Six Books That Shaped Me
So many books over the years have taught me valuable life lessons about love, sadness, life and death and have been there for me through loss, grief, heartache, disappointment and through those turning points we all arrive at intermittently, nudging me ever so slightly in various directions. Some reads calmed my anxieties while others boosted my self-esteem by broadening my mind, increasing my knowledge and making me feel more capable in my contribution to conversations and debates. Day in and day out, stories enhance my creativity as an online content creator and a writer; they bring me into that magnificent state of ‘flow’ where I’m fully immersed and engaged, where hours go by and I don’t even notice and where I meet new characters, absorb new world views, grow as a person. Here’s to books, and here’s to this small stack that I felt in my bones!
One Day by David Nicholls, my latest read. This book was on my to-read list for years after a string of recommendations by friends and family members, and I can’t believe it took me so long to curl up with it. Every chapter takes place on the same day (July 15th) every year, for twenty years. The book explores the relationship between Emma and Dexter and how it evolves, breaks down and then finally comes together. I laughed so much I farted and I cried so much that I needed a lie down followed by a stiff whiskey, but the reason I include it here is because it’s about missed opportunities, which we can all relate to, but also, close friendship. Reading One Day reminded me of the delight of the real human connection I experience away from social media and right after reading it, I reached out to some people I hadn’t spoken to in a while. I’ve got two coffee dates lined up with old friends.
Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman, a stunning example of a really great book, and the kind of book we need more of in 2019. We live in a world where all that separates us from bad news and negativity is the tap of a phone screen - a time where horrible headlines will pull in far more traffic and so, they scream the loudest - louder than the good stuff, the random acts of kindness and the people rescuing others from isolation and misery. As a society we’re craving uplifting stories, uplifting literature, and this book is just that. It’s about an incredibly lonely woman with who becomes obsessed with a stranger, having all kinds of delusions about what he could do for her life, and this serves as one of many catalysts to slowly get her life to change for the better. Eleanor is a difficult character and I didn’t immediately warm to her, but as the story unfolds you really begin to understand her, to empathise with her, and actually, to realise how much of a difference you can have on the people around you; people who could’ve been through the wars behind their day-to-day masks. Ever since I finished reading it I’ve been looking out for ways to make other people smile, to feel seen and heard.
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling, the first book I read from the Harry Potter series. I was about ten years old and it had just arrived onto my local bookshop’s shelves. “People really love the first two books and I’d love to know what you think of the new one!” said mister bookshop man. I devoured it in one day, crossed-legged in an old, brown leather chair in my dad’s then-apartment, which was covered in mold and stank of post-divorce emotion. The mystery, the great cast of characters, the world-building, the metaphor of depression in the dementors, the time turner fun…this book pulled me in so much, offering transient (but necessary) escape from the confusion I was feeling about my mam and dad splitting up. I begged my dad to buy me the first two books, and I went on to queue up at midnight for all of the books that followed Azkaban in the series, but that - book three - will always be my favourite, for it introduced me to a series that impregnated my childhood with joy and magic and a sense of belonging to the world’s greatest fandom.
Chocolat by Joanne Harris. This timeless novel has a touch of magic realism and introduced me to a genre of story that isn’t quite fantasy but isn’t quite realistic fiction, either. The story is set in a little French town where nothing really happens…everyone goes about their lives, nothing much has changed in decades. Then, a woman arrives with her daughter and they set up an exquisite chocolate shop (not just any old chocolate shop, mind) and it really rubs the parish priest up the wrong way. I loved the different perspectives in this! It was refreshing to see the story unfold through opposing characters. I genuinely believe that reads like this are the reason I never see things in black and white, and in this ‘fake news’ era I’m so grateful for my ability to see the shades of grey and to think analytically. Some read Chocolat as a ‘catholics = bad’ piece, but I didn’t; there’s so much more going on in the book: letting go, nature vs nurture, making assumptions and facing fears, tolerance, classism…all that and more, and then of course, the language is poetry. I’m forever looking for books that give me a similar glow while I read!
The Time Traveller’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. I adored this book! I read it when my partner first moved over to Spain to begin his pilot training, after hearing that - aside from the time travel (who doesn’t love a good time travel plot!?) - it’s about absence in a relationship, and how something a couple can’t control threatens everything. Honestly, it impacted me deeply: it made me realise how important my blossoming relationship was to me. I moved over to Spain in the end, because my boyfriend wasn’t cursed with an ability to slip in and out of time unwillingly, he just had to be somewhere else for a time, and as someone who works for myself, I was able to go and be with him. We’re still going strong two years on, living back home, and he proposed. I may or may not have this story to thank!
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak! This is a story narrated by death, following death’s encounters with a little girl, named Liesel, living in Nazi Germany and stealing/saving books from book burnings. After reading this I wanted to tell absolutely everyone I knew about it, it was that good. Growing up, I was always horrified and fascinated by everything WW2 related - Anne Frank, war documentaries, Schindler’s List - so The Book Thief was always going to make me sob. I felt ALL of the feelings while reading it; I was reminded of the comfort provided by words, of the power of literacy and I reflected on how good is still possible even in the heart of tragedy.
One Day by David Nicholls, my latest read. This book was on my to-read list for years after a string of recommendations by friends and family members, and I can’t believe it took me so long to curl up with it. Every chapter takes place on the same day (July 15th) every year, for twenty years. The book explores the relationship between Emma and Dexter and how it evolves, breaks down and then finally comes together. I laughed so much I farted and I cried so much that I needed a lie down followed by a stiff whiskey, but the reason I include it here is because it’s about missed opportunities, which we can all relate to, but also, close friendship. Reading One Day reminded me of the delight of the real human connection I experience away from social media and right after reading it, I reached out to some people I hadn’t spoken to in a while. I’ve got two coffee dates lined up with old friends.
Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman, a stunning example of a really great book, and the kind of book we need more of in 2019. We live in a world where all that separates us from bad news and negativity is the tap of a phone screen - a time where horrible headlines will pull in far more traffic and so, they scream the loudest - louder than the good stuff, the random acts of kindness and the people rescuing others from isolation and misery. As a society we’re craving uplifting stories, uplifting literature, and this book is just that. It’s about an incredibly lonely woman with who becomes obsessed with a stranger, having all kinds of delusions about what he could do for her life, and this serves as one of many catalysts to slowly get her life to change for the better. Eleanor is a difficult character and I didn’t immediately warm to her, but as the story unfolds you really begin to understand her, to empathise with her, and actually, to realise how much of a difference you can have on the people around you; people who could’ve been through the wars behind their day-to-day masks. Ever since I finished reading it I’ve been looking out for ways to make other people smile, to feel seen and heard.
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling, the first book I read from the Harry Potter series. I was about ten years old and it had just arrived onto my local bookshop’s shelves. “People really love the first two books and I’d love to know what you think of the new one!” said mister bookshop man. I devoured it in one day, crossed-legged in an old, brown leather chair in my dad’s then-apartment, which was covered in mold and stank of post-divorce emotion. The mystery, the great cast of characters, the world-building, the metaphor of depression in the dementors, the time turner fun…this book pulled me in so much, offering transient (but necessary) escape from the confusion I was feeling about my mam and dad splitting up. I begged my dad to buy me the first two books, and I went on to queue up at midnight for all of the books that followed Azkaban in the series, but that - book three - will always be my favourite, for it introduced me to a series that impregnated my childhood with joy and magic and a sense of belonging to the world’s greatest fandom.
Chocolat by Joanne Harris. This timeless novel has a touch of magic realism and introduced me to a genre of story that isn’t quite fantasy but isn’t quite realistic fiction, either. The story is set in a little French town where nothing really happens…everyone goes about their lives, nothing much has changed in decades. Then, a woman arrives with her daughter and they set up an exquisite chocolate shop (not just any old chocolate shop, mind) and it really rubs the parish priest up the wrong way. I loved the different perspectives in this! It was refreshing to see the story unfold through opposing characters. I genuinely believe that reads like this are the reason I never see things in black and white, and in this ‘fake news’ era I’m so grateful for my ability to see the shades of grey and to think analytically. Some read Chocolat as a ‘catholics = bad’ piece, but I didn’t; there’s so much more going on in the book: letting go, nature vs nurture, making assumptions and facing fears, tolerance, classism…all that and more, and then of course, the language is poetry. I’m forever looking for books that give me a similar glow while I read!
The Time Traveller’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. I adored this book! I read it when my partner first moved over to Spain to begin his pilot training, after hearing that - aside from the time travel (who doesn’t love a good time travel plot!?) - it’s about absence in a relationship, and how something a couple can’t control threatens everything. Honestly, it impacted me deeply: it made me realise how important my blossoming relationship was to me. I moved over to Spain in the end, because my boyfriend wasn’t cursed with an ability to slip in and out of time unwillingly, he just had to be somewhere else for a time, and as someone who works for myself, I was able to go and be with him. We’re still going strong two years on, living back home, and he proposed. I may or may not have this story to thank!
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak! This is a story narrated by death, following death’s encounters with a little girl, named Liesel, living in Nazi Germany and stealing/saving books from book burnings. After reading this I wanted to tell absolutely everyone I knew about it, it was that good. Growing up, I was always horrified and fascinated by everything WW2 related - Anne Frank, war documentaries, Schindler’s List - so The Book Thief was always going to make me sob. I felt ALL of the feelings while reading it; I was reminded of the comfort provided by words, of the power of literacy and I reflected on how good is still possible even in the heart of tragedy.
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