Reading is fundamental.
Jul. 3rd, 2008 11:29 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ceebee_eebeeAnother meme? Say it ain't so. This time, I stole it from ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
thelamppost.
This is inspired by the Big Read meme going around that prompts people to select 'classic' books from a list that they have read. With that in mind, I'd like you to list the ten books that have had the most influence on YOU, personally. It doesn't matter whether or not they're classics, adult books or YA. This meme is not asking you to be a literary critic. These are the books that have made an impression on you, that stay in your mind, that have had an impact on your life. The books that taught you how to write, that molded your ideas about life and love. The books that you *always* have a copy of on your bookshelf, and invariably read until the binding is falling apart.
These aren't necessarily my favorite books (though there is some overlap), but these are the books that have had the biggest impact on my life, for good or bad.
1) Kartusch by Stephen Cosgrove and Robin James - I can still hear my mother's voice reading this to me. And I think it contains one of the most important lessons a child could ever learn. Namely, that you can never learn anything, or appreciate the beauty around you, if you don't SHUT THE HELL UP sometimes.
2) Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss - The defining theme of my life.
3) From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg - We were assigned this book in fourth grade and I remember being completely blown away. I connected so strongly with Claudia's independence and desire for adventure. I still think about it every time I'm in a museum.
4) Fear of Flying by Erica Jong - I snuck this book off my aunt's bookshelf when I was maybe...11 or so. It was EXTREMELY enlightening.
5) Time Enough For Love by Robert Heinlein - The single greatest book I've ever read. It's something like 600 pages long but the first time I finished it, I went right back to page 1 and read it straight through again.
6) Dune by Frank Herbert - Another of my favorites. I'm not sure what I can say about this book that hasn't been said a million times. I wrote a 40 page paper in college about the roles of women in the novel. I got an A. ;-)
7) Grass by Sheri Tepper - I read this book for the first time when I was just beginning to explore my own ideas about feminist theory and it was incredibly influential.
8) Fermata by Nicholson Baker - When I said that these books influenced me for good or bad, this was the one book I think might have fallen more on the bad side. But I can't deny that it had an impact.
9) Pollen by Jeff Noon - Holy crap. This book blew my mind the first time I read it and every single spring, when the pollen starts blowing down the streets and sticking to cars, I can't stop thinking about it. I would say this is one of the most haunting, mindfuck of a books I've ever read.
10) Music For Torching by A.M. Homes - Tales of suburban ennui are one of my most favorite genre of books (second only to scifi). This, for me, is the defining novel of that kind. Magnificent in every way, and no matter how many other similar books I read, nothing has ever come close to speaking to me the way it did.
YAY BOOKS! Now, your turn.
thelamppost.This is inspired by the Big Read meme going around that prompts people to select 'classic' books from a list that they have read. With that in mind, I'd like you to list the ten books that have had the most influence on YOU, personally. It doesn't matter whether or not they're classics, adult books or YA. This meme is not asking you to be a literary critic. These are the books that have made an impression on you, that stay in your mind, that have had an impact on your life. The books that taught you how to write, that molded your ideas about life and love. The books that you *always* have a copy of on your bookshelf, and invariably read until the binding is falling apart.
These aren't necessarily my favorite books (though there is some overlap), but these are the books that have had the biggest impact on my life, for good or bad.
1) Kartusch by Stephen Cosgrove and Robin James - I can still hear my mother's voice reading this to me. And I think it contains one of the most important lessons a child could ever learn. Namely, that you can never learn anything, or appreciate the beauty around you, if you don't SHUT THE HELL UP sometimes.
2) Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss - The defining theme of my life.
3) From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg - We were assigned this book in fourth grade and I remember being completely blown away. I connected so strongly with Claudia's independence and desire for adventure. I still think about it every time I'm in a museum.
4) Fear of Flying by Erica Jong - I snuck this book off my aunt's bookshelf when I was maybe...11 or so. It was EXTREMELY enlightening.
5) Time Enough For Love by Robert Heinlein - The single greatest book I've ever read. It's something like 600 pages long but the first time I finished it, I went right back to page 1 and read it straight through again.
6) Dune by Frank Herbert - Another of my favorites. I'm not sure what I can say about this book that hasn't been said a million times. I wrote a 40 page paper in college about the roles of women in the novel. I got an A. ;-)
7) Grass by Sheri Tepper - I read this book for the first time when I was just beginning to explore my own ideas about feminist theory and it was incredibly influential.
8) Fermata by Nicholson Baker - When I said that these books influenced me for good or bad, this was the one book I think might have fallen more on the bad side. But I can't deny that it had an impact.
9) Pollen by Jeff Noon - Holy crap. This book blew my mind the first time I read it and every single spring, when the pollen starts blowing down the streets and sticking to cars, I can't stop thinking about it. I would say this is one of the most haunting, mindfuck of a books I've ever read.
10) Music For Torching by A.M. Homes - Tales of suburban ennui are one of my most favorite genre of books (second only to scifi). This, for me, is the defining novel of that kind. Magnificent in every way, and no matter how many other similar books I read, nothing has ever come close to speaking to me the way it did.
YAY BOOKS! Now, your turn.