Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by the Broke and the Bookish. Today’s theme was:
Thanksgiving freebie — tell us what you are thankful for! Books you are thankful for!
As someone who’s been a reader my whole life, I’ve read a lot of books. Obviously. But there’s only a handful of those books that have actually changed me, moved my insides around and gave me a new outlook on life. I will forever be thankful for those books for making me who I am today, and I couldn’t be more excited to list them here for you.
The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling. I’m sure this one is obvious, but I will never be able to properly express the way I feel about this series. I’ve always been someone who reads, but Harry Potter made me a reader. Harry Potter made me a voracious reader. Growing up with Harry and the crew put magic into my life and I’ll never forget that.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky. A friend recommended this book to me my freshman year of college, and it couldn’t have come at a better time. Meeting Charlie was exactly what I needed to come out of my shell and find myself in college. I’ve read this book more times than I can count and every single time I do, it means something else to me.
The Falls by Ian Rankin. The first time I read The Falls, I was just a few months away from spending a month in Scotland for the very first time. I fell in love with the idea of Scotland in the book and I couldn’t wait to see it. The first time I walked across the North Bridge, which is part of a big scene in the book, I was filled with a sense of belonging and happiness and contentedness that I’d never felt. I went on to read every single book that Ian Rankin had written and wrote my senior honors thesis on his books and Edinburgh within them.
The Humans by Matt Haig. At some point in every person’s life, they feel like an outsider, like an alien from another planet that no one understands. This book came at a time in my life when I felt like that, and it’s there for me every time I feel like that. It reminds me that I’m alive and I’m human and everything will be okay.
Reasons to Stay Alive by Matt Haig. Why, yes, I do have two books by Matt Haig on this list. Both of these books came at a time in my life when I really needed it. I read Reasons to Stay Alive at exactly the right time. Reading about Matt’s struggles with anxiety and depression helped me to understand my own more. It helped me to find hope and to find ways to hold on through the hurricane I was in.
The Incredible Book-Eating Boy by Oliver Jeffers. I think by now you all know I’m a little bit obsessed with Oliver Jeffers books. I first read this a few weeks after starting at my first library. It reignited my love of picture books, reminding me that they are happy things, easily digested for when things are tough and you just. need. to. finish. a. book.
What books changed your life?
Caught Read Handed 