Sunday, August 31, 2014

Ten Meaningful Books


My dear friend, Emily, tagged me in the “Ten Meaningful Books!” post on Facebook.  This is excellent, as I couldn’t decide what to blog about (plenty of things to write about, just couldn’t choose) and now I have something!  Yay!

(Harry Potter is my absolute favorite, but aside from that, the rest are not in any particular order.)

1. The Harry Potter books by J.K. Rowling, of course.  I didn’t read much when I was little, and I struggle with it now.  Don’t get me wrong – I love reading.  But it’s hard for me.  That said, the Harry Potter books got me started on reading.  They’re the first books I remember being excited about and I absolutely love the stories and the characters.  I read these books about ten times a year, which is admittedly absurd.  But what-eva.  I love the portrayal of evil in the series – it’s made, not born.  I love the stories of redemption we get from death eaters turned good.  I love the triumph of good and the power of love in the stories.  And any and every scene with the Weasley family makes me feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside, which is saying something as I generally hate or at least pretend to hate anything having to do with family. 

2. The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien.  I loved the Lord of the Rings books, but for me, The Hobbit was the best.  No joke, while I was reading The Hobbit, I’d have dreams that I was going out on adventures every night.  I read before I go to bed often, but aside from nightmares of Voldemort trying to kill me, it’s not often I have such vivid dreams of the stories.

3. A People’s History of the United States by Howard Zinn.  I read this book in high school and it was hella uncomfortable at first.  It really sucks to find out that your history isn’t quite as nice as it’s been made out to be and even worse to realize that your country STILL isn’t what it ought to be.  But it was important to read and I think I’m a better person for it.  It was pretty much the gateway drug to information about the less than stellar reality of things.  It made me think more and question more.

4. In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez.  I love me some history.  This was one of the first novels I read that wasn’t based in an environment or sound I’m familiar with.  It’s a story about the Mirabal sisters, four women who fought against the dictatorship of Trujillo in the Domican Republic.  It shed a light on the struggle of trying to balance family and political action, it showed how different personalities could be helpful to a cause in their own ways.  It was a really exceptional book.

5. Imagined Communities by Benedict Anderson.  This talked about people and nations and movements and it was great and things are a little clearer to me now when I’m reading about struggle or wars, etc.  It wasn’t necessarily a pleasant read, because I suck at reading and it was really difficult.  Worth it, though.

6. Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman by Robert K. Massie.  I loved this book.  As maybe you could tell from my HP description, I’m a fan of the whole good and bad thing and of the complexities of humans.  I like reading about people (or characters) who we think are bad, but see that there’s still good in them.  Sometimes down deeper than others…….

7. The Twelve Tribes of Hattie by Ayana Mathis.  I wrote a whole post on this so it’s clear I loved it.  Let’s just say the writing was incredible and rocked my fucking socks.  And I want to write, so it’s helpful/inspiring to see good writing.

8. A Child Called It by Dave Pelzer.  Reading this sucked.  But I mean, like, yeah.  Glad to have read it when I did.

9.  The Giver by Lois Lowry.  I re-read this the other day, and I didn’t enjoy it quite as much as I did when I was 11.  BUT.  I still like it and I remember enjoying it as a kid.  Not on par with HP, but it was another book that pushed me to read more. 

10. The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton.  I read this in school and as far as I can remember, this was the first book that I read that dealt a bit with class.  I remember being able to relate to some of the stuff I read for the first time and that was cool.  I also only recently learned that it was written by a woman, and that's pretty awesome. (Though I'm ready for an end to so many women using initials instead of their names so that their books will sell.)

I’m sure I’m missing some, or that later on I’ll be pissed because I’ll remember one that should have been on this list.  But all of these come to mind when I think of the books I’ve read that stick with me the most, and I think when (if I ever) I write, I’ll be able to take stuff from each of these.  I also very much look forward to the day when I have an eleven year old I can send a Hogwarts acceptance letter to. 


Reading is fun.  
_
Charlotte

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