The 5* Books that Shaped Me

and made me want to be a published author

I’d seen these lists floating around Substack Notes and I almost decided to go ahead and leave my own list there but changed my mind. I wanted to share this with all of you as these books really are the reason why I want so badly to be a published author but not just any published author, one of mystery, and you’ll see why. So, without further ado, here is my list (in no particular order):

THE MURDER OF ROGER ACKROYD BY AGATHA CHRISTIE (1926)

Agatha Christie is known as the Queen of Crime and if you’ve ever read any of her books you’d know this to be true. This book in particular features a twist ending that I won’t spoil here. I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with this book and that’s why, of all the many other books I could’ve listed I chose this one intentionally. I love the concept and hate the delivery, mostly because of just how damn clever it is all the way around. Agatha Christie opened doors for women in mystery in ways no one has since. She is even better than the men in this genre and no one can argue otherwise. And what makes her unique is the fact that her storytelling withstands the test of time. Her work is relevant and popular today and it will be hundreds of years from now. She’s just that damn good. YAS QUEEN!

If I can write even one-tenth as good as she does with my own mystery writing endeavors (of which I have a few…) then I’ll count myself in good company and damn lucky.

LAMB: THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO BIFF, CHRIST’S CHILDHOOD PAL BY CHRISTOPHER MOORE (2002)

I am no comedian, but this was the book I picked up after I finished the Harry Potter series. I needed something I could read and not be terribly disappointed with and I had read something somewhere that suggested reading a comedy. I remember the day I did a google search and came across this gem. I laughed till I cried from cover to cover.

Now, I am a deeply religious person. If my life hadn’t taken such a tragic turn when my mother died I might very well have been a priest in the Episcopal church today. But life has a way of zigging when you’re just trying to zag. Even knowing that I want to say, if you are religious too, strap on in cause this one is amazing. It does an amazing job of just towing the line between being not quite that offensive to over the top hysterical. Some might take offense and if you think you might, don’t read it.

I chose this as a life changing book because of the profound effect it had on me after I read the last Harry Potter book which I stupidly thought had a PROFOUND effect on me. Yes, that series is one of the greatest of all time but I was proven just how wrong I was when I read this book and it made me question the very art of storytelling. Up until this point I hadn’t really read much comedic books. And to be honest, I still haven’t. I will only read Christopher Moore. Well, I take that back. I have read Terry Pratchett. But he’s the teacher whereas Christopher Moore is the student and I look forward to what comes next every time with his books.

THE BOOK THIEF BY MARKUS ZUSAK (2013)

Another tear jerker but for completely different reasons. There is something about Holocaust books that don’t seem like that is what they’re going to be on the surface but then you read it and your mind is absolutely blown. My mind with this book was absolutely blown. It’s one of those that was made into a movie but the movie could never in a million years do it proper justice. It just can’t. This is a book that you just have to read it.

I think what struck me most was the narrator of this book. I want to say but I wonder if it will be a spoiler? Then again, I just said it’s a WWII book so how spoiled can what I want to say be…damn it, okay…I’m going to say it! The book is narrated by “Death.” Man, I still get chills just thinking about it.

This is not a quick read by any means, although I remember I got through it in under a week just because I couldn’t put it down. I chose this book for one other reason besides how amazing it was and how it touched my soul and tore me apart inside. But it was one of the few where I decided I had to read more by this author because if this was that damn good then he must have others, right? Wrong. This book was a stark reminder to myself that just because you find someone who wrote that one good book doesn’t necessarily mean everything they write is going to be as amazing. :cough cough: Stephen King :cough cough:

I hope to one day write one great book that someone says after reading it, “wow, that was amazing.” But I’m not going to drive myself crazy expecting a winner-winner chicken dinner every time.

A IS FOR ALIBI BY SUE GRAFTON (1982)

This first book in the series, and the series itself holds a key memory for me. That memory involves my grandmother. One birthday I didn’t think I was getting anything. After years and years of getting spoiled by my grandparent’s with presents this was a blow for me. The reason I didn’t think I was getting anything was because that particular year I was going away to college and my grandmother, who never really had any money of her own, managed to pay for my housing to be held aside for me when I got there. It was $200 dollars. I’ll never forget that she paid for that out of her own allowance she got from her husband (my grandfather). But she wanted me to have something for my birthday. I still remember sitting at the dining room table and she’s sitting next to me after I blew out the candles for my birthday cake. She points her chin to a bad in the corner of the room. I grab it and it’s freaking HEAVY! I hoist it over to the table between us and she tells me these are for me. It’s A through N of the Sue Grafton series! Her copies. All first editions that she had purchased when they came out over the years. I have so many memories about this series. Starting with how I got them to my grandmother losing the jacket for N (which I refuse to buy and replace to this day), and my mom “borrowing” A when she went the hospital and losing it there (still a crushing blow that I never forgave her for when I had to replace it).

I even met Sue Grafton at a book signing when U is for Undertow came out. Had I known she would’ve signed all A through U that day I would’ve hauled all 100lbs of them on the train with me that day. I remember I said to her I would do just that at her next book signing. She said she wouldn’t do another until Z. And well…you know the rest. As her daughter aptly put it shortly after her mother passed away, “The alphabet ends with Y.”

When I think of a book and a series that had such a lasting effect on my life I can think of none more deeply embedded in different parts of my life than this series. Hands down.

ELOISE BY KAY THOMPSON (1955) & MADELINE BY LUDWIG BEMELMANS (1939)

These books take me back to my childhood. In fact, I still have my original of each book from when I was young, although I purchased new ones for my son to have. These were the entryway for my imagination. A sense of wonder and great storytelling. I wanted to write stories after reading Eloise and Madeline. I also wanted to be just as curious about the world as Eloise and a know-it-all savior like Madeline.

It would be later in life that I would read Kay Thompson’s autobiography about why she came up with Eloise. And how shocked I was to discover I had seen Kay Thompson before! I love musicals and she is in Funny Face, starring Fred Astaire and Audrey Hepburn.

Kay Thompson and Fred Astaire

Kay Thompson and Audrey Hepburn

My next installment next week I’m going to share five musicals that shaped my life in the most profound way as I turn this into a series that, when put together, will hopefully give you a better insight into me and where my inspirations for writing comes from.

*Okay, I know I listed 6 but I just had to! Sue me!