The three most influential books in my life are: Something Wicked This Way Comes, by Ray Bradbury; The Lord of the Flies, by William Golding; and The Lovely Bones, by Alice Sebold.
Something Wicked This Way Comes is a novel that was given to me by my mother. Bradbury has a flowery, descriptive way of writing that I have found to be beautiful. He is also talented at writing spooky tales, which appeal to me. I am a fan of everything I have read of Bradbury's, but this is my favorite of his works.
The Lord of the Flies was part of my high school required reading. I was impressed by the fact that it was able to make such a great social statement while simultaneously conveying such beauty and character development. I couldn't put it down.
The Lovely Bones is one of my favorite books for pure enjoyment. It is one that I have read 5 or 6 times. I picked it up from a bestseller pile in a bookstore; I had never heard of it at the time. I love the way that the main characted is speaking from beyond the grave.
I think that I gravitate more toward the classics than the bestsellers. I find today's popular novels to be shallow in comparison to the classics, with little more to offer than a cheap thrill. Today's novels generally qualify as murder mysteries or medical thrillers. I prefer something with a little more meaning, a little more cryptic; I like to work a little harder to decipher what the author is trying to say.
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