What Books have Impacted you?

A recent Facebook post challenged me to list ten books that have impacted me. Fortunately, there was no requirement to explain why you had been impacted. Here's my list, which is not in any particular order, and which is not complete. The Power of one, by Bryce Courtenay Don Quixote de la Mancha, by Miguel de Cervantes Shibumi, by Trevanian The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, by Robert Robert Heinlein The Honor Bound series, by W.E.B. Griffin Les Miserables, by Victor Hugo From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, by E.L. Konigsberg My Side of the Mountain, by Jean Craighead George The Immigrants Saga, by Howard Fast Winds of War and War and Remembrance, by Herman Wouk All Creatures Great and Small, by James Herriot. Mere Christianity, by C.S. Lewis Money, Possessions, & Eternity, by Randy Alcorn. Okay, I cheated. That's more than ten. The powerful impact that two of those books had on me came back to me as I wrote the list - Mixed Up Files and My Side of the Mountain. Both of those are kid's books, but I can still remember how I felt when I read them, approximately 1.2 million years ago. I decided that the thing to do was right to Jean Craighead George and E.L. Konigsberg and say "thank you." Sadly, both of those authors have passed away in the past two years. I'll never have the chance to say thanks. I looked through my list and quickly determined that the authors of 10 of my 11 favorite books have passed away. See if you can see the one that remains. My challenge is for you to write to your favorite author, not to request an autograph, but to say thank you. If your favorite isn't alive, write to your English teacher, or to the librarian who introduced you to those books. We are in debt to anyone who introduces us to a writing that impacts us.