10 Books That Have Influenced My Life

When I saw that I had been tagged in some sort of Facebook challenge, at first I assumed that a bucket of ice water would be required. Then I was relieved to see that the challenge involved books, and not dumping them on my head. The challenge was to list ten books that have influenced my life. I knew that there was no way I could make such a list without explaining how they influenced me. So without further ado…

1. Shane by Jack Schaefer

This classic western about a boy’s hero worship of the gunfighter who saves his farming community from the local cattle baron has been adapted to film several times (including a sci-fi version starring Patrick Swayze!). But even the most straightforward interpretation (1953’s “Shane”) hasn't resonated with me like the novel. Shane is the archetypical western loner with no backstory, who rides in out of nowhere and goes back to wherever he came from a changed man. Yet it is his relationships with each of the three main characters that make up the heart of the novel. Reading this on the verge of adolescence, I learned about life, storytelling, and fistfights. To this day I sit with my back to the wall, facing the door, because that’s what Shane did.

Why The Hunger Games Reminded Me of a Horror Movie

How many people do you know who read The Hunger Games in a weekend or less? Of the sequel, Catching Fire, my cousin wrote on her Facebook that she couldn’t “get her eyes out of it.” However, It took me two and a half weeks, culminating in a four hour marathon reading session at the local coffee shop, just to get through book one.  Reading The Hunger Games was a chore.  I knew a dedicated reading session in public was the only way I’d ever finish it (also, I’d hoped to use it to meet women… and at least half of my plan worked).

When I first started the book, I recognized it as a story with staying power, unlike, say Twilight, which has the shelf life of a Beanie Baby.  No, despite the lack of a Newberry medal, I think The Hunger Games will be read in classrooms for discussion and at home for entertainment for many years to come.  Katniss Everdeen’s battle against herself, her peers and ultimately the government offers up so many topics for intelligent discussion.  In some ways it’s not so different from The Giver or even Ender’s Game.

Pictured: Vicious Killers

 For all you who haven’t read the book or seen the movie (which is probably none of you), I’ll summarize.  In the not-too-distant future all of North American has been united by a totalitarian government into a single country, called Panem, which is broken up into 12 districts.  At some time in the past the districts tried to start a revolution.  Every year since then, the government demands that each district offer two children between the ages of 12 and 18, called tributes, to compete in the Hunger Games as a reminder of who has the power. The Games  are a combination of Survivor, American Idol and gladiatorial combat.  The novel follows the journey of Katniss Everdeen, tribute from lowly District 12.  The Hunger Games novel is 1984 for the Jersey Shore generation.

As I reached the end of the book, however, it began to remind me of a movie—hillbilly horror film Tucker and Dale Vs. Evil. 

Beware Werewolves on Horseback

Without the internet to distract me, I’m always looking for something light to read while eating breakfast.  The local library has this great little monthly “Book Page,” which is filled with reviews of all the latest books, author interviews, a few columns and, naturally, many advertisements from publishers that are nearly as entertaining as some of the reviews.  

I have a bad habit of reading about stories rather than the stories themselves.  Leonard Maltin’s Movie Guide gathers no dust in my house.  I probably haven’t seen the movie you’re talking about, but I can summarize it and maybe even name some of the actors.  (Recently someone asked me if I’ve ever seen Never Been Kissed. “You mean the one where Drew Barrymore is an investigative reporter who goes undercover at the local high school and has a student fall in love with her, even though she’s falling for one of the teachers? Yeah, never seen it”).

“Book Page” fulfills my literary needs in the same way.  Literary fiction doesn’t hold my interest.  Current murder, suspense and crime stories are too dark for my taste.  Biography, history and memoir have to be about something or someone I’m very interested in for me to invest that much time.  But I’ll read about anything and everything.

I’m ashamed to say, the first page I look for is always the one with the reviews and ads for the latest romance novels.  Again, books I’d never read, but the summaries are insane.  Here’s one from this month’s “Book Page” that I promise, I am not making up: “New York Times bestseller [redacted] takes the passionate action way out west, as a vamp and a werewolf go undercover at a Wyoming dude ranch… with sizzling results!” [ellipses theirs].

Wait, what?!?  Even in a post-Twilight world, this is weird.

Reading Addictions

My sister, the classical musician, once asked me why I don’t write more frequently. She observed that she plays music all the time—not just for practice, but because she loves it. If I think I’m a writer, shouldn’t I be writing with the same frequency and passion? Well, yes. However, the comparison doesn’t quite hold up. She plays, but she doesn’t compose. Writing is composing. Reading, however, is more like practicing.

Stephen King says that if you don’t have time to read, you don’t have time to write. I think he advocates reading for three or four hours a day, on top of writing 500 to 1,000 words every day. Then again, he’s filthy rich and has a mental twitch that compels him to write in the same way alcoholics are compelled to drink. I’m not the former, and lack the latter.

But I do read. Blissfully free of internet access in my apartment, with a broken DVD player and lots of time on my hands, oh how I read. And while I don’t have a writing addiction, I do tend to get hooked on certain authors or series. Here’s a snapshot of what I’m presently hooked on, after the jump.