It’s almost one year since the launch of THE GLASS WIVES and one question I’ve been asked many times at readings, signings, and events is: WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE BOOK?
This is a question I not only hesitate to answer, it’s a question I can’t answer. I don’t have a favorite book, yet this answer seems uncomely for an author. So I say: “Whatever I’m reading at the moment.” And that’s true. I only read books I like and I only finish books I really like, the ones where I can crawl inside the pages and make a momentary nest away from everything else. I knew books that were meaningful to me—but I didn’t have a list of favorites. Nor would my favorites necessarily be ones with scribble-worthy titles and trips to the book store. It was never important to me to have a list of favorite books. Not for myself or anyone else. There were just too many.
Then, for my fiftieth birthday I received a gift that changed that. The gift was that I could choose ten books and have a custom painting made of these books on my ideal bookshelf. Here’s a link to the artist’s website: http://www.idealbookshelf.com/. I had never heard of or seen anything like this before. And amidst a bevy of amazing birthday celebrations and gifts, this one was unique. And it was going to be hard work! I had to choose TEN books.
Perhaps someone else could ramble off ten, but I could not. I wanted these ten books to be meaningful to me in some IT’S-MY-FREAKING-FIFTIETH-BIRTHDAY-AND-PAINTINGS-LAST-FOREVER kind of way. I wanted these books to not impress anyone but me. Books that didn’t inspire anyone but me.
It took me about a month, maybe more, to decide. It was a serious charge, choosing these ten books. Not only did I want to do right by myself, I wanted to do right by the person who gifted this to me. This was not some willy-nilly point and pick. I wanted to have no regrets. Not to ever look at the painting and wish I’d chosen different titles. I made lists. I thought thoughts. (If you know me, neither of these surprise you!)
Now, a few months later, I can you, it was worth the effort, the lists, the pondering, the waiting. The photo doesn’t do it justice (plus it’s sorta sideways and complete with reflections). It’s 8″x10″ and I can see every brush stroke. I look at each book and know why it’s there, for me. The books might not be on anyone else’s ideal book shelf, but that’s what’s awesome. They don’t have to be! They don’t have to make sense to anyone else either, because to me, they make perfect sense!
Here are the ten books on my ideal bookshelf:
On Writing by Stephen King: This is the book that showed me my writing isn’t about me, it’s about the story. Huge lesson. Moved my desk into the corner, let the story come find me there. I can still picture the exact moment I realized this.
A Walk On The Beach by Joan Anderson: I mention this book in the back of THE GLASS WIVES. It’s my non-self-help, self-help book. It’s the only book I’ve ever read, cover-to-cover, more than once.
Cat’s Eye by Margaret Atwood: I read this book in the 80s and it reminded me of myself. I never forgot what it felt like to see myself inside a book.
Good In Bed by Jennifer Weiner: Though published to much acclaim in 2001, I didn’t read this until 2007 when I started writing fiction. There is a plot twist mid-book that grabbed me by the throat and spun me around in my writer pants. I hadn’t seen it coming yet everything made perfect sense. That’s what I want to do, I thought. It changed the way I saw fiction. It was my ah-ha moment.
The American Heritage Dictionary 1976: In 1977 as I graduated 7th grade from my elementary school (K-7) I was given the English Award. The principal said something like “There was no doubt among the teachers who should receive this award.” Then they called my name. And I received this dictionary.
The Glass Wives by me: Duh.
One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish by Dr. Seuss: I read this book to my brother (6 1/2 years younger than me) and then to my kids. It was the book I used to hook my daughter into being a Seuss-lover like me!
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott: I always wanted to be Beth. Yes, Beth. Plus, there is a character named Amy. I have read the whole book once, but portions of this book dozens of times.
The Wednesday Sisters by Meg Waite Clayton: Like the Weiner book, Clayton’s book had a direct impact on my fiction writing. I read the Wednesday Sisters when it was published and just wanted to be one of their friends. The characters stayed with me for a long time after each time I read a few chapters, then again when I finished the whole book. I knew that I wanted to try to write a book that evoked exactly that feeling in others. I was not only inspired, but challenged. No book since has had the same level of impact.
Little House In The Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder: What is there not to love about this entrance into the world of the Ingalls family? It was and remains my favorite of all the Little House books. I wasn’t able to pass on my love of Little House to my kids, but I can still see those illustrations in my head.
Which titles would make it onto your ideal book shelf?
Amy xo
Each one of your favorite books made me smile! Thank you for sharing your list! xo
I love the picture and it has some great books on it, my favourite is The Little House on the Prairie 🙂
Wow, Amy, what a thought, choosing just ten books! I’m going to have to wrap my mind around that idea. I love the idea of a painting of your favorite book covers, though. Truly a fantastic concept. I’m so glad you picked A Walk on the Beach–I love that book, as well as several others you named here. One of the contemporary books I’d have to put in my painting would be Tell the Wolves I’m Home–such a powerful novel. For classics, probably E.M. Forester’s A Passage to India. That book really made me want to write.
Oops–typo alert! I meant E.M. Forster!
Bel Canto: one of my all time favorites. Based on the fact that some of your selections would also be on my list, I now want to read the others!
What a wonderful idea! I want a painting like that!! I’m heading to my bookshelves now to pick my fav 10!
Great gift and a great idea. I see we have several of the same books that influenced us, including Little Women and On Writing. The Wednesday Sisters is a wonderful book, as is anything by Dr. Seuss. I think my shelf would definitely include Pride and Prejudice and A Room of One’s Own.
This is the coolest gift ever. If I google it could I find it? Your choices are amazing and I would have picked the Wilder book and maybe LITTLE WOMEN, my mother named me for Beth! I also loved the Joan Anderson book. I would have to include THE GREAT GATSBY. And of course my novel, when I get it published! Love this, Beth
Oh boy, I can see some books mentioned over and over here that I’ve never read… more TBR books for me I guess! I have some strange ones, but these are ones I’ve read more than once over the years: The Parent Trap (original), The Other Side of the Mountain, Domina (about 4 times!), The Gamble, by LaVyrle Spencer, other newer books- The Glass Castle, The Kitchen House, and Me Before You. Now, to get these other books added to my TBR list! 🙂
Oh… SO COOL, Amy. I love this post, the thought you put into your picks, and the resulting artwork. Like you, I would have to ponder and ponder what to include. Also like you, I won an English award (though in high school) and have that same dictionary STILL on my shelf! On Writing was a favorite as well. I just love the meaning behind each of the books you chose. WELL DONE.
What an amazing, stupendous idea, and such an enormous challenge for a reader/writer. I think I would need more than a month to “solidify” 10 books. However, there are three I could never leave off: The Old Man and the Sea, The Hours, A Prayer for Owen Meany.
Thanks so much for sharing this, Amy. You just solved a birthday gift mystery. xoxo
What a great way to share your love for writing and reading! I am not sure what my ten favorite would be either, but I know for sure, Dr. Seuss would be in there somewhere! Thanks, Amy!
Okay, Amy, what you asked is impossible for me to answer. The list changes before I can record it. There’s this book and then this one, but then what about this one and that one.
But I will always remember the most meaningful gift I was giving: Oh, the Places You’ll Go by Dr. Suess.
I’d received way too many rejection letters and I feared my dream of becoming an author was dying before it was born. My husband returned from an off-island trip and pulled this book out a bag. How could I abandon my dream when he didn’t. Now, Oh, the Places You’ll Go stands in a significant place in my writing area. And every time I think, what’s the use I’ll never… I look up at the book, roll up my sleeves and pick-up my pen…
As to your being awarded a dictionary in 7th grade, I had a similar experience twice, Amy, once in 9th grade when my English teacher (the very cool Mr Stefan) gave me a copy of Faulkner’s “The Unvanquished” and said “I think you are probably the only person in this class who will understand this novel and appreciate the writing, because you are a creative writer yourself.” And again as a freshman in college in 1980, when the head of the Drama Dept (a kick arse nun named Sister Carol) gave me a beautiful, huge copy of The Globe Illustrated Shakespeare and said “Once you read this cover to cover, you will never be the same. I can guarantee that you will love every word, and you’ll stop hiding your light.” Both were right, and I learned that when someone offers me a book specifically because they know it will become something special to me, I always take it and pay attention to what the giver has to say. That’s how I found out about “To A God Unknown” by John Steinbeck that is still my favorite classic novel of all time. The prose is so beautiful it makes me weep. Then there’s all of Patricia McKillip’s fantasy novels, which are glorious and beautiful and moving in the way that true art is moving. I fell in love with “The Night Circus” by Erin Morgenstern, a few years ago, and I have also developed a deep desire to re read the entire “Drakon” series by Shana Abe, starting with the “Smoke Thief.” Linnea Sinclair writes beautiful science fiction/romance hybrids, and I love Sharon Lee and Steve Millers Liaden Universe. Anne McCaffrey’s “Restoree” was her first book, and when I told her how it changed my life as a teenager, she said “It changed mine, too!” So did Tanith Lee’s “The Silver Metal Lover” and “The Electric Forest” because they both dealt with all the body hatred issues that teenage girls are so prone to, and that I was consumed by in my teenage years.
What an amazing, wonderful 50th birthday present!
On Writing sits on my writing-craft shelf, Cat’s Eye is downstairs in the front hall, and a long, long time ago Little House in the Big Woods sat in a then little girl’s room on a pink shelf. And, of course, One Fish Two Fish. Who doesn’t adore those whimsical creatures.
Just ten books? I’ll add mine to the list–Equilibrium and the forthcoming What’s Left Behind…and the latest book I’m obsessed with: Cheryl Strayed’s Wild. So many layers of fantastic.
Love your choices.
What a truly lovely post-thank you for sharing.
First, happy way belated birthday. I would never guess you were 50 from your photo so good onya there.
What a lovely gift, the painting. Having those titles always on your wall to remind you of yourself and why you chose to be a writer. Fantastic.
Now on to the tough stuff. Let’s see what I can come up with. These are in no particular order:
To Kill A Mockingbird
Memoirs of A Geisha (I wept at the end, not because it was sad, but because it ENDED – I wanted it to continue forever)
A Confederacy of Dunces
The Blind Assassin (oh boy)
Bag of Bones (this was the one for me that made me realize I wanted to write novels – can’t stand horror, but I love his writing, loved On Writing)
Angela’s Ashes
Bridget Jones’ Diary
The Winter of Our Discontent
She’s Come Undone
Second Glance (Jodi Picoult)
And many more. 😉 Thanks for sharing this with us, Amy. Have a great weekend.
I love it that you included “The Glass Wives”! You just had too. 😉
I would love to do this, but the task would be daunting. Just to get started I’d include Bird by Bird and On Writing for the craft part of me. Outlander and Cordelia’s Honor for their stories and the lesson their authors taught me about constructing them. Add The Holy Bible and I’m only half way through. Oh, no! This is hard!
Have a wonderful weekend, Amy!
I LOVE this idea! Maybe a few years from now you can fill up that shelf with your own books 😉
Thanks for this, Amy. A few weeks ago, I found an interview with Susan Choi (A Person of Interest) in which she listed her top ten: interesting in part because I would not have picked ANY of the same — but the idea sent me off to create my own and challenge members of one of my book clubs to do the same by our fall meeting.
Now, I’ve begun collecting these lists, as I think it is such a great way of adding to my own TBR list (not that I needed help there!) and of finding like minded writers … Cat’s Eye is definitely on my shelf and though I treasured On Writing, I’ll have to substitute Bird by Bird.