Some books just stick with you. I always enjoy reading (unless the book really sucks), but there are several books that I still can’t get out of my head — even years later. These are the books that I read when I need comfort, the kind of comfort a kid finds in his favorite stuffed animal.

The Wizard Children of Finn, by Mary Tannen

Fiona and her thumb-sucking little brother Bran accidentally travel back in time to ancient Ireland, where they get caught up in a dangerous squabble.

My mom gave a bunch of her childhood books to me when I was a kid. At first, many of them sat on my shelf because they just didn’t look cool enough to my young eyes, but after a while I ventured further into her stash. The Wizard Children of Finn was one of the ones I waited forever to read, but I fell in love with it right away. I got addicted to the world of ancient Ireland. I read that book cover to cover twice in a row, at one point. I probably should have had an intervention.

Ella Enchanted, by Gail Carson Levine

Ella was born with a curse — she must obey, even if her life is at risk.

I read this revamped version of Cinderella over and over, too. I was fascinated with Ella’s curse, and the rich fantasy world the story was set in. It beat Disney’s Cinderella by miles. (Unfortunately, their movie version of Ella Enchanted looks like a train wreck.) I’m pretty sure I bought it at a school book fair — one of the many treasures I would find there for a few bucks.

Julie of the Wolves, by Jean Craighead George

A young Eskimo girl runs away when the boy she is betrothed to tries to rape her, and is taken into the care of a wolf pack on the tundra.

This is probably my all-time favorite book. I borrowed it from the library several months ago, because it’s definitely one of my comfort reads. This book got me obsessed with wolves and Alaska, and for years all I wanted to do was visit Alaska. (Now I know better: that place is freaking cold!)

The Dark Tower IV: Wizard and Glass, by Stephen King

The last gunslinger tells the story of how he found and lost his true love, and how his home country fell.

I cry, no matter how many times I read Wizard and Glass. It may be the fourth in the Dark Tower series, but most of it could be a standalone novel. This book is hands down Stephen King’s best work. You find yourself completely submerged in Roland’s past, and even though you already know the outcome, you can’t help but yell at the book for things to go differently.

A Kind of Intimacy, by Jenn Ashworth

Annie starts a new life in a new neighborhood, and tries desperately to hide her dangerous past.

I found A Kind of Intimacy in a section of breakout authors at Barnes and Noble. The cover caught my eye, and the story sounded intriguing, so I grabbed it. Reading it puts you in the mind of someone who is losing her mind, little by little. It’s riveting. Ever since I read and reviewed it, I have not been able to get it out of my head!

Moon Called, by Patricia Briggs

When my grandmother suggested this to me, I was skeptical because it was yet another supernatural thriller. As if we don’t already have enough! But I was enchanted with Mercy from the beginning, and I thought it was awesome that she’s a shapeshifter who takes the form of a coyote — not a werewolf! (There are, however, werewolves in the story.) I’ve read the first three books in the series, and I love that Mercy is a mechanic who gets her hands dirty in all of the senses of the phrase. She is tough as nails, unlike the wimpy and vampire-smitten Anita Blake and Bella.

The Host, by Stephenie Meyer

People give Stephenie Meyer a lot of shit, but they all need to read The Host before judging (which is probably an ironic statement, after I called Bella a wimp). There are a lot of problems with the Twilight saga, and though I loved the books, the fandom and hype surrounding it since the movies came out nauseates me. However, The Host is a solid science fiction novel about an alien who attaches herself to a human’s brain, and falls in love with her human, even though her species abhors them. It’s a love story, but it’s far more complicated than the ooey gooey teen romance in Twilight (not that there’s necessarily anything wrong with teenage love). Wanderer falls in love with the woman whose body she has taken over, as well as Mel’s little brother and the man she loves.

This is another one of those books that I will pull out when I need something familiar. The characters are like family to me, and I always, always cry at the end.

Odd Thomas, by Dean Koontz

Odd Thomas is a short order cook who lives in California. He’s a pretty average guy… except for that thing where he sees dead people. Elvis is one of his best friends — the real Elvis, not one of those Vegas ripoffs. Odd — yes, that’s his real name — tries to help the dead whenever he can, but things really get shaken up when a mysterious man comes to town with a pack of shades hovering over him and the date of the end of the world.

I made fun of my mom so bad when she was reading this. When she finally convinced me to read it, I was sick and had nothing better to do… or so I thought. I got hooked from the first page, and have read the other three novels, which always leave me hungry for more. (Oh Dean, please write another Odd novel. Some of us are scratching, we’re so addicted.) There are a couple of graphic novels, too, which I really need to check out. (They serve as prequels, though, so that doesn’t really count as a fix.) You can listen to an audio excerpt of the first book, Odd Thomas, here, while you read the rest of this article.

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, by C.S. Lewis

You’ve probably noticed that most of my favorites are children’s books. It’s no coincidence, because my mom read to my sister and I from the beginning. I can remember gathering on her bed, my sister and I sandwiching her, as she read the Narnia books to us. I can see my parents’ bedroom now, the blue comforter, the door to the right.

In The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, the Pevensie children are sent to stay with their uncle during World War II. One day, during a game of hide and seek, Lucy, the youngest, discovers that the old wardrobe in an abandoned room is a door to another world. Unfortunately, no one believes her.

I love all of the Narnia books, but The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe will always be my favorite. The movies are pretty awesome, too.

The Sword of Shannara, by Terry Brooks

This is another book that my mom introduced to me. I read it when I was ten or eleven, which amazes me because it was a book for adults… and Terry Brooks tends to use huge words, and writes long paragraphs of description. The first time I read it, I didn’t understand half of those big words. When I read it the second time, I learned a whole bunch of new words, and fell deeper in love with the series.

I’ve never read any of the Lord of the Rings books — I know, I know — but it’s pretty obvious that this series pays homage to Tolkien’s masterpiece. My copies of the Shannara books were my mom’s, so they are now several decades old, and smell like comfort. They’re in storage right now, sadly, or I’d be rereading them over and over.

Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, by Robert C. O’Brien

If you guessed that my mom gave me this book, too, you’re close. I am pretty sure we rented the movie from the library, first. I fell in love with it, and ended up reading it in school. (I think it was in my third grade teacher’s personal “mini library” in her classroom.)

Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH is also a children’s book, but like the others, don’t let that fool you. A mouse with a sick child must convince a group of rats who escaped from an experiment lab to stop a farmer from plowing over her home in the field. I think any mom could relate to Mrs. Frisby, who would do anything for Timothy — even if it involves going to visit the super creepy Nicodemus to ask for help.

I just realized that I don’t have my own copy of this book, which is really sad. It’s definitely a book I’d read over and over.

Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, by Gregory Maguire

I don’t know about you, but I always kind of liked the Wicked Witch in The Wizard of Oz. (I’m talking about the movie, since I don’t think I ever finished my mom’s copy of the book.) After reading Wicked, I can never look at The Wizard of Oz the same again.

The Wicked Witch, whose name is Elphaba, grows up in a time of political upheaval, and never feels accepted — even by her own parents. I think Nanny is more of a mother to her than her actual mother. The friendship between Elphie and Galinda is beautiful, the characters are much more three dimensional than in The Wizard of Oz, and the story goes deeper than I could have ever imagined. Gregory Maguire is a genius. (He even did a fantastic job with Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister, which is exactly what it sounds like.)

I could go on… and on, and on… What are your favorite books?