Books I Loved That Made Me Want More Like Them

 There may be nearly a hundred of these formative books in my life, but below I've thought of some that were my childhood doorways into genres, others that led to niche fascinations, some of them continuing, and a few that fostered more recent obsessions, who knows where they will lead! I'm here for the journey and looking forward to the wonderful fresh content being published every day, plus all of the lost and hidden gems still circulating. 

1. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle

This was my first memorable foray into science fiction (even though it's now sometimes shelved as "science fantasy"). My dad had mentioned it being one of his favorites as a kid, I found it at the library, and it was my absolute favorite book from ages 9-11--until I read LOTR. Years later, I realized there were MORE, and I read all of the Time Quartet, plus almost all of the later O'Keefe family books, Austin family books, and a bunch of L'Engle's stand-alones. 

2. The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

I fell in love with these a few years ago, still looking for more like these, Southern Gothic suspense with like the most amazingly real characters that are also always sneaking around and doing stuff "offscreen" but that makes perfect sense for them when it all comes around. The only cure I've discovered is more Maggie Stiefvater...

3. The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien

My first big epic fantasy also came dad-recommended; I had already read the Narnia books (also a speculative fiction gateway into portal fantasies!), after these I read a couple of the Shannara books, Harry Potter as those came out, the Wizard of Earthsea books, the Eragon books as those came out, the Diane Duane Wizardry books, The Dwarves by Markus Heitz, the Chronicles of Prydain, Patricia C. Wrede dragon books, Edward Eager books, The Farthest Away Mountain by Lynne Reid Banks...not all of these are epics but LOTR definitely turned me into a hard-core, self-proclaimed fantasy fan. 

4. Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke

Magic meets Jane Austen...there's just something about the perfect mix of fantasy and 19h century British style here...I felt it again when I read Naomi Novik's Temeraire series, and I've been meaning to read Susanna Clarke's other works too, of which there are sadly few. 

5. Hatchet by Gary Paulsen

I picked Hatchet up randomly in one of my elementary school classrooms, I think fourth grade. I loooved it. I read Hatchet, then Brian's Winter, and I think one of the other ones (apparently there are  five?). Then, I went on a tear of survival/kids running away books; My Side of the Mountain, Walk Two Moons, Chasing Redbird, From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankenweiler, this book about a girl who gets stranded in the Alaskan wilderness that I remember so vividly except for the title...

6. Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder

My mom read these to me when I was little, and I also loved that pioneer/survival atmosphere. When I was older, I read all of the books again plus the Rose books and some of the ones written about earlier ancestors of the Ingalls Wilder family. 

7. Behind the Mask: The Life of Queen Elizabeth I by Jane Resh Thomas

I found this in my middle school library and it fueled a lifetime of reading, research, and writing about Elizabeth and the Tudors. 

8. Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg

A colleague recommended this, and I read it, then I read The Writing Life by Annie Dillard (which a colleague from another job had gifted me years before), Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert, and Old Friend from Far Away and The Secret of Writing by Natalie Goldberg. 

9. Wanderlust by Elisabeth Eaves

I picked this up in a bookstore because it sounded interesting, and I've been hooked on this women traveling genre ever since. I've read The Lost Girls; Eat, Pray, Love; Wild; and most recently, Around the World in 80 Dates by Jennifer Cox. 

10. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

One of the big beautiful fancy black books on my parents' shelves, it called to me. I couldn't get enough. I think I may have sat in the armchair beneath the bookcase for about two or three days just finishing it. After Pride & Prejudice, I went on to all of Austen's books, some multiple times. I didn't like the Brontes as much, but finally found my way to Elizabeth Gaskell and with the help of a college Brit lit class, Maria Edgeworth and Charlotte Lennox. Still looking for great reads by 19th century women!