Favorite books changed life

I am responding to a challenge to list 10 books that have stayed with me. This sounds like a much easier task than the Ice Bucket Challenge that is currently so popular. For those one or two people who have never heard of the Ice Bucket Challenge, it involves dumping a bucket of ice water over your own head or having someone do it for you, then posting the video to social media.
This is to promote awareness of that cruel disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. Those involved are encouraged to donate to the cause in hopes of finding a cure.
The book challenge to list 10 books thankfully does not involve water, iced or otherwise. I am not sure about the qualification of books that have stayed with me; instead I will try to list favorite books and also books that have changed my life.
I will start with a book that I hate but I can’t forget - “A Thousand Splendid Suns.” We read it at book club and I still have nightmares about it. The worst thing is that the cruelty and injustice depicted in the book happens every day, and not just in the Middle East, where the book is set.
My favorite book for when I need a good cry is “Les Miserables.” That last chapter gets me every time. Someday I would like to read the complete, unabridged version, although not in the original French.
The book that changed my life was “A Wrinkle in Time.” It was the first science fiction book I ever read and opened my mind to a realm of possibilities I had never even considered.
Along those lines, I have an entire collection of books by Ray Bradbury and Isaac Asimov. Their imaginations are truly amazing. Asimov’s “Earth is Room Enough” proved that one does not need to set a story in a far-off world in order to create a really good flight of fancy.
“People of Darkness” was the first of Tony Hillerman’s books I ever read. I admit, I read it because I was trying to curry favor with an anthropology teacher whose specialty was the Navajo people. Hillerman sprinkled tidbits of the Navajo culture into each of his mysteries. I find it fascinating to see how other people look at the world. So many things that I view as a matter of fact are quite the opposite of how others see them.
I have to add “Spiderwoman’s Daughter” to my list. After Tony Hillerman died, his daughter revived the characters. She did a fine job and reminded me that nobody truly dies if they are still alive in our hearts. This goes for real people as well as fictional ones.
“The Little Prince” contains many jewels of wisdom. “The most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or touched, they are felt with the heart.” The idea that we are special to someone, the idea that we are responsible for those we have tamed, the innocence and maturity contained in that little book all make it something everyone should read.
“The Collected Poems of Robert Frost.” Is there anybody who doesn’t like at least one of his poems? The idea that it is the choices we make that determine our fate is perfectly illustrated in “The Road Not Taken.” Responsibility, whimsy, wistfulness and more are contained in his words.
Remember Little Golden Books? Dozens of them have been read to children. I have had them read to me and I have read them to my daughter and her children. All those rosy-cheeked characters and thinly veiled lessons on morality are the stuff of childhood.
I can’t forget the books that started it all. Dick and Jane. Need I say more? I, like so many others, learned to read with Dick and Jane. Spot, Puff, Sally, Mother and Father all helped us to learn simple sentence structure. “Look, Jane, look. Run, Jane, run. Oh, look, see Spot run.” Sight words became second nature as we followed Dick and Jane on their adventures.
So many books, so little time. Books can be used for escape, information, pleasure; any number of purposes. The above is a small sampling of the ones that have helped shape my world. Which books will end up on your list of ones you can’t forget?