It was in that issue that John Green a YA author said, "Books are just meaningless scratches on a page until the reader translates them into a story."
So what books changed our lives? What stories did we bring to life?
Those books captured my imagination from the tender age of 10. Because of them I would dream up my own fantasy world for hours on end and left me thinking, "man, I'd love to write."
~ Pinocchio aka Todd Chapman
This is a Young Adult book which I first read when I was twelve. It's about an Italian girl, Josephine, born and raised in Sydney, during her 12th grade year. She starts off not knowing exactly who she is or where she stands within her community, her mother gave birth to her when she was sixteen and she has no father, she's a poor girl in a prestigious Catholic school on a scholarship, and just generally feels isolated and outcast. But throughout the book she goes through a series of learning experiences with her grandmother, boys, friends and also her long lost father who didn't even know she existed. There's a lot of humanity, emotion and self discovery, and over the years it's remained as a top pick for me and I've read it several times. I want to be able to create stories overflowing with emotion and the human experience like Alibrandi does.
Ozz aka Katie Hamstead Teller
"She reads books as one who would breathe air, to fill up and live." - Annie Dillard
"She reads books as one who would breathe air, to fill up and live." - Annie Dillard
I was always a reader. I still am. Even while writing novels and blog posts and tweets galore, I always have something, either on my kindle or in paper, to read. The books that really defined my life as a reader -- the ones that every other book was compared to -- were written by David Eddings. If you look him up, you'll see he has many titles to his name, but the most popular are two series of five books each (ten total) called THE BELGARIAD and THE MALLOREAN.
These stories follow the traditional Fantasy tropes to a 'T', and they do it with wit, flair, and a dash of sarcasm. Eddings says he basically set out to make fun of the Fantasy genre, and he ended up with a brilliantly funny take on every trope in the genre. The main character, Garion, starts out very naive, and throughout the story he becomes wise beyond his years. Even so much that by the end of THE MALLOREAN he's giving very sage advice to other characters -- and yet still being caught off guard by his whip of a wife, Ce'Nedra.
Overall, I can't praise these books enough. And, now that I've told you all about them, I think I'll go read them again.
Page aka Darci Cole
When asked to choose a book that has changed my life, my automatic reaction is to simply reply, "There are too many" and leave it at that. My second reaction is to go for the obvious choices, such as Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter. My third reaction was to really sit and give this question some serious thought, and this is what I came up with.
Inkheart by Cornelia Funke
While books have always been important to me, I did, in my early 20's, experience my own personal Dark Age, in which I allowed my love of reading to diminish in lieu of less worthy interests in television shows and films. I picked up this book on a whim one day, and found my passion for the written word not only reawakened, but exponentially increased. This book is ABOUT loving books, worded with excellence, and enlivened with characters that became as dear to me as members of my own family. And may I just say...Dustfinger, you rocked my world. You and your pet ferret. I love you, man.
Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz
This book completely changed not only the way I feel about writing, but the way in which I experience life. Dean Koontz is the ONLY author who has ever made me step back and re-evaluate my understanding of love, loss, and hardship. He is the only author who has ever made me truly aware of the profound depth to the world in which I live. He has instilled in me such awesome gratitude for the mysteries of the earth and of my fellow man. And he did this all through a character name Odd Thomas. Odd is, in my opinion, the most fully-realized character ever to take form from the tip of a pen. He faces terrible adversity with a sense of optimism that never wavers. He is someone I truly admire, and a character I will revisit over and over for the rest of my life. PS, the sixth book in the Odd Thomas series comes out on the 28th of this month!
Rogue aka Marie Aguirre
When asked to choose a book that has changed my life, my automatic reaction is to simply reply, "There are too many" and leave it at that. My second reaction is to go for the obvious choices, such as Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter. My third reaction was to really sit and give this question some serious thought, and this is what I came up with.
Inkheart by Cornelia Funke
While books have always been important to me, I did, in my early 20's, experience my own personal Dark Age, in which I allowed my love of reading to diminish in lieu of less worthy interests in television shows and films. I picked up this book on a whim one day, and found my passion for the written word not only reawakened, but exponentially increased. This book is ABOUT loving books, worded with excellence, and enlivened with characters that became as dear to me as members of my own family. And may I just say...Dustfinger, you rocked my world. You and your pet ferret. I love you, man.
Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz
This book completely changed not only the way I feel about writing, but the way in which I experience life. Dean Koontz is the ONLY author who has ever made me step back and re-evaluate my understanding of love, loss, and hardship. He is the only author who has ever made me truly aware of the profound depth to the world in which I live. He has instilled in me such awesome gratitude for the mysteries of the earth and of my fellow man. And he did this all through a character name Odd Thomas. Odd is, in my opinion, the most fully-realized character ever to take form from the tip of a pen. He faces terrible adversity with a sense of optimism that never wavers. He is someone I truly admire, and a character I will revisit over and over for the rest of my life. PS, the sixth book in the Odd Thomas series comes out on the 28th of this month!
Rogue aka Marie Aguirre
"There is no such thing as a child who hates to read ; there are only children who have not found the right book." - Frank Serafini
I like to think that quote was written with me in mind. I wasn't a voracious reader (I'm still not) but when it comes to a book that truly speaks to me I can't put it down for days. This was the first chapter book I ever read in elementary school. When I first read it I couldn't put it down, I was engrossed with Minikin Snickasnee (Minx for short). She was a sweet, kind, big-hearted girl who learned to love in spite of her care-taker, a dreadful aunt who defined witch. It was because of Little Witch that I enjoyed reading as a young kid.
I think I'll go out and order a copy to cherish forever.
I think I'll go out and order a copy to cherish forever.
~ Lady aka Christi Gray
