Friday Favorites : Favorite Books That Define You

Greetings everyone! I found out about this tag from TheGeekishBrunette‘s blog post, please do check out her reading blog it is stellar. 😀

Today’s theme is ironic since today, August 9th, is my birthday. As for tackling this topic, I’m not entirely certain what is meant by books defining a person. I’ll just use a combination of books that shaped my interests as a child, and books that had a profound impact on me. Close enough.

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The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery

I read this book upon the urging of my father when I was seven years old. I didn’t “get” it- except the hat/snake bit, that was funny and creatively done. I read this book again last year and cried. It is beautiful and manages to fit in such an important message about living life to the fullest, finding what really matters most, and not getting caught up on trivial things. Relevant at any age.

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1984 and Animal Farm by George Orwell

These two are my favorite dystopians and the ones that are so relatable and relevant to real life. They are key parts of basically five pieces of media that I consider the most important. They’re all easily understood and highly recommendable cautionary tales. These two books, the aforementioned The Little Prince (or even just the film version, it’s really quite wonderful) an episode of Black Mirror called Fifteen Million Merits and an episode of The Twilight Zone called The Obsolete Man. Though not at all connected, I feel like these five things are somehow spiritually harmonious in expressing my views on society and morality.

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Spinners and The Magic Circle by Donna Jo Napoli

I read these two in middle school and will forever be enchanted by Donna Jo Napoli’s writing. She writes short, briskly-paced retellings of fairy tales. Her retellings are typically intended to make the reader think of these classical fables in a different way, by making heroines more proactive and less like damsels in distress, or delving into the glossed-over dark elements. What The Magic Circle and Spinners have in common is that they are told, tragically and lovingly, from the point of view of the traditional villains of the stories. What if there was another side to these stories? Some important detail to reinterpret, that would change everything? I’ve since been ever-interested in hearing stories from unconventional points of view.

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Thanks so much for reading this post! If you’re thinking of reading any of these books, or have read them, or have similar recommendations- or really, anything to say at all- please feel free! I appreciate your likes and comments greatly.

Happy reading,

Kitty