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.

[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.)

[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)

[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.

[flo_nelja]

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

[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.

[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.)

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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

[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.

[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.

[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.