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baronessekatHere's my 15 most influential books from my formative years. (taking the lead from Dicea and saying pre-16 years old)
In no particular order.
1. One Fish Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish. By Dr. Suess The book I learned to read on. Our public library had 3 copies. Every time we went, I had to return one and get another one out. But it wasn't until I was 25 that I actually owned my own copy
2. Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of N.I.M.H. by Robert C. O'Brien This showed me that there are concequences to experimentation that we may never think about but should.
3. The Three Investigators Series. by Robert Arthur. I loved this series. I actually had a small crush on Jupiter Jones. I liked this series much better than the Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew and it was more grown up than Encyclopedia Brown. Showed me that kids can be smart and that's ok. Nerds are people too and they actually get to do cool things.
4. The Borrowers and The Littles Borrowers by by Mary Norton, The Littles by John Peterson and Roberta Carter Clark . These books helped me see the world from a different perspective.
5. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. I was aware of racism and the like, but this book showed me just how bad it could really be.
6. The Childcraft Encyclopedia I actually read all the volumes cover to cover a couple times. Because of it, I wanted to be a paleontologist for quiet a while.
7. Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell I always dreamed of living in the antebellum south
8. The Earth's Children Series By Jean M. Auel. I think this is what helped to solidify my want to go into anthropology
9. The Heralds of Valdemar and The Last Herald-Mage Trilogies by Mercedes Lackey. To quote Ursala Vernon "Like most girls in the late 80's I learned about homosexuality from Misty Lackey"
10. Shogun James Clavell I so wanted to go back to feudal Japan after reading this book. Even now I read it at least once a year. I've had to replace my copy at least twice now.
11. Tikki Tikki Tembo by Arlene Mosel and Blair Lent Even at 36 I can still tell you that Tikki Tikki Tembo-no sarembochari bari ruchi-pip peri pembo has fallen into the well.
12. Lucy: The Beginnings of Humankind by Donald Johanson and Maitland Edey My 9th grade social studies teacher lent me this book and I devoured it. After that, the concept of being an anthropologist was settled.
13. The Hound of the Baskervilles By Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The statement never said influenced for good. I had to read this book 6 times throughout Jr High - College. I didn't like it the first time and the hate grew with every reading. I like a lot of Victorian era stories, but I never liked Sherlock Holmes and even now anything even remotely related to the Sherlock Holmes stories leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
14. MacBeth By William Shakespeare. I first had to read this play in 6th grade. I don't know why I loved it but I did and have loved it ever since. It is by far my favorite of the tragedies, though I do also really like Hamlet too. Not too fond of his comedies but I do like Julius Caesar for his histories.
15. And the last series I can't remember the name or who wrote it. It was about a red headed girl who went to nursing school. It was NOT Cherry Ames but it was also from the 50's (I think). Somewhere I have a copy of the first book, but I can't find it at the moment. There were at least 6 books in the series. I just remember that this series gave me an interest in medicine and for a while I did seriously consider nursing as a profession.
In no particular order.
1. One Fish Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish. By Dr. Suess The book I learned to read on. Our public library had 3 copies. Every time we went, I had to return one and get another one out. But it wasn't until I was 25 that I actually owned my own copy
2. Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of N.I.M.H. by Robert C. O'Brien This showed me that there are concequences to experimentation that we may never think about but should.
3. The Three Investigators Series. by Robert Arthur. I loved this series. I actually had a small crush on Jupiter Jones. I liked this series much better than the Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew and it was more grown up than Encyclopedia Brown. Showed me that kids can be smart and that's ok. Nerds are people too and they actually get to do cool things.
4. The Borrowers and The Littles Borrowers by by Mary Norton, The Littles by John Peterson and Roberta Carter Clark . These books helped me see the world from a different perspective.
5. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. I was aware of racism and the like, but this book showed me just how bad it could really be.
6. The Childcraft Encyclopedia I actually read all the volumes cover to cover a couple times. Because of it, I wanted to be a paleontologist for quiet a while.
7. Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell I always dreamed of living in the antebellum south
8. The Earth's Children Series By Jean M. Auel. I think this is what helped to solidify my want to go into anthropology
9. The Heralds of Valdemar and The Last Herald-Mage Trilogies by Mercedes Lackey. To quote Ursala Vernon "Like most girls in the late 80's I learned about homosexuality from Misty Lackey"
10. Shogun James Clavell I so wanted to go back to feudal Japan after reading this book. Even now I read it at least once a year. I've had to replace my copy at least twice now.
11. Tikki Tikki Tembo by Arlene Mosel and Blair Lent Even at 36 I can still tell you that Tikki Tikki Tembo-no sarembochari bari ruchi-pip peri pembo has fallen into the well.
12. Lucy: The Beginnings of Humankind by Donald Johanson and Maitland Edey My 9th grade social studies teacher lent me this book and I devoured it. After that, the concept of being an anthropologist was settled.
13. The Hound of the Baskervilles By Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The statement never said influenced for good. I had to read this book 6 times throughout Jr High - College. I didn't like it the first time and the hate grew with every reading. I like a lot of Victorian era stories, but I never liked Sherlock Holmes and even now anything even remotely related to the Sherlock Holmes stories leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
14. MacBeth By William Shakespeare. I first had to read this play in 6th grade. I don't know why I loved it but I did and have loved it ever since. It is by far my favorite of the tragedies, though I do also really like Hamlet too. Not too fond of his comedies but I do like Julius Caesar for his histories.
15. And the last series I can't remember the name or who wrote it. It was about a red headed girl who went to nursing school. It was NOT Cherry Ames but it was also from the 50's (I think). Somewhere I have a copy of the first book, but I can't find it at the moment. There were at least 6 books in the series. I just remember that this series gave me an interest in medicine and for a while I did seriously consider nursing as a profession.
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