There's a meme going around Facebook to list your ten favorite books. I'm going to do a spicy version of this, revealing books that inspired me to write, books I thought were hilarious and books, for whatever reason a the time I read them, I hated!
A Few Books that Inspired Me to Write:
Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren
The sheer out-of-the-box wildness of the story
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
Inspired many a forth-grade (unfinished) story
The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers
Killer dark voice, haunting plot and prose
Cherry by Mary Karr
Her word choices and "voice" are sublime
Funny as all He*l Books:
Thumbsucker by Walter Kirn
A guy trying to kick the thumbsucking habit picks up much worse!
Sandman Slim by Richard Kadrey
A guy in seedy LA hunting down a bunch of bada*s black magicians
Running with Scissors by Augusten Burroughs
Memoir of a Wacked family
Permanent Midnight by Jerry Stahl
A memoir about the guy who wrote Alf while on heroin
Books I Hated at the Time I Read Them... Now???
The Illiad by Homer
Never make an eighth-grader read this!
Billy Budd by Herman Melville
Never make a high-schooler read this! *YAWN*
What about you? Inspiring books? Funny books? Awful books?
Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren
The sheer out-of-the-box wildness of the story
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
Inspired many a forth-grade (unfinished) story
The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers
Killer dark voice, haunting plot and prose
Cherry by Mary Karr
Her word choices and "voice" are sublime
Funny as all He*l Books:
Thumbsucker by Walter Kirn
A guy trying to kick the thumbsucking habit picks up much worse!
Sandman Slim by Richard Kadrey
A guy in seedy LA hunting down a bunch of bada*s black magicians
Memoir of a Wacked family
Permanent Midnight by Jerry Stahl
A memoir about the guy who wrote Alf while on heroin
Books I Hated at the Time I Read Them... Now???
The Illiad by Homer
Never make an eighth-grader read this!
Billy Budd by Herman Melville
Never make a high-schooler read this! *YAWN*
What about you? Inspiring books? Funny books? Awful books?
The Illiad was great...as an adult reader. :) I can't imagine making an 8th grader wade through that!
ReplyDeleteI'd have to say the Dragonriders of Pern series by Anne McCaffrey is my all-time favorite. I also love Replay by Ken Grimwood. It's one of my go-to favs.
Anne of Green Gables, The Phantom Tollbooth, Man O' War, Wllie Wonka... Tale of Two Cities, 2001, Dune, Kurt Vonnegut, Thomas Hardy, Jane Austen, Ray Bradbury. And because I'm odd, Gilgamesh...
ReplyDeleteYour list looks really cool, although I've only read 1 of them. Looks like River and I have similar tastes. Dune and The Dragonriders of Pern are on my list along with The Exorcist, The Amityville Horror, Swan Song, The Keep, and Phantoms.
ReplyDeleteThe only I've read of these is The Illiad, but I loved it. Then again, I was an adult and obsessed with Greece and the Trojan War. Now, I'm not really an Achilles fan, but Odysseus and Athena are my peeps. :)
ReplyDeleteTerry Brooks and Robert Heinlein inspired me.
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh, Billy Budd made me laugh. I had forgotten all about it but trying to get through that in school was a nightmare. I think I would still hate it now LOL.
ReplyDeleteThe White Dragon was the book that prompted me to start writing.
ReplyDeleteI have not yet had the pleasure of reading McCaffrey. But, wow, she has many devoted fans posting rave reviews!
ReplyDeleteI came to writing really late. Was not a reader when I was a kid. When I started teaching, I fell in love with most of the Newbery books, I think because my7 students liked them so much and gave great reports. No special book, just all of them. :)
ReplyDeleteThe Illiad was one I liked better as an adult when I read it at a much slower speed! Stephen King was my biggest inspiration. It, Tommyknockers, and The Stand were the three big ones for me.
ReplyDeleteStephen King's On Writing is the best book I've read on the subject. And his Doctor Sleep was a huge inspiration this year.
ReplyDeleteSo many books, so little time. Any of Tove Jansen's books are treasures to read and reread. And add another vote for McCaffrey.
ReplyDeleteAnd yet another vote for McCaffrey! Wasn't a big fan of Melville or Great Gatsby though. ;)
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