A Lasting Impact: The Book Edition

For whatever reason, I have recently been thinking of different pieces of creativity - books, music, art, television, movies - that have touched my life in some way or another.  As I was thinking of these various items and making lists in my head, it occurred to me that I should sit down and write about them.  I'm always thinking of great things to reflect on and write about, but somehow I never make the time to do it.  And just like that, in the middle of this thought, I received a tag on the Book of Face from a dear friend.  She tagged me to come up with the top 10 books that have stayed with me in some way.  These books don't have to be great pieces of literature, but do need to have some sort of lasting effect on my life.  I laughed as I read this post because there are times when I have to wonder if the universe is speaking directly to me.  Is it possible that this was just the nudge I needed to sit down and get writing again?  So, today, I post my top ten books that have had a lasting impact on my life.  Thank you, Jen, for getting the ball rolling.

The Babysitter's Club series - As silly as this may seem, when I read my first Babysitter's Club book as a child, it opened my eyes to the wonderful world of series.  Each time I ended a book, I couldn't wait to pick up the next one.  I couldn't wait to find out how these characters were progressing through life, and what joys and difficulties they would experience next.  When there wasn't a new Babysitter's Club to read, I would seek out other series just to follow the character development and get sucked in to another fictional world.

James and the Giant Peach - I can't remember a lot of the details about this story, but why it stays with me is because this was one of my mom's favorite books, and she would read it to me at night before bed.  We'd curl up on the couch, and she would take a chapter at a time.  The copy we had was an old one, one from her youth, and I loved the smell of the aging pages and the excitement on mom's face that she was getting to share one of her favorite stories with me.

Tuesdays with Morrie - As a child, I read a lot.  We were a reading family.  It was a very common scene for dad to come home from work with mom, me and Philip curled up in our own corners of the house reading.  But when I got to college, the amount I read slowed down due to trying to juggle the college workload that came with my classes.  But when Tuesdays with Morrie came out, somehow it ended up in my hands, and I started to read it.  I remember vividly laying in bed late into the, my roommate asleep in the bed next to me, while I curled up under the bed lamp devouring the chapters. I was taken in by the life lessons, as well as the pain the main character felt when Morrie passed away.  I remember finishing the book sometime in the wee hours of the morning and laying in my bed crying.  I wanted all books to be that good, that meaningful.

Summer Sisters - Summer Sisters was Judy Blume's first stab at a novel for adults, and it is one that I have read multiple times.  This genre of book is a theme for me in my reading choices: two young girls - one beautiful and confident, one quiet and introspective - who are the best of friends until life takes it tolls and eventually they have a falling out.  This is usually because of the actions of the beautiful friend, while the ordinary one is left having been taken advantage of and forgotten.  All of this changes in adulthood when the two women are back in each other's lives and sorting through the growing pains that come with facing your childhood demons.  In all of the books that I've read that fall under this theme, I am always drawn in by this ordinary character, typically the protagonist.  I relate to her, both in who she was as a child and who she has become as an adult.  I think I read this story over and over again looking for layers of reflection in my own world.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone - I was late to the Harry Potter craze.  In true Briana fashion, I was stubborn and didn't have an interest in reading this series over which the world was going crazy.  After all, it was a kid's book, right?  It was the summer I graduated from college when the hype was hitting it's peak, and book four was about to be released.  My aunt gave me a copy of book one as part of my college graduation gift.  Her reasoning: it was a great book that she had read with my cousin and the main character is going away to school, and I was about to go away to graduate school.  I remember putting the book on a pile of things and thinking I'd never touch it again.  That summer, my whole world was turned upside down when one of my best friends was killed by a drunk drive just days before I was supposed to leave for Ohio.  When I got to the Buckeye state, I didn't know a soul, and I was alone in an apartment with nothing but my overwhelmingly sad thoughts and feelings of loneliness.  I wasn't sleeping much, and on my second night there, I looked around the apartment for anything that would take my mind off of things.  And there it was: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.  I grabbed the paperback copy, opened to the first page and by morning, I had finished it.  I spend the next day searching book stores in Columbus for the next book.  I bought book two and ordered books three and four from Amazon.  But without the ability to sleep, I finished the second book that next night and had to go for another search for book three.  I figured I could always return the copy from Amazon once it arrived.  I love the Harry Potter books now, but at the time, The Sorcerer's Stone may have saved me from losing my mind.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blooded Prince - As I mentioned, I love a good series, so while I'm talking about Harry Potter, I should mention my love for The Half-Blooded Prince.  I think this books stands out to me because it is part of the hero's journey when we've gone through the dark, angst stages (in Harry's case, The Order of the Phoenix) and get to have some light-hearted fun before things get difficult again.  (All heroes have their angst and anger phrase.  Remember Luke Skywalkers'?)  I found this book a fun read in the series before gearing up for what was sure to be a challenging end.

Trumpet - I believe in love, and I don't believe that life is as black-and-white as some think it is.  Trumpet is an incredible story of a man whose father passes away, and upon his death, he finds out that his father was born a biological woman.  This story is told in part as memories from his mother about the love story with her husband and in part from the son's point of view.  The range of emotions that the main character goes through as he learns about his father's past and his mother's love is a beautiful tale of what truly matters in life: unconditional love.

The Time Traveller's Wife - My heart melted the first time I read this book.  I was sailing on Semester at Sea, and it was one of the only things that made me want to stay in my cabin rather than enjoy ship life.  I loved every word, even the ones that broke my heart.  The idea that these two characters were drawn together and would find each other through time spoke to every inch of the romantic within me.  Like most of the other books on this list, I've read it multiple times.

Tattoos on the Heart - This book is a collection of memories and life lessons by Fr. Greg Boyle, a Jesuit who has created the country's most effective gang rehabilitation program.  The messages about love, forgiveness, dignity and compassion are the type that make your mind take a step back and think about life from a bigger picture.

No Plot, No Problem - This book is a how-to on writing a novel written by the guy who started NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month).  While I have still never sat down and made myself participate, this book still sits on my shelf and I think about it often.  It truly helps you consider all of the ways you can just sit down and start writing.  He helps you come to grips with the fact that your first novel is likely to be a bunch of crap, but that doesn't mean you should do it.

These are the first ten books that came to mind when I sat down to think about the pages that have impacted my life.  I'm sure at some point I will sit up and think about another book that should have been on the list, but for now, this is what I have.  Books and reading have played such an integral part of my life.  They have been my escape, my sanctuary, my fairy tales and my dreams.  And I'm always looking for the next great read.

UBC: What it Meant to Me

You truly never know where your day is headed.  When I woke up this morning, I knew a few things.  I knew I had to attend a webinar that would likely be boring.  I knew I had to sit through three hours of duty protocol training with the RDs.  I knew I had a lot of work to do that was making me anxious.  Aside from that, I had no idea what would fill in the gaps to make today unique.

And when Anthony called...four times in a row...I immediately assumed something important was happening that needed my attention.  What I didn't know was that I was right and wrong at the same time.  No, AJ wasn't being rushed to the hospital.  Instead, Anthony was just excited because he was hosting the first Unique Book Club (UBC) meeting, and he wanted me to attend.  I laughed when he asked me; first because in the split second before I was scared of what was wrong, and second because I could hear Anthony's excitement through the phone.  Only Anthony could get so excited over a book club that had one unique feature: everyone reads their own book.  But his excitement is hard to resist, so though I knew I wanted to take a walk, I headed to his apartment.  And instead of a walk, I took a leap.

What I leapt into was an evening of sharing, learning and rejuvenating that I could not have foreseen.  As I sat there and listened to the stories of my co-workers and friends, it occurred to me more than once that I had stumbled into something so much more than a book club.  I stumbled into a circle of people who provided me with support, entertainment and encouragement in just a few short hours.  Imagine what could happen by meeting on a regular basis?  This was about so much more than reading; this was about living.  What a unique book club, indeed.

NaBloPoMo

What is it about a name like NaBloPoMo that would ever make me think that I want to participate in such an activity? The clever abbreviation? The funny sound it makes? You'd think so, and I'm not saying that neither of those played a part peeking my interest, but it was really it's similarity in NaNoWriMo that did the trick.

NaBloPoMo...NaNoWriMo... Considering both of these are activities geared toward those who like to toy around with the written word, one might think better names (or at least names that make sense) would have been selected. None the less, apparently November, in addition to being NaNoWriMo, is now NaBloPoMo. And I couldn't help but want to jump on board.

Let me start at the beginning. A few years ago, back when I was living in Massachusetts, I came across a book called "No Plot? No Problem." This book is written by the creator of "National Novel Writing Month" (affectionately referred to as NaNoWriMo), and it's a guide to doing exactly that: writing a novel in one month. For someone like me, this idea is genius. Writing a book is actually a dream of mine. I love to write, and am completely intimidated by the idea of trying to create a cohesive story out of few cohesive thoughts. This book helps to break down the process to make it less intimidating. The author even admits that his first novel is shoved in the back of a drawer somewhere, not worthy of others' eyes. However, with each passing year and with each completed novel, he has gained more and more confidence in his ability to string together a story.

When I read this book, I was intrigued. I immediately wanted November to come around so that I, too, could join forces in NaNoWriMo. However, by the time the next November came around, I was sailing somewhere in Asia with 600 college students and not enough focus to even try to write a chapter. And when the next November came around, I was settling into a new job and a new home in Los Angeles. And really, after that, it slowly was filed in the back of my mind as something I might do someday in life. Now, I could spend hours talking about all of the things in my life that have been categorized in this same file, but that's really venting for another post.

So, this brings us to today when AJ made mention of something Carmen posted in her blog. And when she arrived in my office, we laughed about the post. And when I went to her blog, she mentioned how it is her goal to post once everyday this month so that she can participate in NaBloPoMo (National Blog Posting Month). Well, intrigued by the similarity of the abbreviation with my aforementioned lovable NaNoWriMo, I had to inquire. Sure enough, it was the same pretense with a different writing outlet. Instead of creating a whole novel, all I needed to do was summon the energy to write something witty (or not even witty, but hopefully readable) once each day. Granted, I'm ten days behind, but since that's quite typical for me, I figured ten days late is better than never.

So here I am. Back on my blog. Now let's see how long NaBloPoMo can keep my interest.