As I typed out this title I think that I have potentially done a post like this before but it felt like a topic that I could write about fairly easily and starting off with "doable" topics seemed like a good way to keep myself motivated to keep writing.
#1- 1984 by George Orwell
I know it's a bit of a weird one but it was one of the first books I read that really made me think and consider an entirely different world...that also seemed like it could be plausible. I think it also spoke to that dramatic, emotional, overly contemplative side of the teenage me. When I was reading it I remember feeling older and adult. It was also a ton of fun to analyze in English class...and I think I can safely say I was one of the only people who felt that way. This book remained one of my favourites for quite some time, and I enjoyed studying it again in university. This book always connects with that part of me that is a bit "darker", maybe pessimistic is a better word...I'm not sure. All I know is that this is a book that will always be on my list of books that impacted me. It was also the book that solidified for me that I wanted to take English as part of my degree in university. I loved that it made me look at things from a new perspective and consider things I hadn't necessarily thought of before.
#2- The Whole Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling
I think this feels like a bit of a cheat but I honestly would struggle to pick one. I also know that it is very millennial of me to have found these books impacting but, alas, I am an unoriginal snowflake (thank-you Fight Club for that). I, like many of my peers, was originally told I wasn't allowed to read the Harry Potter books, so, I didn't end up starting to read them until I was in grade 8 or 9. The wonderful piece of this was that I didn't have to wait a long time for each new book to come out and I think I was able to read the first 5 without having to wait for the next to be published. This worked well for the slightly obsessive side of me that struggles to pull myself out of a fictional world. There is something wonderful about these books, sure there are flaws etc. in the story line that I only realize now after reading through the series many times and getting older, but they truly just pull you in. Whenever I talk with someone who really connects to the stories as well the comment is always that you feel like the characters are your friends, you KNOW them. This is something J.K. Rowling does so well. She writes characters that feel relatable, knowable and she creates opportunities for you to get to know them and what drives them.
The Harry Potter series has impacted me deeply enough that I find at times drawing on it in counselling sessions. Just recently a friend of mine gifted me a trip to the theatre to watch the play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child and on our way there one of the other people going asked the question, "What is your favourite quote from Harry Potter?" (I love this question, this question instantly made me feel like...yes...these are my people...but also made that "test anxiety"part of me go "You better come up with the right one!" and I instantly forgot everything I knew about Harry Potter). But the quote that I sometimes bring up in therapy (when I know that the person knows or connects on some level with Harry Potter) is one that Dumbledore says to Harry in the last book after Harry has sacrificed himself and Voldermort has attempted to kill him yet again. He's in this place that he's not quite sure where or what it is and he has this conversation with Dumbledore where Harry ends up asking Dumbledore if any of it is real or if it's happening in his head. Dumbledore replies, "Of course it's happening in your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean it's not real?"
I love this. Especially in relation to mental health. We can so often dismiss our experiences, thoughts and feelings because they're "in our head". We so often dismiss mental health struggles because they are on the emotional, mental level ("in our head") but in no way does that make them any less real, difficult or true for us.
I could go on for a while about mental health lessons/my thoughts on things related to mental health in Harry Potter so I'll stop now. Perhaps the summary is- I love Harry Potter and find it applicable in so many ways.
#3- Chronicles of Narnia (yes, another series) by C.S. Lewis
If you know me, you know I love C.S. Lewis. I love his non-fiction as well as his fiction. I think he has a beautiful way of writing about things that makes you consider them in a new and different way from how you had seen or understood it before. The Chronicles of Narnia series has so many absolutely fantastic moments in it. The one thing I love about fiction is that it creates the space for an idea to be pondered in a way that can make it seem less scary because it's slightly removed. One of my favourite moments in the series (actually I can't pick, there are too many but this ones sticks out to me) is from The Horse and His Boy (in the chapter The Unwelcome Fellow Traveller) when Shasta is walking along with a horse in this dark forest and suddenly he senses someone (or Thing...and later the Large Voice) is with him. He gets into conversation with who he deems the Large Voice and firstly is afraid but is reassured that whom he is talking to is safe and then encouraged to share his sorrows. After he shares his sorrows and they have a conversation about how the boy can see this situation differently it says that Shasta asks,
'"Who are you?"..."Myself" said the Voice, very deep and low so that the earth shook: and again "Myself," loud and clear and gay: and then the third time "Myself," whispered so softly you could hardly hear it, and yet it seemed to come from all round you as it the leaves rustled with it.
Shasta was no longer afraid that the Voice belonged to something that would eat him, nor that it was the voice of a ghost. But a new and different sort of trembling came over him. Yet he felt glad too."
I just love this so much. If you can get your hands on it, if you don't have time to read the whole book just read that chapter. Every time I read it something new stands out to me. In fact, every time I read through the series something new stands out to me- which is why it is on this list.
#4- Daring Greatly by Brene Brown
So, as I was trying to figure this list out I asked Rob if there were any books (other than Harry Potter and Narnia) that he felt like I mentioned a lot and this was the first thing he suggested. It's hilarious because as I was compiling this list non-fiction books didn't even come to mind for me. Which I found to be quite hilarious.
When I first read this book I remember finding it so good and challenging. It was the book that started me off on my own journey of vulnerability and true authenticity (it's still a work in progress). After reading this book I became a bit obsessed with Brene Brown, at the time she had given a TedTalk that talked about vulnerability and shame and I found the idea so compelling. Being vulnerable is tough and being authentic is also super tough. I found the journey of authenticity to be an interesting one because you also have to figure out the age old question of "who am I?" and try to discover "What in this situation would be most authentically me"? But I love that search and discovery. Then within that comes the nuance of how do I protect myself and my boundaries while still being authentic and vulnerable...which can also be tough.
Anyway, my first copy of this book was underlined and written in and dogeared (yes, blaspheme to some I know) and this is partly how I know that it impacted me...it prompted me to want to explore and think and ponder right then and process it right then too because the ideas were just so exciting and interesting...and a bit scary.
(Aside: I am listening to the soundtrack for the 2019 version of Little Women and it is just the greatest experience ever. I love a good soundtrack and, in my opinion, this is a great one.)
#5 - Liturgy of the Ordinary by Tish Harrison Warren
I was debating this last slot a bit because there were a few books that were in a similar category that stood out to me. They are books that make me want to write and ponder...books that aren't fiction and get me turning idea around in my head...they make contemplating ideas...delicious. Haha! There's just no other word I could think of to describe it.
This book got me talking to pretty much anyone who would listen to me talk about it. It got me excited and passionate again to think of theology, to consider and think about how my faith played out practically in my life. I am struggling to pick a specific quote from this. So, I shall pick two and hope that it encourages you to pick it up...if only out of curiosity for the context. ;)
"When Christ died for his people, he knew me by name in the particularity of this day. Christ didn't redeem my life theoretically or abstractly- the life I dreamed of living or the life I think I ideally should be living. He knew I'd be in today as it is, in my home where it stands, in my relationships with their specific beauty and brokenness, in my particular sins and struggles."
And this one:
"These teeth I'm brushing, this body I'm bathing, these nails I'm clipping were made by a loving Creator who does not reject the human body. Instead he declared us- holistically- "very good." He himself took on flesh in order to redeem us in our bodies and in so doing he redeemed embodiment itself."
So those are 5 books that impacted me. If you're willing to share with I'd love to know what 5 books impacted you. Seriously. Send me a text, a DM, call me (!!) I want to know. See you tomorrow!
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