I don't have class today (by some miracle), so I can finally get around to writing this post. I'm only a little late . . .

Ever since I discovered that letters could combine to make words, I've been a voracious reader. Every book I read has some impact on me, but here is a list of 10 books or short stories that have stuck with me, in no particular order:

1. 1984, by George Orwell. I first read this, oh, probably the summer before 9th grade. 2004ish. I was struck by the connections I could draw between the Big Brother system and the world I knew, and it scared me a little bit. It was then that I realized the importance of freedom--freedom of speech, thought, press, and so on. I've held these views ever since, arguing against censorship in schools and libraries. I re-read it every so often, and each time I find something new.

2. A Walk in the Woods, by Bill Bryson. I love this book. Bryson is hilarious, first of all, and it it spurred me to want to walk the Appalachain Trail.  He also intersperses his story with information of climate change, in such a way that it was probably the first time I really understood its impact. I've read this one a couple times, as well, and this summer finally visited the Smokey Mountains (my avatar is a picture of this) and hiked a tiny bit of the Trail.

3. Go, Dog, Go!, by P.D. Eastman. Ok, this one is one here simply because it's the first book I learned to read by myself. And what greater influence is there than that?

4. The American Girl Doll Series', by various authors. I read the books about Molly, Felicity, Josephina, Sam, Addy . . . and I know there was at least one more but I can't remember who . . . when I was in elementary school. Over and over again. They spurred my love for American history, giving me a glimpse into all there was to discover about the past, what we could learn from them, and the parallels between eras.

5. "The Lottery", by Shirley Jackson. This was assigned reading in 9th grade, and I was absolutely horrified by it. Still am. It was probably the first inkling I had that tradition is not always right, or that tradition should not continue simply for the sake of tradition. It continues to remind me that we cannot follow blindly, but must think about what we do and use our God-given reason to make choices.

6. "The Tell-Tale Heart", by Edgar Allan Poe. We had a unit on Poe's works in my 7th grade English class, and at the time I cared very little for the darkness they exhibit. This story has always stayed in my mind, though, and I came back to it in high school. I fell in love with the way Poe writes, and discovered that I kind of liked the darkness--it was so different from most books and stories I had read up to that point.

7. The Sparrow, by Maria Doria Russell. I read this last year for an introductory  English class, and it quickly became a book I couldn't put down. Not only is it part of one of my favorite genres (science fiction), it also dealt with religion, specifically Catholicism. It's a good reminder that things are not always as they seem, though eventually the whole truth will be revealed.

8 & 9. The Iliad and The Odyssey, by Homer. I read excerpts (note: most of the poem except for the parts deemed boring or repetitive by my professor) last year, and they've served as a jumping-off point for my interest in ancient Greek and Roman culture. I've always been interested in the ancient world, but it was these texts that reminded me why. It's a world I can hardly comprehend, but I would love to delve into it and discover all I can about the people who lived so long ago. Partly because of my experience reading these epic poems, I'd like to contine my studies in ancient Greek/Roman studies after my bachelor's degree--maybe this means a master's in it, maybe it just means studying on my own and visiting those countries. Only time will tell.

10. Persepolis, by Marjane Satrapi. Some people will argue that graphic novels are not books, but merely large comic books. I disagree. I see graphic novels as a combination, but ultimately they are literature. The reader is asked to interpret images just as they normally do with words, and the image and text can work together to create a message. Since Satrapi's work was my first experience with graphic novels, it has especially stuck with me. It is a beautiful account of her childhood in Iran, and shows with remarkable clarity the experience of growing up. Considering I'm still in those phases (reading it my senior year of high school and again last year, my freshman year in college), I loved how spot-on she could be. Granted, we are separated by time, space, and culture, but some truths transcend all that.