Three Books That Define You

Lianne @ Caffeinated Life posted this tweet from NPR Books along with three books that define her (check her post out here) and it got me thinking what my three books would be. Which books define me? Which really illustrate what kind of reader, and person, I am? At first I thought it would be as simple as picking my favorite books, but I realized there are books that I may not have enjoyed as much, but that better show who I am. So here we go.

The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale:

I read this book towards the end of elementary school, around sixth grade. But I read it so many times that year that it's stuck in my memory still. In fact, I accidentally memorized the first line :"She was born Anidori Kiladra Taliana Isilee, Crown Princess of Kildenree, and she did not open her eyes for three days." It was my favorite book for a really long time, and even though I've moved on from reading that type of book, I think it's still really important in my formation as a reader, and a writer. I remember how much I loved the descriptions in it, the way Shannon Hale would use adjectives or verbs that I wouldn't have thought to use, but that made the images so clear in my mind. It taught me to spot myself using cliche descriptions or easily expected words in my writing and switch them out. I still have unending amounts of love for this book; the characters were so well written and I remember actually crying at parts, which I literally never do in books (I've read The Fault in Our Stars, people). I think I would actually still recommend it to anyone- it doesn't read like a children's book but it has the components of one, which is why it's so sweet.

This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald:

This book was perhaps the easiest pick out of the three, simply because the main character is me. I've never come across any other book where I completely connect to everything the character says and does and thinks so deeply. A lot of people I know are all like "oooh Holden Caulfield is literally me." I guess Amory Blaine is my Holden Caulfield. What I like is that the character of Amory is semi-autobiographical, and I think because F. Scott is drawing from himself, there are all these little touches to Amory's character that are so real, and that you really would have had to experience to write about because you couldn't make them up. The whole book was like those Tumblr posts that start with "Do you ever" or "Am I the only one" or "When you" and the whole time I was screaming in my head "YES ME TOO". I mean, this may not have been the best thing considering Amory is really easy to hate and not so great a person all around but... I won't analyze that. The only thing I didn't connect with was how much of a romantic he was, but I think that was more for the story and less for his character.

Tao Teh Ching by Lao Tzu

The third book was the hardest to come up with. I knew that I wanted it to be something non-fiction or philosophy, because I don't always read fiction. Thumbs, Toes, and Tears and Outliers were both high up on my list, but I settled for the Tao Teh Ching because it is a really central part of my life. I'm not Taoist, not religiously Taoist at least, but I really love the Taoist philosophy and I find myself agreeing with most everything in the Tao Teh Ching. It's a book I come back to a lot: there's something incredibly calming and centering about the verses, about the suggestions rather than commands, the maybes instead of the absolute statements. It offers a view of life that is very simple and very balanced, and an idea of a greater power that doesn't preach any kind of God.

I would love to hear what your three books are! Comment down below or write your own post and link up!