I’ve always had a strong relationship with books.
When it comes to books I can’t pick just one. I’ve known so many and been changed, challenged, driven, and exposed by their stories. I’ve learned words and visited places curled inside the back seat of a car or tucked under the covers with a flashlight reading past my bedtime.
There are just so many stories.
But when I think of books that have changed me four come to mind: Little Women (L.M. Alcott), Passion & Purity (Elisabeth Elliot – really anything by her), A Room with a View (E.M. Forster), and Everyone Is Beautiful (Katherine Center).
A Room with a View is the book I call my favorite. There’s something about purple flowers, shaking off social conventions to embrace a laugh and love that draws me in and whispers life. There’s a message of freedom between the lines. It’s a story I clinged to in high school and has been a beloved favorite ever since.
But Little Women was my first unabridged read. I grew up reading the Illustrated Children’s Classics (you know, the books with a picture on every other page), but Louisa made it feel safe to jump from the condensed classics to the full.
I first read Little Women in middle school and have reread it multiple times since, as well as Alcott’s short stories and her “racy” novel, A Long and Fatal Love Chase. I’m currently reading Little Men.
Little Women changed my life, because it introduced me to the broader world of literature. I had always loved books, but Little Women pulled me deeper in. From Alcott I jumped to Shakespeare and then Austen and the Bronte sisters. I went on to study English Literature in college. While I have a greater affection for British Literature over American (go ahead, call my unpatriotic), Louisa May Alcott is one of the few American authors I enjoy and love.
Her characters are so familiar and comfortable you can’t help but feel a part of the March family. I’ve laughed and cried with them. And I still can’t believe Amy and Teddy ended up together. (Really?!?)
But, my favorite of the March sisters is Jo. I couldn’t help but love her from the beginning. The writer. From my earliest years with clippings of my mother’s catalogs glued to notebook paper and a little sentence scribbled underneath each, I wanted to be a writer. How could a young one not want to be Jo March with passion for life and stories and her ink-stained finger?
I was proud of my right, ring finger and the indentation shaded a bit of gray from the hours of writing. With the last 7 years of blogging, my little writer’s mark is akin to a faint scar.
But still, there’s the little girl in me, the one holding onto the dream, pursuing the written word and writing out stories.
Thanks Louisa…and Jo.
Want to share a book that’s changed your life? Head on over to Anne’s and link-up!
I love Little Women too! When I was young, my grandma bought me a huge, hard cover copy and wrote a note to me inside. It is one of my most treasured gifts.
It’s a treasure. The copy I’m holding in the picture was my mom’s given to her by a family friend. I love it.
I love anything by Elizabeth Elliot too
what a amazing story testimony she is living 
Yes, yes. I’ve learned so much from her (books) over the years, but her testimony is what sticks with me over and over again.
A Room With a View is on your short list?? I knew I liked you
Your pick makes me so very, very happy. I didn’t read Little Women until I was a grownup, but my little girl is reading it right now. Her grandma gave her a copy; I don’t know if I would have considered her 7year old self old enough. But she loves it. And she LOVES Jo.
Jo really is the best. It’s interesting reading Little Men and seeing the grown-up, married, motherly version of Jo. She’s still the Little Women Jo, but more subdued…more mature. What’s really interesting is I feel like I’m learning so much about educating from the Plumfield School for Boys. It almost makes me want to take notes.
I have always gone back to Hinds Feet on High Places by Hannah Hurnard. It changed me deeply and impacted my heart in a way I cannot explain. God used it to move me, and that was a good thing.
I still haven’t read that one, but it’s been on my list for years.
Growing up in New England, Little Women HAD to be a favorite book since the story takes place 45 minutes from my home.
I also adore Elizabeth Elliot.
I was reading a bit of Alcott’s biography the other day and was wondering what her area looked like. Have you ever visited?
Loved little women and I’m putting “A room with a view” on my list
I am actually getting ready to start reading Little Women aloud with my daughter! Super excited as I think of all the character and story found in that book! I Hope my little ones loves it as much as I do.