Today we’re starting a new loose series, conceived by our team member Shannan. Because this whole thing was her idea, I asked her to kick us off. I’m so happy to welcome her to the blog today to tell us about the books that shaped her. Happy reading! – Anne
I have been a reader or pretended to be a reader (before I learned to read) for as long as I can remember. I don’t know where it came from. I don’t remember my mom reading to my sister and I just for the joy of it. We did have a twice-daily Family Worship and my parents would read the Bible or some sort of inspirational story or devotional to us. We were not allowed to read fiction. I read many biographies and, in what I consider a bit of irony as a Black person, could tell you a lot about the lives of Confederate generals, whose stories were in abundance at my local small-town Southern library thanks to the Daughters of the Confederacy.
I grew up in a conservative Christian household which included my being homeschooled over half of my K-12 journey, including all of high school. I was a serious child, an “old soul”, and nurtured to stay that way. I was also prone to low moods; it was probably Seasonal Affective Disorder but no one in my circle was aware of SAD then. I didn’t see anyone around me struggling and I sensed I was not like everyone else. I also got it into my head that happiness was a thing that might elude me for the rest of my life. I escaped into books, dreaming of a different life.
Selecting the books that shaped me into who I am today was a difficult, but an important exercise. It was easy to know which books have had a significant impact in my life; they are what I curate in my personal library. I only need to turn around and look at my shelves. It was, however, impossible to narrow those books down. In the end, I decided to select five books that shaped me prior to my 30th year, the age I’ve felt I actually was my entire life.
While my reading was heavily restricted, some of the books I read cracked some doors into other ways of seeing the world. Even at a young age, I began to catch a glimpse of the power of “who tells the story” and that led to my now-firm stance of the essentialness of appreciating other people, cultures, and their understanding of the world.
The books below impacted the books I have read since. My love for gentle sci-fi/fantasy started when I was nine. A book I read in my early teens set the stage for Quiet by Susan Cain, where I as a human made more sense. (Of course I had to read Reading People when it was released in 2017.) The themes in a favorite novel led me to another all-time favorite, the memoir Eat Pray Love, where Liz Gilbert sets out to discover herself and live a life of happiness on her terms. And another read started an intentional effort to pursue happiness and enjoy my life that continues today.
Here are 5 books that shaped me before I turned 30.
The books that shaped Shannan
Some links (including all Amazon links) are affiliate links. More details here.
The Happiness Project: Or, Why I Spent A Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun
Their Eyes Were Watching God
Little Pilgrim’s Progress: From John Bunyan’s Classic
Indian Captive: The Story of Mary Jemison
Personality Plus: How to Understand Others by Understanding Yourself
Have you read any of these books? What books have shaped you? Please share in the comments.
P.S. 7 books that will make you a better human and Science Fiction/Fantasy for beginners.
About the author
Shannan Malone is our MMD Cohost and What Should I Read Next? Patreon Community Manager. Her go-to genre depends on her mood! You can find Shannan on Instagram @shannanenjoyslife.
51 comments
I relate to some of the background and temperament you share here. I have noticed I often resonate with the books you share here, maybe that’s part of why! Loved Their Eyes Were Watching God. Hinds Feet on High Places was a book that was influential for me.
Julia, I also read HINDS FEET ON HIGH PLACES a few times. Thank you for reading and commenting.
Little Pilgrims Progress! I love this book. A book that has had significant impact Is the Marriage Builder by Larry Crabb. This isn’t just about marriage it’s about communication and feelings. I wish I had read this when I was raising my children.,Teaching and practicing the concepts these skills could have impacted our adult lives and relationships,
A good friend gifted the book Hinds Feet in High Places to me years ago. Powerful story that introduced allegory in the Bible to me.
Wow, Shannan. This is a great idea and your list of books is thought-provoking and revealing. I immediately want to start my own list as a tool to understand myself. I love to think about these things; I often think of books that have impacted me. The first one that comes to mind is A Severe Mercy by Sheldon Vanauken, an intense examination of love and faith. I will be working on my list of five influential books, just like I am always thinking about three books I love, one book that didn’t work for me, and what I am reading now. Thanks.
You’re welcome, Heather. I’m curious what would be on your list. Thank you for commenting.
A Severe Mercy also impacted me in big ways. I’ve read it multiple times, and I am changed in different ways each time.
❤️
Thank you for the heart!
What a great idea! I’ve often thought about books that were formative in youth/ high school. Thanks for sharing your story Shannon!
I love the idea behind this series! I have never thought about books that shaped me, or how they created pathways for the reader I am today. Charlotte’s Web would definitely be one on my list. I hope there are more of these! This was a great list Shannan, with beautiful insight.
Thank you, Jenny!
Amen to that!
Thank you for such a positive post about your childhood and the “restriction” you had with what you were allowed to read. When I hear a young person complain that they can’t read the newest fiction (because mom says no) it’s always fun to point them to books like you suggested. Some great book choices that I am adding to my TBR.
I love this Shannan! I was a quiet child who loved reading as I grew up. I distinctly remember being in elementary school and riding my bike to our local library over one summer and voraciously reading as many biographies in the children’s section as I could! 2 of my very favorite childhood reads are A Little Princess and The Secret Garden which I still have on my home library shelves.
Yes, Anne B., these are 2 of my all-time favorite reads, as well!
What a great idea, Shannan. In August, I am meeting with several women I haven’t seen since we graduated from high school in 1982. I just texted them and asked them to be prepared to talk about at least one book that shaped who they are today. I think this will be a great ice breaker and help us have insight into each other right away. Thank for sharing your idea with us.
That is a lovely icebreaker, Jackie. Thank you for commenting.
Great idea! I’m going to ask the book clubs i’m in to do this too!
Shannan – Thank you for this post and for being comfortable sharing yourself with this group. I love your choices – I remember reading Quiet by Susan Cain and having an “aha moment.” Will need to think more about the books that shaped me.
Ditto this post!
Shannan, I love this idea of the books that have shaped our lives. Thank you for sharing your five books. I smiled when I saw Little Pilgrim’s Progress and Christiana. This is the favorite book of my 8-year-old granddaughter, and she wanted to read it to me. We spent a year reading it together. Each week we FaceTimed, and she read me a chapter or two. It was a bonding experience, and we are continuing our read-alongs, this time with The Hobbit.
Love to hear that Marcia. As Anne would say, Happy Reading!
We used to play this game in graduate school. It breaks me that I always have to start with Ernest Hemingway’s For Whom the Bell Tolls. Reading that really showed me how to read literature and set me on the path of my English degrees. This from the head of the Graduate Student Feminist Network! (I contain multitudes!)
I love this idea so much! Reading has been a part of my life as long as I can remember (when I was five, I took the Dr. Suess book “Hop on Pop” to a baseball game in case I was bored.) Books have always been a gateway to other lives and I have been shaped by so many of them.
You’ve inspired me to do this as well, but I think I will pick several (5?) books from each decade of my life. I can see how each season was shaped by the books I read and I think this will highlight so many things. From finding Sherlock Holmes in the “grown-up” section of the library when I was 10 – which sparked my love of British literature, mysteries, and psychology; to reading Anne’s book “I’d Rather Be Reading” in my 30’s and realizing I’m not the only one.
Thank you so much for sharing!
I love this post, Shannan, and, like others, it’s making me think about what books shaped me growing up. I always liked the comfort of series books, and I read a lot of Nancy Drew and all of the Little House on the Prairie books. Judy Blume was another go-to for me. And then in my early 20s I read Bridget Jones. Seen through my own lens, I feel like I’m drawn to strong, independent and flawed female narrators. I also loved Eat, Pray, Love and admired her courage to go out on her own; similar to the Under the Tuscan Sun memoir.
Your mention of the Newberry award makes me think that might be a fun reading project – reading through the list by decade, or something similar.
I started casually collecting Newbery Awards a few years ago. It’s a really interesting list over the year.
Jen, do you pick at random? I was thinking of starting with my birth year, and then going forward a decade with each book – to see how writing has changed over the years.
Thank you for this post! I will be thinking about which books shaped me now. We had a copy of Little Pilgrim’s Progress at home when I was growing up and I loved it, especially the part with Christiana and Greatheart. I had forgotten about that book until now (can I plead that it was in the 70s?). I read a lot of Lois Lenski, too. My dad preferred for us to read non-fiction but didn’t forbid fiction. I loved discovering the wealth in our local library and it’s still one of my favorite places.
Quiet also helped me understand the whole realm of what an introvert experiences. I have more on my TBR now.
This is a wonderful list, and a wonderful idea. Narrowing it down to five must have been very difficult. I have a small shelf in my library with the 13 books that most influenced me as an adult, though I could probably expand it to 20. Most of them are books that made me aware of an issue, like “Stamped from the Beginning”. “Quiet” changed my life and I’ve sent it to several introverts who needed it; no surprise that “Island of the Blue Dolphins” was one of my favs growing up. “Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood” – I’ve read that at least 10 times; probably due for another reading.
I also grew up in a religious household, and I feel like an alien in my family, so this really resonated with me. This phrase specifically spoke to me: “I also got it into my head that happiness was a thing that might elude me for the rest of my life. I escaped into books, dreaming of a different life.” You perfectly described the feeling I had all through my childhood. Luckily, my parents didn’t limit my reading much, and I spent hours in my room lost in a novel. It’s how I got through it. Your essay made me feel seen. Thank you for this wonderful idea and this beautiful essay. It’s what I needed today.
I’ve read everything I could ever find on Mary Jemison!
I loved Indian Captive, too, and read it several times as a child. I read it a few years ago and found it just as terrific. My favorite books growing up were the Little House books and I’m still drawn to series today.
Thank you so much, Shannan, for sharing your story and your book influences. I love hearing your perspective, and I’m glad you found books to give you some light in dark places. I’m going to have to think hard about what books most influenced me. As a kid I read constantly – Little House on the Prairie series, Anne of Green Gables, Encyclopedia Brown and Trixie Belden gave me my love for mysteries which still persists today, later, Jane Austen and PG Wodehouse. I could go on and on.
I love this fantastic idea of yours – I can’t wait to see the other choices by the rest of the staff!
Judy Blume taught me everything. She had a book called Letters to Judy which covered lots of hard subjects and she answered so amazingly. I’ve read A Tree Grows in Brooklyn every summer since I was 13 and I’m almost 50 so that book has been with me through it all.
I’ve always felt Francie Nolan and I would have been friends.
Thanks for sharing so much of yourself, Shannan. It’s making me think more of my formative books.
Shannan,
I read numerous biographies of Americans in my middle school years.This included men and woman. My favorites are The Little Maids of various cities during the Revolution. (Alice Turner Curtis)
In high school I started “How to “ books. It helped with getting organized. Somewhat?
I’m excited to read this series! I also loved the Happiness Project and I really resonate here with Shannan’s desire to understand herself better. I too felt a sense of otherness while growing up and reading books helped me see that there are others like me in this world. Fantastic idea and post!
Shannan,
Your thoughtful contributions to the forums and discussions always give me pause and create space to reflect. Your idea for this series is no exception. Thank you for sharing such a personal glimpse into your reading life. I need to give some thought to my formative 5 now and also pose the question to my reading friends!
Love the theory here! In May I chose themes for the summer months and July is personality and character traits. The Happiness Project is on my list!
I love this topic. “it planted the tiny mustard seed of an idea that I could live my own life in a way that I wanted to.” Personally, I search out books like this now. Books showing a different way to live, but the ones that shaped me most, I have a page in my book journal that is titled “Non-Fiction that has shaped my thoughts”, here, though, I will include Fiction in my top five. “Bluest Eye” Toni Morrison (how everyone carries pain and expectations of oneself and so much more); “Golden Notebook” Doris Lessing (how we have different parts of ourselves and how they come together); “Discrimination by Design” by Leslie Kanes Weisman (I’m an architect and this opened my eyes to how the built environment shapes us); “A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future” by Daniel Pink (similar to how Quiet also shaped me – the way I am and think is okay…it’s not better or worse, it’s just different); “A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose” by Eckhart Tolle (I feel I most learned to let go of my past and be open to the future, which was key when i read it right before I sold my home (my sanctuary) and moved in with my future husband – now married 16 years.). Currenting reading “The Perfectionist’s Guide to Losing Control: A Path to Peace and Power” by Katherine Morgan Schafler and learning new things about myself and how I think.
I love hearing your reading story, Shannan, and of course seeing your 5 influential books. The Happiness Project was influential to me too. I took a year a few years ago to create my own “project” based on her book. I continue to resonate with all Gretchen Rubin’s books. I’ve had “Their Eyes Were Watching God” on my tbr list for a long time. I need to bump it up higher!
Love this post and list!! Thank you!
Thank you, Shannan! I love this post. I definitely plan to check out your picks, especially Quiet. My first pick would be Miss Twiggley’s Tree by Dorothea Fox. I was very shy as a child and so is Miss Twiggley until a natural disaster happens and she forgets to be shy because she is so busy helping others. Another is The Hobbit which my 15-year old brother read to me and my younger brother. It’s such a fond memory. When I think back, I wonder how many 15-year olds would spend that kind of time with their siblings. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is another because it was one of my mother’s favorites and I felt such a connection with Francie and her love of reading.
This is a beautiful, informative post. Thank you for sharing, Shannan.Like others have said, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn was my favorite growing up, along with The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings. Growing up in a rural area, books opened my eyes to adventure and possibilities.
Thank you so much for sharing this post. It was beautiful, touching, and informative. I love to learn more about the wonderful people who run this book loving community.
I am also a melancholy and I can relate to much of what you have shared here. What a great idea for a series; thank you for sharing your personal story. I’m looking forward to reading the books on your list ❤️
What a great series! I loved hearing about the books that shaped you and why. From a fellow melancholy, thank you for reminding me of some of the books that have shaped me. I have big 0 birthday this year and I’m thinking a Happiness Project of my own might be in order. It’s been years since I’ve read it.
Shannan, what a great post. I feel like I know you better and I’m trying to follow your example and figure out what books have shaped me as well. Thank you for sharing this.
This series is a great idea, and I look forward to other MMD people sharing. I like knowing more about the MMDers–I’m kind of nosy! A few years ago, Anne had a guest on WSIRN who did a podcast called Five Things on Louisville Public Radio. The point of the blog was to share five things that define the person who was interviewed and what can be learned from those things. I found the podcast and listened to many of the episodes. You thought deeply about the books that define you and what you have learned–I really appreciate your honesty and thoughtfulness.
Comments are closed.