Before I realized THIS important day was upon us, I’d started writing another blog post about reading, so please indulge me this one now and another in the not too distant future.

HAPPY NATIONAL READ A BOOK DAY!

I was always a big reader. I was an only child, I was a shy kid, books were my friends. And they have continued to be important to me throughout my life. I had a period, I guess my “active mother” period, when most of the “reading” I was doing was reading captions of pictures in magazines, ha. But that was due to time constraints not lack of desire.

In honor of National Read a Book Day I thought I would share my Top Ten Favorite Books. Realize, of course, that many some have been forgotten by this point in my life, but I’ll do the best I can. And, I’m listing them as close to chronological as I can, not really in order of preference. That’s too hard. One of the privileges I enjoy as an adult is that I Don’t Have to Pick Favorites.

1. From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsburg. Like the next few books I read early on, I don’t exactly remember the story. What I remember is how it impacted my life. This book started my dream of running away, of hiding out overnight in a museum (or even better, in my version, a library). I remember so envying the characters their adventure and I longed to have one, too.

2. Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh. This one really impacted my life because I became Harriet. I became a spy, skulking around the neighborhood with my notebook and pen, writing stories from the little bits of lives I saw around me.

Sky rocket;: The story of a little bay horse Margaret Cabell Self 0396062075 9780396062073 Sky rocket;: The story of a little bay horse

3. Sky Rocket: The Story of a Little Bay Horse by Margaret Cabell Self, illustrated by Sam Savitt. If you were a horse girl, you’ll recognize the names of the author and illustrator. They are legend. I read this in my early teens. I don’t remember the exact story, what I remember was the emotion. The tears. The heartbreaking story of the courageous little horse. ‘Nuff said.
4. A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett. Oh, the drama! The tragedy! The unfairness! The tears (a common theme among my favorites)! I would imagine everyone knows the premise of the story: Wealthy Father leaves Beloved Daughter in the care of woman who runs a boarding school for girls and ends up treating BD horribly when WF passes away leaving BD penniless. But then! The magic! If you haven’t read it, you must. Even if you’re not a 12-year-old girl.
5. Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes. Oh, the heartbreak, the tragedy, alright, you get it. Remember Robert DeNiro’s character in the movie Awakenings with Robin Williams? That. Just 30 years earlier.
6. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.  I read this both as a high school student and as an adult…and it moved me both times. There’s a reason it’s a classic.
7. The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay. The lifelong story of a remarkable young man and the almost spiritual influence he had on the people in his life – both those who hurt him and those who helped him. I felt like I was reading about a modern-day Jesus.
8. All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr. Set in occupied France during World War II, it is the story of a blind French girl and a German boy whose lives entwine without their knowing and whose paths eventually cross.
9. The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah. Two sisters struggling to survive during World War II in France, and the very different ways they both go about it.
10. This is How It Always Is by Laurie Frankel. The story of a couple who, after four boys, were hoping for a girl. When the fifth child was a son, oh well, whatever. But at a very young age, the last son became aware of identifying as a girl. And the story tells how Claude/Poppy and the whole family dealt with that. This, of course, is a challenging situation, and the parents might have seemed just a little too good to be true, but. I loved them. I loved them all. It was SO beautifully written. At times it was almost lyrical, poetic. I cried, I laughed, it made me feel, it made me think – to me, the signs of a truly wonderful book.
I feel fortunate in that I could have easily done a list of my top TWENTY favorite books. I had to really edit down to keep it to ten. If you’ve read any of these, please let us know how you felt about them. And if you haven’t read any of them, I hope you give at least one a try.
One thing I have learned about myself in regard to reading is that it is not so much what the story is about…it’s about the style of writing. I used to limit myself to only certain subjects (contemporary tales of relationships). But I finally opened the door a crack and learned that, for me, the subject is secondary. A well-told story is a well-told story, no matter what it’s about.
So maybe today, in honor of National Read a Book Day, take a chance on something you wouldn’t normally gravitate towards and just see. 
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