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Books can change lives. In this Ted Talk , Lisa Bu discusses just that. And it got me thinking, what books have shaped my life? The way I write today? The way I act? The way I think?

What books have made me… me?

So here they are. The 10 most influential books (so far) in my life:

1- Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
Not because this was my favorite of the series (it’s the fourth, if you must know), but because this was the first book that really drew me completely into a world I found much cozier and more welcoming than the one I was in at the time. Books are an escape, but to me, even today, this series feels like home.

2- Where the Red Fern Grows
I can’t exactly say why this one sticks out in particular – perhaps it is because I love dogs so much, or perhaps it is because this was the first book I ever remember making me cry (okay, cry is an understatement.) I read this in fourth grade when my best friend’s mom had just passed away. I suppose it stands out because it was during this year that I began to understand loss in a real way.

3- Dying to Be Me: My Journey from Cancer, to Near Death, to True Healing
Not at all a Fiction, like WTRFG, but for me, one of the weepiest reads of my life. It is about a woman, Anita Moorjani’s near death experience. It will make you look at life – and death – with new eyes.

4- The BFG
The BFG, James and the Giant Peach, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory… it’s hard to say which has been the most influential in my reading, writing, and just plain living preferences. These books, from the earliest of ages, had me diving deep, deep, deep into my crazy imagination. It’s my favorite place to be.

5- Why Is God Laughing?: The Path to Joy and Spiritual Optimism
I believe this was the first of my many Deepak Chopra books. It’s a great, light introduction to the prolific (and genius) writer – an almost childishly simple look at God, life. And that’s what I love about it. Why should things be any more complicated?

6- The Tao of Pooh
Along the same lines as No. 5 – The Tao of Pooh brings a much needed lightness to the spiritual conversation. Plus, it’s Winnie the Pooh!

7- The Secret
Go ahead. Are you done sneering? That’s fine. This book may have gotten an awful lot of flack for promoting goals based around wealth – and let’s be honest, fulfilling one’s one selfish needs. But it got a lot of people talking about something bigger – what you put out, you bring back (sometimes tenfold!). You create this thing you call life, and this book really brought that into a sharp relief for me.

8- The Hobbit
The Hobbit over the rest of The Lord of the Rings trilogy? Really? Yes, really. The Hobbit was one of the first Fantasy books I ever read, and no matter how many times I read it, at no matter what age, I still love its simplicity. The whole thing feels, to me, very much like taking a stroll through the Shire.

9- The Giving Tree
This book is perfect in its simplicity, from its words to its loosely sketched illustrations. ‘Nuff said.

10- The Fault in Our Stars
Oh, John Green, you emotional ninja! This was the first of Green’s books I ever read – when I was done, I promptly bought all of the rest and read them, back to back. This book introduced me to beautifully crafted, emotionally gripping YA fiction, ripe with complex and utterly real characters- of which there are a surprising number of books. If you want any more recommendations in this vein, just ask. 🙂

Bonus- The Fantastic Fable of Peter Able
Of course this book changed my life. Not only is it the first I’ve had published on a large scale, but writing it (along with its sequel) has gotten me through a lot of life’s difficulties. I don’t know where I’d be without it.
(Thanks, Peter!)

“Sometimes, you read a book and it fills you with this weird evangelical zeal, and you become convinced that the shattered world will never be put back together unless and until all living humans read the book.”
― John Green, The Fault in Our Stars

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I’m not sure if this is typical of writers, or if this is just typical of me, but when my mind gets focused on something it’s hard for me to allow anything else in. I call it my Dog Brain – just like when a dog sees a ball or a treat, the whole rest of the world seems to disappear. Funnily enough, that’s precisely what’s been on my mind lately: dogs.

As many of you know I’m in London for the summer working on the sequel to The Fantastic Fable of Peter Able and while the going was slow at first, I’m happy to report that now, I am almost done with the first draft.

So of course, as this book is winding down, my brain, like a dog with a ball, had decided that no, it can’t possibly just rest and relax. It needs a new something to ponder and just the other day as I was walking through the park, the perfect new obsession entered my mind: You have to get a dog.

And no, my brain didn’t say, “maybe you should get a dog when you get back home,” or “perhaps it would be nice; think about it.” It said “you have to get a dog,” in a voice rather like the voice of God’s, or perhaps James Earl Jones, I always get them confused. And so here I am, a few days away from finishing my book, and now obsessing over, not the finale, but what type of dog should I get?

Psychologists out there, go ahead and tell me I am undoubtedly prolonging finishing this book, as it has been my project and my doted upon baby for the past months. Go on.

Truth be told, I know this already. It’s always the same finishing a book, whether you’re writing it or reading it. It’s exciting, liberating, and at the same time, rather depressing. What will happen to the characters when you’re gone? What will you do with the time?

Well, luckily, I still have one more book in this series to write, which I’ll begin later on this year.

In the meantime, though, I have to get a dog.

So which kind should I get?

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I’m here in London, fast at work writing the sequel in the Peter Able book series – and by fast, I, of course, mean writing furiously for a few days, then taking breaks for travel, then writing some more, then taking a break having lost all of my data in a hard drive crash, freaking out, injuring my foot, and so being forced indoors to recover, try to pick up where I think I left off, and write some more.

Something I’m learning – travel may not be the most conducive to sitting down and writing. In fact, it’s not great for sitting down at all, and if you’re anything like me, you’ll do the exact opposite of sitting down so intensely that you’ll wind up injuring your foot.

It is, however, inspiring. I’ve been all over London and a few other parts of the U.K. over the past month, including Oxford (once home to the likes of C.S. Lewis, Tolkien, and Alice herself from Alice in Wonderland), Stratford upon Avon (Shakespeare’s hometown), Bath (where Jane Austen hung out), and Stonehenge – which doesn’t have much to do with writing, but I just wanted to brag. To say that I’ve been inspired over the past month, soaking up all of these writerly vibes, is an understatement.

So now that I am forced to sit, ice my foot, and actually write, I’m as excited to see the words that come forth as if were reading them. Each is a surprise, a delight. Did Jane Austen inspire that sentence? Perhaps the ghost of Tolkien? Or seeing the actual door to Narnia? (Yes, folks, there’s an actual door in Oxford that inspired the doorway to Narnia. I seent it!)

Needless to say, Book Two will be similar to the first, and yet very different. I’m writing this one in a different place, in more ways than one, and even though working in writing with moving around all the time has been a challenge, it’s also been a gift. A fun, exciting, stressful, and often infuriating gift. Kind of like a Furby.

I’ll keep you guys updated on Book Two’s progress. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy the first one. If you haven’t read it already, don’t wait for an injury to force you to sit down long enough to read it. Read while you’re at work instead!