Day 3! I kinda stole this tag from Booktubers... heh NO ONE TAGGED ME BUT I DON'T CARE HEHEHE
*awkward silence
You might find a lot of middle grade because that's where I kinda of started. I don't think there's much to explain. In no particular order...
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1. Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling
This probably is on everyone's list. I don't really think an explanation should be needed. Harry Potter is what made me fall in with fantasy, to the possiblity of magic around us and I will never forget the feelings I have when I experienced winning The Quidditch House Cup, getting the Philosopher's Stone, stealing a golden dragon egg, riding Buckbeak and Dobby's death alongside with Harry. There's nostalgia and a freedom every time I return to the Wizarding World.
(I guess those are spoilers. Oops. BUT I MEAN YOU SHOULD'VE READ THESE BOOKS BY NOW?? The books has been out for like over decade, really.)
2. The Absolute True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
I think part of why this book is so important and had such an impact on me is because I read it at a crucial and perfect age. I grew up in a community where bullying is rare, and any kind of racism and sexualism was highly discouraged. We were taught to be open minded, and to me, I grew up around people of all colour and people of different sexuality, so it was a normality to me. While this was perfect growing up, it was also a bubble kind of trapping me from seeing what was outside. And I was reaching the age where I was starting to see what was on the outside, and this book further emphasized that. It gave me a new outlook on racism and I actually couldn't shut up for a week about how much of a changed person I was.. heh. I still have really fond memories of it to this day, although I might have to go back and reread it for a refresher.
3. Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli
I love Stargirl. My memories for it... *sigh Stargirl is a beautiful tale about growing up, fitting in, and staying true to yourself. It's heartbreaking in the simplest way (especially once you read Love, Stargirl), and there's something so magical about it, when it's really nothing more than real life. It touched on the fact that life itself is magical and it's all about how you choose to live your life, how you choose to represent who you are, your actions, and your outlook on life. So rarely can contemporary authors make a contemporary novel seem as if it's pure magic, and Stargirl is one of those rare ones.
4. Charlotte's Web by E.B. White
It is the purest example of friendship in the simplest form. It's handled with care, and it is a masterpiece of storytelling. It uses animals and it's so perfect for children. Again, I read this (or rather my teacher read it to me the first time) when I was very young (like 7 years old young) so I fell in love with the idea of a pig and a spider being friends.
5. The Conch Bearer by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
The Conch Bearer was probably one of my first books that I read that had exposure to other countries and culture. Combined with magic, this novel was an amazing ride. The richness of experience things through a different culture combined with magic aspects inspired by the culture is crazy. It made me fall in love with fantasy even more, and I think that this book is one of the couple ones that got me interested in the mythology and beliefs in other cultures. (Not Percy Jackson believe it or not... I was on that bandwagon before I read those books)
6. Flipped by Wendelin Van Draanan
Like Stargirl, Flipped is very much about individuality and being who you are. It has one of the cutest "romances" ever, and the characters are incredibly loveable. Juli is fearless, she is someone you wish you could be, with a fiery passion. Bryce is hilarious because he's so scared of her, but at the same time you just want to yell at him and be like HEY BE YOURSELF IT'S OKAY BE LIKE JULI.
I still remember Juli climbing a tree to stop people from cutting it down. SAVE THE TREES!
7. The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale
As if I wasn't insanely obsessed with fairy tales enough, The Goose Girl kicked it up a notch. It showed me how fairy tales could be retold with more detail, plot, and creativity. It was an idea that could be expanded and become your own. It got me so addicted to that genre. To this day, it's still one of my favourite genres. The Goose Girl was so artfully told, true to the original, but Shannon Hale added her own twists and magical elements... it was a fusion I could never forget. This was the beginning, and over the years, I've found more and more favourites. I would not be surprised to find one on my Top Ten list at the end of the year. (*cough cough, CRUEL BEAUTY *cough cough)
8. I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You by Ally Carter
SPIES.
ok no, more than that. As a child, I was always more of a heavier fantasy reader, so rarely did I read contemporary (despite that I have like three on this list), and the ones I did read were more on the serious side. This was kind of my kick into chick-lit but with more sassiness and fun. I'd always loved spy movies, spy dramas, SPIES. PERIOD. So I read this, I loved it, I read the ones that were out, I loved it, then I basically cried for the next ones. I blame my
small addiction to chick-lit to this.
9. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
I blame this for my dystopian addiction. Although I technically read dystopian before this, I didn't know what dystopian was until this book, and then the addiction was real.
Also THUS BEGAN THE FANGIRL JOURNEY. Oh man... this was when I started getting into fandoms, and maybe cause I started getting emotional at that point...
10. City of Bones by Cassandra Clare
Uh City of Bones is a weird pick. I love Cassandra Clare, but City of Bones is not my favourite for sure. But it did introduce me to the YA genre in every way possible pretty much. I really started getting addicted to YA around this point, and it was around here when I made the transition to Middle Grade to fully YA obsessed. This book is influential to me, because it made me fall in love with a genre that I think I'll be reading until I die.
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DAY 3 COMPLETE. EHHHHH. (Canadian phrase if you didn't know.) Let me know what books have influenced you and in what way? Doesn't necessarily have to be a good way LOL. Love y'all.
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