When I was little, I spent a majority of my time with my sister. She had an entire wall of built in shelf, half of which held books by many authors. For a big part of my childhood, I only read books as class requirements, but there were certain books I remember picking up for the first time not long before junior high that changed my mind entirely. Not only did I find out that books were ( nine times out of ten) better than the movie, but I found out that I loved imagining the worlds in those stories based on the author's description. Reading fantasy gave much more leeway to interpretation of information and I found myself more involved with the characters. These stories and authors are responsible for my love of writing and my unhealthy obsession with surreal things.
1. A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket
Following siblings Violet, Klaus, and Sunny, the series has 13 books. I used to own every single one of them and overplayed the video game that followed the movie adaptation. It was a huge part of my childhood and just thinking about the upcoming second movie is enough to make readers of my generation nostalgic.
2. The original Dragonriders of Pern trilogy by Anne McCaffrey
When it comes down to it, re-reading things like Nancy Drew books and Unicorns of Balinor didn't always cut it. My school's library was so small that I ended up reading most of the mystery and fantasy books twice. Although Anne McCaffrey is a fantastic writer, it is safe to say that once you have read one of her Dragonriders of Pern books, then you have read all of them.
3. The Giver by Lois Lowry
The Giver is one of the first stand alone books to become a favorite of mine. Something about Jonas' struggle and Lowry's description of his world is impossible to forget. Besides, a book that ends too soon and with unanswered questions will almost always pique my interest.
4. The Sight, Firebringer, and Fell by David Clement-Davies
There is no particular book written by Clement-Davies that I haven't loved. A majority of his works are about a world of fantasy where animals are the main characters and humans are the ones that seem to be unintelligent and their actions more primal. The animated movie Spirit is a great example of his style of story writing and will always be close to my heart.
5. Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
Although I might have been too young to understand a lot of what happened in Charlie's progress reports, I do remember somehow becoming emotionally attached to a fictional mouse and realizing how difficult Charlie's life was while going through the backfiring results of his procedures. Yet another book I need to reread as an "adult."
6. Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones
I wasn't introduced to Jones' books until soon before she passed away in 2011; however, I have enjoyed Miyazaki movies ever since I can remember. Watching the Miyazaki adaptation of her book got me into her books and I was excited to see that there was a continuation of Howl and Sophie's story in House of Many Ways. As expected, the characters and their world are much different from Miyazaki's imaginative interpretation. Either way, both are unique and fantastic in their own respects.
7. His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman
There is no telling how much flack I got for reading this series in the middle of class or after a test where I wasn't supposed to have anything on my desk because, apparently, the students around me could somehow cheat from reading The Golden Compass over my shoulder. Lyra, Pan, and the concept of daemons in general were the coolest things ever to me as a kid that loved fiction and animals.
8. The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis
I never read all of the books, but I remember reading The Horse and His Boy, The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe, and The Magician's Nephew because the school library didn't have all seven books. I enjoyed them because they had historical and mythological concepts woven into the plot and setting. To this day, C.S. Lewis is still one of my favorite authors.
9. The Immortals by Tamora Pierce
In middle school, this trilogy was everything for me. I haven't read Pierce's novels since I read this trilogy in four days, but I was drawn in by Daine, the first strong female protagonist I had come across at that point. Like every young girl, I thought that sort of thing was refreshing and I found parallels between her life and mine.
10. Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling
I never personally read the books (I know. I'm so out of the loop.) and I watched the movies first. I do know that the books are widely popular among my friends and the world, and one day I plan to read them all myself.
There are many more authors that influenced me later in life, (i.e. Patrick Rothfuss, Neil Gaiman, Maria Snyder, Scott Lynch, and T.C. Southwell) but when it comes down to the stories that made me love reading in elementary and middle school, these books are a solid list of what inspired me for a life time.
