars, finds a universe that’s majestic and unforgiving
8. The Perks of Being a Wallflower – coming of age (based on the book of the same name)
9. The Flash (The CW series, seasons 1-3) – the story of Barry Allen, fastest man alive
10. Good Will Hunting – undiscovered genius accepting his potential

Runners-up include: Two Brothers 1 & 2 (The 5,000 Day Project); Star Wars II: Attack of the Clones (the Star Wars part being irrelevant)

Music:

1. Mule Skinner Blues (The Fendermen)
2. It’s Not Over Yet (for King & Country)
3. The plant-boy’s song from The Witches of Venice (Philip Glass)
4. In Noctem from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Nicholas Hooper)
5. Waiting (Nils Bech)
6. Blue Neighborhood (album by Troye Sivan)
7. Across the Stars from Star Wars II (John Williams)
8. Flying from Peter Pan (James Newton Howard)

Living People I’d Like to Meet:

1. J. K. Rowling – author
2. Luke Korns – youtuber
3. Queen Elizabeth II – Queen of the UK and Commonwealth realms
4. Charlie Rowe – actor
5. Julie Walters – actress (it’s pure coincidence that she’s tied to Harry Potter)
   
6. Joey Kidney – youtuber
7. Maggie Smith – actress (see Julie Walters)
8. Tom Holland? – actor

(These are people I’m at least willing to admit I’d like to meet and haven’t already, but yes, all these names do belong on here. Strangely it is coincidence that the order is female-male-female-male, as is the age pattern you might notice)