Ten Books That Have Stayed With Me....

By Amie Wright, MyLibraryNYC
September 11, 2014

You may have been tagged in a social media chain making the rounds in which you are supposed to list ten books that have stayed with you in some way. The goal is not to overthink it; simply take a few minutes and answer.

They don't have to be great books or the 'right' books - just books that have stayed with you in some fashion—repeating in your subconscious, popping into your mind when you least expect it, or impacting you in some way.

So, here, in no particular order, are ten books that have stayed with me:

  1. Fugitive Pieces by Anne Michaels and
  2. In the Skin of a Lion by Michael Ondaatje: A tie between two great CanLit poet/novelists.
  3. Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer: The book that made me reconsider nonfiction.
  4. The Devil of Nanking by Mo Hayder: Some of the most vividly gruesome (and unforgettable) imagery I have ever read, rendered in almost poetic style.
  5. The Complete Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi: Makes the list especially for this panel.

'The regime had absolute power...and most people, in search of a cloud of happiness, had forgotten their political conscience' The Complete Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi

  • Hyperion by Dan Simmons: Space opera doesn't get any better than this masterpiece; also the Shrike is the most unexpected antihero ever. Simmons gets bonus points for his love of John Keats, and his very creative use of farcaster technology (like Martin Silenus's bathroom).

    • A picture never lies...or does it? Escape! The Story of the Great Houdini by Sid Fleischman

  • Bridget Jones's Diary: The Edge of Reason by Helen Fielding and
  • Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by JK Rowling: My two favorite books in 2001, and the ones that traveled to West Africa with me that summer.
  • The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon: Read in a hotel room in Salvador de Bahia, Brazil in 100 degree heat and humidity, while sick; a heartbreaking read that stayed with me - especially Kavalier's calamitous wartime posting in Antarctica.
  • Escape! The Story of the Great Houdini by Sid Fleischman: There is so much to like in this biography; but more than anything, Flesichman's own acumen as a magician telling the story of another magician adds a certain insider knowledge—plus his discovery of this photo blew my mind (the photo caption reads: 'Houdini looks you straight in the eye and vanishes five passengers! On a return to the United States, the magician found himself aboard ship with former president Theodore Roosevelt. Not one to share the spotlight, he had other passengers doctored out of the photograph.' NYPL owns the doctored photo as part of our Houdini collection; until I read Fleischman's book I didn't realize that that photo we owned wasn't the original.)