Here’s another list of ten books – yet again inspired by a Facebook pass-it-along type game. However, this one asked for a reason that the book influenced you, and it wasn’t restricted to childhood books, so I figured it was time to put up another list. So here goes:
- First Test by Tamora Pierce
This book is the beginning of my fight for equity among all humans. It was the first time that I really began to see how things in these books are still relevant even today, not just in the idea that Tamora tends to model her different countries on real times and places. - Winterdance by Gary Paulson
This was the first book I ever read that was considered “adult”. Not only that, but it was about something that was difficult and took time to accomplish, even under the best of conditions. - The Royal Diaries: Elizabeth I: Red Rose of the House of Tudor: England, 1544 by Kathryn Lasky
This would mark a real beginning to my interest in historical fiction. I had copies of the Dear America series, but my interest in those only went so far. Elizabeth I caught my imagination. And it would be this that I will credit to the end of my days as being the starting point of my love of history. - And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
I love a book that makes you think. It’s part of the reason I love mysteries so much. However, no matter how hard my mother tried, I had a difficult time watching or reading Agatha Christie – and my frightened reaction to The ABC Murders after seeing David Suchet’s version on PBS in third grade didn’t help. This one brought me back and reminded me that sometimes we have to try things more than once. - Smoke and Mirrors by Neil Gaiman
This book has been an inspiration again and again and again. Every time I pick it up, I’m inspired to write a story of my own. - Among Others by Jo Walton
When I think magic and how magic might/could exist in the real world – this is the way I think it presents itself. Not with any flash or bang, but with small nudges. - Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J. K. Rowling
This book belongs with Tamora Pierce at the top. Robin’s life beliefs, thy name is equity. And yes, I can see how as a member of the millennial generation, this book might have influenced how I vote. But that’s because I agree with it. (Edit 30 Jul 2024: While this book was still influential in my childhood, it has fallen off my list in recent years. An updated list will be coming soon.) - Little Men by Louisa May Alcott
This book’s importance came less from the actual plot of the book and more from the supposed family significance. As my grandmother wrote in the back cover, “Your great-grandfather, Osgood Thomas Dean, grew up in Concord and claimed to have known L.M.A. He said that he was Tommy in this book and from the publishing date of 1871, he might be although he would have been only 5 or 6 years old.” The copy she gave me was hers from when she was a girl. - The Giggler Treatment by Roddy Doyle
Do you have a book that can cheer you up no matter how awful the world seems at that particular moment. That book – for me, anyway, and for you if you ever deign to pick it up – is The Giggler Treatment. Even better, the intention is right in the name. - No Bone Unturned: The Adventures of a Top Smithsonian Forensic Scientist and the Legal Battle for America’s Oldest Skeletons by Jeff Benedict
This is a highly biased work on the side of discovery of more about America’s past before settlement. However, this did get at the heart of the Kennewick Man battles, and thoroughly discusses the issue from the side of the scientists involved. It got my thinking about heritage and where we come from, and when it’s okay to dig into not only someone’s personal history, but their public history as well. It also got to that point through my interest in forensic anthropology.
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