While having dinner recently with a new friend, I was asked the question “what book has been most influential in your life.” I honestly don’t remember what I said, but probably something about “Loving the Classics.” Later that evening though, I really started to think about what books have meant a lot to me.
And it was very….very…..difficult.
Let me start with what I liked to read as a kid. “Peanuts” comic books…or maybe a “Family Circus” comic book every now and then. That was pretty much it. Moving into Middle School….I did enjoy reading “Encyclopedia Brown” books and “Choose Your Own Adventure” books. But again…rarely did I venture towards anything else.
By the time I got into High School??? Well….lets just say I was lucky if I even took the time to read the menu at a restaurant.
It wasn’t until I was a senior in High School that I started to enjoy reading. I took a couple of general English classes that year that built up my interest. One class was called “Biographies” and the other was “Mysteries.” Both of them encouraged us to read and then write about what we had read. Suddenly I was delving into worlds that I never even knew existed. Some of them fact and some of them fiction.
And that is when my love of reading began!
But that brings us back to the question, what book(s) has meant the most to me or influenced my life the most dramatically.
Below is a collection of books that I deem as being the most important in my life (so far). It may not be the list that you are expecting….but I took this compilation very seriously. Books can mean so many different things to each and every one of us….and every one of these books has played a vital role in my development as both a reader and as a writer.
If you have any questions about any of them….just let me know. I will be more than happy to discuss them at great length! And….if you have not had the privilege of reading them…..I recommend that you check them out! You won’t regret it!
Scott Booker 
Scott