25 books that shaped me
25 books that have had an impact on me.
I’ve put together a list of 25 books that have had an impact on me at some point in my life or that I've just really enjoyed.
I don’t remember a lot of what I read (another joyous ADHD gift) but these have stuck with me. The list also tell a bit of the story of my life, where I’ve lived and my politics and how I got to that.
In no order whatsoever.
- China Mieville - Perdido Street Station. I’d never read weird fiction - this was my intro to this genre. China has written other stuff that is also good, but this was my first taste.
- Madeline L’Engle - Wrinkle in Time. Probably my introduction to science fiction as a young person. An absolute American classic in my opinion.
- LM Montgomery - Anne of Green Gables. My great-aunt gifted me the first volume of this. A lovely hardback version. It was about a girl with my name! I was hooked and went on to read all of the books in the series.
- Frances Hodgson Burnett - The Secret Garden. I loved all the books like this a child. I wonder what impact this has had on my love of gardening and wanting to know what’s behind those locked doors...
- Philip Pullman - Northern Lights. Possibly a bit cliched but it’s a set of books that transports you to a rich world full of interesting things and I love the concept of daemons.
- Octavia Butler - Parable of the Sowers. Another classic book, key in my love of dystopia. And my introduction to science fiction written by non-white voices.
- Charlotte Bronte - Jane Eyre. I never liked Wuthering Heights (still don't). I have however, read Jane Eyre at least a dozen times.
- Edward Abbey - The Monkey Wrench Gang. A key part of my radicalisation when I lived in the Pacific Northwest in the 1990s.
- Kim Stanley Robinson - Red Mars. Nobody builds worlds like KSR or conveys so much politics in such an easy to understand way. I fell in love with all the characters in the whole trilogy. I think it might be time for another re-read of these.
- Ursula LeGuin - The Dispossessed.
- Richard Powers - The Overstory. The interweaving storylines, but mostly about trees and protest in the Pacific Northwest.
- John Steinbeck - Cannery Row. Yes this was a school book list read but it was absolutely eye opening to me as a young person. Grapes of Wrath is also a must read.
- Robert Tressell - the Ragged Trousered Philanthropist. A socialist classic.
- Barbara Kingsolver - The Poisonwood Bible. Yes, she gets 2 books in my list. For me, she’s one of the most important writers of the 20th and 21st century.
- Barbara Kingsolver - Demon Copperhead. A modern retelling of David Copperfield set in Appalachia and oxy addiction.
- Bernadette Evaristo - Girl, Woman, Other. My introduction to her writing. I’ve read everything she’s written - Blonde Roots is another standout.
- Ben Aaronovitch - Rivers of London. A wonderful series of magic, London and talking foxes. I just love them.
- Eliza Clark - Boy Parts. It was a toss up between this and Penance. Both funny but dark and unnerving.
- Marc Reisner - Cadillac Desert. Water and the American West. If I had carried on to do a PhD it would probably have been on water (see also Vandana Shiva’s Water Wars), climate change, politics and global refugees.
- Jeff Vandermeer - Annihilation. Yeah, I still don’t know what that was about but I think about it a lot.
- Margaret Atwood - Cats Eye. My favourite Atwood, probably not at the top of everyone’s list but it really resonated with me.
- Manuel Castells - Rise of the Network Society. Foundation of my master’s thesis on the internet and global social movements, 1999. Blew my mind, brought together everything I’d been thinking.
- Fflur Dafydd - The House of Water. Literary mystery plus an exploration of Welshness.
- Natalie Zina Walshots - Hench. I just love the flipping the superhero/villain genre on its head. But with much less fascism and general grossness than the The Boys.
- Arnold Bennett - Anna of the Five Towns. My dad gave me this when I moved to Stoke on Trent. A rare nice memory associated with him.