Some authors are like home, you know that they are always going to be there for you. When you are sad, or happy, or nostalgic, you can always pick them up and enjoy them. I am pretty picky about what books get space on my bookshelves. To get on the shelf they have to meet one of two criteria: 1. I know I will reread them. 2. I want to be able to loan them out to friends. So you know if it is on my shelf, it has got to be good. I have a few authors who's entire compendium is on there, and I want to share them with you today.
Tamora Pierce: I started reading the Alanna series when I was maybe 9 or 10 and discovered that heroines could really could kick butt. I remember very distinctly wanting to dye my hair red, and when I got contacts I pleaded with my mother to get purple tinted ones. But one of my favorite things about Alanna is that she was a real woman, she made mistakes, she fell in and out of love (no fairytale romance), and she was tough! I followed all of the Tortall books and still read them as a new one comes out. Every once and a while I go back and read some of the original quartets and am reminded of the amazing female characters that Tamora Pierce created that helped me discover who I wanted to become.
Louise Rennison: From her first mishaps with boys, I have loved Georgia Nicholson. I can't tell you how much I learned from that girl over the years (to this day, I refuse to wear fake eyelashes for fear that I will glue my eyelids together). These are the first books I can remember laughing out-loud to, I vividly remember riding the bus and having an old man look back at me and smile. Anytime I feel like I have really screwed something up, I read Georgia's diaries and I remember that it could totally be worse! At least I haven't gone to a party as a stuff olive, or worn shoes so small that I had to be taken to the hospital to had them cut off, or bleached my hair to the point that it breaks off in my hand as I run my fingers through it. Anytime you need a laugh, Louise Rennison is there waiting for you.
Jane Austen: I don't care if it makes me a stereotypical girl, but I love Jane Austen! I think my mom gave me Pride and Prejudice when I was about 12 and I was gone. I love her books with a passion. Sometimes I wonder if there is something wrong with girls that love Mr. Darcy (since he really is just a huge jerk for most of the book) but then I remember that what I read doesn't define who I am. I love each of her books in a special way. My favorite changes with each reading (and I should admit that I love the zombie version almost as much as the original!). No girls' night is complete without watching some version of Pride and Prejudice and love story is complete without a little something from Jane Austen.
Who are the authors who have touched and shaped your life?