Monday, January 18, 2016

Books that Shaped Me // Round One


I don’t reread books often enough. Out of the 118 books I read last year, only 48 were rereads. Now, before you start squinting at me like I’m crazy (which I am) or really bad at math (which I also am), let me just say that I realize 48, in comparison with 70, is not a pathetically small number. But it’s not a large enough number for me either. I love rereading books. In fact, I love rereading books even more than I love reading them the first time around. Each time I reread a story (unless it’s poorly written and not worth a second glance), it gains more meaning and more emotional significance because, for me at least, stories are like scrapbooks for thoughts. Scrapbooks aren’t worth much if you don’t revisit them from time to time and pore over the pages to reacquaint yourself with all the memories you’ve preserved there. 


So I have decided to go back and reread all the books that helped form me—the ones that shaped my childhood self, opened my mind, and taught me to love imagination. I think it’s valuable for me to come full circle. 

As I take this nostalgia tour of my life, I want to share at least a part of it with you. Which means, over the next few months or so, I’ll post more about other books that shaped me, and I’ll review some of them here. I will also try to review the rest of them on Goodreads  because I’ve made an impromptu resolution to post more reviews there. (My Goodreads account has been sadly neglected.) But, as I do this, I don’t want to take credit for the idea of a nostalgia tour. A while ago, Victoria at Stori Tori’s Blog wrote a lovely post on her top ten most influential books (which you should check out). And even further back, Veronica Roth did her own nostalgia tour which struck me as a brilliant idea (before you ask, yes, I love her blog, and I’ve probably read the whole thing five times). 

All that being said, I’ve set my Goodreads 2016 reading goal to 175 books. If I can do more, that’s wonderful, but I want to read at least 175. And, more importantly, I want at least 88 of those books to be rereads. I could talk forever about the value of rereading, but I plan to do a post on that subject soon, so right now I’ll just share with you seven of the books that impacted my younger self. Who knows, maybe some of these were important to you as well. 




Before I read the book, I watched the movie several times and fell in love with the feel of it. In fact, the only reason my younger self even touched the book (the edition my mom owns has a seriously ugly cover) was because I loved the movie so much. Although the movie and the book are different in terms of smaller plot points (as far as I remember—it was a long time ago), I still recall them both sharing the same tone—the same deep, inexplicable sense of unease. The best way I can describe the atmosphere is as a darker, more concentrated form of that spine-tingling coziness I feel when the rain is falling hard outside and the wind is shrieking around the corners of the house. (Here’s a link to Veronica’s lovely, but spoilery, review.)




This was another book that felt heavy with a deep sense of unease (although it’s a different sort of unease). It was the book that taught me not to take people and society at face value—it taught me to distrust the appearance of beauty and peace and perfection until I’ve seen beneath the surface. I don’t remember much of the actual events, beyond the major plot points, but I do remember Jonas’ conversation with his parents about love and how they only understand love through selfish terms. (Veronica discusses this same conversation in her review, so you should totally check that out.) In this story world, true love has become a foreign concept, which is terrifying to put it mildly. More than that, the sterility of the environment branded itself on my mind—the way these people are basically cattle, and the way they celebrate their bondage. In other words, this book is one of my top priority rereads. 




I reread and reviewed this one last year, so my memory is a lot fresher on the details (I still plan to read it again this year). It’s one of the few books that has kept me up past my self-appointed bed time. It is also one of the very few books that can lay claim to making me cry. The aspect of this story that grabbed me the most is the way it handles the question of what it means to be human (and the way villains can be genuinely nice and considerate but still do awful things). 




This book is one of my most beloved childhood stories. On some deep level, I felt that I really connected with Chiaroscuro and the way he has an ugly heart because it’s been broken and he’s had to stitch it back together (metaphorically speaking, of course). As a young thing, I also wanted to be like Despereaux—someone brave enough to break the mold and do noble, courageous things in the face of a society built on fear. 




I reviewed this one just recently, so I may or may not reread it this year. We’ll see. But this list would be missing an important element if I didn’t include it. After all, Hazel taught me a lot about good leadership skills. 




Growing up, I often fantasized about what it would be like if everyone else on earth were to disappear suddenly and leave the world to me, myself, and I. Aside from the danger of wild animals (if those were still around), this thought was very appealing to me, and it was especially fun to imagine ways to stay alive. (My plans involved eating all the perishables in the abandoned grocery stores and gas stations first, and then rationing the other stuff, like flour and canned goods. For shelter, I figured a grocery store would make the best living arrangement because I could build walls of cans and have plenty of room to store all the food I’d scavenged in my travels.) Z FOR ZACHARIAH was a way for me to appease that desire for solitude in a harmless way—to experience what it feels like to think you’re the last remaining person on earth. So many fond memories. 

I’m also very upset about the movie version that just came out because, from what I’ve seen in the synopsis, they kept approximately two of the major plot points, chucked everything else, introduced a new character and a love triangle, changed Ann’s relationship with Mr. Loomis, altered the ENTIRE point of the story, and just generally did their level best to ruin it. Like, I can’t even tell you how upset I am. As much as I would love to see one of my all-time favorite books played out on the big screen, I think it will be better for my blood pressure if I just skip this one and wait until someone honors the actual story. Although, come to think of it, it might be satisfying to watch the movie just so I can rant more effectively about it. *sulks*




You can read my review for this one here. LIFE AS WE KNEW IT appealed to me in the same way that Z FOR ZACHARIAH did. It has the same sort of idea—a worldwide catastrophe has culled the population (though potentially not as much, in this case), and survival is now a higher priority than entertainment and culture. (I have only read one of the sequels, and I only own LIFE AS WE KNEW IT, so I want to get my hands on the rest of the series this year, if I can.) This story also has somewhat symbolic significance to me in that I read it during my biggest library binge phase. At that time, I didn’t own all that many books, and I hadn’t read all that many either. Sure, I had had my school library before that, but this time I felt freer and wilder, like the world was opening up before me. I think that’s really when my love of reading turned from a little candle to an unfortunate but beautiful house fire. (Saying this, I realize I should probably, at some point, write a post explaining why I’m no longer quite so enamored of libraries.) 



Well, that’s it for today, little coffee beans. What are some of the books that shaped you? What are some of your all-time favorites? What are some books you plan to reread this year? If you’ve watched Z FOR ZACHARIAH, what is your opinion of it?

26 comments:

  1. I love rereading! It makes me so happy to go back and just reread books that have had a big impact on me or just ones that I really really enjoyed, it always puts me in a good mood! My GR goal is 150 this year but I doubt I can do it haha, good luck with yours though!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's great, isn't it? :D I love going back and feeling that impact again and figuring out better why those books struck me in the first place. It's definitely really cozy and wonderful, and I'm glad you enjoy rereading! :) Good luck on your goal! I'm a little bit nervous for mine, since it's a big jump up from last year, and I'm already two books behind. :P But I will try my absolute hardest. *nods*

      Delete
  2. Omg, I reread like TWO books last year??!!? And that was a lot for me. xD Although I've started this year rather well and am rereading The Raven Boys. hehe. I love those Raven Boys. My heart.is awesome though and I love this peek at the books that shaped you. :') I'd reread A Wrinkle in Time! I'd also like to read the rest of the series (it is a series isn't it?) And one day I'm going to reread ALL the Lemony Snicket books. They're basically eyeballing me from my bookshelf demanding it. And I really need to because those books basically got me writing (them and Narnia). But I'm kind of scared to reread in case I ruin my childhood memories? AGH. The decisions.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hey, at least you reread two books! :) I noticed you were rereading The Raven Boys, which reminds me that I really want to read The Raven Boys, but I'm pretty much waiting for the last one to come out so I can buy them all at once and marathon them. *nods* Your heart is totally awesome, and aww, I'm so glad you like reading about the books that shaped me. :) *gives you coffee and gold star* Yes, A Wrinkle in Time has four sequels. You should totally reread the whole series! :) I want to, but I'll have to send for my copies of the sequels at some point, because right now they're hanging out at my parent's house. Oops. And the Lemony Snicket books, YES. They are so wonderful (as is Narnia). But I totally understand being afraid of ruining childhood memories. I'm an extremely nostalgic/sentimental person, so I find that even if the writing isn't as good as I remember, rereading the books at a later age doesn't ruin them for me. But I totally understand how that could be different for many people. So like, please don't feel shamed by my rereading mission or anything. :) You're welcome to join in if you'd like, but there's absolutely no pressure. I just feel like being sentimental for all the world (or, well, all the blogosphere) to see. :P

      Delete
  3. I might have to try The Host if you liked it that much! Also, you thought YOUR cover of A Wrinkle in Time was ugly- mine had a bright pink border and all sorts of weirdness on the cover. I can't seem to find it on Goodreads, though! When I was really young, I read a slight bit of it, but I might have to finish.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You should! If you do, I hope you like it. :) Ick, that does sound ugly. It's funny because as I was researching covers for it, to put one on my blog that was reasonably presentable, I found sooo many ugly covers, it wasn't even funny. I think there must be some sort of publishers code that they can only have ugly covers for A Wrinkle in Time. *nods* That's probably it. You should finish it! I hope you like it! :)

      Delete
    2. I googled it after I wrote that comment (because it wasn't on Goodreads and I thought I was wrong) and found it! Gah.. I don't think I've ever in my life seen such a freaky cover. I'd love to see a feature on awful covers sometime!

      Delete
    3. It's rather shocking to see how ugly some of those covers were, and how horrifying. *shudders* My copy is okay--but it's still not something to display prominently or anything. I'm glad you'd like to--I've actually been planning to do a post on ugly covers in a month or two. :P

      Delete
    4. I definitely want to see that!

      Delete
  4. I'm really not a re-reader (too many new books to read!), unless we're talking about The Great Gatsby. But I do get that you get more out of a book the second or third time.

    The only book on your list I've read is The Giver, and I didn't really like it? I do want to read Z for Zachariah, I want to read the book before I see the movie :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That makes sense. I can tend to feel guilty about rereading books when there are so many books out there that I haven't read yet. (The Great Gatsby is well worth rereading. :P) So it just depends on what you want more--reading new stuff or reading stuff you know you love.

      *sad face* I guess we can still be friends. But you should totally read Z for Zachariah. :) And reading it first is a good idea. I'm kind of afraid the movie will make people not want to read the book, and that would be awful. *wails*

      Delete
  5. Out of all of these I've only read The Tale of Desperaux and The Giver.

    The Tale I didn't like much, but I never really cared for DiCamillo's writing style and I think that's why.

    THE GIVER! AH! I read it two years ago maybe and adored. I don't think I've ever cried so much over a book. Hint, Jonas conversation with his idiot parents about love, made me cry. I think because I can see how today people are continually interpreting love wrong. They don't really know what is, and they are coming so close to what was happening in The Giver. It's scary sad.

    Z for Zachariah sounds really good.

    I'm hoping to reread The Trophy Chase trilogy by George Bryan Polivka this year. As well as The Hunger Games.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. *sad face* I guess we can still be friends. I will try to forgive you. :P But I can totally understand not being a huge fan of a certain author's writing style. *nods*

      I'm so glad you liked The Giver! It really is a touching, deeply moving book, even though it seems a little simple on the outside. It does have some troubling parallels with real life, and that makes it all the more powerful. It's definitely very scary sad.

      It is really good. I highly recommend reading it. :)

      Ooh, I've never read that, but I will have to add that to my TBR. And yeah, I'm going to be rereading The Hunger Games as well (it will be featured on my next "Books that Shaped Me" post).

      Delete
  6. WATERSHIP DOWN IS THE BEST and that is all. *nodnod*

    So many people don't re-read and that's just sad to me, because I absolutely adore re-reading. Probably more than actual reading. I get so much more out of the book every time I read it, and find more value in it, and learn different things from it at different stages of my life. It's also like saying hi to an old friend, which is always a bonus.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. *nods* Preach it, sister.

      I adore rereading too! (In case you hadn't already noticed.) And you've basically just summed up my feelings about rereading. There's something so rewarding about reading a book multiple times and really getting to know it. *nods*

      Delete
  7. There are so many books on this list I've been wanting to reads for years! I've heard so many good things about them and want them to influence my thoughts and life too. The only book I have read is Life As We Knew It, which was an incredibly interesting book

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You should read them! They're all so good! (And those are just a handful of the ones that shaped me. :P) Life As We Knew It is marvelous and interesting and gah, I just need to reread it. I'm so glad you liked it. :)

      Delete
  8. I LOVE ALL THESE BOOKS!! (Well, most of them. I haven't read them all.) A Wrinkle in Time (there's a movie?!?!? I must see it immediately!), The Giver (loved the book and the movie to pieces), The Tale of Despereaux (I agree with you on Chiaroscuro, he was one of my favourite characters because he wanted the one thing he couldn't have and it just broke my heart), Watership Down and Z for Zachariah. (The movie for Z for Zachariah sucked. It just sucked. I wish I'd never watched it. Not only was it a bad movie in the first place (Ann had great morals for the first half of the movie then she literally changes her mind with half an hour and some alcohol, there was so little tension beyond romantic tension, there was no meaning to the movie etc. etc.) but it completely threw any good parts of the book out the window and replaced them with boring nothingness. I'm positive 99% of the movie was Ann playing the piano and looking sad. I JUST NOT ARRRGH WHY!!!!)

    It's super interesting that you're revisiting these great books. I think it's a great idea because there are always those certain books that shape the books we read and the stories we write and the way we think about the world.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. AS;LDFJKASDLFJS. YOU MUST SEE THE MOVIE AT ONCE. It's a little old of course, but I love the actors and actresses (Calvin is adorable). I loved the movie adaptation of The Giver. I was really nervous coming into it, but I was very pleased. *nods* Chiaroscuro <3 Grr, every time I think about the movie adaptation of Z for Zachariah, I question my nonviolence code (I don't actually have one, but whatever--we're just going to go with it). What they did to that movie should seriously be a crime. A CRIME I TELL YOU. The book was about Ann and how strong she was, and I'm so mad they didn't honor her character. *grinds teeth*

      Thank you! I'm really excited about rereading all of them, if only just to remind myself of how much they shaped me and why. :)

      Thanks for commenting!

      Delete
  9. Aw I'm so glad I inspired you. ^ ^ Thanks for the shout out. I love the Tale of Despereaux and A Wrinkle in Time. Those were some big books for me growing up. I adore the movie for A Wrinkle in Time, not so much for Tale of Despereaux. XD Watership Down scarred me as a child, so I can't fangirl with you as much about that one. Haha! Great choices!

    storitorigrace.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. :D I'm glad you inspired me! :) You're welcome! I love those books so much--I'm so glad you do too. :D I'm definitely a fan of the movie for A Wrinkle in Time, but the movie for Tale of Despereaux was a little disappointing--it didn't honor the book as well as it could have. :P I can see why Watership Down would be frightening to your childhood self. It is a rather dark story. I think I connected to it as a child because I've always had a dark, morbid streak. *nods* Thanks again, and thanks for commenting! :)

      Delete
  10. Yes! The Giver totally stuck with me for years and years after I read it and I was like "oh my pants so much so much" just because it was crazy good. Interestingly, I haven't read any of the others, and I know I should read The Host but I haven't gotten there yet but I'M GONNA.

    Also, my best friend's favorite book is Watership Down so I realize that it is also very good.

    Lovely selections, Liz!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. SAME. Every time I see it on my shelf, I get all the emotions I had while reading it. I think you'll really like The Host. I hope you will. READ IT. Or else I shall not gift you with a thousand coffee beans.

      Clearly you have good taste in best friends. And also your best friend has good taste. So it's a win-win.

      Thank you, and thanks for commenting! :)

      Delete
  11. Ooh, I've read The Tale of Desperaux!! I love that story, and the movie is so cute. <3

    I actually don't reread very often, but I happen to have quite a few lined up for this year: Twilight, ASOUE, The Safe Lands trilogy, and The Books of the Beginning (because the last book FINALLY came to my library, and I want to fully refresh my memory on the series before I read the last one).

    Also I really want to check our Z for Zachariah now. I don't think I'd heard of it before, but that book sounds fascinating.


    Alexa
    thessalexa.blogspot.com
    verbositybookreviews.wordpress.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. *happy dance* IT'S SUCH A GOOD STORY, I'M GLAD YOU LIKE IT.

      I'm actually planning to read Twilight for the first time this year. :D And I'm so glad you're going to reread ASOUE. I've never read The Safe Lands trilogy or the Books of the Beginning, but they've been on my TBR for a while. I'll need to check my library for them. :P

      You should. READ IT. Or else I won't give you any coffee beans. Seriously, though, it's really good and I will shove it into your face (nicely) until you read it. *nods*

      Thanks for commenting! :)

      Delete