The Books that Made a Difference to Me

Reading has been a part of my life in so many ways, and not just because I read for fun or majored in English at Xavier. I remember very clearly my parents reading to me and my brother every night before we went to bed. Even more vivid than that are my memories of talking about books with my grandmother. She works in a library, which used to be her childhood home, and I owe a lot of my love for books and writing to her.

With the foundation she helped me build, I was able to explore a very vivid, fascinating world, all in pages of the various books I read. Here are the six books that made a difference in my life.

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn-Betty Smith

I remember reading this book as a summer reading assignment in high school and I loved it more than any book I read my four years at Holy Family. The sweeping epic that was sad, scary, and tragic as well as fascinating completely captured me. I've been meaning to reread it now that it's been almost ten years. I hope I love it even more.

The Rapture of Canaan- Sherri Reynolds

One of my favorite classes at Xavier was Faith and Doubt in Modern Literature. This book was one of our assignments and I absolutely loved it. I was absorbed in the idea of the occult and I zipped through this book in about two nights. The words were like songs, our heroine was brave and admirable, and I still think about this book from time to time.

Eat, Pray, Love- Elizabeth Gilbert

Rarely am I ever moved to tears by a book, and it's even rarer for me to highlight part of a book, but both occurred while reading this memoir of a woman who goes across the world to find herself. There's been a lot of EPL hate since it's release, but I find it all to be circumstantial and from people who clearly haven't read the book. I go back over it again and again to hear Liz's thoughts on love and God and I feel like she is one of those rare people who really understands the mental turmoil of women who weren't born to lead that average life.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows- J.K. Rowling

Scoff all you want, but this book represented a lot for me. It was the end of my childhood, since I essentially came of age with Harry, Ron, and Hermione, as well as the end of a publication phenomenon that I shared with the world. Aside from the abstract, personal reasons that I loved this novel, I was completely floored by its message of love, it's Christian symbolism, and the fact that an elf died and I sobbed for a full five minutes about it. Thank you, JK Rowling! You are my childhood. I read this book my sophomore year of high school and it was the first time I remember getting in a heated debate with an idiotic classmate over the moral center of the book. I figure if the book made me mad enough to actually talk about it in class, it must truly be a classic. Steinbeck has such a way with words and plot that it's hard for to grasp that this came from one man's imagination.

Of Mice and Men- John Steinbeck

I first read this book as a sophomore in high school and it was my first memory of ever correcting someone who said something idiotic in class. I know that sounds harsh, but in reality it was one of the first books to make me see morals as something of a grey area. A sure sign of a good book is one that makes you think. Steinbeck's style seems flawless and effortless. His knack for a story layered with meaning and poignancy is enviable to say the least.

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close- Jonathan Safran Foer

My friend Clay recently called this book "the saddest book in all of history." Though this is a debatable statement, his sentiments are spot on. The story of a little boy who lost his father in the 9/11 terrorist attacks, but is determined to find the key to his mailbox, is told in undertones of great sadness. The importance of Foer's work is not how sad it makes you, but how it captures the feelings of an entire nation in a little boy.