Show Me The World In The Shape Of Your Looking Glass
"Fifteen books you've read that will always stick with you.":
1. White Oleander, by Janet Fitch / I really enjoyed the language and imagery of this book. The way the characters were presented not only made me want to meet them but write more.
2. Welcome to the Monkey House, by Kurt Vonnegut / By this I mean the conglomeration of Vonnegut's short stories, not just the one, though Welcome to the Monkey House is one of my favorites in that collection. Yes, I loved Slaughterhouse Five, but the short stories are more fun to go back to whenever you need a quick read of somethin.
3. Catch-22, by Joseph Heller / Almost everyone who has recommended books to me has suggested this one, and I'm glad they did. It's humorous, though not in a way that everyone can appreciate which makes it even more interesting .
4. Good Omens, by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett / Hilarious. I remember telling everyone in my 8th grade class to read it and I still love it.
5. Poton El Gato No Quire Pato, by Paco Climent / Definitely one of my favorite children's books. I would read it all the time with Carmen-- it's probably more Spanish than I've read in a long time.
6. One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, by Ken Kesey / Anyone who's ever read this should understand why it's on my top.
7. Girl, Interrupted, by Susanna Kaysen / No, I don't have a weird thing with insane asylums, but I really enjoyed this book. The characters were so vivid.
8. Letters To A Young Poet, by Rainer Maria Rilke / My 8th grade English teacher (definitely one of my favorite teachers, by the way) tried recommending this book to me when I was really getting into poetry. Then I pulled it out of my backpack.
9. Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley / What I liked most about this book is that it made me think about future societies and potential genetic breakthroughs, as well as the question of any reality in bioethics.
10. The Black Cat, by Edgar Allan Poe / Yes, Poe's short stories were a bit on the strange side, but I found a handout of this story in the pages of one of my journals the other day and was reminded of why I kept it.
11. On The Genealogy of Morality, by Friedrich Neitzsche / Solely because it was the first book my brother gave to me, followed shortly thereafter by Hammer of the Gods.
12. Where the Sidewalk Ends, by Shel Silverstein / This is on my cousin's list, and I have to agree, it is completely necessary.
13. To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee / This book on it's own can be kind of cliched in terms of "favorite books," but I'm still putting it on here because Atticus Finch is one of my favorite characters.
14. Getting Over It, by Anna Maxted / I love that this book uses phrases like "you wanker." Everyone needs a good laugh every once in a while.
15. I want to put Count of Monte Cristo, but I haven't finished yet, so I'll end with a classic: The Cat in the Hat, by Dr. Seuss / No explanation necessary.