Thursday, August 9, 2007

My top books of all time

"A friend of mine came up with a rather nifty question recently: compile a short list of books specifically meant to help somebody understand you. These are not (necessarily) non-fiction books that catalogue your particular disorders or quirks, but books that especially resonate with you, that express a facet of you in book form." Says Candy of the Smart Bitches website.

So I'm putting it here instead of in their comments because I have a feeling that I'll be adding more and more. Leave me a comment and/or link to your blog to let me know yours!

Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen - I read it for the first time in high school and I didn't really get all the layers of comedy in it, but I wanted to beeeeeeee Elizabeth Bennett and came from a large family with some very silly sisters and was in love with Darcy. I didn't know then that 99% of women agreed - or would, once the BBC got Colin Firth to play Mr. Darcy...

Persuasion
, Jane Austen - because Austen really captured the regrets of a life lived following others' rules and the attempt to get back what you lost.

Jane Eyre
, whichever Bronte it is, probably Charlotte - before I ever read Austen, back in junior high or maybe even 4th or 5th grade, I got this book from my grandparents' house when we were emptying it out, and was I ever swept away. Now I reread it and the melodrama sort of sticks in my craw, but, hey, that was the goal of the Brontes. I never did understand the point of Wuthering Heights, by the other Bronte sister though. *ducks*

The Hitchhiker's Guide books, Douglas Adams - I've never been deeply into sci-fi, but have always loved these. Whenever I do read some sci-fi, I can see the traditions and parallels that Adams draws and makes fun of. The radio version of this is forever linked in my mind to a radio comedy about the tooth fairy that I heard at about the same time - I'd say late 70's.

Harry Potter #1 - #7, JK Rowling - I read the first four in about two days when DH gave me the boxed set in paperback a few years ago for Xmas. Then I re-read them. Then I re-read them. Then I got excited ;) #5 is my favorite, though it's the one that lots of other people don't like so much. I think she really dug down and showed the essence of Hogwarts and magic. Or something.

The Highly Sensitive Person, Elaine Aron - self-help book for those of us who get overwhelmed by the noise and hustle of life. Not even so much self-help and self-recognition. Hey, it's OK if I can't handle crowds and loud noise and going out after being with people all day. I'm not a freak. I don't need to get thicker skin. I do need to spend time alone. I'm not the only one. Woah. Breakthrough.

A Prayer for Owen Meany, John Irving - I have mostly liked all of his books, but this one gripped me more than most.

Most of Kurt Vonnegut, especially Slaughterhouse Five.

I love Jennifer Crusie, especially Faking It and Bet Me, but I wouldn't say they have changed my life, more opened my mind a bit more to a good writer, which made me think that maybe I could write. We're still waiting to see on that.

All of Laura Ingalls Wilder and The Chronicles of Narnia because Mom read them to us more than once and so they are very deeply rooted. More "formed my life" than "changed my life."

Ditto Madeleine L'Engle's Wrinkle in Time and, well, most of the books she wrote.

In no particular order, of course.

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