10. The Circle of Magic series by Tamora Pierce. I love the idea that magic can be found in everyday, seemingly mindless and endless tasks, such as work with plants, metals, thread and the weather. When you look at your regular day to day activity, there really is an almost magical quality in the way certain things fit together that we will never understand.
9. A Tree Grows In Brooklyn by Betty Smith. I read this book in middle school and even though I'm sure I would get something totally different out of it if I read it now, it still left a lasting impression on me. To read and experience a book that is somebody's life as they grow up, to see and understand what they are going through, and to realize that many situations can never change throughout the centuries for young girls/ women no matter where they are.
8. The Dark Tower series by Stephen King. I read these books throughout the course of last year. The plot on the outside is simply an action/adventure/romance book, but it is far more than that. King deals with time paradoxes and time travel, as well as touching issues such as the end of our world due to wars and the environment. However, the most important thing that I got out of the book was his idea of karma and fate.
7. Les Miserables by Victor Hugo. As well as being an excellent musical, the actual story is mesmerizing and exciting, recounting the French Revolution through the eyes of lovers, and I know this is totally cheesy, it proves that love can withstand everything.
6. The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold. I read this book on the plane ride to China spring of my sophomore year. This is an eerie novel that deals with afterlife and the ability for those who have died to influence and see everything and everyone they left behind. This book changed my view of what happens after we die, which wasn't hard to do because I didn't have a finite belief before reading this book. This book also deals with every day-to-day experiences and adversities, and I believe that everyone can relate to those.
5. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. I also read this on the school China trip, on the plane and in my room during down time. As much as a classic as this book is, I love the stories and adventures of Sherlock Holmes. He is utterly brilliant and the jumps and connections he makes are absolutely wonderful and ingenious. This book allows you to escape where you are and you can lose yourself in the book and adventure.
4. Harry Potter books by J. K. Rowling. I knew these books would make this list. They are beautifully written and the characters are superb, and along with the allure of magic, the books are excellent. As I grew up reading the books and growing up with the characters, the troubles they have in their personal lives hit notes within me a lot of the time, and the strength and courage all the characters show in the face of adversity is inspiring.
3. Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck. While some may not pick their junior year ID book to put on this list, I definitely do. John Steinbeck is a wonderful, amazing writer. He is so descriptive, both in the settings of his novel and the characters.
2. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. This story about a family of four sisters, and all that happens to them over the years hits your emotions hard. They are so sweet and it seems as though these things shouldn't be happening to them, and yet they do. This book teaches us how to live through adversity with grace and poise, always relying on those closest to you.
1. Marry Poppins by P. L. Travers. All of them. These books, as well as being the basis for Disney's Mary Poppins, teach us all life lessons in manners and ethics through her wonderful stories. I was introduced to them by the act of bed time reading, and fell in love with them on the spot. We are brought back to a time when we were younger, the age of the children in the books, and remember what is was like to be that young, with no pre-conceived notions about how things should be. These books combine the magical with the reality, folk tales from all over the world with a British suburb into a wonderful story about a family with a nanny.
Actually, surprising how many of you are listing your ID books as one of your choices. And I can imagine how strong an effect Lovely Bones might have if read straight through during one long plane flight. Finally, several readers, girls especially, seem to have strong memories of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. Thanks for a list that tells me a little more about you as a reader.
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