Top Ten Tuesday ~Thankful

Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Books/Authors I am Thankful For

Brought to you by The Broke and the Bookish

This was difficult, I thought, in the sense that this is such a huge question. I decided to go with authors and books that either got me hooked on reading or influenced my life. That said, here is my list:

1. Laura Ingalls Wilder/Little House Series:  I was hooked on these from the start.  I loved that Laura was mischevious and sometimes got into trouble, because I was more like Laura than Mary.  I loved theses books - the descriptions of Christmas, of the meals and their clothes and their home and their neighbors- all of it.  When my husband lost his job two years ago, I thought back to the time when Pa walked very far away to work, and how Laura and Mary would check off the days until he was home. (and yay, my husband does have a great job now!) 

 2. Jack Kerouac/On The Road:  I know he is kind of played out and his works looked down upon, but I still love him. When I was in high school, I used to try to be a beatnik. It wasn't easy though. Lol.   

 



3. Dorothy Parker:  I discovered Dorothy in high school is well, and fell in love with her sarcastic, acerbic wit.  And she loved dogs so that was cool too.  Recently a friend and I had a Dorothy Parker night, where we drank whiskey sours in Dorothy Parker's memory.

 


4. J.D. Salinger: You guys are probably forming a correct idea of what I was like in high school in college. Another book that I think people now frown on, but I love it still.  I thought Holden Caulfied was the coolest back then, but the book I really loved and still reread is Franny and Zooey.  

 


5.  Shel Silverstein: Where would my generation be without this man? These books are amazing! When someone close to me was very sick and in the hospital years and years ago, Shel Silverstein books are what came to my mind to give him to read.  I also would tell my brother I was selling him to the gypsies because of this book.

 



6. Goodnight Moon: My mother read this book to me every night before bed.  

 



7.  Stephen King: I know he makes most of my lists, I can't help it. He is seriously one of my favorites, if not my very favorite.  And The Gunslinger was the first book I ever shared with my husband, when we first started dating. 

 

8.  Charlotte's Web/The Jungle/A Day No Pigs Would Die/The Plague Dogs:  I lumped these together since they all were very influential in my becoming an animal rights activist and vegetarian.

 

9.  James Herriot:  Although I learned more than I wanted to at a young age about what a vet does, these books charmed me.  Another author who influenced the animal part of my life. Sometimes the stories were sad, but other times joyful, and taught me what loving an animal was like.

 

10.  The Story of Ferdinand:  One of my very favorite books growing up.  A gentle bull who just wanted to smell the flowers.