10 Book Challenge

A friend of mine posted this on Facebook the other day and I love the idea of thinking about which books have impacted me, so I'm doing it! My list is below, in no particular order because that would be too difficult for me - I had a hard enough time getting this list together and limiting it to 10 books! Obviously, since my training and career focus is in early childhood and elementary education some of the books that have formed who I am are children's books.

Here's the original task: List 10 books that have stayed with you. They don't have to be great works, just the ones that have touched you and changed you and your outlook on life. 

1. Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
2. For One More Day by Mitch Albom
3. Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong by James W. Loewen
4. Owl Moon by Jane Yolen
5. Where The Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
6. The Witches by Roald Dahl
7. The Pokey Little Puppy by Janette Sebring Lowrey
8. Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
9. Night by Elie Wiesel
10. The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo

I'm going to take it one step further and list 10 additional books that are on my 'must read' list that I know have had a major impact on some of my friends. Here goes:

1. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
2. 1984 by George Orwell
3. A Thousand Years Over a Hot Stove: A History of American Women Told Through Food, Recipes, and Remembrances by Laura Schenone
4. Sarah's Key by Tatiana d Rosnay
5. Loving Frank by Nancy Horan
6. Generation Me: Why Today's Young Americans Are More Confident, Assertive, Entitled - and More Miserable Than Ever Before by Jean M. Twenge
7. The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara  Kingsolver
8. The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make A Big Difference by Malcolm Gladwell
9. Run Like a Girl: How Strong Women Make Happy Lives by Mina Samuels
10. Love Walked In by Marisa de los Santos

Feel free to share some of the titles that have impacted your life! I'm also on Goodreads so feel free to follow me on there if you feel so inclined. I'd love to be book buddies! :) I'm excited to cross off some of the books on my "to-read" list this year. Especially since one of my goals for this year is to come up with a sustaining book club! 

Update: Check out this list from Scholastic's On Our Mind blog of "The Best Books of 2013: A Round Up of the 'Best of' lists". Worth a peek, especially if you're searching for book suggestions!