The Five Books That Represent Us

knerd.knitter: This book shaped my feelings about friendship and romance.

Cecrow: I was in love with Anne as a young teen, and it probably influenced me more than I realized.

sundancer: "The world looks like something God had just imagined for His own pleasure, doesn’t it?" Beauty, imagination, creativity, joyful optimism, and belonging. Never has a book resonated with me more.

WinonaBaines: I grew up with Anne rereading the book several times.

rachel.gorham: I was a weird kid, probably with undiagnosed neurodivergence, in the 1980s when I met Anne and felt seen, although I didn't put it that way at the time. I just saw a character who was loved and accepted (eventually) even though she was talkative and "too imaginative" and smart and absent-minded. I felt like we were friends.

sturlington: Taught me about who I wanted to be.

banjo123: This has long been a favorite book. I think it represents me because it represents the drama of everyday life.

quondame: Somewhere before I was 15 this blew me away. It has remained my favorite novel. It opened me to other classic novels which helped me fake being a serious reader in high-school which greased my way into higher education.

saskia17: 42, fjords, a beluga, and a pot of geraniums. Also, Marvin is my soulmate.

macygma: How could I not pick this book? I read it, wached it and laughed through it as well. Adams had a talent of making his bigger than life characters even bigger and anyone who has read this would agree.

SandraArdnas: Forever instilled viewing the world and ourselves with irreverent and self-deprecating humor (but no cynicism and misanthropy).

lizzy50usa: I was given a copy of this for Christmas when I was 7. I read it to tatters. The first book (not a picture book) that I owned.

sundancer: I have three sisters who are also like the March sisters with their personalities and ambitions. I am Jo, with her love of writing and her determination to follow her own path while remaining loyal to those she loves. She learns to grow in kindness, humility, love, and faith.

macygma: I was given this book by my grandmother and the book was huge! It was well loved before I got it and I read it until it literally fell apart. Every time I see the title I think of this book and of her.

LuellaMargaret: I am the eldest of four wonderful sisters who all love this book. We all overlap characters somewhat, but are closest to our March sister in the order of the line up - I am Meg. We have grown up with few other friends (none for some of us) and have grown so close to each other. Much of our idealistic, old-fashioned 'castles in the air' can be found in the pages of such books as this.

Kek55: One of the books that led me to my career as a children's librarian, and turned me into a devoted reader of British children's fantasy.

msjudy: I will still return to this garden when a need a respite from the world. It's always spring and beginning to come alive.

OliviaPhillips: I was enthralled by this book and the idea of having your own special place where you could go to away from adults and the troubles of the world.

lizzy50usa: I've read this countless times and always discover something new in the portrayal of how to live in and face hard times. Made me into a lifelong fantasy reader.

nrmay: Fantasy, adventure, friendship, courage, and a darn good story - all my favorite themes in literature and life! My motto: “Life is either a daring adventure . . . or nothing.” (Helen Keller)

msjudy: In my next life, I will be a hobbit. (The kind who stays at home, mostly)

gmathis: Daughter of a rural Missouri mail carrier; had pen pals as soon as I could write; carried on my early courtship with my husband via USPS; still come home daily hoping there's something good in the mail. What better choice for this list than my favorite novel consisting of nothing but correspondence?

macygma: I tend to buy books now by the cover art. That said, I was so intrigued by this part of history that I knew nothing about but I do have to say, I did NOT love the movie at all!

JuTurtle: My name is Juliette, but that's no the only thing I have in common with her 😄 I could identify to so many things she has in her mind. But also, and mainly, the community in Guernesey is partly what I have and partly what I dream for in my like.

lizzy50usa: Published while I was in high school. When I read it I had to have my own copy. The first adult book I bought with my own money.

veracite: "Change is freedom, change is life." I read this as a teenager. These words resonated and have guided how I approach the world and my life.

elahrairah: wait, there are are other ways to live?

skid0612: The anarchist society, warts and all.

AbigailAdams26: The conflict between duty and desire, especially moral duty, has always spoken to me most strongly in this book, and reflects some of my own views about the limitations of happiness as a benchmark for how to live one's life.

msjudy: It's not about the romance.It's not about the crazy lady in the attic.It's about personal integrity. I was a bullied child. Jane taught me to stand up for myself.

sturlington: Shaped my worldview a lot when I was young.

librookian: GWTW is a master class in evocative writing. The details and descriptions make me return to it again and again. Descriptions of fashion, hairstyles, and architecture are very vivid. And there are so many detailed scenarios described, like how a widow was expected to comport herself, how a lady was to act with different people (old men and women vs young men and women, single men and other women's husbands). I find all the strictures that were imposed on women of that time and place fascinating and disturbing. Scarlet isn't a perfect heroine by any means. Still, I admire her for her strength, tenacity, and loyalty to her family, and for doing the unthinkable at the time: running her own business to support herself and her extended family.

sundancer: I don't think Scarlett represents me exactly... she is certainly deeply flawed, yet her stubborn courage and fierce determination to survive and rebuild her life is unforgettable to me. Perhaps a part of me envies her tenacity and fiery passion... and hates that I recognize a streak of her spoiled selfishness in myself.

nrmay: Read as a teenager, one of few books that I’ve re-read. The history of the South; the Civil War; iconic, bigger-than-life characters; romance, adventure, and a darn good story; all things with great appeal for me.

gmathis: This could've been any of the Laura Ingalls Wilder books. Chosen to represent skinny, geeky, bookworm girls who spend their summers on a quilt on the backyard and winters under the quilt in the walk-in closet with nobody but a pile of books for company.

Tess_W: Read these over and over. Drawn by something.

nrmay: I read the entire LITTLE HOUSE series over and over as a child. It was a whole different life to a little city girl. Led to my lifetime interest in different cultures, countries, ethnicities and life-styles.

sundancer: Perfectly captures the longing for another world... the sense that there is something more beautiful and wonderful and eternal beyond our present reality... a place filled with adventure, mystery, and hope. This book is what happens when faith meets imagination with themes of courage, sacrifice, and redemption.

slimikin: For adventures, the curiosity and courage they require, and the ever-changing wisdom they (and this series) offer along the way.

Morphidae: If I were a writer, I could have written a very similar book - from marrying libraries to getting lost in reading.

lizzy50usa: A perennial favorite that represents my enjoyment of memoir and biography, books about books, and witty writing. (I highly recommend the audiobook.)

saskia17: A reader's manifesto; I've never felt so connected to an author.

anglemark: The philosophy/religion of Bokononism made a huge impression and influenced my thinking when I was young.

ReneeGKC: My best friend & I quoted it so much, I indexed it in Library School & sent it to Kurt. Got an A and he wrote back....

Charon07: No damn cat, and no damn cradle.

perennialreader: Her confusion about the world mirrored mine at about the same age.

gypsysmom: Atwood spoke for so many women growing up in the last half of the twentieth century. She continues to write great books but this one will be her classic, I think.

macygma: Read in high school and cried most of the way through it. I was raised in a small town that was the home ot many miners and it made such an impact on my heart.

perennialreader: Read as a 17-year old and felt like I was a member of the family. First book that ever spoke to me in such a way.

AbigailAdams26: The author may not have known it, but this book was written about me. The immense power of the individual's inner world, of imaginative play and storytelling as a way of making meaning and of surviving a hurtful world, make this a masterpiece.

rhondak101book: “Know all the Questions, but not the Answers – Look for the Different, instead of the Same – Never Walk when there’s room for Running – Don’t do anything that can’t be a Game.” My best friend and I read this together as tweens and held on to this mantra.

SandyAMcPherson: What Abigail said...

ReneeGKC: First book I really loved. Read it every year, for many years. Made me want to read and write.

Morphidae: I don't even remember how many times I read this book. I have books with four different covers - one signed by the artist.

gypsysmom: Before this book I had only read juvenile sf. But this book introduced me to adult themes and I was hooked on sf from then on.

skid0612: Read the novel as a tween and it really set the tone for my views about religion.

bjappleg8: love all the books about Miles - this one has a special place in my heart because he fails, picks himself up again, and wrestles with temptation . . . time to re-read it again

Kek55: Bujold is my favorite author, the Vorkosigan Saga is my favorite series, and Memory is the ultimate best of the batch!

quondame: My favorite SF book of all time, the apex of my favorite series, it got mystery, mayhem, morality, heartbreak and humor.

Morphidae: I'm autistic and it's one of, if not the, best books on autism.

cindra-cat: Not fitting into the society you happen to live in can be tragic, especially if everyone around you doesn't understand why you are different.

perennialreader: Being an introvert is not a disease. I wish someone would write a book about extroverts and tell them to be quiet.

msjudy: Truly validating. Not shy, not depressed, just quiet and perfectly happy to be with myself, by myself.

Boand: Completely felt at home in the past Victorian parts of this book. Loved the story.

nrmay: A character like me, to whom books are a most important, crucial thing in life. And l am always drawn to stories of great courage and resistance during the desperation of WWII.

DebiCates: My first Dickens. I still see Miss Havisham exactly as I envisioned her in my mind as a High School Freshman. "Literature" can be FUN!

Porua: I keep coming back to these lines because they define so much of what I have experienced in my own life with regards to feelings of belonging, love, and happiness. "And still I stood looking at the house, thinking how happy I should be if I lived there with her, and knowing that I never was happy with her, but always miserable."

Cecrow: All things in moderation (including in this selection: pretty awful attitude towards women here that I don't relate to or agree with.)

macygma: The first book of a wonderful series that I read because I was going to buy it for my granddaughter and wanted to be able to discuss it with her.

Boand: Made me realise how I was much more sensibility than sense as a teenager. Tried to learn to balance it out ever since!

quitehilaryus: My favourite Austen work, perhaps because I grew up surrounded by contrasting approaches to sense and sensibility.

cindra-cat: Learning to find all the parts of yourself is a difficult journey. Having a few good friends and mentors helps.

LolaWalser: Because we are social beings who need love to exist and prosper, build, create through togetherness.

elahrairah: we must either work together and share the bounties of nature or die as individuals on a burning planet.

nybluejeans: This was my favorite book growing up. I think it's responsible for my first job after college required living in the woods in a structure that was made with hand tools. We cooked our meals over a fire and generally were disconnected from the world until we got our 48 hours off work.

ManWithAnAgenda: Words matter and the intention behind them, whether conscious or not. It's important for me to understand myself and my language. They are the same.

vwinsloe: Women's hearts are commonly torn between more than one desire.

LolaWalser: Hero, mirror, role model.

Nonconformisto: I appreciate synthesis of apparent opposites; this book reflects that part of me.

Kreid0126: My favorite of all the Harry Potter books! It helped me through my Junior year of High School because it felt a lot of my teachers were like Slughorn and Snape.

rhondak101book: I found this book at my great-grandmother's house with I was 12 or 13. Some cousin had left it behind. I read it in a day. It was my first Agatha Christie, and I graduated from the Hardy Boys upon reading it.

knerd.knitter: The main character in this book is the most like me personality-wise of any book I've ever read.

raidergirl3: I'm just a teacher-girl from PEI who likes happy endings

al.vick: a cat and mouse are friends!

elahrairah: what an adventure!

bjappleg8: she reads, she bakes, and she kills bad vampires. I want to be like Sunshine

slimikin: I'm not Sunshine, but there are things in her character that resonated so strongly with me when I read this that I still hold them close and see myself through their lenses. Rarely, other characters have done the same since, but Sunshine was the first.

Morphidae: I love this book because the main character is kind and he succeeds because of the support of others due to that kindness.

foggidawn: This book was an inspiration to me through my teenage years and beyond. I feel a deep kinship with Valancy, though thank goodness my family is nothing like hers.

Bunny20: This was another story I related to in the fact that I related to Valancy and her miserable life and overbearing family. And how she finds the strength and will to leave it all behind to the shock and horror of everyone else. If you read this, yes it's true those first few chapters are so dreary, but please stick with it, the payoff is so blasted good! And such a sweet love story as well, everything is earned and rewarded as it should be.

perennialreader: Another coming of age story that spoke to me.

Porua: I had just gotten my first proper grown-up job. I bought this book with my salary and read it during commute to work. It was always raining or about to rain. It was scary and it was perfect. "If only there could be an invention that bottled up a memory, like scent. And it never faded, and it never got stale. And then, when one wanted it, the bottle could be uncorked, and it would be like living the moment all over again"

nrmay: Read decades ago as a young adult, this classic with mystery/romance/British setting represents my favorite genres to this day.

gmathis: The one work of fiction that had a strong influence on what I believe down to the core. A perfect fit for this list because of that and because of my deep love for homespun things and mountain culture.

bjappleg8: maybe one of the first "grown-up" books I ever read . . . and re-read many times. I used to lay in bed and dream of high mountains, of a rich spiritual life, of being a teacher and falling in love like Christy

Cecrow: Fantastic rendering of my inner life growing up. Didn't have the Catholic upbringing, though.

banjo123: "Biomythography"

Tess_W: Children are gifts.

cindra-cat: The importance of humanity, the power of science, the interface of ethics.

howermj: I read Bradbury in high school and memorized Teasdale's poem. It taught me that civilization is fragile, hubris is real, and the things worth building are exactly the things we're capable of destroying.

banjo123: I don't usually read poetry, but read this during my formative years.

themulhern: One day I started to sob, a little, because I was nowhere near as accomplished as John Harrison.

quondame: Will this remain a favorite-favorite forever? Who knows, but over the last 4 years since I first read it (I'm at 9x) it opened the door to a wonderful community on Discord, and eased me over a 56 year writing block so I could contribute a few small works in that milieu.

BonnieJune54: “I am doing so well” Yes we are.

al.vick: magic worlds and talking animals!!!

howermj: This book represents the part of me my mother saw before I did: the refusal to counterfeit my own mind for approval, and the conviction that integrity isn't negotiable, even when it costs you.

banjo123: I love this book. It represents me because the main character is trying to make sense of his life and stay true to his beliefs in a confusing world.

ManWithAnAgenda: Lucy Snowe's reserve and secrecy (even from us readers) and deep DEEP feeling was the first time I saw myself in a character as an adult.

Bunny20: As strange as it sounds, I related to everything in this book. The fanfiction writing, the aspects of being mentally challenged by the smallest and easiest things (for everyone else), feeling abandoned by a close family member, navigating new and unknown territory without your best friends, someone stealing your work . . . Combine all that with a slow burn romance and it's just a delightful story. I love how Cath, the so-called weaker twin, is actually the strongest person in this novel. I read it every year and I own multiple copies.

Kreid0126: It was a dystopian work that I did not want to leave no matter how much violence was in it!

oceancat: for some reason sharing this book with people feels like sharing my soul. i cannot explain why, but i love it dearly

karenb: A reference book that I relied on in my work. Bonus: I happen to be from Chicago.

elorin: Maureen is bold, sexy, sexual in ways I am and ways I dream of being.

gmathis: I was given my first copy of this modern Bible translation about middle school. It was comfortable and easy to read, transforming the King James stories and passages into words that connected with my real life. Still does.

sturlington: This book gets me.

CreatingCuriosity: The advice his dad gives him, "don't blame a cat for being a cat" has become a core part of my philosophy and is very helpful with people as well.

quondame: The year Eloise came out I was 6 and I fell in love with her forever.