Anyway, I feel like there are SO MANY books that made a huge impact on me, but I’m only going to name a few.

Desert Dog, Lion Hound, Big Red—basically, all of the dog books by Jim Kjelgaard. I gobbled these up when I was little, and I attribute them to instilling in me my great love of dogs that persists today. (You hear that, naughty Ridgebacks? You owe Jim. Big time.)

(image from amazon.com)

Dune by Frank Herbert: No, I’m not a huge sci-fi fan, but wow—this book just amazed me. I loved the epicness of it, and it first introduced me to the idea of the “chosen one” in fiction. Really, no wonder I became such a rabid Buffy and Matrix fan later on.

A Wrinkle in Time: The first book that really drove the point home that love conquers all. Even on other planets. With large brain monsters.

Fletch by Gregory MacDonald: Oh my, how I love this book. Fletch was probably my first anti-hero—charming, dry, and majorly naughty. I credit this book with starting me on my love affair with mysteries.

(image from amazon.com)

Bridget Jones’s Diary: My first foray into chick lit. Awesomesauce. Probably the reason I like injecting a little humor into most of my writing. Plus, I’m pretty sure I quoted bits of this for years afterwards.

Brideshead Revisited: One of my favorite books of all time. The relationships, the humor, the tragedy as everyone struggled to reconcile their religious beliefs with their lives—it’s all so amazing.

Twilight: Okay, say what you will about sparkly vamps, but this is the book that got me writing again after a long hiatus. So I owe it a huge debt of gratitude. Good Vampire.

I could go on and on and on, but I won’t. Instead, please share books that changed YOUR life–I’d love to know!