Happy belated birthday to you! So many great books listed here. My birthday is tomorrow, and you've inspired me to think about making my own list. I guess that's one benefit of getting older—you can always add one more book to the list! Anne of Green Gables will definitely be on mine. I think I'd have to add some of my favorite children's books with illustrations that I've always loved (like Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney) because those pictures were so cozy and whimsical and made want to live in a world that looked like those pages. Right now I'm reading Love, Nature, Magic by a local author/well-known figure in my community (Maria Rodale!), and I think it's going to be the sort of book that has a huge impact on my way of thinking and interacting with the world.
Thank you, Kate! Cozy picture books will always be such good escapes for me. Did you read The Wishing Game? It has cozy children’s book vibes, but for adults!
Happy Birthday! I just finished The Wishing Game and loved it! (I’m also halfway through Banyan Moon right now and loving every page. Wow. You are an artist with words and characters! I feel completely pulled into the story when I read your book.)
I loved that book so much. I have a dream of living on a coastal island with a lighthouse and just dove headfirst into that vision ha. It’s also the book I was reading when I found out I was expecting my first baby and I always connect it with that. So funny how a completely non-book circumstance can be forever linked to it 💕
My life changing book is Madeleine L'Engle's "A Wrinkle in Time." My 4th grade teacher read it to us in class. It was my introduction to literary science fiction and it captivated me. I started seeking out other SF books, and later, writing my own stories. She gets the credit for sparking the flame.
Happy belated birthday to you! So many great books listed here. My birthday is tomorrow, and you've inspired me to think about making my own list. I guess that's one benefit of getting older—you can always add one more book to the list! Anne of Green Gables will definitely be on mine. I think I'd have to add some of my favorite children's books with illustrations that I've always loved (like Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney) because those pictures were so cozy and whimsical and made want to live in a world that looked like those pages. Right now I'm reading Love, Nature, Magic by a local author/well-known figure in my community (Maria Rodale!), and I think it's going to be the sort of book that has a huge impact on my way of thinking and interacting with the world.
Thank you, Kate! Cozy picture books will always be such good escapes for me. Did you read The Wishing Game? It has cozy children’s book vibes, but for adults!
Happy Birthday! I just finished The Wishing Game and loved it! (I’m also halfway through Banyan Moon right now and loving every page. Wow. You are an artist with words and characters! I feel completely pulled into the story when I read your book.)
Sommer! 😭 you made my day work this comment. Thank you so much!
I have not read that one, but I'm adding it to my to-read list now! Thanks for the recommendation!
I love lists - and book lists are the best!
Got me thinking and here are the ones that came to mind first...
When I was younger:
- Anne of Green Gables and all the books following
- the American Girl series
- Nancy Drew series
- Harriet the Spy
- A Wrinkle in Time
- The Golden Compass series
Then in my 20s and 30s, these are the books I won't ever forget:
- The Light Between Oceans
- All The Light We Cannot See
- Know My Name by Chanel Miller
- Becoming by Michelle Obama
- Tell Me Everything by Mika Kelly
- The Vanishing Half & The Mothers by Brit Bennett
- The Last Story of Mina Lee
- Untamed by Glennon Doyle
- The Great Alone
- The Last Summer by Ann Brashares
- Prep & American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld
- Smashed by Karen Zailckas
- The Great Gatsby
These are soooo good, Liz! Also, I cried buckets while reading The Light Between Oceans 😭😭
I loved that book so much. I have a dream of living on a coastal island with a lighthouse and just dove headfirst into that vision ha. It’s also the book I was reading when I found out I was expecting my first baby and I always connect it with that. So funny how a completely non-book circumstance can be forever linked to it 💕
My life changing book is Madeleine L'Engle's "A Wrinkle in Time." My 4th grade teacher read it to us in class. It was my introduction to literary science fiction and it captivated me. I started seeking out other SF books, and later, writing my own stories. She gets the credit for sparking the flame.
So happy to see Snow Child on this list!! I feel like that one isn't as much of a household name as it deserves to be.
Some of my favorites are the books by Marilyn Robinson, Wallace Stegner, Cormac McCarthy, Roald Dahl, Beverly Cleary, CS Lewis, and Gary Schmidt.
Such great authors! And I agree about Snow Child — I wish more people knew about it!
Happy birthday! Many of your favorites on this list I've also loved. My top 5:
- Matilda, by Roald Dahl
- One Hundred Years of Solitude, by Gabriel Garcia Marquez,
- A Little Life, by Hanya Yanigihara
- The Overstory, by Richard Powers
- Station Eleven, by Emily St. John Mandel
- Our Share of Night, by Mariana Enriquez
Thank you, Marlena! Love these recommendations — Roald Dahl was such a game-changer for me too. And I really want to read The Overstory!