(My) Most Influential Books of the Decade
Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counselors, and the most patient of teachers.
Charles W. Eliot
In estimated order that we met
The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale - Reminds me to be kind and hold on to my truth
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë - Sincerity is cool.
Poems and Letters of John Keats by John Keats - My soul in words.
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman - The ultimate comfort story. Sheer genius.
Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosh - Helped me understand the spiral squeezing me dry was depression and it's okay and there's an other side.
Steal Like an Artist by Austin Kelon - the basis of my approach to a creative life.
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern - Sheer magic.
The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater - Introduction to Maggie who changed my life in innumerable ways.
A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J Maas - gave me the courage to end a toxic, abusive relationship and stand on my own.
Coriolanus by William Shakespeare - first true connection with Shakespeare. Pivotal moment in my literature/writing career. Inspired me to go after the Folger Library Readership (which I got!)
The Reformation of Emotions in the Age of Shakespeare by Steven Mullaney - Every one should read this. An exploration on how while language may change, human nature does not as well as the need for stories to express that nature.
How It Feels to Be Colored Me by Zora Neale Hurston - Reminds me that while white people have no rhythm, when you feel like dancing, there's never a good enough reason not to dance.
In the Waiting Room by Elizabeth Bishop - All the issues with body, puberty, womanhood in one poem.
Stay Sexy and Don't Get Murdered by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark - A reminder that your past doesn't have to hold you back, sincerity, vulnerability, and passion for your own kind of weirdness is enough.