List of 10...

There is a Facebook status that was making the rounds in my group of friends a while ago, and it's one I wish would come back. It's simple. You list 10 books that have stayed with you for whatever reason. You do it quickly...no over-thinking. Then you ask, cajole, and/or order your friends to do it as well. I like it for numerous reasons: 1) I like it anytime we talk books; 2) it interests me because it isn't planned. These are supposed to be snap judgments; 3) writing my list reminded me of many wonderful people who have given me the right book at the right time; and 4) this list could change drastically due to the quick forum that is Facebook--I feel like every time I would think of ten different books. On Facebook, you simply list them, but I wanted to explain why I chose the books I did because they all made me approach reading and the world in a different and new way.

So here is my quick list turned not-so-quick with explanations:
1. The Winter of Our Discontent by John Steinbeck
My sister gave me Cannery Row to read when I was probably a little too young to understand its nuance. But I loved it. It filled me with feelings I had had before but had never articulated. When I was older and read it again, I realized it had helped me learn how to articulate them. After I read Cannery Row, I found The Winter of Our Discontent. I asked to borrow it, and my sister, who always knows best, told me I probably was too little. I read it anyway, or rather I read to within a page and a half of the ending and couldn't go any further. It broke me. It was too sad, too despondent. Years later I read it and loved it, but I needed those years before I could understand the beauty and hope and love that carry you to the end of that story.  



2. In Our Time by Ernest Hemingway
In high school, I read The Old Man and the Sea and some of Hemingway's short stories. My teacher told us a lot about his sexism and how he killed himself. I didn't care for him. In college, my favorite professor assigned The Sun Also Rises. After about 10 minutes with everyone discussing Hemingway's machismo, my professor told us we had to discuss, for the rest of the class period, a different topic. He didn't really hold us to this rule, but it did make me think about what was said in the book instead of what others had said about the book. It started my love affair with Hemingway's writing. When I read In Our Time, I was hooked. "Big Two-Hearted River" is tied for my favorite short story. Nick Adams is possibly my favorite narrator. The format of the book--vignettes followed by stories which are illuminated more by the vignettes--relies on context in a way that most short story collections do not. And it works. 

3. Going to Meet the Man by James Baldwin
I never read James Baldwin in school, and when I came across "Sonny's Blues" in an anthology of American short stories, I was blown away. And kind of pissed. Why had no one ever put Baldwin in my hands? I have a degree in Literature. The majority of my classes focused on American Literature. The modernists are my jam. Race, gender, socio-economics, and religion are themes for which I look. Baldwin seems to encapsulate all of these themes and styles. My friend and I have been making our way through Baldwin's works. And he continues to blow my mind. And I continue to be angry at everyone who chose not to make me read him. Going to Meet the Man is another short story collection. It includes "Sonny's Blues," which is tied for my favorite short story. Baldwin's prose combines musicality and concision in a way I have rarely seen.  

4. The Gunslinger by Stephen King
I think if I had read The Gunslinger when Stephen King first wrote it (that would have been impossible since I don't think I was born yet), it might have driven me to insanity. The pauses between the novels in The Dark Tower series might only be topped by Martin's Game of Thrones. The Gunslinger is haunting and beautiful. I'm glad I started it after all the novels had been written. I don't think I could have made it through decades of waiting. 

5. Ride the River by Louis L'amour 
My dad came home almost every night, took a shower, ate supper, and went to bed. When you wake up before 4 am every morning to go to work, going to bed early is kind of a necessity. He would lie in bed and read. Mostly Louis L'amour novels. I started reading his novels when I was about 10 or 11. I loved the landscape he described, which was very different from my native Florida. I loved the men with a cause and a moral code (shocking that I ended up loving Hemingway, I know). And then I read Ride the River, and there she was. The girl that I desperately wanted to be--strong, capable, and attractive. Echo Sackett is not necessarily the best feminist role model, but she also isn't the worst. She made me want to be self-confident and that is an important lesson that not all young women hear. 

6. Paradise Piece by Piece by Molly Peacock
Paradise Piece by Piece was one of the first books I read that made me seriously question the way our culture discusses parenthood in general and motherhood in particular. It made me a better feminist. 

7. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
Everything I've read by Toni Morrison changed me, but The Bluest Eye broke my heart. Many years after reading this short novel, I read a study that shows how fiction actually changes our social and political views more effectively and more often than logical and analytical debates do. And the first novel that I thought of was The Bluest Eye. These are the stories that can change the world. This is the reason that we need access to good literature and good story telling. This is why the media we consume matters. The Bluest Eye has been banned and challenged many times, but I can't help thinking that it is the stories that worry us, that stick in our minds and disturb our sleep that we most need to read. 

8. Persuasion by Jane Austen
My brother gave me my first Jane Austen novel. I read it and loved it. It was Pride and Prejudice, and it should come as no surprise that I wanted to be Elizabeth Bennett. I also really loved Mr. Darcy. His stand-offish awkwardness was something that I could relate to. The funny thing is that I think most people would say that I'm more like Lizzy, but I constantly feel like Mr. Darcy in a crowd. I heard a lot of people complain about Jane Austen. I saw plenty of terrible adaptations. And then I read Persuasion. And don't get me wrong, I love the love story--Captain Wentworth and Anne Elliot might be my favorite literary couple--but what I really loved was the idea that sometimes we listen to people for the best reasons, and that isn't necessarily a good idea! But before we go all "let's-elope-without-thinking/love-solves-all-problems", the novel also shows us that we have to feel comfortable with our own decisions. Yes, Anne probably should have married Wentworth the first time around, but she also shouldn't have married him simply because she said yes to him at a very young age. Love and life are both horribly complicated and devastatingly simple. Jane Austen couches some really big ideas in sweet little love stories. And I'll always be a fan. 

9. The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
I can't remember how old I was when I read this novel. I can't remember if my sister told me to read it, or if she read it aloud to me. Or if I just equate reading as a child with her. But I do remember that I checked it out from my small town's tiny library. And that it was a hardback cover. And that it's drawings amused me almost as much as the words did. I wanted so badly to taste the alphabet and to know how tall I would be. I still want to taste the alphabet, and I'm still a little disappointed that I never grew any taller. If I had known all along that I would never get near my siblings' heights maybe it wouldn't have been such a crushing blow.

10. The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
Neil Gaiman is a god amongst writers. I love this man so much. And in a strange way, I feel like he loves me too. And by that, I mean I feel like he loves his audience. He cares about telling good stories that move people. Ocean is no different. This book is creepy and beautiful and heartbreaking and sweet. My favorite thing about Neil Gaiman--other than his wonderful hair--is the way he captures childhood. He does not write fondly of a more innocent time colored with nostalgic lenses. No, he writes about the terror of being small and knowing enough to be afraid, but not enough to explain, understand, or articulate your world. And then he brings that fear and that magic into adulthood for us. 

So those are my 10. If I started this project over again, I'm sure I would have 10 different books or at least 10 different reasons for choosing these same books. What are some of the stories that have stayed with you? Why did they have such an impact?