#willow's tea

Anyway, I hope she gets it in time. i paid for tracking, and it says estimated delivery on the 12th.

Tagged by @veilingofthesun to share 9 books that changed me personally. These aren't ranked per se. I didn't want to get overly personal and sappy but I carry parts of all of these works in my heart. It was hard to choose some of these. Some of these have a place in time, while others carried over into multiple parts of my life. I think it would have been easier to give a list of 9 books I love.

Graceling Realm by Kristin Cashore

This series got me out of my fear of reading more grown-up/teen books, and also introduced me to many ideas. I've been following Cashore's blog for years and her methods have truly convinced me that her books aren't just literature, they're art. There's something else off the page happening here. I feel like I can see the author exploring life through her books and her themes and her characters. Jane, Unlimited is one of my all-time favourite books and There is a Door in this Darkness had me in tears on a 7h bus ride last summer.

“Mercy was more frightening than murder, because it was harder.” ― Kristin Cashore, Graceling

2. Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien

I can never shake the feeling of finishing The Return of the King and feeling like something within me was deeply altered and would never feel the same again. Then I looked up and I was sitting in the hallway at school and my lunch was cold. One of the book series that made me want to write.

“In this hour, I do not believe that any darkness will endure.” ― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King

3. If/Then Script. Book by Brian Yorkey, songs by Tom Kitt

Fight me for putting this here if you dare. I carry the lyrics of this show in my heart. The messages found me at the right time in my life and I felt like the show was giving me a hug and telling me everything would be okay, even if things were hard and there were no right choices. If/Then makes me excited about the future (and a little stressed over choosing a quote for my graduation cap).

4. Warriors by Erin Hunter

This series carried me through elementary school. I had almost all of the books that I had found at garage sales and thrift stores, and I read them well past when I should have outgrown them. They were definitely one of the series that kept my love of reading alive

Special mentions to The New Adventures of Mary Kate and Ashley for being some of the only 'non-animal' books I read at that age as well. I was simultaneously reading as many books as I could and extremely picky about what I would pick up.

5. Inkheart by Cornelia Funke

Probably the first book that made me want to write. I remember getting so swept up in this world and having visions so clear I could see the faces of the characters as I read. I think it also felt special because I usually only read animal books or other world fantasies or fairy stories and this one too place in Europe and made the real world feel like a magical place full of adventure. It made the world feel like it was waiting for me to grow up and explore it (I'm coming world!).

“Some books should be tasted, some devoured but only a few should be chewed and digested thoroughly” ― Cornelia Funke, Inkheart

Special mentions for The Thief Lord. I need to reread this someday, but I still have quotes and scenes from that book come back to me every now and then. All of Funke's book were a bit darker than what I was accustomed to reading at the time, but they felt all the more real because of that.

“Children are caterpillars and adults are butterflies. No butterfly ever remembers what it felt like being a caterpillar.” ― Cornelia Funke, The Thief Lord

6. Road to Nowhere: What Silicon Valley Gets Wrong about the Future of Transportation by Paris Marx & Walkable City: How Downtown Can Save America, One Step at a Time by Jeff Speck

I've put these together less to "cheat" and add more books but more because I have the same things to say about both of them. They fundamentally changed how I view cities and urbanization. I read them after moving away from my hometown to a city where you can occasionally walk places if you live in one of 3 correct areas and being able to see the data behind what I was experiencing IRL (the freedom to go places, the health benefits of being able to go places, and having places to go that are not parking lots etc)

Should I shout out all of my favourite urbanism books here? The Death and Life of Great American Cities by Jane Jacobs, Confessions of a Recovering Engineer / Strong Towns by Charles L. Marohn Jr., Cities of Tomorrow by Peter Geoffrey Hall and many, many more. I expect these books to continue to influence me and have an impact on my life years into the future.

7. His Dark Materials by Phillip Pullman

The first book in particular is one I would describe as a part of my childhood. I was enamoured with the world of the book, with the movie, the Wii game, any content I could find surrounding it. I wanted to be BFFS with Lyra. I was entranced by the imagination Pullman had to create a world full of unconventional witches, armoured bears, and multiple dimensions. I cried many times during The Amber Spyglass. The whole ordeal with Lyra in purgatory and her parents fighting for her and that entire hair thing (!!! trying very hard not to spoil anything) hit me so hard. Another series I need to reread with my adult brain. With this one I can't really tell if I loved it so much it felt like a part of me or if it actually influenced anything beyond my answer to "what's your favourite book?". It's still something I feel like was a fundamental part of my childhood reading experience.

8. The Rights of Nature: A Legal Revolution That Could Save the World by David R. Boyd

I had to read this for a class, but I thought it was so smart. It answered a lot of questions I was having about how to legitimize the negative impacts of climate change outside of trying to quantify damages on the free market. If corporations can be considered people legally, why can't fish or bodies of water? This has influenced a lot of my essays since reading it.

9. Emma by Jane Austen