10 Books That Stayed With Me

Just a tad bit past nearly forever ago, a friend of mine tagged me on Facebook with a fun meme. I thought it sounded great and started it…and then I became distracted and only recently discovered the half-finished product. Whatever the case, I have since completed my answers and thought it might make for an interesting blog post. These are the authors and books that inspired my own writing.

10 Books That Stayed With Me:

1.) The Bible – It may not be obvious to all, but this book has been the number one thing that has changed my life and my perspective over the years. I have indeed read it cover to cover and various translations, and every time that I read its passages I get something new from it.

2.) Beverly Cleary series – I’m kind fudging on this one, because it’s way too hard to narrow down which specific Cleary books spoke to me most. I grew up reading about Beezus and Ramona, Ralph S. Mouse and all the rest. They were instrumental in cultivating my passion for the written word, even in grade school.

3.) The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain – One of my best memories is the year that my mother read the story of Tom Sawyer to me while I ate breakfast every morning. I’ll confess that I was really hesitant to this at first, but Mom insisted and I am very glad she did. I got so caught up in the story that I quickly forgot why I hadn’t wanted to hear it in the first place.

4.) The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien – I read this one while I was in high school for a book report. Basically I just needed to choose something from the list that the teacher gave us. I picked it at random, thinking that the title sounded interesting, and discovered an amazing world. This story was part of what really piqued my interest in the fantasy genre as a whole. It opened up a whole different set of doors, as far as reading went.

5.) The Chronicles of Narnia series by C.S. Lewis – Probably not much surprise here either, but this is another series that I’ve always adored. I read The Silver Chair in high school (another book report project that turned out very well for me). While The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe has probably remained my favorite of the series, The Silver Chair and The Last Battle are right up there.

6.) Artemis Fowl series by Eoin Colfer – This still remains one of my all-time favorite YA series. I loved Colfer’s twist to both modern and ancient fairy tales, and the storyline, while not always what I expected, was fantastic. Great character development, great villains…in fact it’s been long enough that I’m probably due for a re-read.

7.) Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson – Sanderson is a semi-new author to me, but so far I have loved each book that I’ve tried. This was the first story that I read of his, which also happened to be his first attempt at YA, and it’s difficult to pinpoint just why it stuck with me so much. I tend to be very character driven when it comes to movies and books, so all I can figure is that I loved the character of Steelheart so much it wedged in my brain and wouldn’t let go. Whatever the case, this was one of my favorite books of the year. And so far, the rest of the series hasn’t disappointed either.

8.) The Oath by Frank Peretti – It’s been a looooong time since I last read this one, but it was another book that always stuck with me. I originally read it in high school and loved it. This was the first book of Peretti’s that I had read, and while it was a little slow in the middle, the primary storyline kept a quick pace and kept my attention through it all. Not your typical dragon story, but still a well-crafted plot for an author of his particular genre. As a “Christian author,” he pushed boundaries with this book and might have even made people a little uncomfortable. Not necessarily a bad thing, in this case.

9.) The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson – Yes, he gets to be on my list twice because he’s just that amazing. I won’t lie, The Way of Kings is definitely a commitment at nearly 400,000 words, but I can’t recommend it highly enough for those who love epic fantasy. The worldbuilding, the characters…all of it is just too amazing for words. It has become one of my all-time favorite stories ever. (It was one of the few books where I literally read the last sentence and wanted to go right back to the beginning and read it again because I loved it so much.) And Words of Radiance, the sequel, is just as fantastic as the first.

10.) The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis – This was the first non-fiction work of Lewis that I read, again while in high school, but it’s always stuck with me. Lewis really stepped outside the box of his time by writing this book, and it made you really think about your prayer life and the spiritual battles that continuously rage on everywhere. While definitely an older book, I can still recommend it. (Actually, it’s another one I need to re-read…)

So there you have it. This is a basic glimpse of my all-time favorite books and authors, and though many others have made impressions with me, these are the ones that I will never forget.

What are your top ten faves?

Firefight

Firefight by Brandon Sanderson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

MY HEART. IT IS IN ITTY BITTY PIECES.

The more I read of Sanderson, the more I love him. Seriously. He has a way of weaving a story so well that you’re completely sucked in before you know it. Only when you look back do you see how he’s managed to bring everything together. The clues finally fit.

Needless to say, this was a stunning sequel to an awesome series. Even though I’m emotionally drained, it was amazing. I honestly wasn’t sure how much I was going to enjoy it, simply because of the absence of my favorite character, Steelheart himself. (I was rather devastated that he had to die. It’s my darn villain fetish kicking in again.) But I was pleasantly surprised in the character development of this installment, which made it just as enjoyable as the first. I also loved learning more about Calamity and the powers/weaknesses of the Epics. A few more pieces of the puzzle have fallen into place, which will no doubt reveal an ending of larger-than-life proportion.

I cannot wait to get my hot little hands on the next one.

The Way of Kings

The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I cannot adequately put into words how much I enjoyed this book. Such an epic read deserves a truly epic review, but I doubt that my writing will live up to such greatness. Seriously, I need more than five stars to describe the awesomeness of this story.

I originally bought it as a Kindle Daily Deal because I had enjoyed Brandon Sanderson’s Steelheart so much. It sat on my Kindle for quite some time, as I knew it would be a commitment once I started it. I was finally prodded by my brother, who is not quite the voracious reader that I am, that it was the best book he’d read in a long time. That’s saying something.

Well, I was finally ready to start a new journey, so I took the plunge. I am extremely happy that I did, because this book has become one of my all-time favorites. Sanderson’s worldbuilding is incredible, noting the details of each creature, culture and region. It was a world familiar enough to our own to make it easily believable, yet it was entirely from Sanderson’s imagination. I loved watching how each character’s storyline was somehow woven with the rest, though I think Kaladin’s and Dalinar’s stories were my favorites overall. There were twists that even I didn’t see coming, and I’m usually pretty good at that sort of thing.

The world that Sanderson has created is borderline Tolkien in its greatness, not because it mimics Middle Earth, but simply because of its grand scale and detail. It’s the kind of book that I was almost anxious to finish just so I could start reading it again from the beginning.

All in all, it is an epic fantasy of amazing proportion, and I cannot wait to plow through the sequel. Sanderson, you are incredible. Anyone who enjoys fantasy, read this book. Heck, even if you don’t like fantasy, read it anyway. Beautiful. Simply beautiful.