All too often we’ll get to the end of a book and think “eh.” That was enjoyable enough I suppose, but another story would have passed the time equally well.
But sometimes we read a story that stays with us, that changes us in some way. These are the ones that keep us coming back to reading over and over again.
Now today is Saturday, the day after Thanksgiving, and while the holiday may be over I’m still thankful for a number of books that have really impacted my life. In celebration, then, here is a list of the most impactful, in no particular order:
1) The Catcher in the Rye
For its gift of catharsis
2) I Capture the Castle
For providing solidarity and courage during my middle school years
3) The Big Orange Splot
For being a childhood favorite shared with my sisters and father
4) 1984
For being like no book I’d ever read before
5) Wuthering Heights
For being a favorite I can return to again and again
6) Les Misérables
For being the most complex, awe-inspiring story I’ve ever read
7) Rebecca
For finally getting me out of a reading slump
8) The Bible
For being my rock
9) The Poisonwood Bible
For being one of the first books I ever read for school that I actually enjoyed
10) The Maximum Ride series
For being one of my favorite series in middle school, introduced to me by one of my very best friends
***
What books are you thankful for? Let me know in the comments below!
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Lord of the Rings
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Clint Willis – The Boys of Everest
Carl Sagan – Contact
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Alexandre Dumas – The man in the Iron Mask
Terry Pratchett – complete series
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Heinrich Harrer – White Spider
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Lord of the Rings and Hound of the Baskervilles are the only ones I’ve read from this list! Any particular reasons for them? 🙂
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Those two are just have worlds so vividly described. Pratchett makes me smile. White spider and the Boys of Everest are tragic adventure true life tales – so desolate. Bragg makes you think. Dumas was the first book I ever owned. Sagan was just a wonderful person who got what it was to be human. The Trickster is the scariest book I have ever read.
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I love this! It’s wonderful how books can be so special for different reasons. Thank you for sharing these!
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Great list – some of my favorites made it to your list: Rebecca, The Catcher in the Rye, and Wuthering Heights. Happy Thanksgiving!
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Fantastic! And thank you!
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I’ve loved Rebecca since I was ten or eleven. I even did tribute rooms on YoWorld based on my memory of the book! (silly, I know, but fun).
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I’m actually in the middle of it right now and loving it! I’ve managed to avoid knowing virtually anything about what it’s about which is my favorite way to read a book. 🙂
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Oh good, I didn’t leave a spoiler. Whew!
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Jane Eyre, The Awakening, The Bell Jar, The Night Circus, Bossypants, Yes Please, Harry Potter, everything by Jasper Fforde & Jane Austen..oh man I could go on & on. So many books have inspired me, lifted me up, shown myself to me, & shaped me.
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Any particular stories you’d be willing to share? 🙂
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The Awakening has always held a very special place in my heart. We read this in my hs senior ap english class. We’d read a few things with a feminist lead, but not so overtly so. Most of the class found Edna to be selfish & couldn’t understand her stepping outside the normal constructs of wife & mother. At this point in my life I had a 1yr old daughter & while her father & I were coparenting & dating (people could not understand how we didn’t get married right away, crazy rural Americans), I wasn’t about to forfeit what I felt was important to me & what would make me a better person. A lot of people thought I was selfish for putting myself first. I could whole heartedly relate to this woman.
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Thank you so much for sharing this really personal story! I remember reading The Awakening around the same time but it didn’t speak to me as much from the place where I was. But the power it held/holds for you makes perfect sense. It’s so interesting how books can work so differently based on circumstances! Thanks so much again for sharing!!
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Narnia
LOTR
Harry Potter
(^^^^I feel like these form the trinity of fantasy fiction…ha!)
A Tale of Two Cities
Lord Jim
The Seven Storey Mountain
Anna Karenina
The Power and the Glory
East of Eden
Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy
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I love Anna Karenina, too! If I had expanded my list it would definitely be on there. I’ve also been interested in reading Bonhoeffer! I didn’t know quite all of those titles belonged to him, but now I’m even more intrigued.
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Yeah, Bonhoeffer was part of the Valkyrie plot and so was executed. It’s really interesting.
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