TEN BOOKS TAG... double yikes!!

So, before I even I finished my TEN BOOK BLOGGER CONFESSIONS TAG post a Wicked Witch flew by and dropped another tag on me.

THE TEN BOOK TAG

Well, I can be a Wicked Witch, too, so I just tagged back with the CONFESSIONS TAG...

Now that I have gotten revenge...

let's get back to the challenge!

"List 10 books that have stayed with you in some way. Do not take more than a few minutes and do not think too hard. They do not have to be the “right” books or great works of literature, just ones that have affected you in some way. Paste these instructions and tag 10 friends, including me, so I can see your list.”

This could be done anywhere on social media! 

Books open up new thoughts and ideas in our minds, and paint pictures of faraway places and fantastical worlds.

1. One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish. It was the first book I read by myself, and it also calls up wonderful memories of my father and childhood. My father subscribed to the Dr. Seuss Book of the Month Club for me, and I vividly remember the excitement of my grandmother bringing in the mail and seeing the familiar shape of the white box. I can still recall the smell of the pages upon opening the new book. If it came on a weekday my father would sit on the couch and read it with me as soon as he changed out of his work clothes. I made sure my son had the Dr.Seuss book of the month club, too!

2. Random book about a sailor cat. I do not remember the title to this Children's chapterbook, but it is packed safely away at my mother's house, complete with scribblings from my little sister (one of the few times I have hated her with a little black heart for a day, or so). This was the first chapterbook I read independently. I would get up after my parents had closed my bedroom door at night, and read by the light of my aquarium. This isn't an illustration from the book, but it is close. I think it must have been an older relative's book at one time because the pictures look pre-1960's. This book was my first inkling of being a bookoholic.

3. A Wrinkle in Time. My fourth grade teacher was reading this to the class, and I moved. The first thing I did after settling in was borrow it from the library and finish it, myself. I think it was my first Junior (this is what Middle Grade was called in the olden days, lol) chapterbook. I am, however, sure that it was the gateway book to my undying love of Science Fiction.

4. Where the Red Fern Grows. We moved to the country when I was in fourth grade, and after that my tween and early teen's life was pretty much entirely horse riding and dog shows, and my reading material reflected this. Black Beauty, National Velvet, all the Farley Black Stallion books, Terhune's dog stories, the Big Red novels by Bob Kuhn. But the book that made me full on snot cry for the very first time was Where the Red Fern Grows. It is a story about a young boy and the two redbone coonhounds he raised.

5. Jane Eyre. I read this in junior high school (I am continuing to date myself), seventh grade to be exact, and it was the perfect book for my blossoming romantic notions. I tried reading Jane Austen, on the recommendations of my friends, but eh, didn't like, and still don't. I was a  Brontë Sisters fangirl through and through. 

6. To Kill a Mockingbird. This is the only book that sticks out for me from my senior high school years. In fact, it is my number one favorite book of all time, and second favorite movie. I spent my years from sixteen to twenty-six on the road with rock bands, so if it wasn't required reading for high school,  I didn't read it; except for this book and The Hobbit. After I saw the movie in a hotel room one Sunday afternoon, I went to the library to find it as soon as I returned home. Oddly enough it wasn't required reading for the Regents program at my school. I hate racism and bullying in any form, and this book has always spoken to my heart.

7. Cat's Cradle. After I graduated from high school I was on the road with the bands I worked for; 365, so I didn't read much until I went to college at the age of twenty-two. I do remember reading Lady Chatterly's Lover, Lolita, The Exorcist, and this series of quick read books about naughty airline stewardeses *blushes and shakes head* while on tour, but nothing that stood out. I was assigned Kurt Vonnegut's Player Piano to read for a college Lit class, and loved his writing style so much I read several of his other novels, and also some short stories. Cat's Cradle was my favorite because it is about how science and technology affect religion.

8. The Chronicals of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever trilogy. Okay, I'm cheating here but give me a break. Once out of college, and not on the road any longer, I was delighted and eager to get back to my book devouring. I joined a Science Fiction / Fantasy book of the month club and the first book I was sent was Lord Foul's Bane, by Stephen R. Donaldson. It is adult high fantasy at its best. To me it is far better than Tolkien. I read all six of his first Covenant novels and was overjoyed to find out there were three more written during my "mommy reading" years.

9. The Dune Saga. Again cheating, but I can't say I love one of the books more than the other. A college friend gave me a boxed set of the first three in papaperback, but I didn't get around to reading them until later on. I purchased the next three from the aforementioned mail orderbook club. This is by far my favorite Sci-Fi series. I will admit that I started reading Chapterhouse, the final book of the original series, when I was thirty and became totally confused. I re-read the six books again when I was 49, and Chapterhouse made perfect sense, so we do continue to grow intellectually past thirty, lol. There have been several books co-written by Frank's son and another writer, but I haven't tried any of those yet.

Why is Blogger making this have GIANT print?

10. Harry Potter. I am not going to be specific here either.  Sorcerer's Stone is one favorite because it started it all, and Deathly Hallows is another favorite because it ended it all, but Half Blood Prince is my ultimate favorite. I stumbled across Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone before the books became popular when I was looking for something to challenge my son's reading level, but would also be kid friendly enough to hold his interest. We started reading two chapters a night before bedtime. He would read one chapter and I would read the next. One night his father was fixing the curtain rod in my son's room while we were reading and he asked what book it was. Well, needless to say he started reading it to catch up to us and he was hooked too. He called it "book crack". This began a family tradition of dressing up for Barnes and Noble midnight release parties and movie premieres,  collecting and playing the card game and Potter themed birthday and Halloween parties. Six years later, when my son was twelve, his father walked away and the familiarity of the books and movies, and the traditions that they created helped us through the rough times.

THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME

I am not going to tag anyone, but if you are interested please answer the question and bring your blog post link back here and post it in the comments, and I will come and visit your blog.