My 100 Book List - What's Yours?

Every avid reader has run across some version of the 100-book list, books considered significant must-reads for their perceived contribution to our culture, politically, socially, morally, ecumenically… (sorry couldn’t resist pulling Captain Jack in there). Though the lists vary a bit depending on who is providing them, it typically consists of books accepted as literary classics.

On a whim, I sat down recently and put together a list of the 100 books I felt shaped me as a person and an author. Now, we can chicken and egg it all day long, as to whether my deep love of romance, fantasy and intensely emotional stories was written into my DNA from birth, or if it was nurtured by the books that initially crossed my path, but the end result was the same, with respect to my own 100-book list. Not a big surprise, most of them come from fiction that falls under those genres.

What I’m going to do over the next few weeks is share with you, in age-related segments, what my 100 books are and why. One of the coolest things was realizing how many books ended up on it that I had read before the age of 10. Now, now, don’t forbid your kids from reading these, just because they guided the formative years of an erotic romance novelist. Your kids could grow up to be as twisted as me. Is that so bad?

Don’t answer that.

It feels like each post should have a subtitle. So for a discussion of the books on the list I read as a child, I’m calling this one:

The Power of Curious George

My first experience in powerful, memorable writing came from children’s books. These are books I can still read as an adult and see why I cherished them as a child. A good story is a story. It doesn’t talk down to its readers, it doesn’t preach at them, it merely opens a door and offers them a road to travel they can experience at their own pace, and embrace whatever (and whomever) they find on the journey that speaks to them.

The wondrous thing about these unforgettable childhood stories is recognizing, decades later, that what I internalized about those books may have guided my roads outside them. In my subconscious I integrated vital tenets that, even when complicated by an adult world, remain the steadfast core of who I became as I matured (maturing being a relative term – grin).

Fairy tales in their original form were morality tales for children, so often included some horrifically dark situations. People who got upset about the premise of The Hunger Games need to reintroduce themselves to the stories by Hans Christian Andersen, Aesop or the Brothers Grimm. HG was amateur hour next to a witch who cooked kids in her oven and ate them. Or a mermaid who loved a prince so much she risked her life and died for him when he rejected her for another (stupid prince).

But the storywriters back then knew that children understand A LOT. They are adults-in-training, and the nascent comprehension skills that will take them through life are gathering input every day of their childhood. Case in point, here’s a passage from my favorite book in third grade:

Now everything was changed without his having noticed the change take place. The process that was ending had seemed only a series of episodes to him. It pleased him to see the milk white veils of mist steam from the meadow in the morning or drop suddenly from the gray sky at dawn. They vanished so beautifully in the sunshine. The hoar frost that covered the meadow with such dazzling whiteness delighted him too. Sometimes he liked to listen to his big cousins the elks. The whole forest would tremble with their kingly voices. [He] used to listen and be very much frightened, but his heart would beat high with admiration when he heard them calling.

Their deep voices rolled towards him like the mighty moaning of noble, maddened blood whose primal power was giving utterance to longing, rage and pride. [He]struggled in vain against his fears. They overpowered him whenever he heard those voices, but he was proud to have such noble relatives. At the same time he felt a strange sense of annoyance because they were so unapproachable. It offended and humiliated him without his knowing exactly how or why, even without his being particularly conscious of it.

Yes, third grade. And who is [he]? Bambi. That is a passage from Bambi by Felix Salten, written in 1923. I adored the book, borrowed it from the library a million times. Since it wasn’t available for purchase outside the library (this was pre-Amazon and Ebay), I actually hand-copied the book onto notebook paper over a series of weeks. My single act of copyright infringement, lol, though the publisher may be assured it never left my bedroom.

My love of moments of whimsy, dry wit and clever dialogue probably started with Richard Scarry. If anyone has seen the fabulous animated movie Sing, it SO reminds me of the illustrated, animal-populated world of this author. Listen to this passage from The Best Storybook Ever, teaching a child to count. (it actually doesn’t lose anything from not being able to see the pictures, but the illustrations are fabulous):

One day Elephant went to visit Mrs. Mouse. “I am too big to visit inside your house,” he said. “Please tell me what you have inside it.”

“First you must be very quiet,” she said. “Then if you will lift me up with your trunk, I will whisper in your ear.

“I have ONE handsome husband inside my house,” said Mrs. Mouse. “He is helping me do the housework.”

At this point, you see a picture of Mr. Mouse sitting in his recliner reading a paper – grin. The next line says:

ONE handsome husband.

Is he helping with the housework?

Ha! Some things never change.

I sub-titled this blog post The Power of Curious George, because it’s probably the earliest book I remember. When I had my first childhood surgery at age 4ish, there was a Curious George story about when he had to go stay in the hospital. I really wish I could remember who brought me the book. Who was it? My mother? Maybe. Likely. Probably laid on the bed and read it with me. I like that idea. But what I do vividly remember was reading about Curious George’s experience in the hospital and feeling a little bit better about my own, because it all worked out fine for him, though it was new and strange.

Another take on that: Margret and H.A. Rey had a way of expressing George’s thoughts that touched on my own emotions about things, helped me realize that others could feel the way I feel. And hence the foundation stones for my understanding that I could write about any character’s experience if I could discover that common emotional ground with them was laid. Check out this passage from Curious George Flies a Kite:

All this time the wind took the kite up and George with it. It was fun to fly about in the sky. But when George looked down, the fun was gone. He was up so high that all the big houses looked as little as bunny houses. George did not like it a bit. He wanted to get down, but how? Not even a monkey can jump from the sky. George was scared. What if he never got back? Maybe he would fly on and on and on. Oh, he would never, never be so curious again, if just this one time he could find a way to get home.

The children’s books that have impacted me the most have even been adopted by my characters and find their way into certain scenes. In Board Resolution, Savannah mentions lingering in a bookstore while Christmas shopping, so she can overhear a reading to a children’s group of How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Savannah was so isolated and lonely, it immediately paints a poignant picture, her lingering in the stacks, listening to a story that might have been read to her as a child, if her mother had lived and she hadn’t been raised by a cold, emotionless father. While my favorite Dr. Seuss book is actually Horton Hears A Who, Dr. Seuss overall was brilliant, the Shakespeare of the children’s book world, in my opinion. And stories like The Sneetches still carry powerful messages about the true meaning of tolerance without being preachy and overly agenda-esque.

There are several mentions throughout my different series of the book The Littlest Angel by Charles Tazewell, because this book stayed in my mind for years after I read it. A child who died young, went to Heaven, and was unhappy there, as evidenced by this passage:

That was the whole trouble. There wasn’t anything for a small angel to do [in Heaven], And he was very homesick. Oh, not that Paradise wasn’t beautiful! But the Earth was beautiful, too! Wasn’t it created by God, Himself? Why, there were trees to clumb and brooks to fish and caves to play at pirate chief, the swimming hole, and sun, and rain, and dark, and dawn, and thick brown dust, so soft and warm beneath your feet!

An understanding angel eventually retrieves a small wooden box of the boy’s treasures from his life on Earth. When the birthday of the Christ child approaches, the little boy gives that homely little box as his gift. The Lord is so moved by him giving up something that meant so very much to him, the box is lifted up over all the far more opulent gifts to become the guiding star to Bethlehem. What wonderful storytelling, character development, and a moving message about sacrifice and generosity. Plus—my favorite theme in every story I write—love.

This story plays a big role in my Male/male Christmas story, Submissive Angel.

Anyone who has read enough of my books knows how often I make references to Arthurian legend, fairy tales and biblical stories, and all of those were part of my childhood reading. Yes, I did say biblical stories. I love the anecdotal method of conveying universal tenets of faith. Since I’m Wiccan, I don’t have any problems with different religions – especially the ones with compelling stories to create their structure (smile). And the best aspects of faith, for me, always connect to love.

I haven’t stopped reading children’s stories. I love the Harry Potter books and Hunger Games, but I’m also talking about books for younger readers like Stella Luna by Janell Cannon, Come Along, Kitten (Joanne Ryder/Susan Winter) and one book that is now part of my current work in progress. A few years back, I discovered Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney and illustrated by Anita Jeram. This little book now rests on my keeper shelf, an example of a simple, beautiful way of expressing love. And apparently there was a reason I kept that book where I’d remember it and see it often, because in The Problem with Witches, that little book about Big Nutbrown Hare and Little Nutbrown Hare becomes very important to saving New Orleans from a magical threat (grin). Yep, you’ll just have to read PWW to find out how!

So, I’m done prattling on about my pre-10-year-old portion of my 100 book list. I’ve posted the titles below. In summary, I feel these particular books influenced my later writing because the tone, the messages, the characters, and the stories stayed with me.

Bambi by Felix Salten

The Littlest Angel by Charles Tazewell

The Happy Prince by Oscar Wilde

Best Storybook Ever by Richard Scarry

The World's Best Fairy Tales Edited by Belle Becker Sideman

The Children's Bible Western Publishing Co/Grispino, Terrien, Wice (Editorial Board)

Black Beauty by Anna Sewell

Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare

Taran Wanderer series by Lloyd Alexander (Chronicals of Prydain)

Charlotte’s Web by EB White

Trumpet of the Swan by EB White

Chronicles of Narnia by CS Lewis

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling

The Call of the Wild by Jack London

The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood by Howard Pyle

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L'Engle

The Story of King Arthur and His Knights by Howard Pyle

The Long Trail Home by Josh Durfey

As I talk about each section of my list over the next few weeks, you’re welcome to share your own list, in whole or part, with whatever comments you want to offer. I found it a really eye-opening and fascinating experience. It also ended up being a wonderful trip down memory lane, remembering how I felt, reading all these amazing books the first time. And the second, third, fourth times…etc.

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The Problem with Witches is now available for pre-order! Click here for all buy links, and I hope you’ll look forward to our June 30 release date. A Chapter One preview can be found beneath the buy links.