10 Books That Have Stayed With Me

I've been seeing the "10 Books that Have Stayed With You" posts going around on Facebook for awhile now.  No one has tagged me, but I'm going to do it anyway.  Here, because I can.

Influence: Science and Practice, by Robert Cialdini

I read this book in college, for a May Term class about Social Influence and Film.  It was incredibly interesting to me, these sociological themes about the hold that others can have on you.  The book made me question some of my own behaviors.  I began to wonder why I was operating in certain ways, and was able to become more self aware because of it.

Bel Canto, by Ann Patchett

I have a very poor memory for most of the books that I read.  Very few things stick with me, and if they do, they are short snippets.  I usually can't recollect an entire book's summary off the top of my head.  This one, though, has stuck with me.  There is vivid imagery in this book, both with images and with sounds, and it hasn't left my memory.

Daughter of Fortune, by Isabel Allende

I remember as a younger girl seeing this book on my stepmom's shelf.  I was always curious because it looked like a memoir, but only read it recently.  I fell in love with it.  I couldn't stop reading her words.  And now, I know a coworker who has actually knows the author and her family, and I'm even more engrossed in the tale that was woven.

The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood

I couldn't put this down.  It is one of the best books I've ever had the pleasure of reading, bringing together a mix of incredibly interesting themes and genres together.

The Mysterious Benedict Society, by Trenton Lee Stewart

A YA book, this one has clever kids with different strengths, and I responded so well to the idea that a hero has no specific set of skills, but a collection and a community from which to draw from.

Me Talk Pretty One Day, by David Sedaris

I read this book about a year into Peace Corps.  In the book, he is learning French, and trying his best to have conversations in this foreign language.  He's in a class with a native speaker, a Muslim woman who was in the introductory class to improve her reading and writing skills.  One day, in the spring, they have a communication, this whole class and this Muslim woman, about Easter.  They explain Easter in their limited French vocabulary, talking about "a party for the little boy of god who call his self jesus." "He die one day on two... morsels of... lumber."  I've never laugher harder at a book.  I sat in the hammock under my house and laughed until I cried having faced exactly the same thing in my quest to Khmer learning.

The Money Book for the Young, Fabulous, and Broke, by Suze Orman

She's my idol, I'll admit it.  Her book got me into a plan for myself with money.  It is incredibly important to me and I will continue to appreciate her advice.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo trilogy, by Stieg Larsson

I saw the American version of this in the theatres with no knowledge of the story, no preview watched, no anything.  Immediately afterward, I got the book on my Kindle.  Within a month, all three books were read.  I love her strength, her awkwardness, her intelligence.

Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson

I read this book for graduate school.  It is a YA book involving the rape of a high school girl, and it is heart-wrenching.  It is a powerful, honest book.

Literacies of Power, by Donald Macedo

This is an education book that I read for a class about multicultural issues in education.  It discusses the power that education brings, and I was reading it right when I came back from Cambodia.  It put great emphasis on the wealth of education and how it is distributed.  It still sticks with me.