100 Book Challenge Meme

[delphi]

Throwing my list in for the 100 Books Challenge meme:

Delphi's Formative Reading

As some other folks have noted on theirs, this isn't a rec list or endorsement of any of the authors or content, just a look back at books that shaped me personally or creatively—ones that made me think about myself or the world in different ways, ones that made me realize the possibilities of writing, and ones I just glommed onto. There's one or two there that I only read about ten years back, but for the most part these are books from my childhood, teens, and twenties. I limited authors to one book, going with the first one of theirs that made a deep impression.

If you give it a go, let me know how many you've read!

(I started by just trying to think of a hundred books I re-read in my youth, without factoring in any importance, but once the list came together, I looked it over and was like: Yeah...that tracks.)

Comments

[skygiants]

24, but it might be higher if I can remember which Coville books I specifically read ... I know it was A BUNCH but I could not tell you which individually except for Jeremy Thatcher Dragon Hatcher.

[delphi]

Nice! I read an absolute ton of Coville too, but My Teacher Glows in the Dark was my favourite - it was the third in the My Teacher Is an Alien series.

[minutia_r]

I got 25! Like skygiants I cannot remember which Covilles I have and have not read /o\

But hey, Resurrection Man! Such a great and underrated book (which I did not put on my own list only because I put Nobopdy's Son instead.)

[delphi]

Nobody's Son was one of the ones that jumped out at me on your list! Sean Stewart's one of those "made a big impression on me but rarely seems to come up" kind of authors for me.

[senmut]

You are the third person I have hit exactly 11 of 100 with.

And all of you had Le Petit Prince, the one book I STILL have not read in English but have read in French.

(Pretty much all of Jules Verne and Alexandre Dumas novels I have read I have ALSO not read in English)

[delphi]

I tried to keep my list to English books (in large part because I didn't want to have upload too many new entries) but Le Petit Prince ranked high enough that I had to include it. I think I might have read it in English at some point, but I might be mixing that up with watching the cartoon in English.

[scintilla10]

Oooh, 29! :D

I love thinking of this as "books that shaped you," rather than as straightforward recs or "favourites" (so hard to quantify!). So cool to see so many titles that had meaning to me, too, on your list.

[delphi]

29, that's amazing! "Favourites" is definitely way too hard to quantify and would have paralyzed me with the choices, but it was a lot of fun to just take a trip down memory lane.

[flo_nelja]

I got 16 - and a growing envy to make my own list.

[delphi]

I hope you do - I'd love to see yours!

[sonofgodzilla]

Oh, Delphi, this list wins my heart over instantly. Orwell, Morrison, and Leonard Cohen in the first two lines. I can see we had similar library lists during adolescence.

[delphi]

I bet we would have gotten on famously in high school. :D

[sonofgodzilla]

This comment made my day. <3

[delphi]

<3

[lucymonster]

I scored so low I feel embarrassed to post the number, but high-five fellow formative years Adrian Mole reader! (I don’t think I could go back to them now, but I cherish my memories of the fun they gave me at the time.)

[delphi]

No shame at all! A ton on my list is really specific to being born in the '80s in a specific region of Canada, with a specific limited library selection. Heck, I had to add at least three of those books to the site myself because they weren't in there at all.

And ha, I hear you - I don't think Adrian Mole would necessarily hold up for me, but I remember learning so much about voice, POV, and unreliable narrators from the series

[pauraque]

17. I should have included Sidways Stories From Wayside School on mine! Me Talk Pretty One Day is a good pick too. I haven't read that in forever.

[delphi]

It was hard to pick a Sachar, especially since I read so much of his work at an age where I really didn't pay much attention to author names. I could have equally gone with There's a Boy in the Girl's Bathroom or Someday Angeline, but the absurdism and story cycle nature of the Wayside School books made such a big impression.

[bleodswean]

I know I've been formed by books. Your list is intriguing. I've read only 34, but I am older than you and not familiar with many of the younger titles. And The Wasp Factory!!! I was a twenty-year-old mohican standing in Heathrow airport in a book stall and picked that one up and read it transcontinentaly! Different person when I got off the plane. I also picked up Kathy Acker's Blood and Guts in High School that early morning and after I read that I decided I needed to relocate my life to London.

[delphi]

"Only 34," you say - that's way more overlap than I've had with anyone, as far as I know! And oh man, yes, The Wasp Factory was a game-changer. I think I was maybe fourteen when I found that one at the secondhand bookshop near my school. Already a budding little goth-punk with the start of a facial metal collection, but so ready to find something grottier than the slick or stylized dark fiction I'd glommed onto before.

[muscle_wizard]

This was really fun to look into! Honestly, I've only read 10 from your list but that's mostly because I've read other titles from the same authors *g*

Throwing my wife in for the count of ppl who've only read The Little Prince in French too.

Well now I'm going down memory lane and going to make my own list lol.

[delphi]

I've run into that a lot so far, especially with more prolific authors. Lots of "Oh, I was reading them in the '90s, but that specific book was before/after my time." Can't wait to see your list!

[kitarella_imagines]

I haven’t read many of your list of books but a few stand out (in no particular order:)

1. Danny The Champion Of The World—LOVED this book. The subterfuge. The lovely relationship between Danny and his widowed dad. The caravan. The great pheasant caper with the raisins.

2. Making History—an intriguing idea about what if Hitler had been replaced by a popular, attractive, charismatic leader? Plus a cute gay storyline in the years when this was still a bit shocking. I suppose we are now seeing what would happen if Hitler had been popular aren’t we, in the world.

3. Mrs Frisbee And The Rats Of NIMH—another childhood favourite. Kind of scary, kind of cool, with an environmental message. I can’t remember it too well but it was an experience.

4. Reaper Man—another one I can’t remember much about, but I really like the universe Terry Pratchett created.

5. The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole—this is SUCH a great depiction of 1980s Britain. It really brought back memories of my adolescence as I am almost exactly the same age as Adrian Mole!

6. Tales Of The City—this was such a lovely series. Again, showing non heterosexual relationships and characters which was so refreshing in the decades when people were nervous of anything non heterosexual. I also found out recently that the actor who played Michael ‘Mouse’ Tolliver was also in The Professionals when he was about 12! Playing a feisty kid who tries to fight off kidnappers.

The book that made THE biggest difference to my life, however, was Great Expectations. I swore that I would never become a Miss Havisham and pine after a man who broke my heart and base my life around someone like that. So, when a man came along who did break my heart, I didn’t pine after him. I let him go, moved on, found someone else and lived happily ever after. So thank you, Miss Havisham and Charles Dickens.

[delphi]

Oh wow, I had no idea that Marcus D'Amico had been in an episode of the Professionals. Looking him up just now, I unfortunately hadn't known he passed away a few years ago, far too young.

And oh, Great Expectations is a great pick. I think it was my favourite Dickens when I was younger. That's a good philosophy to take from it, too. ❤️

Funnily enough, Reaper Man is one of the Discworld novels that riffs off Great Expectations a bit, with Miss Flitworth (whose fiance disappeared before the wedding) being someone who likewise moved on instead of doubling down, albeit with lingering doubts that Death helps resolve at the end.

[kitarella_imagines]

I thought the boy looked familiar so I looked him up and found out his identity. The Professionals episode was Weekend in the Country, I'm sure you found that out. He played quite an important role, I expect he really enjoyed being in such a popular show with famous actors like Martin and Lewis. Sad that he died so young though.

Yes, no way was I going to pine over a man and end up like Miss Havisham! Life is too short, what was she thinking to let that idiot ruin her life. Man up, woman! LOL.

I enjoyed reading quite a few Pratchett books but it was many years ago so they’ve all merged into one. Maybe that’s why I liked Reaper Man subconsciously though—the Great Expectations angle? I enjoyed Good Omens too but I don’t remember Crowley and Aziraphale being lovers.

[delphi]

I think Good Omens might have been my first Pratchett, and it would have made the list if I hadn't read Gaiman's Sandman first and was trying to limit each author's appearance to one book. I read Good Omens to tatters when I was younger, and I ended up really enjoying the television adaptation—especially the decision to make it explicitly a love story.

[kitarella_imagines]

It might have been my first too…not sure. It must be 20 years or so since I read it and the main thing I remember about it is the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

I never watched the TV version for some reason. Probably because I'm a bit tired of David Tennant, he seems to be everywhere these days, so does Michael Sheen. If they’d had lesser known actors I might be more keen.

I'm glad you enjoyed it though, it seems to be a really popular show and fandom. Maybe one day I'll watch it, I'm usually late to fandoms, and like them long after everyone else has moved on🙄😅

[corvidology]

Only 14 and we mostly overlap on the 'classics' a term I very much dislike but there you go!

Unlike a lot of my fandom friends, I've never been particularly keen on science-fiction or fantasy which is causing my numbers in general to be low... I am, however, amused that we overlap on Adrian Mole. ;D

[delphi]

It's funny, when I was younger, I was out of step with my fandom friends because I was largely an SFF reader in circles that favoured literary classics and contemporary fiction, and nowadays I rarely read SFF outside of comics and feel out of step with the resurgence SFF is having in popular literature.

I've been surprised by how many folks I've overlapped with on Adrian Mole! I read it growing up in Canada, and I had no idea at the time how much better known it was in the UK. I just remember it being one of my first introductions to an unreliable narrator and to such sustained characterful first-person.

[corvidology]

I mostly read literary classics from all countries not just the English language canon, contemporary fiction, mysteries and non-fiction but not auto/biographies.

Mysteries are my main interest in TV and films as well.

[delphi]

I do love a good mystery! If I could have put 101 on the list, I think one of Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe novels would have made it on. Very relevant to my interests when it comes to shippy relationships, and a revelation when it comes to both the style and plot mechanics of first-person narration.

[corvidology]

I wrote one of my theses on homoeroticism in American hard boiled mysteries. ;D

[delphi]

No kidding! I would read the heck out of that .

[dancesontrains]

15, though I don't know if I've happened to read the same Hellblazer as you - there's a lot of it :)

I have a bunch of the comics you've listed in my TBR, like Enigma and Morrison's Animal Man.

[delphi]

Ha, fair! My first introduction to Hellblazer was through individual issues and I couldn't actually remember which trade was my first, so I just slapped the whole series up there. I figured "some significant chunk of" was enough to match on. :D

I think Enigma might have been the first book I actually took pains to track down when I was younger. I'd see it mentioned in Wizard and on lists of queer media, but my local book stores wouldn't order in graphic novels and my local comic book store wouldn't order in anything from Vertigo. I sent away for catalogues advertised in the backs of comics until I finally found it and then had to get my first money order to pay for it.

[torachan]

I got 21, though most of those were read as an adult rather than read growing up.

I think the one I was most surprised to see was Imajica. I loved that book but never see anyone talk about it.

[delphi]

I went through a huge Clive Barker phase as a teen, and then somehow fell off from reading him. I keep meaning to revisit some favourites and check out his more recent work!

[cosmicjellyfish]

28! So many good books on here - and a couple I’m curious about, like the Charles de Lint I missed out on during my Charles de Lint obsession phase. I also love the framing of “books that shaped me” over “favourites” - it would have been even more difficult to choose if I’d gone with the latter.

[delphi]

That one was the first Charles de Lint I read, but I likewise went through an obsession phase for a little while and immediately read everything else I could get my hands on—or at least the Newford books.