I was tagged by my writing critique partner, Akshaya to participate in the Ten Books That Influenced Me Tag! Here we go!

The Rules:
1. No two books by the same author!
2. But, you can count a series as one book!
3. Optional – List your books in chronological order.

1. Amelia Bedelia by Peggy Parish, Illustrations by Fritz Siebel
On the first day of first grade, I knew that I wanted to become a writer. I remember walking into the classroom for the first time and seeing a huge bookshelf (well, I thought it was huge as a child) filled with books, just waiting for me to pick up. So I continued forward, knelt down, and began to read. I wish with all of my heart that I could remember all of the books I picked up that day but I only remember one of them. This was one of them. This is one of the books I read and laughed so hard I cried, thinking, “People get paid to write this stuff?! I want to do this. Yep. I’m totally doing this.” And that’s when I decided I was going to be a writer.

2. Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein
When I was younger, I hated poetry. It wasn’t until my fourth grade teacher, Mr. Conklin told me to write without the rules that I felt free of all that I had learned about how to write poetry and that’s when I really fell in love with the art. But before that revelation, the only poetry that I could connect with was Shel’s. I hate that I don’t remember them now but I read Shel’s poems so much that I had most of them from Where the Sidewalk Ends, Falling Up, and A Light in the Attic memorized. And of these three books, I distinctly remember loving Where the Sidewalk Ends the most which is why it’s the one that’s been placed on this list. This book also meant a lot to me for other reasons as well. It was the glue that held me together and for that, I am so thankful.

3. The Witches by Roald Dahl
My third grade teacher, Ms. Kent loved Roald Dahl. She made it her mission to go through as many of his books as she could with us in the year that she had us and I’m so grateful. I went back and forth on whether or not I would include The BFG or The Witches but The Witches helped shaped my fascination with and love for magic.

4. Amber Brown Goes Fourth by Paula Danziger, Illustrated by Tony Ross
Amber Brown Goes Fourth is the third book in a series that I know I read but for some reason, I only remember actually physically picking up, buying, and reading this one. It’s signifiant because it was during this time that the Scholastic Book Fair came to my elementary school and this was one of the (many) books that I bought. What sets this apart from the I Spy books, Where’s Waldo books, Which Witch Is Which?, Sideways Stories from Wayside School, and other lovelies is that I remember reading the beginning of this book at the book fair and thinking, “I want my book to be at the book fair.” So know that even though I’ve only actually finished young adult manuscripts at this point in time, you can expect some middle grade novels and novels for young readers in the future. Hopefully they’ll be as good as the one that I enjoyed, that inspired me so and maybe it’ll find its way at a future fair and inspire someone else. What a dream.

5. Harry Potter series by JK Rowling, Illustrated by Mary GrandPré
As I mentioned in my post, A Response to the Books That Linger, Harry Potter changed my life. There is so much that I could write here and I don’t really want to begin because I don’t know I could ever reel myself back in. It’s why I always try to be so concise when I’m writing about HP. One day I will sit down and sort out everything and lay it all out there what this series has done for me but today is not that day. Nope. Not going to break down today haha.

6. Left Behind the kid series by Tim LaHaye & Jerry B. Jenkins
As a Christian, this series means a lot to me but even if I weren’t this series is incredible. As a writer, I was so inspired by this book as it’s the first series that I read with multiple POVs. And when you come across multiple POV for the first time and it’s executed so brilliantly, let me tell you, THAT in itself is heaven on earth. I’ve re-read this series more times than I can count and every time, it’s amazing. I’ve learned so much about character growth and world building and story from this series and am so grateful to have this series as a part of my master class in storytelling.

7. My Sisters’ Voices: Teenage Girls of Color Speak Out Edited by Iris Jacob
I know that the book community is just now catching onto acknowledging diverse books and fighting for (more) diverse books but when you are born diverse, you grow up with a perspective that the majority does not. And as a reader myself, that means I’ve always been reading diverse books. Long before everyone else caught on. And this book? This book was everything to me in middle school. Everything. It is everything and my words can’t do this book justice. I can’t tell you how many times I poured myself over this book, these stories, prayed for the girls in this book, cried for the girls in this book, hoped for these girls. If you need some perspective on the POC experience, the POC woman experience, or if you are a POC woman and need to know that you are not alone, read this book.

8. The Pact by Jodi Picoult
The Pact by Jodi Picoult was the first book by Jodi Picoult that I read and it solidified her becoming one of my favorite authors, an auto-buy author and an author that I look up to greatly as a writer. Not only did this story resonate with me but it was one of the first adult contemporary novels that I read own my own and loved, internally encouraging me to write adult. Which I can’t wait to do one day. So thanks, Jodi. Thanks for everything.

9. The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri
The Namesake was the book that I didn’t know I needed. I also mentioned this book in the Books That Linger post and in an attempt not to repeat myself, I’ll simply direct you to that post. As for me…I think it’s time for a reread of this one. Very much needed.

10. Delirium by Lauren Oliver
For this one, I don’t actually want to rehash what I’ve said a million times before but it’s important to include it on the list because of what it’s done for me. To read my love letter to Delirium, click here.

Also, be sure to check out my All Time Favorite Books of the Past Three Years and the Authors Who Have Impacted Me in the Past Five Years!