So I was tagged in one of those “post one a day for X days of Y that influenced you” — usually 5 or 7 or 10 books/bands/albums/films. I got tagged in 7 books. I am absolute garbage at doing *anything* every day or for multiple days in a row, so I am doing a blog post. I’m also not tagging anyone else because I don’t like to pressure folks into doing something they might not have the energy to do.
This isn’t my first time listing books that left an impression/that I love/that I can recall. A couple of years ago I did a set of 10 — and I did all those as selfies with the books:
When I pulled books tonight, I initially grabbed a few duplicates from that batch (Edible Garden Weeds, V for Vendetta, and Molotov Hearts) so I swapped those out for other books. Here’s the seven (technically 8) books I selected this time:
Those are in order by author:
Clive Barker, Weaveworld — magic realism that captivated me and shifted my view of Barker (I only knew him as a horror author). This very thick book is worth the time to read.
Judy Blume, Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret and Then Again Maybe I won’t — the former was one of the first books I read that talked about bodies without dumbing it down. The latter was a book I tried to take out of the library in fifth or sixth grade and the school librarian wouldn’t let me because it was a “book for boys” — my parents both marched in and explained in no uncertain terms that my reading selections were not to be censored. (In case you’ve never read the book, it opens with a teen boy having a wet dream.) Again, a book about bodies that didn’t talk down to its audience.
Raymond Briggs, Ethel and Ernest — a biographical graphic novel that gutted me and left me sobbing. Briggs is not well known outside the UK but he should be. For less gutting material, check out Fungus the Bogeyman (one of the inspirations for Shrek) and the Father Christmas graphic books. He is well known as the author of The Snowman (which was animated and is a Christmas classic in the UK).
Orson Scott Card, Enchantment — Yes, Card is a certified asshat who will get no more of my money but I bought this many years ago and absolutely adore the story. I mean, it has Baba Yaga in it, what’s not to love? More magic realism.
Douglas Coupland, Microserfs — I read GenerationX first but this is the Coupland novel that really spoke to me and stuck with me; this is more relevant to my cohort within GenX. Fun fact I also have the audio book (on cassette!), read by Matthew Perry
Robert A Heinlein, Stranger in a Strange Land — forever changed the way I looked at Science Fiction as a genre. Gave me the word “grok” and introduced me to a whole lot of sociology, political science, and religious studies. Fascinating, really. I’m actually scared to re-read it because I am not sure how it will hold up to current world views.
Duggan McDonnell, Drinking the Devil’s Acre — this book is, well it’s a cocktail of history and drink recipes, as well as a bridge from the past to today’s cocktail culture. I learned a lot reading this book, and it’s my go to for classic drink recipes. And yeah, it’s an Advance Reader’s Copy; I picked it up when I was in San Francisco for the American Library Association’s Annual Conference in 2015.
PHEW. So now you can add all those to your GoodReads if you wanna. All these books should also be easy enough to find at your local bookstores (ask them to order ’em in if they are still in print)!