Book Challenge: Ten-ish Books that Have Stayed with Me

Bewildered, I stared at my three Ikea bookshelves. An old friend had just challenged me to post 10 books that have touched me, stayed with me.

For some people it may be hard to pick ten.

For me it was hard to pick ONLY ten.

Over the past four years, I have worked as an English teacher. The four years before that, I studied literature. Eight years of reading, deconstructing, debating, writing.Essentially, books have been my business for a long time. This year I have accepted a new position teaching technology, so this blog post comes as my final nod to teaching English—for now, one never really knows.

In no particular order, here are TEN-ish BOOKS (plus honorable mentions) that have stayed with me, made me think or touched my soul:

1. The Little Prince -- Antoine de Saint-ExuperyIf you have not read it, stop everything that you are doing (including reading this blog post) and read it! The entire book is less than 90 pages with several full page pictures; however, do not be decieved! It is not a children’s book. This book must be read with your heart!
2. Fahrenheit 451 -- Ray Bradbury

3.  The Harry Potter Series – J.K. RowlingLife changer! Don’t know what took me so long!
4. The Fault in our Stars -- John GreenLet’s be honest, I really just love almost everything that John Green writes! If you want to cry, stick with this one. If you want to laugh, try Paper Towns instead.
5. A Raisin in the Sun -- Lorraine Hansberry
6. Let the Great World Spin -- Colum McCann 
   I’ve also read McCann’s This Side of Brightness which was equally as powerful.
7. Black Boy -- Richard Wright 
   “The Ethics of Living Jim Crow” was one of the most powerful historical, autobiographical sketches that I ever read. Black Boy is an expanded version, adding even more detail and insight.
8. Caucasia -- Danzy Senna
9. Our Town -- Thornton Wilder
   
   
   
   
10. Number the Stars -- Lois Lowry 

Honorable Mentions:
Life in Motion: My Story of Adversity and Grace by Misty Copeland
Everything by David Sedaris (especially Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls)
Walk Out Walk On: A Learning Journey into Communities Daring to Live the Future Now by Margaret Wheatley and Deborah Frieze

WANT TO GIVE IT A TRY?

Copy the following post and tag your friends. Then list your ten (or as many as you need to)!

"Book Challenge: In your status, list 10 books that have stayed with you in some way or hold meaning to you. Don't take too long and don't think too hard. They don't have to be the "right" books or great books of literature, just ones that have affected you in some way. Tag your friends, including me so I can see your list"

An Active Handprint Book Review

A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier

by Ishmael Beah 

It's haunting. It's disturbing. It's necessary. 

Juxtaposed against the backdrop of childhood innocence, A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier is a harrowing tale of a twelve year old boy as he fights daily to survive in a tumultuous Sierra Leone. This haunting coming-of-age novel highlights the instinct to survive and the psychological tortures that come with it. 

Ishmael's heart-wrenching tale questions the very root of human nature yet explains the light within each of us. A light that even when extinguished by the heaviest downpour glows red, waiting to be reignited by a single spark of hope. 

A Long Way Gone drags readers though the decline into violence: explaining how boys as young as seven were molded into soldiers, justifying hauntingly gruesome scenes, and portraying murder, near-death experiences, heartbreak and rehabilitation. 

The writing is raw. The descriptions are as honest and objective as possible. The memories are painful. Yet the language retains a lyrically whimsical, tribal quality that floats readers through even the most sickening moments. 

If you have ever felt that you have done something that is unforgivable, this is the book for you. 

If you have ever thought that you are beyond help, this is the book for you.

If you believe in the redemptive nature of humanity, if you believe that innocence needs to be protected, if you believe that there is always hope,  this is the book for you. 

(alongwaygone.com)

Click HERE for more information or to purchase. 

Review by Brittany Slusarczyk

©ActiveHandprint 2012