annotation (sort of): books that shaped me

[matsushima]

I saw this on verdande_mi's journal and decided I wanted to give it a go. My list is in (roughly) chronological order from childhood until now. Unsurprisingly, perhaps, it's pretty heavy on children's literature.

Early childhood:
• "More, More, More" said the Baby, by Vera B Williams
• Caps for Sale, by Esphyr Slobodkina
• Just Like a Real Ballerina, by Carol Thompson; illustrated by Emilie Kong
• Young Guinevere, by Robert D. San Souci; illustrated by Jamichael Henterly
There's kind of a gap between these picture books shared with my parents and first read independently and really coming into my own as a reader in upper elementary school.
Middle grade:
• Freak the Mighty, by Rodman Philbrick
• Redwall (series, but especially Redwall, Mossflower, Martin the Warrior, and The Legend of Luke), by Brian Jacques
• Harry Potter (series, but only the original 1-7 and especially 1-4), by J.K. Rowling
• His Dark Materials (series), by Philip Pullman
High school:
• Wish, by CLAMP
• The Lord of the Rings, by J.R.R. Tolkien
• Tithe, by Holly Black
• Demon Diary, by Kara, et al.
• What Happened to Lani Garver, by Carol Plum-Ucci
• (various BL manga?)
• Saiyuki (series), by Kazuya Minekura
Undergrad:
• Farewell My Concubine, by Lilian Lee
• The Hunger Games (series), by Suzanne Collins
Adulthood:
• The Magicians (series), by Lev Grossman
• Holy Sh*t: A Brief History of Swearing, by Melissa Mohr
• The Silmarillion, by J.R.R. Tolkien
• The Magician's Book: A Skeptic's Adventures in Narnia, by Laura Miller
• Mary Walker Wears the Pants, by Cheryl Harness; illustrated by Carlo Molinari
• Swimming with Sharks: The Daring Discoveries of Eugenie Clark, by Heather Lang; illustrated by Jordi Solano
• The Book of Dust (series, La Belle Sauvage in a good way and The Secret Commonwealth in a bad way), by Philip Pullman
• Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures, by Merlin Sheldrake
• A Map into the World, by Kao Kalia Yang; illustrated by Seo Kim
• In the Dream House, by Carmen Maria Machado

I'm sure I'll think of more I left out and add them later…
I'll also say, as an elementary educator generally and a librarian specifically, that inclusion on this list doesn't mean a book is of high literary quality or that it has aged well or even that I'd recommend it to anyone else.

Comments

[snowazalea]

I love CLAMP’s Wish! It has a bittersweet quality I love in manga. I re-collected and re-read the Tokyopop volumes a few years ago.