7 books that influenced me

Hello, I realised that once again, it's been far too long since I made a post here and just happened to come across a TikTok by user jgrrrnish about the books that made her. This got me thinking about the books that made and influenced me growing up and even over the last few years. So, after having a think back from my childhood onwards, I made my list of seven books, so welcome to:

7 Books that Influenced me.

This blog will go through chronologically the books that influenced me into reading more, writing, and starting the journey (that I'm still on) to find myself.

1. 'Mr Gum' by Andy Stanton

   'Mr Gum' is a series of eight children's books written Andy Stanton in the late 2000's, with the final book published in 2010. I got the first book in Primary school from my mum, who had bought it after seeing it in a bookshop with a 'Roald Dahl funny prize' note on the cover. Within the first few pages, I fell in love.

   Throughout my primary school years, I read these books cover to cover, multiple times, desperately waiting for each new book to release.

   When the last book, 'Mr Gum and the Secret Hideout' was released in 2010, I still remember heading straight to the school book fair, money in hand from my granda, specifically to get it, filled with a mix of emotions that this was the last book.

   With those mixed emotions, however, I still loved the book, which I still now feel to be a perfect conclusion to the series.

   Overall, these cleverness of the humour and worldbuilding of these eight books are what I feel in love with and remember even now. From biscuits rich beyond measure, a television show that was just a bag of sticks (with a name clever as it is obvious - 'Bag of Sticks', which was uploaded onto the official Mr Gum website at one point when I was a kid), to a mountain filled with goblins, who weren't actually goblins at all. As a child, I would read these over and over again, my laughter the same and steady with each reread, giving me several fond memories as I write this blog.

2. George's Marvellous Medicine

   Around the same time I was reading the 'Mr Gum' books, I received my first Roald Dahl book for my birthday. While now, I understand that Dahl himself has several issues that I won't get into here due to how much time it would take, as a child I was in awe of his writing and stories. 'George's Marvellous Medicine' was my first, with my mum reading it to me before bed most nights, before I ended up reading it myself.

   The book itself fascinated me for similar yet different reasons than the 'Mr. Gum' books.

   While yes, Dahl does use humour in his writing, it's different to Stanton's'. Stanton's' humour was absurd and more diverted humour, compared to Dahl's was more darker, such as having George manage to grow and shrink his granny by mixing medicine and other house hold items (which you shouldn't do at home) that his granny was probably consuming anyway. Why? Just because she was mean.

   It was this that allowed me to consider just what humour could be and do, particularly in children's books.

   'George's Marvellous Medicine' started (like Mr Gum did for Andy Stanton) a years long enjoyment of Dahl's books (which would eventually fizzle out over growing up and finding out about his views while alive). From 'Matilda', to 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory', from The 'Twits', to 'The BFG', I consumed all his books that I could. From these, I was influenced to not only consider how humour could be used, but also how certain ideas could be related and told to children. For example, 'George's Marvellous Medicine', while being a warning about not to mix or consume dangerous drugs or chemicals, also focused on how if someone is mean or makes you feel small, you don't have to just sit and take it (though maybe George took things a step too far).

   Overall, these books were influential to me by reinforcing the importance of humour to me, while changing what that meant, as well as how to relate different kinds of stories and confidence to Children.

3. Green Lantern: Blackest Night

   Taking a break from novels (and a departure from Children's books for a bit) to discuss a graphic novel close to my heart.

   I've always loved Superheroes, since, like many young kids, watching Batman and Spider-man cartoons on TV. I remember being eight and going to see Green Lantern at the cinema with my dad, which started my deep interest (occasionally obsessive) with the Green Lantern mythos.

   I had been wanting to start reading comics for a while since I got older and more interested with superheroes, so, a few years after seeing the movie, Green Lantern seemed like a safe place to start.

   So, downloading it on my kindle, I started reading (for better or worse) 'Green Lantern: Blackest Night.'

   While some of the tones may have been too dark in hindsight, the book itself is still one of my favourites to this day.

   Being introduced to the rest of the emotional spectrum corps (which my interest was built on further with 'Green Lantern: The animated series') and the world building from that, as well as the darker, more mature tone I was looking for now getting that bit older. As well as that, the graphic novel was, for eleven year old me, one of the first stories I read that focused on death - so definitely more mature. The world building, darker tone, and focus on various emotions grabbed my interest - particularly the blue lantern Corp of hope (role models who I still aspire to be like today). The combination of world-building, darker themes, and characters I loved like Batman, Hal Jordan's Green Lantern, and Firestorm, appearing in comics with characters I wanted to learn more about such as the Elongated Man, Hawkman and Hawkwoman, as well as John Stewart, Guy Gardner, and Kyle Rayner's Green Lanterns.

   The variety of these characters and their stories in tandem with how deep the lore of the DC universe ran helped inspire not only my love for comics by my love for writing as a whole. From this, I so deeply longed to create a universe with this much lore and history.

   Overall, who would have guessed that one poor adaption of a comic book character by Ryan Reynolds would spiral into something much deeper?

4. The Saga of Darren Shan

   Combining these last few entries to one of my favourites in this list now, I want to to talk about 'The Saga of Darren Shan'.

   'The Saga of Darren Shan' written by Darren Shan is a twelve-book series following a young boy called Darren Shan (how many times can I write this name throughout the post?) in his journey from regular boy to vampire.

   I first discovered these books in Primary 7, when our teacher read the first book to us in the class and, like the other books in this list, I immediately fell in love. The way Darren wrote and established his vampires and their rules was something I had never heard before, so was compelled by it. Alongside the reoccurring setting of the 'Cirque Du Freak' (a travelling freakshow run by the 'freaks' who are not only treated humanely, but also all have interesting abilities and characters, which Darren brilliantly adds for books that are only a couple of hundred pages.

   The books lore (which span twelve main books - all of which got a manga adaption - and four prequels, following Darren's mentor Larten), horror (while targeted towards kids, was well pulled-off), and characters (all of which with names as interesting as the rest of them) is large and detailed despite the length which is one of the reasons I fell in love with the series. Worldbuilding can be difficult to pull of, but to do it so easily in such short books is a skill I admire.

   The author himself, is also great at interacting with his audience - replying to posts about his books (including my own) and through the updates on his blog, where he'll run competitions for copies of his book. This is another reason why I'm regularly reading the books by this author (I'm now midway through his Demonata series for the first time, which I'm enjoying just as much) - because of how passionate he is with his fans and his books.

   The movie also got a movie adaptation back in 2009 with a great cast, such as John C. Riley, Willem Dafoe, Salma Hayek, Josh Hutcherson, Kirsten Schaal, and Ken Wantanabe. Unfortunately, the adaption isn't as great as the cast, with it trying to combine the first three books with parts of the last couple, into a movie that's under two hours long, with it being compared to adaptions such as the Percy Jackson movies. Although, with it being such an instrumental part of my childhood, I can't help but enjoy it, even a little.

5. The Princess Bride

   'The Princess Bride' is a phenomenal book with a phenomenal adaption. I think we can all agree with that going in, can't we? That will make this part even easier.

   I watched the movie a couple of years before reading the book. In fact, I didn't even know there was a book when I first watched the movie, only uncovering it during a trip to Waterstones (where I didn't hesitate to buy it).

   The book itself, I read during Lockdown (one of three I'll mention in this blog post), which seemed to be a good choice as during an unprecedented time (used in this blog solely because it seems synonymous with the pandemic at this point) and we all needed some light humour, so I'm glad I chose this book specifically. This was also an... interesting time for me. It was mid pandemic and while I always felt different and slightly alone, the pandemic brought this to new heights. At least before, I had school where I could see friends, or a couple of youth groups like Boy's Brigade where we would meet up in person, rather than staring at each other on screens. Outside of my family, I was somewhat alone for a bit, outside of a couple of friends, who had lives outside of me, and I needed something to keep me entertained, particularly since by that time, I mostly considered horror and superhero media, which seemed to be getting darker. This book gave me some light relief and hope (as well as some decent reading material) during that time.

   The book also reminded me of how humour could be good for stories and how it could be done right. I had wanted to be a writer for a couple of years at that point, first starting with poetry and had only just begun with short stories. While my poetry focused on nature and beauty, my short stories were mostly horror or thriller and I felt like I wanted to change that. This book I felt not only reminded me but also gave me permission to write sillier pieces again, which I didn't fully start until my time at uni a year later, but I had started in a smaller sense.

   This book reminded me that it was ok that love, joy, and humour were included in not only stories, but in life, and I hope one day to do the same.

6. Turtles All The Way Down

   This is another book I read during lockdown, which touched me for a different way than The Princess Bride did.

   In an attempt to keep myself busy during the pandemic and after receiving a letter writing kit for the previous Christmas, I signed up to a couple of pen pal sites. I made a few friends there - some of which I still keep in touch with today. One of them, who I still keep in touch with and care and appreciate deeply, sent me two books (and a beautiful notebook which I teared up after finally filling completely this year) for my birthday that year, all of which I treasure dearly.

   One of those was 'Turtles all the way down' by John Green.

   I read this, for the first time, during summer of 2020, not long after my birthday, and I couldn't have chosen it at a better time.

   I had never read John Green before, so wasn't sure what to expect. All I knew of him was the fact that 'Fault in Our Stars' would make everyone cry (which, I learned a few months later, would). However, within the first couple of chapters, I was in love. During this part of Lockdown, I was anxious pretty much all of the time, from when I woke up in the late morning, until I went to sleep late at night. No matter what I tried to change - my sleeping pattern, what media I consumed, what I ate, how much sunlight and fresh air I got - I still struggled. While this book didn't get rid of it, it did provide me comfort. The book follows Aza Holmes, a girl in her last year of high school who struggles with intrusive thoughts and OCD, following her and her one friend Daisy as she reconnects with an old childhood friend Davis. The book follows Aza not long after Davis' dad, a rich company owner goes missing, and her reconnection with her old friend that it sparks.

   This book was important to me because, while I don't suffer with OCD, Aza's struggles with anxiety and thought spirals were something I was familiar with and often struggled with - particularly while I was reading it. As well as this, I had felt her worry about everyone, about her friendship with Daisy, with her still being held, somewhat, in the past. This was one of the first times I felt seen by a book, the first time I could relate to a main character. It made me feel like maybe I wasn't so alone, and if I wasn't the only one to go through something like this, maybe it could get better, or at least, less lonely.

   In all, this book was important because while other books helped me see my potential, this book helped me see where I was starting from.

7. The Perks of Being a Wallflower

   This was the other book I got from my pen pal for my birthday, and this was also similar to 'The Princess Bride' where I watched the movie before reading the book.

   I find this to be important to me for reasons similar to 'Turtles all the Way down'.

   I was an anxious person well before that summer, but I was also quiet, nervous, usually sitting on the side watching (or reading) rather than leading the group or jumping first into crazy adventures. By the time I left school, I felt guilty about that.

   I finished school in 2020, going straight into lockdown. From the media I consumed growing up, I was lead to believe it would be the best time of my life, but there I was with it completely done and me left stuck in my room. It seemed, even with lockdown, everyone else was having adventures, seeing friends, even if was on a smaller scale, and there I was, mostly messaging first and hoping for a response. I began to hate myself for being quiet in school, for not being as confident as my peers seemed to be and I thought I'd screwed myself over for the rest of my life.

   Then I read 'The Perks of Being a Wallflower'.

   Like 'Turtles all the way down', I felt I could relate to the main character, Charlie. Charlie, like me, was an introvert. He was also starting a new chapter, however, while I was just finishing secondary education, he was just starting it. However, from that, I could see how I might actually be through his first year.

   Charlie, while a nervous introvert, eventually becomes friends with a group of seniors who were different to him, but understood him. Overtime, Charlie started to understand himself more from his friendships with the seniors, learning to participate but also that him being quiet and shy wasn't necessarily bad. His still keeps his hobbies, such as reading and writing, during the book. His confidence in himself doesn't mean he gives them up, instead he finds people who also likes them and they encourage each other to embrace them, such as his English teacher, Mr Anderson. He also branches out and tries new things with his friends, such as their Rocky Horror nights and fanzine. Charlie, becomes a deeper, more confident person, but he's still the quiet, thoughtful one by the end of the book. Charlie grows and changes, but he's also accepted for who he is. He became more confident, filled with more hobbies, but was allowed to remain the quiet, thoughtful person. Those weren't what was wrong with him, in fact, they helped him become who he was at the end of the book.

   It was from here that I started to accept that part of me too. Sure, I was quiet and a little awkward. But that doesn't mean all the bad parts I had considered about that were true. I learned to embrace this part of me so that I could one day have a growth like Charlie, and looking back on the last five years since reading that book for the first time, I feel like I have.

These seven books, while all so different, have made me who I am today and I'm so grateful to have stumbled upon them when I did. I've made my thoughts clear on destiny before, so I'm not sure if I was always going to become who I am, or if it was in any way thanks to these books (or maybe both), but I feel like with such an influence on my life, I do need to pass them on, because not only do I love them, but also in case I can help influence someone else's life positively with them. So, thanks for reading, and if you do decide to read these books, I hope you enjoy them as much as I have.