Every
reader has a list of books that they adore. But certain books become part of
your life story. When I was young, these were the books I read over and over. I
lost count of the number of times I read The
Boxcar Children and The Secret Garden
when I was in elementary school.
I have these types of book obsessions
from nearly every part of my life. It’s sort of my life history in literature. (I
wonder how a book psychologist would analyse this list – or maybe better not!)
I was speaking to a group of teen
readers at Balham library recently. We shared our 'must reads' for the summer,
but we also discussed what shifts a book from good to favourite. It
wasn’t easy for us to articulate exactly why a book got under our skin.
When I returned home, I began to analyse
the books that I’ve LOVED in the past few years to understand why they became obsessions.
It wasn’t like dissecting a gadget to see how it works. I isolated well-written
characters, but that wasn’t enough. Plots with twists and turns always capture
my attention, but they weren’t necessarily favourites. My book obsessions seemed to
hook my head and my heart.
I came up with five reasons why I love
the books I love. I’ve tried to limit myself to only one example to illustrate
each reason, but there are more and some books fit in more than one category.
I identify with the flawed
main character.
A Gathering Light by
Jennifer Donnelly
I
care deeply what happens to the main character – usually because I see myself
reflected on the page. I desperately want her to achieve her goal – whatever
it is. Her struggle becomes my struggle. Her victory, my victory.
The
book challenges my thinking and changes the way I look at the world.
Freaks
and Revelations by Davida Wills Hurwin
These books illuminate an issue and
demand I examine what I believe. When I read the final line of this type of
book, I usually sit, book in hand, for ages. I also lament that I’m not doing
enough to change the world, which usually sparks action and life changes.
Every
Day
by David Levithan and Nothing by
Janne Teller
Just when you think you’ve read it
all…along comes a book that blows your bobby socks clean off. Every Day challenges your ideas of life
and love while Nothing is this
disturbing modern fairy tale that questions the meaning of life.
Books
that give me hope – personally or globally.
Beauty
Queens by Libba Bray
When I was a teenager, these were
books about finding love or how geeks would inherit the Earth. Reading Beauty Queens would
have comforted my teen self. It’s a quirky story that celebrates what it
means to be a girl – not a stereotypical girl but a real, live girl with
secrets, hopes, dreams and fears. Too bad it was published about thirty years
too late.
A
masterfully plotted book infused with heart and surprise.
We
Were Liars by E Lockhart
I love a good page-turner with carefully
planned twists, turns and surprises. When reading, I usually can’t turn off the
author part of my brain. I don’t mean to, but I’m always guessing what happens
next. I see a gun in the desk drawer and I wonder who will pull the trigger. A
character is terrified of snakes and I start looking for the rattler under every
rock. I love books that are intricate puzzles that show you all the pieces and yet you are shocked and awed at how perfectly they all fit together in the end.
A book can meet one or
more of the above criteria, but if it doesn’t have a satisfying ending, it
won’t make the list. I don’t necessary want a happy ending but I want an ending
that remains true to the story and demands that I consider it for days and
years to come. I want an ending that sparks and lingers.
I just finished a book
that I immediately added to my list of all-time favourites. I picked it up when
I was on vacation in Canada. I read the first half of the novel in one gulp on
the plane then I stopped reading. I was devouring the book too quickly. I
wanted to savour it. When I returned home, it beckoned from my nightstand for a
few days until I broke down and read the rest of the novel. I loved it from the
first page to the last. It was one of those rare books that you are desperate
to find out how it ends and yet you never want to finish reading it.
The book?
The
Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin (In the UK, I
believe the title is The Collected Works
of A.J. Fikry. I prefer the Canadian title.) This book sums up perfectly
why we love the books we love:
“We read to know we’re not alone. We read because we are alone. We read and we are not alone. We are not alone.”
What are your book obsessions and why?
For more about Sara and her books, visit her
website at www.sara-grant.com or follow
her on Twitter @AuthorSara Grant
My current obsession is Cornwall as I've just spent a week there and fell in love with it. So I'm re-reading the Poldark saga - I'm on Warleggan and I also have Zennor in Darkness by Helen Dunmore which is about DH Lawrence living there in WW1. Great post Sara.
ReplyDeleteI love your post, Sara, and you're so right - it is hard to analyse exactly why a book goes from being a good read to an absolute favourite. A Gathering Light is one of those books for me too. I'm reading We Were Liars at the moment, and The Collected Works of AJ Fikry is on my must-read list. One of my all time obsessions has been A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry beacuse it's just such an amazingly, rich story beautifully told, with characters who pull at your heart strings. Thanks for sharing yours, Sara !
ReplyDeleteIt's not YA, and it's not the plot or characters . . . it's simply the atmosphere, especially in that quiet, reflective section, in Wind in the Willows. Milky, gentle light, a curl of mist on the water, the lapping of waves against the boat: I close my eyes and I can feel it close round me to chase whatever's bad or scary away.
ReplyDeleteFabulous, thought-provoking post, Sara, and my wish-list of new reading now even longer. Re influence of childhood favourites, having written contemporary YA twice, I was shocked to discover I loved historical while developing a WWI short story. Then I remembered exactly what I read as a teen. Endlessly. Yup. Historical.
ReplyDeletePS totally agree about Canadian title. 'Collected works' awfully stuffy.
Like Miriam I loved Poldark and have recently started re reading but my obsession is The Mayor of Casterbridge which I re read every few years. The reason is character - complicate, misunderstood, flawed but at heart good characters with whom the reader and sometimes only the reader can empathise.
ReplyDeleteThanks Sara - great thought provoking post.
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ReplyDelete