I’m always amazed at the power books have to suck me in and pull me into a world that is so different from my own. When I started at Scholastic, I learned about You Are What You Read. I loved the idea of making my Bookprint – a list of the 5 most influential books. When they told me I had to blog about my picks, the pressure was on!  I spent a lot of time debating which books to include on my list – there are so many books I love! After several drafts, and internal debates, and difficult eliminations, I finally narrowed down my list to 5 books.

I have to start with my favorite book – Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. Elizabeth Bennett is my all-time favorite literary character. She’s a woman who knows what she wants and isn’t afraid to go after it, regardless of what other people might think of her. She’s by no means perfect – she makes mistakes like everyone else, but she can accept her mistakes. She’s smart, strong, bold, and compassionate – she walks 3 miles in the rain and mud to visit her sick sister.

My second favorite book is Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird. There is a reason it’s the most listed book on the site – it’s timeless and powerful. I read this book in my 8^th grade English class. After finishing the assignment, I went out and bought a copy so I would have my own to reread over and over again.

 This may be cheating, but I couldn’t just pick one Harry Potter book – so I went with the collection (although if I was FORCED to pick my favorite, I think it would have to be Prisoner of Azkaban). I started reading the series when they first came out. I was 11 years old – same age as Harry. These books brought me into a world so magical (literally) and special. I was so entranced, the real world seemed to melt away. I grew up reading Harry Potter, went to several midnight book parties, and have read each of them multiple times.

I love the magical realism in One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. The way he connects different time frames and generations is amazing. Translated from Spanish, the book is so beautifully written, and the first sentence is one of my favorite opening lines in a book: “Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendía was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice.”

The last book on my list is Nancy Drew: The Secret of the Old Clock by Carolyn Keene. This was the first Nancy Drew book I read – and after that I had to read them all. I don’t know how old I was when I started reading them, but Nancy’s adventures sparked my interest in mystery books and movies. I loved reading mysteries and trying to solve the cases. After Nancy Drew, I moved on to Mary Higgins Clark books, Agatha Christie books, and so many others!

That’s my list! What’s yours? If you haven’t made a Bookprint yet, go to youarewhatyouread.com and get started on your list!