[Top 5 Wednesday] Favorite Sci-Fi & Fantasy Books

It's time for this week's Top Five Wednesday! This has been created by gingerreadslainey and it also has a Goodreads group. I am hoping to do these posts (or other weekly Wednesday posts) more often as long as I am interested in the current prompt! This week's prompt is all about my top five favorite sci-fi and fantasy books. I'll admit, I read far more fantasy than I do sci-fi because fantasy is my favorite genre and I haven't found the sci-fi book or series that really pulls me into the genre and has me wanting to look up more.
I tend to rave a lot about a specific group of books, and I am trying to make sure I talk about others that I have loved too. I don't want all my posts being about the same books over and over. And with fantasy being one of my favorite genres that can happen really often. So here are a few I hopefully haven't talked about as often, but are still just as good as the ones I normally rave about.

The Kingkiller Chronicles by Patrick Rothfuss
This series is such a popular one for a reason. It's a slow moving fantasy story that has great world building, characters, and writing. These books are positively massive but the writing is so inviting that it slips you right into the story flawlessly. I remember the first time I read The Name of the Wind my mind was blown with how in love I was with the feeling of reading this story. I would start reading and then next thing I know it's been hours. The writing and story are so inviting that you feel like you teleport into the story. I highly recommend this series. I cannot wait to re-read it sometime this year and I also cannot wait for the third book to come out.

The Daughter of Smoke and Bone series by Laini Taylor
I've raved about this series before and for good reason. The writing is absolutely enough for anyone to want to read it.. Like most of my reading choices, I picked this book up not knowing almost anything about it and fell in love with it. I felt connected to the characters so much quicker than I had expected because the writing is so well done that it makes you care. I'm not normally a huge romance fan, but the romance in this book is so well executed that I can't help but love it. I think this story is one of the most unique stories that I have ever read.

Coraline by Neil Gaiman
I decided to throw in a stand alone book because both sci-fi and fantasy books love their series. Which makes sense because of the amount of world building it takes to write a well written story. Coraline is one of my top favorite books. I love the writing and the story so much. I saw the movie first in theaters and then borrowed the book from my local library and fell in love. I have read Coraline at least five times and it's one of my go to spooky Halloween reads.

Virals by Kathy Reichs
Virals is a series I do not think gets enough praise. I own the first two books in the series and I hope to continue some point in the next year. It's one of the only sci-fi books I have really enjoyed. It's in the same world as the Bones series by Kathy Reichs (which also is the well known TV show) where Temperence Brennan's niece is the main character. Tory Brennan and her gang of friends find themselves exposed to an experimental strain of canine parvovirus and they basically get canine powers and abilities. It's such a great series and I highly recommend it especially for dog lovers.

The Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice
This book series was actually the first time I read a book that had vampires as the main focus of the story. I had watched the movie Queen of the Damned, really enjoyed it, and then picked up the books. I really love the characters and the world Anne Rice built for the readers. Someone I knew found out that I was getting into vampire books and recommended Twilight for me, and then all of a sudden the YA section of the bookstore was something I paid more attention to. Before that, I just re-read my Harry Potter books or found things I was interested in at the library. The Vampire Chronicles series is well written with interesting characters. Re-reading them as an adult I realized maybe thirteen year old Heather was maybe a little young but I still really loved them.

Thanks for reading! 

Which sci-fi and fantasy books are your favorite? I am always up for fantasy suggestions, and I am still looking out for a sci-fi story that I can get into because I know I am missing out.