Thursday, February 19, 2009

What were your most memorable books?

I'm just curious. Thinking back to childhood and early adulthood, which books to you most vividly remember? Which books changed you, and how? Which books left a lasting impression and why?

I need to brainstorm some more, but I definitely remember reading:

Goodnight Moon - just a great children's book
Where the Wild Things Are - scared me
A Dog for Suzie - the first book I checked out from the library and read by myself
Where the Sidewalk Ends - I loved it!
The Giving Tree - so sad but beautiful
Brighty of the Grand Canyon - my first LONG book
The Phantom Tollbooth - absolutely confused and intrigued me
Sounder - this is when I decided never to read another book about animals
Dear Mr. Henshaw - just something I remember
The Chronicles of Narnia - my 5th grade teacher read them all to us
The BFG, The Twits, The Witches - my Roald Dahl phase
A Wrinkel in Time, A Swiftly Tilting Plant, A Wind in the Door - my dad read these to me aloud
Romeo and Juliet - how can I leave out Shakespeare?
The Fountainhead - a life-changing read, full of independence and self-discovery
The Mists of Avalon - brought me into the power of womenhood! It really was a very powerful, influential book for me.
The Lord of the Rings - I can't deny it's impact
The Incredible Lightness of Being - I can't remember why!

I may add more to this if something comes to mind, especially after I see what you gals post. But I think that's a good start of my most influential books.

5 comments:

Rylie Suzanna said...

The Velveteen Rabbit (my grandparents gave it to me, and it has always been special because of that)

The Boxcar Children (the first real book I read by myself)

The Giver (wow!)

The Mark of the Lion series by Francine Rivers (probably my favorite story of all time)

That's all I can think of right now, but I'm sure there is more!

Kjirsten said...

I love this topic and post. Want to spend a little time thinking and will respond. :)

Rylie Suzanna said...

Oh, I forgot to add...

Where the Red Fern Grows (holy cow, i've never cried so hard)

Kristen, Kent, Fia, and Emmo said...

I'm sure I've forgotten a LOT. I just made a quick list of what came to mind.

I want to see everyone's most memorable books... especially since we're reading younger genres this month. It's just so interesting to see what shaped us, as I believe books can have such a trememdous influence on the way we see the world!

Theresa said...

I'm putting my list together in my head and hope to post it soon. Why, oh, why have I not been checking this blog more. Now I know why I feel so connected to you women--we have so many of the same influences. I really do feel closer to you guys from reading these lists.