Today, young adult author, Marie Lu (Champion) has written a post at Publishing Crawl about the books that linger. Not simply your favorite books but the ones that define who I am as a writer, a reader, and a person. She shared her list and I have been inspired to share mine. Since 7 is my favorite number, I’m going to stick with the first 7 books that come to my mind.

Left Behind: The Kids by Jerry B. Jenkins & Tim LaHaye
I can pick up any book in this series and feel what I felt the first time I read it. The thrill of reading about the book of Revelation in a way that I could understand. The rush of emotions. The characters who were so much like me and had so much to learn about being a better person. Looking back, I also learned so much about pacing, character development, story resonance, and so much more. While I recognized and loved those aspects the first few times I read the series, in the beginning, it was more about the characters being a mirror for me that I needed to clean. I learned so much about hope and myself when this series came out and as time went on, as a writer and I am so thankful for this series.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling
This book was the beginning of a series that changed my life. As a reader, writer, and person. I remember one of my friends gushing about the book and while I absolutely loved magic, I was still young so I was concerned about just how out there the book was and I didn’t want to look into it, so it took me until the second book’s release to get into the series. Boy am I glad I did. I can’t even begin to tell you how this book, this series has affected me but I’m so glad I decided to start reading it when I did. I’d be half the reader, half the writer, half the person I am today without this series.

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
I can understand how this might sound odd but this book was a symbol of peace for me. Just holding it, carrying it around everywhere I went. It held me together. So I took my time reading this book, during the summer before fifth grade. I had just moved from a town I grew up in all my life among others things and I fell into a deep depression (I seriously don’t even know how I passed fifth grade, I was home sick or went home sick just about every single week). If I was warm running water before the move, I was solid ice afterwards and I’d be lying if I said it’s all melted since. Work in progress.

Anyway, I remember somewhat recently when my younger sister asked if I remembered the address to where we lived in, I’ll call the town H. Because we moved a lot. And I remember every address, every home phone number, every detail. But nothing came to mind for H. I googled the town, zoomed in on my elementary school and zoomed out to find my street that I knew was literally two streets away. The street was right there and still, nothing registered. I couldn’t remember which street. What number. Nothing. My mind had tucked away the memories from H but there’s one thing I do remember and it’s having this wonderful book in my hands.

The Pact by Jodi Picoult
As I mentioned, I moved a lot. This time, I was getting ready to move right before ninth grade. Only I had received in the mail the summer reading list for the high school that I was no longer going to be attending. I admit, I was still holding onto the town by choosing not to throw out the list. I already had quite a lot of books in my room to read so why in the world would I read a book from a list that a school is suggesting? But I chose a random book from the list. This book was the one. This book resonated with me more than my younger self may have wanted to admit as a person, it showed me so much more about what you can do and challenge yourself to do as a writer, and it opened me up to a whole other side of the bookstore that I had so much desired to go to but didn’t know where to start. I’m happy to say that The Pact was only the beginning. Jodi Picoult remains one of my favorite authors today.

The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri
I’m seeing a pattern that many of these books are essentially marks of turning points in my life and that’s all right with me. This was a book we had to read in college. I read and annotated the book twice before it was even time to read it for class and looking back at my notes and underlinings, it’s clear I was searching for something I didn’t even realize I was looking for, honestly didn’t want to admit that I was looking for. I haven’t opened my copy of this book in a few years but every so often, something I read in this book will come to my mind and I’ll be reminded of belonging, my place in the world, the appreciation I have for the gifts my family has passed onto me and what gifts they are. Long story short, if you feel like an outsider, pick up this book.

Delirium by Lauren Oliver
I’ve always loved reading but there was a time that started in college and lasted a few years where I didn’t really read for my own enjoyment. There was one book that pulled me back in. It was Delirium. Delirium helped me fall in love with reading and writing again and for that, I am forever grateful. More gushing here.

Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi
Tahereh Mafi’s books challenge me as a reader and a person but as a writer…if I could have written any series, it would be this one. I don’t like rules but Tahereh Mafi shattered them all fearlessly and in my mind, she’s right up there with J.K. Rowling. Mafi is a master with words – with prose, with pacing, with everything you hand her. She will always, always be one of my favorite authors. I hope she knows just how extraordinary of a writer she is.

Quick story: I remember meeting her at SDCC in 2012 and I couldn’t stop talking. Then, when I saw her on the floor at BEA in 2013, I couldn’t say a word. Shatter Me was PHENOMENAL, how could she top herself? But she did with Unravel Me. She floored me. And here I was, speechless. You should have heard me. In my head, I was freaking out. “Oh look, there’s Tahereh Mafi. Oh! There she is. I should say hi. Does she remember me? Ha ha, no she doesn’t remember me. Silly. It’s been awhile. But I should remind her. Ugh no, I’m sure everyone does that. Oh no, I think she noticed me staring. Should I go up to her and say something? What do I say? I’m going to say something stupid. Don’t move. Stop staring. But I really want to tell her about my never ending love for her series. How do I say it in a way she hasn’t heard before? Stop staring! Look. Away. But I really want to pick her brain! Ugh. Why is this so hard?” Long story short, I never went up to her and there’s no telling how silly I’ll be the next time around but since it’s easier to say things online, even positive things, I really hope that Tahereh knows just how special her books are to her readers and I don’t want her to ever forget.