When I think back on my childhood, I remember reading a lot. Books were always around the house, but I especially remember really working hard at the library summer reading program. I have great memories of Frog and Toad and choose-your-own-adventure books. But like many teenage boys, I didn’t keep up the habit as much when I entered high school. I was surprised to realize so many of the books that shaped me came from that same period.
I had great reading role models growing up. My dad was a huge reader. We always had books at home for all ages and genres and interests, from illustrated classics to the hardback classics that came in those boxes from some mail order subscription. I also had two friends that were great about sharing books with me. I think this led to me being pretty open to a strong recommendation. As a result, my current reading life includes a lot of variety.
Nowadays I gravitate towards outdoorsy books, gritty mysteries, and nerdy nonfiction. Looking back, I see the origins of those preferences in the books I’m sharing with you today. However, if someone I trust recommends it to me, I’ll also read literary fiction, sci-fi, and the occasional romance or fantasy.
Most of the books I’m sharing today are genre-specific, getting at the roots of my love of a particular type of book. There are also some turning-point books that changed my view of what reading could be and how I thought about my reading life. For that, I’m thankful for these books that shaped me.
The Books That Shaped Will
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I can’t recall if this play was assigned in the same English class as Hamlet or recommended by a nerdy friend with a built-in bookshelf in his closet. However I came to it, this work of wit and humor with a touch of philosophy spoke to my angsty, faux-intellectual teen self. A retelling of Hamlet where Rosencrantz and Guildenstern (minor characters in the play) take center stage, this unusual vantage point validated my confusion around what happened in Hamlet. I especially appreciated the jester-like qualities of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern who also wonder what is happening with all of the main characters. I still look for that combination of smart and silly both in books and movies. (I must credit that same friend with introducing me to Where Is Joe Merchant by Jimmy Buffet with its similar wit, humor, and everyman’s wisdom.) More info →
In What Should I Read Next #61: When the plot comes full circle…, I shared about the time I just. had. to. finish. The Firm. Mitch McDeer (played by Tom Cruise in the movie) is out to become the youngest partner at his Memphis firm, but his first day on the job he attends the funeral of two would-be colleagues who died in a scuba diving accident. As he witneses more and more “coincidences,” Mitch starts to wonder what’s really going on at work and then gets approached by the FBI to help them gather evidence against his firm that’s actually a front for the Morolto crime family. Things are quiet and kind of creepy for three hundrediish pages before the firm finds out Mitch is working with the Feds. Then the book ends in what feels like a literal foot chase over the last 100 pages (that I read in one sitting). I still love a propulsive plot, whether in a legal thriller, spy novel, or mystery. As a bit of a slow reader, I love finding a book that keeps me engaged and eager to keep reading. More info →
Dirk Pitt was the first action hero I spent any significant time with. He’s a Jason Bourne–Indiana Jones–MacGyver type with the slightly too memorably unique name. This is the fourth book in this adventure series, but it’s the one that really sticks with me. The US government is after a precious mineral thought to only exist in any significant quantity aboard the RMS Titanic. They task Pitt and his crew with finding it, literally raising the massive ship to the surface and then towing it to shore to search for the missing mineral (based on current theories of the wreck since this was a decade before the ship was actually found). Along the way, there’s double crossing, international intrigue, and danger on the high seas. I still like a too-good-to-be-true hero in a long-running series that I can fall back on any time I’m feeling a bit stuck in my reading life. I’m all caught up on the Cork O’Conner series but I’m still following along with Alex Carter, Anna Pigeon, Joe Pickett, and Walt Longmire. More info →
I’m not sure if this is the first Navy SEAL memoir but it was definitely the first I read. Marcinko is brash and full of himself but he’s definitely got the stories to back it up. During the Vietnam War, he led the most successful SEAL operation in the Mekong Delta and ran a rescue mission during the Tet Offensive, then followed up his deployments by advising on the Iran hostage crisis and was later named the first commanding officer of SEAL Team Six, the top counter-terrorist fighting force. While the general vibe of these types of memoirs is “let me amaze you by how tough I am,” I tend to gravitate towards memoirs and military histories that go beyond that. Some notable mentions from the past few years include Fearlessby Eric Blehm, Unbecomingby Anuradha Bhagwati, Black Hawk Down by Mark Bowden, and Where Men Win Glory by Jon Krakauer. More info →
Thank you to that one English teacher who let me come in during his free period and admit that I was completely lost. This family drama had too much palace intrigue and madness for me to follow. I still remember the line my teacher explained that made it all click for me—it being Hamlet, Shakespeare, and the idea that books might be saying more than what’s right there on the page: “I am but mad north-north-west. When the wind is southerly, I know a hawk from a handsaw.” More info →
What a page-turner! This eco-thriller is one of the first books that I specifically remember the ending of. What a surprise to think, “whoa, that’s more than I bargained for.” I think most people are familiar with the story and the way scientific hubris creates chaos (or maybe can’t overcome chaos) courtesy of the film franchise. But the book includes a small nugget (maybe an epilogue) that’s not included in the movie. While it doesn’t add much to the plot, I remember feeling like it cast a different feel over the whole book. I still gravitate towards books with these very science-y themes in science fiction, like Crichton’s books The Andromeda Strain and Westworld, and even non-fiction books, like The Demon in the Freezer by Richard Preston and Worm by Mark Bowden. More info →
What books have shaped you? Have you read any of these? Please tell us in the comments section!
