Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books I Want My Future Heirs to Read

A meme from the Broke and the Bookish.

Top Ten Books I Want My Future Children to Read (Or nieces and nephews, Godchildren, etc.)

I feel like this is kind of phrased towards Children’s book but I’m leaning more towards the books that I think shaped me or at least showed me something about the world or myself. Also I chose heirs because I’m constantly joking about who will inherit all of our crap some day.

1. Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier – I keep meaning to reread this book because I can’t even really remember it anymore but I still feel like it left a mark on me, as a woman and as a writer. It was only after I finished the book I realized that you never learn her name.
2. Sunshine by Robin McKinley – I think a lot of her books share messages but I think this was the one that really made the connection for me. That love knows no boundaries. I have a theory that all of her books evoke a bit of Beauty and the Beast themes.
3. God Country – This book does a lot of things. I think it was the most that a book had touched me about the importance of family in a long time. As well as the idea of living with dignity.
4. Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine – Yes, there is a movie, it’s a guilty pleasure of a separate thing. Ella is the definition of free will. It’s not about rebellion, but about identity. Being yourself in spite of everyone else.
5. Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman – Because most of us will only ever be accidental heroes and because while I love a great many books, few make me taste language like this book.
6. Brimsby’s Hats by Andrew Prahin – Okay I’ll give you a picture book. Looking back at a lot of picture books we had as kids *cough*Rainbow Fish*cough* there were some messages that were a little weird. Brimsby is the hero and symbol of friendship and charity that we need. Giving of himself and of his skills freely.
7. Alanna: The First Adventure by Tamora Pierce – Because you’ve got to give your dreams a chance. Even when the world tells you know.
8. In the Hands of the Goddess by Tamora Pierce – Young love will take your breath away and the people in charge aren’t always right.
9. The Woman who Rides Like a Man by Tamora Pierce – The boy you always wanted isn’t necessarily the one for you. Also believe in change.
10. Lioness Rampant by Tamora Pierce – I think this one truly is a culmination but would be so weird without the others. There are all kinds of love and one does not negate the other.

(I know I beat The Song of the Lioness series like a dead horse, but I truly believe that no other series had quite the impact on my perception of life. Especially as I reread the books over the years and my age shifted to match Alanna’s and eventually surpass hers, how I saw her relationships changed drastically. There are so many gems in this series. There is a reason here I wanted to give them their own credit even if it meant I couldn’t feature as many.)