The Fifteen Books That Will Stick With Me For Life
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iamsosmart.
01. Out, Natsuo Kirino.
Perhaps the single most fucked-up thing I've ever read. Suffice to say: highly dystopian, grungy, gritty, dark, violent, and generally astounding. Three women who work in a bento factory help a fourth, who just killed her husband, and then turn cadaver disposal into a business. ALL WHILE BEING STALKED BY A SERIAL KILLER.
And, because it's so fucked up, it will never, ever, ever, ever leave me.
02. Howl's Moving Castle, Diana Wynne Jones
I admit that I saw the movie first (on the night my grandmother died, no less), but I love the book more than the movie. The book is more detailed, is a little harder to approach. It's less a love story and more an actual adventure, and Howl comes across very, very differently. (And, I, for one, prefer Book!Howl.)
03. Night Watch, Terry Pratchett
The first book I ever read by Terry Pratchett. The one I love most. I have owned three copies. The cool thing about it is that every time you read it, you notice something new. And the stable time loop is brain-breaky but awesome.
04. Night, Elie Wiezel
Read this senior year of high school. Have re-read it every single summer since. Will probably continue to do so until the day I die.
05. Neverwhere, by Neil Gaiman
The very first thing by Neil Gaiman that I could get my hands on.
06. The Rose of the Prophet trilogy by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman
Okay, so as a little girl I saw the movie Aladdin. It was apparently a formative experience on my sense of aesthetics.
So was this. It's set on another world, with one of those "all the gods are real and give a shit and are fueled by belief" plots, only the majority of it is set in a legendary Arabia ripoff. But it's cool, and Auda Ibn Jad was just... he's stuck with me, all these years. Even when I'm not recalling things Khardan and Zohra and Matthew (yes, there's a reason one of those names is not like the others) were doing, I've got this memory of Auda in my head and if Bata comes across half as creepily awesome and cool as Auda, I will jizz in my pants, seriously.
07. The Gates of Twilight, by Paula Volsky
It's a fantasy remix of the British colonization of India, with romance, flying scorpions, dimensional travel, and unfathomable gods. Yet another formative influence on my aesthetic sense.
08. The Picture of Dorian Grey, Oscar Wilde
09. House of Leaves, Mark Z. Danielewski
Mostly sticking around because it hurt my brain. I shouldn't even have to tell you what this book contains, you should already know. I will say that it doesn't terrify me as much as it seems to terrify everyone else, but then again, I look at HoL as a challenge and not a book.
10. The Teahouse Fire, Ellis Avery
Fantastically researched. A gorgeous picture of Kyoto in the mid-Meiji era. AND LESBIANS.
11. The Dark Lord of Derkholme, Diana Wynne Jones
12. The Diary of Anne Frank
13. Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neal Hurston
Not sticking around in the good way. There are pages of this book that have been burned into my brain. I will forever hate you for this, $Freshman_Comp_Prof!
14. The Sandman: The Kindly Ones, Neil Gaiman
SHUT UP IT COUNTS. I think why this book would never leave my brain should be self-evident.
15. A Clockwork Orange, Anthony Burgess
iamsosmart.01. Out, Natsuo Kirino.
Perhaps the single most fucked-up thing I've ever read. Suffice to say: highly dystopian, grungy, gritty, dark, violent, and generally astounding. Three women who work in a bento factory help a fourth, who just killed her husband, and then turn cadaver disposal into a business. ALL WHILE BEING STALKED BY A SERIAL KILLER.
And, because it's so fucked up, it will never, ever, ever, ever leave me.
02. Howl's Moving Castle, Diana Wynne Jones
I admit that I saw the movie first (on the night my grandmother died, no less), but I love the book more than the movie. The book is more detailed, is a little harder to approach. It's less a love story and more an actual adventure, and Howl comes across very, very differently. (And, I, for one, prefer Book!Howl.)
03. Night Watch, Terry Pratchett
The first book I ever read by Terry Pratchett. The one I love most. I have owned three copies. The cool thing about it is that every time you read it, you notice something new. And the stable time loop is brain-breaky but awesome.
04. Night, Elie Wiezel
Read this senior year of high school. Have re-read it every single summer since. Will probably continue to do so until the day I die.
05. Neverwhere, by Neil Gaiman
The very first thing by Neil Gaiman that I could get my hands on.
06. The Rose of the Prophet trilogy by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman
Okay, so as a little girl I saw the movie Aladdin. It was apparently a formative experience on my sense of aesthetics.
So was this. It's set on another world, with one of those "all the gods are real and give a shit and are fueled by belief" plots, only the majority of it is set in a legendary Arabia ripoff. But it's cool, and Auda Ibn Jad was just... he's stuck with me, all these years. Even when I'm not recalling things Khardan and Zohra and Matthew (yes, there's a reason one of those names is not like the others) were doing, I've got this memory of Auda in my head and if Bata comes across half as creepily awesome and cool as Auda, I will jizz in my pants, seriously.
07. The Gates of Twilight, by Paula Volsky
It's a fantasy remix of the British colonization of India, with romance, flying scorpions, dimensional travel, and unfathomable gods. Yet another formative influence on my aesthetic sense.
08. The Picture of Dorian Grey, Oscar Wilde
09. House of Leaves, Mark Z. Danielewski
Mostly sticking around because it hurt my brain. I shouldn't even have to tell you what this book contains, you should already know. I will say that it doesn't terrify me as much as it seems to terrify everyone else, but then again, I look at HoL as a challenge and not a book.
10. The Teahouse Fire, Ellis Avery
Fantastically researched. A gorgeous picture of Kyoto in the mid-Meiji era. AND LESBIANS.
11. The Dark Lord of Derkholme, Diana Wynne Jones
12. The Diary of Anne Frank
13. Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neal Hurston
Not sticking around in the good way. There are pages of this book that have been burned into my brain. I will forever hate you for this, $Freshman_Comp_Prof!
14. The Sandman: The Kindly Ones, Neil Gaiman
SHUT UP IT COUNTS. I think why this book would never leave my brain should be self-evident.
15. A Clockwork Orange, Anthony Burgess
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