Books That Shaped Me

My favorite books as a lifelong bibliophile

I learned to read at age four, and I’ve basically had a book in my hand ever since. As a child, I was often chided for spending too much time inside, opting to spend my time in the fictional worlds of my books rather than the real one in which I lived. I would often read for so long that the room would grow dark around me without my noticing, something I still do to this day.

In elementary school, I spent my free time at the local library, browsing the children’s section for new Goosebumps and Baby-Sitters Club books. I used and abused my library card until I eventually moved cities at age 11 and forgot I had a book checked out at my old library, which somehow got lost in the move, and then subsequently felt guilty about that for about a decade and was too afraid to get a new library card lest I made the same mistake twice. Anyway.

I’ve had several favorite books throughout my life, and I’m always on the hunt for my next one. These days I read roughly 100 books a year, but I know I wouldn’t be here without all the books that made me an avid reader. So, without further ado, to all the books I’ve loved before (see what I did there?).

Elementary School:

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

The book I credit with my lifelong love of reading. My mom bought for my sister and me a set of “Great Illustrated Classics,” watered down versions of classic books that included pictures. I read Pollyanna, Anne of Green Gables, and Heidi, but my favorite by far was Little Women. I immediately fell in love the March sisters, identifying first with Beth (more on that here), and then later with Jo and Amy. I loved it so much, that I read the full version in high school and then again several times after. It’s nostalgic, heartwarming, and timelessly captures sisterhood.

Holes by Louis Sachar

Holes is one of those rare book-to-movie adaptations that’s nearly perfect. Besides the fact that main character Stanley Yelnats is supposed to be overweight at the beginning of the book, and Shia LeBeouf is…not, they pretty much got everything else spot on. I love everything about this book, from the way the two storylines converge and everything comes full circle, to how fun it is to say “no good dirty rotten pig stealing great great grandfather” and the fact that I can still recall this line to this day. This is a rare gem of a book that’s kid friendly but also has a really good plot.

Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine

A girl gets cursed at birth to be obedient and so has to do everything everyone tells her to do. Will we as a society ever tire of Cinderella retellings? Probably not. This book was my favorite for years in elementary/middle school, and I was always trying to get other people to read it. The movie adaptation was decent, but Anne Hathaway was too old to play this character! Also I did a reread of this somewhat recently and it was darker than I remember.

Middle School:

Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder

I found the complete set of these books at a yard sale, and I really thought I struck gold. I read every last one of them, and imagined myself as a homesteader (I would not have fared well). I still think about making maple candy with snow though.

Harry Potter by JK Rowling

I assume you knew this was coming. I will forever be angry with Rowling for ruining a very good thing with her antiquated and unhinged beliefs about Trans people, but I have to give credit to the series that started the YA boom. I once went to a book signing with Patrick Ness, and someone asked him why he thought Young Adult was having such a moment, and he credited the success of the Harry Potter series, and I kind of agree! Without these books, who knows what middle grade/YA sections would look like in bookstores today. I still reread these semi-regularly (though I refuse to buy new ones), and I have to say, the magic (pun intended) is still there. Sure, it’s probably 80% nostalgia, but I will probably always love these books.

High School:

Alright, moving on to the dark years (high school) where my taste in books was a little…bad. I’m not sure what I was going through (puberty) in these years, but please don’t judge me too harshly.

The da Vinci Code by Dan Brown

I know, I know, but weren’t we all a little obsessed with this book for a while? They made a movie of it! I had my mind blown (no, I didn’t think it was real, I mean by how the plot all comes together at the end), and I became a girl (not yet a woman) obsessed with all things Dan Brown. I subsequently read Angels and Demons and Digital Fortress, followed by The Lost Symbol before I finally realized that all of his books are 1. the same and 2. quite sexist. Ah well, at least it introduced me to what a cryptex was, the knowledge of which helped me almost beat an escape room a few months ago.

Wicked by Gregory Maguire

I don’t know who let me read this book as a 15-year-old, but let me tell you in case you didn’t know, the book is NOT like the musical, and is not child friendly lol. Anyway, I thought I was extremely cool for loving this book, and I would tell anyone who would listen “sure the first three quarters is pretty boring, but the last quarter is the best book I’ve ever read in my life.” Okay, Liz, you’re very deep, we get it.

College Years:

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

One of the only books series I had time to read in college, but I devoured these, just like everybody else. I then watched the first two movies and completely fell off, never reading any of the prequels/sequels/whatever, but for a moment, these were very important to me.

A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray

One of my friends let me borrow these books, and I am eternally grateful, as Libba Bray is to this day one of my favorite authors. This original trilogy is one of her best, but her Diviners series is a very close second.

Adulthood:

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

I have two tattoos that reference this book for a reason. I once listed this as a “comfort book” in a TikTok, and people were very concerned for my mental health (lol). But I feel like you either get it or you don’t! This is a masterpiece.

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith

Will I ever shut up about this book? No. It’s a timeless coming of age novel about a young girl named Francie Nolan who lives in Brooklyn, and it’s perfect.

Cleopatra and Frankenstein by Coco Mellors

This is a new favorite, but it was the best book I read last year, and nothing has measured up since. I’m in a real lit fic phase, and the best books to me are ones where we really get to know and spend time with the characters, and this was exactly that.