10 books that have had an impact on me

All these different games where you share 10 things over ten days have been swirling around Facebook as everyone tries to keep from losing their mind during quarantine. I tried the movies one and the musical artists one, and even the motherhood one... and I usually gave up after a day or two. For some reason, I guess it's because books have been such a huge part of who I am, I actually stuck to this one.

The thing I don't like about those games though is that you're supposed to just post the picture without explanation. That makes no sense to me. Why are you asking people about things that have made a difference to them if you don't know why. You may think that Lord of the Rings had a big impact on me because it was the series that got me into fantasy, but that's not why at all. So, I decided I need to explain my choices. So for whoever cares. These are the top 10 books that had a big impact on me, and the reasons why they had an impact on me.

1. Little House on the Prairie series: my mom started reading these to me when I was a little girl and I remember loving that time reading together and as I got older I started reading them myself (and the spin-off series about her daughter) and it was something mom and I always talked about together.

2. Anne of Green Gables Series: my family took a vacation to Prince Edward Island and I read these books before/during the trip and it was so awesome to see the places described in the books as I was reading then. Plus they will always make me think of my mom's best friend who introduced them to us.

3. Lord of the Rings: I remember my step-mom buying me the first lord of the rings book because she thought I would like it. And I did. But I never finished them. So then... my senior year of high school. I had a crush on this really cute guy, and I knew he loved fantasy books, including lord of the rings. Books were one of the things we flirted/talked about. So I decided to read the whole series over Chirstmas Break because I thought it would impress him. Then we started dating a few months later, and we actually had our second date on valentines day of '04 to see Return of the King. Now we're married... so I guess I really did impress him :)

4. Arrows of the queen/Valdemar series: this is the series that introduced me to the fantasy genre. If Karen hadn't made me read them, I may never have become the fantasy addict I am... And hopefully some day fantasy author myself.

5. Harry Potter: I mean who wasn't influenced by these books? They're awesome. And I have a lot of fond memories of going to midnight release parties with various people I love! (Also, my love of writing fantasy started with Harry Potter Fanfiction. Maybe it's cheesy, but there's really something to taking the pressure off creating the world when it's already there so you focus on the story you want to tell)

6. Anne Rice Vampire books: I went through a weird phase in 8th/9th grade where i was obsessed with vampires. These books were suggested to me and they were the very first adult books I ever read. I was super into them and probably watch the movie 1,000 times to drool over Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise, and Antonio Bandares. Also, Rich and I listened to Interview as an audiobook when we had an hour long commute together a few years ago and it was one of the best audiobooks I've ever listened to.

7. Number the Stars: I had to read many Holocaust books throughout my school life and I was always fascinated/horrified by the topic. This was my favorite one . We read this book in 6th grade and I was very interested in it. Side story, I had these porcelain dolls and one was a brunette and the other two were blond and blue eyed. And they were all dressed somewhat old-fashioned like they came from around the WWII era. I made up a whole story about them and how the brunette was their friend and their family took her in because she is as Jewish to hide her from the Nazis.

8. Socks: This was the first (And I think my favorite) Beverly Cleary book I ever read. It was in second grade, and I liked it so much I went on and read every Beverly Cleary book, and my second grade teacher even helped me write a fan letter to her!

9. The Phantom Tollbooth: I dunno. This was just a really cool book that has always stuck with me since I read it in school. I remember it being full of fun puns. I might try to read it to my 7 year old. He is starting to love puns.

10. Black Jewel Trilogy: This was the first "dark fantasy" I ever read. I just remember being surprised at how interesting it was with it's dark themes and I wrote a report on the series for an independent reading project in one of my high school English classes. I only had to read one book, but I couldn't put them down so I did my project on the whole series.