13 Books

Came across this particular "tweet" on the social platform formerly known as Twitter labeled 13 books to understand me. I knew I had to write about this since books have been a major aspect of my life since I was 4 years old. They were my saving grace on dark days. 

But the real challenging question is, what books? With a lot of thought, here are mine.

1. Matilda by Roald Dahl - I totally saw myself in Matilda growing up: a different kid who loved books but wasn't really understood by those around her, except for a select few.
2. Chocolate Fever by Robert Kimmel Smith - I was a chocoholic as a kid and still am to this day. It was a great tale to my young mind on what could happen when you ate too much chocolate. 
3. The Silver Wolf by Alice Borchardt - I have always loved fantasy and learning about the past as well. I discovered this book when wandering through my local library, it had me hooked. I could see myself in the main character: a girl different from her family who just wanted to be herself and be loved.
4. Calvin and Hobbes comic collection books by Bill Watterson - This comic always made me laugh and still does. Calvin is a kid with a wild imagination & just wants to have fun with his friend Hobbes. One should always be able to use their imagination to enhance the world around them.
5. Mummies and Cursed objects - This is not it's actually title, more of an overview of the contents of a book that I check out so many times as a kid. I was fascinated by mummies and mysterious objects. Still am as an adult.
6. Teen Witch by Silver RavenWolf - This particular book was the opening that lead me to my spiritual path.  I had borrowed it from a classmate in the 9th grade for a research project and it seemed to turn a light on in my brain.
7. The Joy of Signing by Lottie L. Riekehof - I saw a group of individuals using sign language when I was on a train trip with my family.  I thought it was the coolest thing I had ever seen and wanted to learn more.  This was my first book of American sign language & still sits on my bookshelf today.
8. Summon the Keeper by Tanya Huff - This book was gifted to me by my best friend and it made me laugh so much.  I can quote parts of the book to this day and even after reading it dozens of times, it still makes me laugh.
9. Encyclopedia Britannica - Okay, I am going to date myself with this book, but I had a set of these growing up.  I did use them for schoolwork, like most kids, but unlike my fellow students, I enjoyed reading the different entries. Any subject or question that popped into my little mind, I could find an answer to it within the covers of the different volumes.
10. Mysteries of the Unknown by Time-Life Books - Again, several of the books in this collection were on the shelves of my childhood home.  They held information that, to most people, was weird and a bit odd.  Which was perfect for me since the weirder something was, the more it fascinated me.  It still does to this day.   
11.  The First North American books by W. Michael Gear and Kathleen O'Neal Gear - this series focuses on the different times of the native people of North American.  I have a big appreciation for Native American cultures and this particular fiction series spins fascinating tales while giving piece of historical past.
12. The dictionary & thesaurus - I realize that these are technically two books but many of the bigger (and better dictionaries) are thesauruses too.  As a writer, I love words.  I like using words that aren't used as often in every day life.   I like finding better words to take the place of the common ones.
13. The Elemental Masters series by Mercedes Lackey - This is a collection of different books but what I really enjoy about them is the way she takes the fairy tales that I enjoyed growing up and giving a new and different spin.  I like it when authors take something common that we all know and give it a twist.

So, what books would you share with others that would give them a better idea about you?