When I think about my reading life throughout the years, I’m struck by how much has changed. I’m much more focused on current releases now thanks to multiple sources like Anne’s guides and previews, Bookstagram, and BookTube. There were many years of my life where I was lucky to read one book a month because I was so busy with work, and now I usually read over 100 books a year. And, of course, my love of spreadsheets has led me to spending countless happy hours tracking and planning my reading. (I always say that my hobby isn’t just reading, it’s the whole reading life.)
But when I started to think about the books that shaped me, I realized in many ways, my reading life has stayed the same because I see the threads of what I loved to read when I was young and what I love to read now. Even though I think I have branched out more in my reading throughout the years, there was something comforting in seeing the ways these four books helped shape my reading life.
When it comes to these books, I’m reminded of that meme where people show two pictures that are captioned “How It Started” and “How It’s Going.”
How It Started: Nemesis by Agatha Christie. I read through all of the Agatha Christie books in high school and the Miss Marple books in particular made me love an underestimated amateur detective.
How It’s Going: Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear. This mystery series starts off after World War I in England with Maisie as a private investigator trying to start her own detective agency. She uses non-traditional methods to solve the cases, just like Miss Marple!
How It Started: Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh. I read this epic book after watching the wonderful PBS adaptation in 1982. I continue to read books either before or after their adaptation and I love to compare them and think about their differences.
How It’s Going: Pachinko by Min Jin Lee. With its multiple timelines and settings, I was happy I read this novel and got to know the characters deeply before watching the beautifully done adaptation.
How It Started: The Deep End of the Ocean by Jacquelyn Mitchard. I’m picking this one more for the circumstances around it. This was Oprah Winfrey’s first book club selection back in 1996. I’ll never forget her talking about how we were going to read a book “together.” I had always seen reading as a solitary activity until that moment.
How It’s Going: Tell Me Everything by Elizabeth Strout. Twenty-eight years later, I’m still reading Oprah’s book club picks! I know people don’t like those stickers on books that note they’re a ‘celebrity’ book club pick but when I look at that sticker, I think of all the other people reading with me. I love that we’re having a shared experience.
How It Started: The Dragonriders of Pern by Anne McCaffrey. I loved that this fantasy book was centered around a young woman. When she forms a telepathic bond with a dragon, I was hooked. (I still want my own dragon.)
How It’s Going: Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas. This is the third book in the Throne of Glass series. When I read the part where a young woman connects with a wyvern (basically a dragon), I was immediately transported back to my teenage self and dreaming of another fantastical world.
Have you read any of these? What books shaped you? Please share in the comments.
P.S. The books that shaped Brigid and The books that shaped Shannan.
About the author
Donna Hetchler helps out with our numbers, keeping a high level view of the business. Her go-to genre is mystery. You can find Donna on Instagram @dhetch.
31 comments
Donna,
I love the idea of “How It Started” and “How It’s Going.” I think I’m going to take some time to think about those two statements regarding my reading life. Your books are very interesting, some of them favorites of mine, and they give us a good idea of your reading life. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for the interesting premise for thinking about the progression of our reading lives. I enjoyed learning more about the books you’ve found meaningful and why.
I also think this is a great way to think about my reading life. I see a clear link between old childhood favorites (the books by Elizabeth Enright about family life, for instance) and on to Jane Austen and Georgette Heyer, and now to contemporary choices like The Wedding People, books by Elizabeth Strout, Ann Patchett, Elinor Lipman, Anne Tyler, and so many others. I’m going to check out some of the new-to-me titles you mentioned. Thanks for this post!
Thanks, Marcia! Your comment made me think this will be a good question for our Literary Society!
Girl, we are on the same page.. Agatha continues & Maisie is fun! Found Mrs Pollifax this year & read Fantasy’s.
Donna,
I love the idea of “How it started” and How it’s going”, too. I have a list of formative books, but I’ve never considered how or if my early reading is connected to my present reading. Such fun food for thought. Thanks!
I absolutely love the comparison of where you started and where you are now….hhhmmm, perhaps something to consider for my 2025 reading journal. 😊 This definitely got the imagination flowing! Thank you for sharing Donna
What a great idea to add this to a reading journal!
I absolutely love the way this post together. I would love to see similar posts regarding the reading history of others.
I agree that Oprah’s Bookclub changed my perception of reading as a solo vs social hobby. I was home on maternity leave when she started it all and so it fit my life stage. I have always been an avid reader, but the Oprah books became an easy conversation in almost every place I went then.
There are so many celebrity bookclubs now, but at the time it was a game changer! I’m glad you have enjoyed some of her picks as well.
I loved this! Thank you for sharing! Some books that shaped me were The Giver by Lois Lowry, George Orwell’s 1984, To Kill a Mockingbird, and Night by Elie Wiesel. I can’t forget Tuesdays with Morrie!
I know that Oprah has been a force in books, etc. If you weren’t around at the beginning, I don’t think I can explain how amazing those early Oprah books were! Not actually the books themselves but as you said Donna, that idea of reading in community. It was a lot of fun and I feel like she paved the way for our current bookish communities.
For me, I can definitely say it started with “Nancy Drew,” and it has continued with all the “Maisie Dobbs” books (so glad you are reading those!), the “Chief Inspector Gamache” books by Louise Penney, and so many other detective/mystery books. I have read many Agatha Christie books, anything by Anna Lee Huber, and more. Nancy got me started, and now I can’t stop! 🙂
Anne McCaffrey made me want a dragon too.
I picked up Outlander in 1994. I’ve also wanted a Jamie Fraser.
What a great post! This structure gives me food for thought. How did Charlotte’s Web and Trixie Belden lead me into the stories I like today?
Oh, I loved charlotte’s Web and Trixie Belden also!
I love this! Now I’m going to have to think about the progression of my own reading. I can definitely see the beginnings of my love of mysteries, family drama, and “women’s fiction” in what I read when I was young. I was with you in those Oprah early days, reading The Deep End of the Ocean, Midwives, etc. Now I’m curious what I’ve missed of her picks in more recent years.
The Maisie Dobbs series was instrumental into getting me back into reading regularly as an adult. That book series will always have a special place in my heart.
I’ve read 5 of the books you listed, and as many people said, I will have to think about which books shaped me…interesting question. Nancy Drew had a hand in it. And Jane Austen. But what tickled me the most was your inclusion of The Dragonriders series!! Nobody ever seems to mention them. Myself, a “scientific” sci-fi fan from way back, disdained books with dragons on the cover, but then a little old lady (truly, she was 85, if a day) urged me to read one. I thought I’d read the first chapter to appease her. Oh my goodness, I was hooked. I got SUCH pleasure from those books and read them all, collecting the whole series. Now I sure do have different feelings about dragons! (and I want a fire lizard.)
A lot of people seem to think the Pern books are fantasy. However, Anne McCaffrey was adamant that they were science fiction as she gave a very clear explanation of how dragons evolved with scientific genetic engineering. A lot of dragon books out now are fantasy (think the Temeraire books) but McCaffrey’s were definitely in the sf category.
That’s true! They felt very fairy-talish to me in the beginning, but then we got into the genetic engineering and the space ships sent to colonize Pern, and so on, and it became much more science-y. I liked both facets. But especially the dragon’s personalities! Temeraire just didn’t do it for me.
I remember reading Deep End of the Ocean while on vacation. I cried so hard. It was a defining moment with Oprah recommendations. I’ve trusted her feedback ever since!
My dragon book for “where it started” would be A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula Le Guin. I still love dragons, I didn’t realize that SJM had a dragon book.
I love this post and was so excited to see Ann McCaffrey on your how it started list. She was also on mine. I devoured every book I could find by her and she started my love of fantasy fiction. I will definitely be checking out Sarah J. Maas. Another author that I loved as a high schooler was Robert Ludlum. I would love to know what to read next in that genre. Thank you so much for the great share:)
Really nice post! I thought I was the only one with fond remembrances of Anne McCaffrey’s Pern books. I loved them so much and still look for that dragon magic in more current SF/Fantasy. I think I will try this method too, a nice way to combine nostalgia with an understanding of my current reading life.
I had such a negative reaction to Maas’ Court of Thorn and Roses, that I’m so hesitant to try any other books by her mostly due to the absolutely toxic messaging the books sent about intimate relationships. Have you read those and how do the books in the series you’re reading compare?
Hmmm, I read ACOTAR series this year, and Rebecca Yarro’s Fourth Wing and Iron Flame, and am now on the last book of the Throne of Glass series. I would say TOG is different, in part, because SJM was quite young when she started it so it is all around less explicit than both. Also, I feel that the women are stronger and more independent main characters than in ACOTAR. That said, within the intimate relationships there is still the Fae characteristic of male dominance and over-protectiveness, the growling and teeth baring, etc, but I do feel the females shut it down more effectively. If you didn’t enjoy the world building of ACOTAR, then I wouldn’t recommend TOG, but if you did like that part, you may want to give it a try.
Happy Thanksgiving. I absolutely loved the comparisons Thank you so much.
Love Donna
Thank you, Donna, for sharing this prompt which I think each of us need to ask ourselves, what shaped us as readers then and now. I don’t ever remember not reading, and it has been a gift and constant companion all of my life. I came in every day from teaching school, got on the treadmill, and tuned into Oprah, and when she began her on air Book Club I was all in. I too remember the first book, The Deep End of the Ocean., and still remember waiting to see what she had picked to read next, and still do as you say. From Nancy Drew mysteries on, I have loved mystery, and historical fiction. I am adding The Dragon Riders of Pern by Anne McCaffery to my TBR, since I have missed that one, and who doesn’t love a dragon!!
This conversation is now a favorite. How thought provoking, enjoyable, & YES to everyone’s comments. I so agree that it’s not just reading books, it’s the whole reading life. Lucky us!
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