The most important books to me

[@MusicMan75636]

I’m a youngish reader I’m 16 and I think I read books that will progress my knowledge. I’ve been reading murakami and stoner and brave new world but I also have a “guilty pleasure” books which is reading Star Wars books as I am a big Star Wars fan ik this isn’t the best thing to read to progress my knowledge and myself so I try to only read 1 for every 3 “real” books should I stop reading these and only read more prestige books?

[@colorlesswonderland]

Reading is never meant to be a chore or something that you have to force yourself to do! If you love reading Star Wars books then continue to read them! Always read what you love and what you are interested in because if you don't eventually you will burn out! You can always substitute in something else of course but never stop reading what you enjoy! I hope this helps!

[@camiladavila9181]

Hey there! I’m also 16 and i really like reading. I completely understand what you mean, I’m constantly trying to better myself and learn more and more about other people and their views. Still, reading can be both a more “productive” kind of hobby and also a more “childish” one. There’s no guilt in liking to read books that are maybe not as deep in meaning or more fantastical perhaps than others. Just letting you know you’re not alone, enjoy reading Star Wars books, there’s no need to feel guilt for such a harmless thing. Take care and keep on reading and learning

[@scorkirby]

read whatever you want, homeboy you dont have to read to advance your knowledge sometimes its fun to read a silly little book

[@bigboy4137]

Just read whatever u want man

[@noone-re3zp]

bruh dont be stupid read star wars every day live life its so short

[@JV-ee1mc]

Stoner is extraordinary. In such a slim novel, he was able to contain the enormity of one person’s life. I remember thinking when I was reading it , that if a picture is worth a thousand words, these sentences are worth a thousand pictures.

[@colorlesswonderland]

EXACTLY! I am so glad you see it the same way! I adore that book and I'm so glad other people do too!

[@katiechen9788]

crime and punishment changed me. Thank you for this video! No better way to relax from a busy friday than listening to people talk about their impactful lit

[@endgamefond]

Agreed!

[@maninironmask7925]

Crime and punishment changed me too lol A monumental book.

[@leticia8588]

The Great Gatsby was pretty much one of the most important books I have read in my life. That is because it was the book that got me into reading more classic literature. I'm from Brazil and during high school we naturally had to read a bunch of classics of our literature but they were so hard to understand and I raised this reluctance with these books that required more attention and had more depth. Then, I decided to read Gatsby because I loved the movie and I saw that it was short so I bought it to give it a try. And I fell in love with it. With every word, every sentence. It truly made me realize how important books are for our souls. I made a promise to myself that when I feel ready, and I know one day I'll feel it, I'm gonna give another chance to my country's literature because i know how magic it is and I owe it to brazilian culture, my culture. I recently discovered your channel and you quickly became my favorite creator on booktube! Your content is pure gold and the way you put your thoughts into words is magnificent. Amazing video! Love from Brasil! (sorry if there are any spelling or grammar mistakes, english is not my first language :D)

[@everyone]

“I don’t know what my life would be if I didn’t stop to grab that book” I have this exact sentiment about East of Eden by John Steinbeck. I was leaving a friends house when I was 18 (I’m 30 now) and his parents had a huge stack of boxes in the hallway with a couple books scattered around and on top of it was this gorgeous penguin edition of East of Eden and idk what came over me but I grabbed for it and asked him if I could borrow it. Wow it changed my life reading it… It took me years to read and I never ended up returning it >.

[@abhinvra]

Had almost the same experience with it, thou mayest indeed.

[@Lacostanico]

you actually stole it right? you so naughty

[@MonkeyHatable]

@@abhinvra timshel

[@bakhytzhanabdilmazhit5152]

For me, Alexander Dumas' "The Count of Monte Cristo" is undoubtfully the most important one. This book tells the story of an unjustly incarcerated man who escapes finding revenge. It is filled with lots of philosophical thoughts, and it completely changed my mind. It is probably the book that made me who I am now.

[@jovas65]

Same! That book changed my life and got me into reading. I was in a time in my life where I was in love with someone (still am), and I was very ambitious. I had a lot of plans in my mind, always calculating the days, weeks, months, years, for each and every plan. Then I started reading the book (I didn't know anything about it, I only knew that it was a classic and a good book), and I INSTANTLY related to Edmond. He was doing well at work, was in love (hey, that's me!), and then he gets arrested for more than a decade. losing everything. It made me completely stop and change how I think. I started living in the moment, my anxiety reduced a lot. It made me look at life differently. So yeah, anywhere I go I'm taking that book with me.

[@elizagrant5620]

A few of the books that mean the most to me - The Pearl by John Steinbeck - The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscal Wilde - I'll Give you the Sun by Jandy Nelson - Conversations with Friends by Sally Rooney A lot of these are from childhood, or signal leaps in my reading life/characters that I have really resonated with.

[@colorlesswonderland]

I have never read a Sally Rooney book but with how popular she is now -- especially with the show that came out based on her book -- its feels almost criminal to have not read anything by her! Maybe I will check out Conversations with Friends! Thank you for the recommendations!

[@victoriavazquez8283]

I love how passionate you are about literature! I could listen to you talking for hours. I'll definitely check out some of the books mentioned. Thank you for the video! ❤

[@thalia197]

Perhaps it will be "the little prince" for me, to be honest i didn't really understand the metaphor used but after i finished reading it i cried and i feel so many things. After seeing the interpretation that it might be about inner child it makes sense and become important for me

[@bbrief]

I am so happy to read your post I feel the same way. I can't say why it is but every August I make it a point to read The Little Prince.

[@charu2774]

I am happy someone mentioned this book. It is one of the books that changed something in me. It's so magical that somehow I feel like I am living my childhood through those pages.

[@katepoche4603]

Even though this book is wildly popular, I loved The Bell Jar because it was so groundbreaking for its time. It was rare to see women represented with any sort of mental disorder until very recently. This showed that women suffer from actually mental disorders rather than simply "hysteria." Sylvia Plath did an amazing job of putting how depression actually feels into words which meant a lot to me because it can be so difficult to do so.

[@AliciaJL]

The Yellow Wallpaper had a similar affect on me as well

[@hpqueen_2752]

Just found your channel yesterday and I am devouring your videos. I think the most important books for me were: - L'Odyssée by Homère, it was the first greek mythology I read when I was 10, re-read it several times after that, it's the book that got me into reading, it triggered my thirst for knowledge and research. It led me to read every book I could find about greek mythology. - Le Petit Prince by Saint Exupéry, a short book that was so poetic it led me to read actual poetry afterward such as Les Fleurs du Mal by Baudelaire, Alcools by Apollinaire. - Bel Ami by Maupassant, the first french classic I enjoyed and read several times, such great writing, such a compelling story. - Le Choeur des femmes by Martin Winckler, the book that confirmed I wanted to be a doctor. - The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde, the first book I read in English literature, led to many others. Keeping in mind that I am french and most of these books I discovered while in school were part of our curriculum. Their recommendations were spot on might I add.

[@sarahmarie4766]

Watching you talk so passionately about these books made me really happy. This year I read East of Eden by John Steinbeck and I have never felt this way about a book before. It has consumed my mind ever since reading it and I just believe it's a masterpiece. While reading the book I really felt like Steinbeck was reading my mind.

[@Levi-mw2rb]

Nausea by Jean-Paul Sartre, Got me into reading

[@samuellesaindon7809]

You've completely convinced me to read Stoner! In terms of the most important books that I've ever read, I can say that Catcher in the Rye, 1984, Elle by Douglas Glover, and Thomas King's The Truth about Stories are some of the ones that, to me, had such a huge impact on me as a reader. If I had to pick one to recommend to you, I'd tell you to try out Thomas King. He's a Canadian Indigenous author, and the way he writes about the meaning of stories and the impact of fiction/storytelling is absolutely mesmerizing and inspiring.

[@tonybennett4159]

You get a big thumbs up from me for being such a Willa Cather fan! I see parallels between her "The Professor's House" and "Stoner", both filled with a palpable sense of yearning and loss, and both exquisitely written. I could list many important books, but I'll mention just one, as it needs a bit of explanation. This is going back many years, as I am now retired. I trained to be a junior teacher and one of our lecturers mentioned some classic books (not text books) which gave a great insight into a child's psychology. At the time, I thought anything with "classic" attached would be very boring. Shortly after graduating, however, while browsing in a book store, I came across one of the recommended titles. It was "My Childhood" by Maxim Gorky. On a whim I bought it and devoured it, it was that good. So classics could be good! Who knew? After that I not only read more Russian literature, but also began listening to classical music, which felt like somebody was inflating my brain. Then I got into an Ingmar Bergman kick (maybe I'm an optimistic nihilist too), so one book started me on a path that has enriched many facets of my life. I re-read it last year and it's just as good.

[@cam8258]

I know its a controversial book, but call me by your name was SUCH an important book for me, it helped me come to terms with my sexuality, and the gorgeous portrayal of absolute yearning for somebody who you cannot have was so instrumental in figuring out who i was. It was the first time i felt like the author could see inside my head and was writing exactly what i felt, its the first (and one of the only) times i felt truly understood by a book, and it’ll always be special to me for that

[@SongNi-qh8rg]

I feel so impressed after watching your video, especially your last serval words. And I am into Stoner too, I bought stoner in Spanish version lately, I feel both languages are so beautiful and vivid to describe the moment when Stoner lost his parents and his love of his life, Katherine. I always put Stoner on my desk where I could easily see it, as if Stoner is accompanying with me all time. Thanks for sharing!!!!!! You are great!!!

[@Jason-mg3fk]

Stoner absolutely knocked my socks off. It was recommended by a close friend and so I bought it, but it just sort of sat on my shelf for a while. I read other things in the meanwhile but I was always curious about it. Then boom, it hit me, I read it in one sitting, not finishing until the wee hours of the next morning. I absolutely loved it, but for a while I couldnt even begin to explain why. Both of my parents, now professors of psychology, went to the University of Missouri at Columbia and so the campus is something with which I am familiar. Both of them were raised poor and discovered academics, becoming not only the first in their families to go to college, but also the first to get their doctorates. But more than any personal connection I have to the book, the writing itself is also divine. Observed from afar, reading this book is like living another life, the reader really feels like they are on the ground with Stoner from the moment of his birth in 1891 to (spoiler) the point of his death in the 1950s and all throughout they can feel his hopes, dreams, fears, and emotions. This book really summarizes that popular George R.R. Martin quote that "A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. The man who never reads lives only once." So, as someone who is admittedly only an armchair lover of literature, if you havent read this book please do, it is really magical and I was really glad to see him gush on it in this video.

[@ghale6632]

Definitely Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse! Easily the most gorgeous novel I've ever read.

[@colorlesswonderland]

I haven't checked it out yet but I definitely have too!

[@yohanessaputra9274]

Try his Steppenwolf. It's much more personal and so magical! You really have to read it

[@aggiew6359]

Not a book but the essay Self Reliance by Ralph Waldo Emerson pretty much changed my life

[@sarahbeaglehole9377]

I love: A walk to remember by Nicolas Sparks The color of water by James Mcbride

[@anelguerrerorodriguez5928]

One hundred years of solitude by Gabriel García Márquez, it was the first classic I ever read and I fell in love with it. As a fun fact, disney’s encanto has so many references to this book, although the magic on the book unlike encanto is a common experience between the entire town, not only in one specific family and also this magic has no reverse, if it happened, it can’t get back. Thanks for the video!

[@colorlesswonderland]

Thank you for the comment! It really does feel like a cardinal sin that I haven't read One Hundred years of solitude NOR have I seen Encanto when all my students told me they bawled watching it!

[@ektabhardwaj9773]

Hey there , I just randomly discovered this channel. And I happen to be reading one hundred years of solitude right now. I'm half way through it and I'm still digesting the themes but I have to say it is extremely engrossing.

[@carolingerhard-siebner5150]

You are such an inspiration for me! I’m a German student and I love English literature and what to study something in this direction. You motivate me to keep reading books that are above my language and understanding level to expand my horizon. And you are an eloquent speaker!

[@roiqk]

My most important books are 1984 and Bible. Many other books I read had huge impact but these two had the biggest.

[@booksandthings8297]

I hardly know what books to pick, that have stayed with me ever since reading (there are many) but some that come to mind are Jane Eyre, Hans Christian Andersen's Classic Fairytales, The neverending story, Little Women, The Picture of Dorian Gray, Fahrenheit 451, Oranges are not the only fruit, Mythos by Stephen Fry, The Great Gatsby, Upstream:selected essays by Mary Oliver. Most I read in childhood and in my teenage years but after that I still come back to them time and again.

[@MrNiceguyjin]

I just watched this video on Saturday, got a copy of Stoner in ny hands on Sunday, and finished reading it on Monday. Then I lied in bed staring at the ceiling and feeling attacked and victimized by that book. Loved it. Thank you!

[@karlandreasen]

Just found your channel. I like it! Three contemporary classics: "My Name is Asher Lev" by Chaim Potok, "Bless Me Ultima" by Rudolpho Anaya, and "84 Charing Cross Road" by Helene Hanf. Feels like the last one is on every booktuber's list, but there is a reason for it.

[@valala2987]

As a kid I've never been much of a read, so I kind of started a bit late in life. I haven't read most of the classics so I'm really grateful for your videos. The most touching books for me have definitely been "The Catcher in the Rye" by J.D. Salinger, "Norwegian Wood" by Murakami, "Siddartha" by Hermann Hesse, "Die Verwandlung" by Franz Kafka and the book that started my love for reading "The Buried Giant" by Kazuo Ishiguro.

[@charlotte-yp7ti]

the first book that i really remember being OBSESSED with is Inkheart by Cornelia Funke. my copy is so destroyed from the amount of times i read it when i was a kid, and it is a book about books so i feel that it really set me on the path im currently going on (obsessed with reading constantly). the two books that i find had the most impact on me in recent years are The Idiot by Elif Batuman and Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov. the idiot because it is so earthshatteringly relatable and i feel like has somehow changed the trajectory of my life since i first read it 6 months ago. and pale fire because it really pushes the limits of what a book actually is. the unreliable narrator and layers of meaning really took me in, and challenged the notions i previously had about both nabokov as an author and literature as a whole. on another note, i just found your channel and my faith in the world is being restored a little knowing you are a high school english teacher. i'm in my senior year right now and my english class has been depressingly devoid of literature analysis, so it makes me happy to see that there are english teachers out there with a real passion for reading and helping kids see the value in literature.

[@maddssmithy]

I've seen many people read and praise The Stoner. It's on my list. Appreciated this list and that there were no spoilers. You are without a doubt one of my favorite booktubers.

[@BrandonsBookshelf]

Yes man! Stoner and Wuthering Heights are on my list big time too! I'm going to be doing Colorless soon and cannot wait! I'd love to have a chat with you someday!

[@elixreads]

Once again a fantastic video! Thank you for sharing this with us! I personally was deeply influenced by „How To Read A Book“ and „Of Mice And Men“. These two books helped understand that reading can actually be a delight and a great opportunity to grow as a person, when done „the right way“.

[@artemisiaabsinthium1794]

Morvern Callar and Noone Belongs Here More Than You were these books for me. After 3 years of a literature degree, reading was work, not pleasure. I was far from home, depressed, and my traditional source of joy - reading - left me cold. But I went down to the library, probably just out of habit, picked these carelessly off the shelf, and they were like a slap in the face. They jolted me out of my slump, revived my love of reading, and were the catalyst for me to make some proper changes in my life.

[@jfarmerswatermelon6061]

Colorless Tsukuru and Wuthering heights are in my summer read list i'm excited ^^

[@dagothwave6623]

I love colorless Tsukuru! It got me out of a bad reading slump

[@pedrovalenca_]

Borges is indeed a very special author great video, man!

[@colorlesswonderland]

Thank you so much for the kind words!

[@ftheodoreelliott]

I think putting a comment helps the algorithm recommend your videos to others, so I'm just putting a comment here so others can enjoy this content.

[@SabineThinkerbellum]

The very first book that had a deep impact on me, the one that shook me to the bone was Steppenwolf by Hermann Hesse. We read it in German class (I’m German) and there are this three words “Nur für Ver-rückte”. The literal translation means “only for crazy people” but that’s not all. Verrücken is also a verb and it means that you move something from one place to another. Heavy stuff leaves imprints on the floor. And sometimes you can’t move it back to its original place. It’s the motif, the theme of the book. The narrator is someone who feels disconnected from society. And just like that, teenage me with all of my teenage angst felt understood. Apparently someone had written a book about my feelings. I was one of those Ver-rückte. The narrator meets people who help him understand what’s missing in his life. I adore this book. It gave me so much hope. It’s been the starting point of my journey into reading modern classics. The second one is Travels with Charley by John Steinbeck. We had an excerpt in our book from English class and I was mesmerized. I bought the German translation and loved following the author’s journey through the US in a van with his dog. It was what made me learn more about the US, it’s nature, history, art, literature, the people and politics. Meanwhile I’ve also read it in English and many more books by Steinbeck. Number 3: The Three Penny Opera, a play by Bertolt Brecht. I saw it in a high school performance and couldn’t believe my eyes and ears. I was fangirling hard and saw it three times in one week. It sparked my love for the theater and for reading plays. Number 4: Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson. It’s fun. It’s adventure. It’s friendship. It’s Scotland and its history. No need to say more. Read it and enjoy.

[@morangirls]

I'm a Portuguese/English Literature teacher and we always read theses book on classes. The book that changed the way I consumed and understood literature was Anna Karenina and the one that changed everything for me was Dom Casmurro by Machado de Assis. It's a Brazilian book by one the greatest writers in Portuguese. I believe there is an English translation.

[@sinomigo]

Steppenwolf by Hermann Hesse. I had to read it for my German class and it's unlike anything I've ever read!

[@erina2600]

Oooo I’ve got it on my shelf and have been wanting to read it for a while!

[@georgehsmyth1456]

Just discovered you fella, love your enthusiasm/attitude. G. (over here in Ireland.)

[@AJ-mp5hd]

This is my first video of yours s/o to youtube for recommending your channel. Not sure if you have read it but for me it would be Moby Dick! I had to read it my last semester of college. It was the first classic that completely blew me away and made me think "now this is a book that deserves to be called a classic." I re-read it every summer! It's hilarious (which no one ever talks about) and poignant and honestly not as much whale stuff as one would expect. Another book, Middlemarch which I hope to re-read soon. Great video! Happy to hear about Stoner, I have had it on my tbr for years, I think it's time I finally pick it up

[@Joseph_Mineo]

During a period of depersonalization and hardships in my relationships, Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment and Notes from Underground (especially the first half) really helped me a lot. I have heard that you should proceed with caution reading these if you are in a difficult time in life mentally, and perhaps there is some truth to that, as I certainly found myself torturing over endless introspection, trying to psychoanalyze myself, but it ended up helping me a lot so those are some of my favorites of all time

[@vicon8102]

I'm new to your channel. It's one of the best! Please please read "A Prayer for Owen Meany" and "Until I Find You" by John Irving. They will become among your new favorites. I wish I would have had you as one of my English Lit teachers. I'm 63, an avid reader since 1st grade and I want to thank you for making the world a better place.

[@jamiestyles4939]

For me the Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky and Black Boy/American Hunger by Richard Wright! Completely different, books that humbled me as a writer! Me and a friend speak frequently about the brothers Karamazov and although you are a nihilist, I feel it has something for everyone! It's a challenge, my only bit of advice would be take your time to really take it all in and do a bit of background reading on the authors before hand! Also your content is great! I love that you're not pretentious about literature and have a genuine love for books! Keep going and good luck!

[@colorlesswonderland]

Thank you so much for the kind words!! I really really have to read the Brothers Karamazov because everyone always recommends it!

[@endgamefond]

OMG i am actually reading The Brother Karamazov. I am in 225th page. Enjoying it so far coz i deeply worship Dostoevsky.

[@aquaticmist]

Really happy I happened upon this video. It really resonated with me, especially the bit about the Catcher in the Rye. Except that I hate that book, haha, but I love your perspective on it. I feel that way about One Hundred Years of Solitude though.

[@nikkivenable1856]

It's hard for me to list my most important books so I will just say that I have two authors whose work is the most important to me. Willa Cather and Wallace Stegner. I actually like every single thing they've written and I could never choose which of their works is my favorite. Both authors mean so much to me and I feel like the luckiest human being to be alive when their books are in print. That said, I think Stoner has to be somewhere on my list of favorite books. I FINALLY read it in 2021 and fell in love! OMG. Just stunning from page 1 to that heartbreaking ending; I never wanted it to end.

[@doowopshopgal]

Excellent. Loved Catcher!!!!!!

[@possumgirl_25]

For me, Orlando by Virginia Woolf is super important. It’s partly a love letter to Woolf’s actual female lover, but it’s also a love letter to language and storytelling. Also reading The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides when I was 16 really shaped me as a reader and made me realize that stories can also be slow, contemplative, atmospheric, and hypnotically lethargic. And it made me realize that weird thrill of not knowing how to explain why I love a book. Milkman by Anna Burns was what made me love a slog, and appreciate the effort of piecing together a complicated yet devastating book.

[@emmymakevideo]

The first one that comes to mind is Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto. it's a tiny little novella I read recently on recommendation from my roommate and I sat down and spent the whole afternoon with it cover to cover. It's about how life continues after tragedy and I think it perfectly sums up my outlook on life in a way I didn't totally know how to put into words before reading it. Even in the face of your life collapsing, you can find love and happiness and it's just one of the sweetest stories I've ever read. I also just absolutely love Japanese contemporary lit and how these authors take the most mundane scenarios and give them so much meaning and nuance-- it's so magical to me. I study linguistics so part of it is definitely the question of if there's a linguistic aspect to how storytelling works in the Japanese language, but I also connect with finding magic and meaning in the everyday so, so much.

[@bignatesbookreviews]

reading on the road right now and it’s got heavy catcher in the rye vibes.. but more raw

[@thebigredfish]

Reading ulysses now. Not as hard as I feared, but its good to have a guide along for the ride. Patrick Hastings' reader guide has been super helpful for me. Also there's a guy (Chris Reich, I think) who has a KZbin series called "reading Ulysses for fun" that has also been incredibly helpful for the denser passages.

[@doydivision3984]

Great video! All the way up to 7th grade, I would always start books but never finish them. Then I read Catcher in The Rye, and it ended up being the first ever adult novel that I finished by myself. After that, I got really into reading. I’m 16 now, just finished grade 10, and am really interested in the beat authors of the 1950s, like William S. Burroughs, Jack Kerouac, and Allen Ginsberg. If you’ve read any of their stuff, I would love to hear your thoughts and opinions on their work, and also the beatnik literary movement as a whole. Also, I would love to hear any book recommendations from that time period, if you have any.

[@adillaafiani6921]

I feel you. Everything you said makes sense and nothing is hyperbolic! I read for life as well. It's the only thing (for now) that makes life worth living for me. I feel like nothing makes sense without reading for me.

[@marlaeningles3788]

Oh yes ! I read STONER in Audible. It was quiet, like nothing happened, and still ALL was happening. A life. I loved the book and interestingly he loved literature almost out of an accident, an accident in his life and an intentional accident I guess for the writer. Yes, a great piece of literature, simplicity at its best imbedded in the complexity of existence. I am glad to have found your channel, THKS and helloes from Mexico City.

[@gnomechompskey9350]

Don Quixote will forever be my most important book as i feel it most accurately portrays my relationship with literature. However i feel some children’s literature is criminally overlooked due to the fact its children’s lit. The never ending story and the little prince have a special place in my heart and will continually influence how i see the world.

[@nicklloyd9221]

My Top Ten: 1. Blood Meridian or The Evening Redness in the West (Cormac McCarthy) 2. Sun & Steel (Yukio Mishima) 3. Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (Patrick Süskind) 4. 1984 (George Orwell) 5. Kolyma Tales (Varlam Shalamov) & This Way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen (Tadeusz Borowski) 6. Eumeswil (Ernst Jünger) 7. The Accursed Share: An Essay on General Economy (Georges Bataille) 8. The Trouble with Being Born (Emil Cioran) 9. Life & Fate (Vasily Grossman)

[@laindarko3591]

The most important book to me is The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa. I read it about a year into the pandemic, on the tail-end of a pretty intense depressive episode. Ogawa captured a sense of existential anguish and fear in a way that was so strangely serene that I felt oddly comforted by it - even as it made me cry really intensely at the end because it was just so painful to me (in a good way?) It was so atmospheric and I was fully enveloped by it not only while reading it but also after I was done. I became obsessed with it, still am. After Dark by Haruki Murakami is also really important to me because it was super influential on my taste in reading. It helped me figure out what kind of adult lit I was into and also triggered my obsession with Japanese literature (which ultimately led me to The Memory Police... How about that!) The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka is def my most important short story... All I can say is I can relate to Gregor Samsa, I'll let people interpret that however they want.

[@grant5941]

I had the same exact experience with Wuthering Heights. It really got me into classic literature.

[@leonmayne797]

The Catcher in the Rye is my favourite book.

[@klaraivic3926]

stoner has a truly special place in my heart. I don't think I'll ever forget how Dave Masters compared stoner to Don Quixote , and how he'd described him in that monologue. that'll always stay with me

[@stanbrown32]

The single book that influenced me the most was Jesse Stuart's The Thread That Runs So True, a slightly fictionalized memoir of his career as a schoolteacher, principal, and school superintendent. I read a short excerpt in Cobblestone, the children's history magazine, when I was 10 or 11, and probably read the book at 12 or 13. It made me want to be a teacher. Other major books for me as a young person were Walter Lord's A Night to Remember, about the Titanic, and Catherine Drinker Bowen's Miracle at Philadelphia, a narrative history of the Constitutional Convention. These definitely made me a history person and want to explore and talk about the past. I love literature, too, but history is the central focus of my life. I'll add that I was 10/11 in 1980/1981, and I remember hearing that Mark David Chapman and John Hinkley referenced Catcher in the Rye. I think my reaction was, What kind of wacko book is that? and never read it. I did read Wuthering Heights with great pleasure.

[@jessicabecho9474]

About your question to us: My favourite book will always be "The Neverending Story" by Micheal Ende, so impactful when I read it in my teens. Micheal Ende is such an important german author. But most impact ful to me personally recently has been "Breasts and Eggs" by Mieko Kawakami and "East of Eden". The first one deals with womanhood, family and the question of motherhood and finding yourself. Its a fun, indulging and very moving read and meant a lot to me personally. Lots of questions I have were discussed by the narrator. Brilliant

[@lauterbath22]

The Grapes of Wrath and the Worst Hard Time. Both show how the human spirit can endure and even when we are left with nothing we still can find something to give to others in a worse off place than us.

[@yohanessaputra9274]

The most important book that I read is Pale Fire, because, boy, every sentence is breathtaking!

[@erina2600]

Pale Fire - Vladimir Nabokov, it comprises of a poem and it’s commentary, both written by fictional characters, I literally adore it because there’s so much to pull from it and analyse

[@Zoe-pu3pi]

War and Peace completely changed me. I read it at a time where I felt quite lost, and it was such a comfort to me that it became my life within the month I read it. After finishing it, I started waking up earlier and going out into nature because I genuinely wanted to be alive. It transformed how I view war, the world, other people, and even myself.To this day, whenever I look at the sky I think of the quote “All is vanity, all falsehood, except that infinite sky”. I will always be grateful for it, and can’t wait to eventually reread.

[@shannonbelfield5577]

Great video, as always!! I read Little Women for the first time last year, and like so many of my favorite books it's definitely something that brings me back to where I was at in life when I first read it. I’ve been thinking about the book constantly ever since. I just finished Moby Dick and I already know it’s going to be a book I’m still thinking about years later. It’s such a great feeling to find a book you know will stick with you!

[@doowopshopgal]

Johnny Got his Gun taught me that you don’t have to say anything just let your actions say it. A great war novel!!!

[@marjorie.mp4]

The Bell Jar - someone already mentioned this, but it sometimes feels like a feminine equivalent to Catcher in the Rye in the sense that there is some stigma against those who identify with the protagonist so much. There are some elements of that novel that so clearly mimic my own personal life experiences, worded in such a way that feels so familiar and modern, and it just took my breath away. Felt like Plath had heard my own thoughts. East of Eden - I read this at 15 and it was the first time I felt like I had read a true piece of literature or art. Steinbeck's way with words and his sympathy for the human experience has genuinely made me a better person, and it kinda set me on the path to being such a voracious reader. A Game of Thrones - a little cheesy and generic maybe, but it marked my transition into more mature subject material. It also was the first fantasy I had ever read, which kinda opened my eyes to what fiction can be, of course in terms of magic and worldbuilding, but mostly in terms of characters. I never knew before that I could care so intensely for people that didn't actually exist and be emotionally manipulated from just words on page. Was pretty mindblowing for my little teen brain.

[@NathFBrito]

My most important books are Unbearable lightness of being by Milan Kundera, Catcher in the rye by J D Salinger and now Hard Boiled Wonderland and the end of the world. The ones that marked me so much and made me who I am today. I just finished Wonderland, but I've been so down these last few months and this book really spoke to me. I really wanna read Stoner, probably one of my next reads.

[@clayton7463]

I had a similar experience with Catcher in the Rye at that age. I don’t even remember why I picked it up but I hadn’t voluntarily read a book in forever and it really reignited a passion for reading that I lost throughout middle and high school. I may reread it soon and see what I think now.

[@lulabelle18]

There is always one book that comes to mind when I think about the most important book I've read, and that is Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. It was shocking and so foretelling for where we are as a society today (especially in relation to literature).

[@marcevan1141]

I definitely share a lot of your tastes. I read one of your comments where you said you didn't like "Secret History. " So many people love it but I couldn't stand it.

[@queziacostareis8833]

I'm relatively a new reader (I've read one hundred and something books, mostly romance and Agatha Christie's books), and I'm still trying to figure out what I like. But I read this classic novella from Tolstoi, and I really, really loved. It's called 'The death of Ivan Ilitch'. As the name says, it talks about death, but mostly the days that precede the death itself. This book rented a building in my mind since I've read in 2021.

[@tastypinata]

Mrs Dalloway and The English Patient!

[@colorlesswonderland]

Mrs Dalloway is fantastic! One of my favorite works from Virginia Woolf!

[@daryagarnett]

Some of my most important books: -Inkheart trilogy by Cornelia Funke: I've been reading all my life but this series really made fall in love with reading when I first read around age 10 -Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman: one of the first Gaiman books I've read, got me throu some Tough Times -Watership Down by Richard Adams: got me reading in English. When I managed to read that I decided I could read anything! -The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North: my current favorite book. Introduced me to Claire North

[@daphnetrippaers5852]

The short stories/novellas of Salinger have been very important to me. Especially "Zooey" and "Raise high the roof beam, carpenters" are so so incredible

[@colorlesswonderland]

I've only read Catcher in the Rye and Franny & Zoey before which feels blasphemous considering Salinger is the author with the biggest impact on my life! I'll check out his other stuff thank you for the comment!

[@gabyocampo94]

In the same sense that you mentioned here about more contemporary books that will be classics in the future I think one book that completely changed my perspective on life, literature and art overall is The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. It's just marvelous and it awakened in me the craving for reading more and more

[@leonardocbp]

Ok, so here's my top 5 most important: 5. Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad 4. Meditations - Marcus Aurelius 3. Poetic Anthology - Olavo Bilac 2. Baltazar and Blimunda - José Saramago 1. Death with intermissions - José Saramago

[@arunitasingh1449]

You should definitely read Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari . I used to read alot back in school but i stopped for some 4-5 years , then last year sapiens ignited the fire of reading in me again . What's special about sapiens is how it opens your mind to so many different ways of thinking and looking at the world around you , it makes you question everything. Sapiens was such a cerebral read , i felt like i learned so much and at the same time i became aware of how little i know . Also thank you for mentioning the books in your description this time 😊 have a great day .

[@colorlesswonderland]

I remembered your comment when writing the description so I'm happy to help! I actually own Sapiens but I left it in Massachusetts! Maybe I should have it shipped out to me!

[@jaycer3898]

Talking about my most important books, rather than my favourite, I land on about five. First, The Stand by Stephen King. Seeing Stephen King's name in my parent's bookshelf and looking him up is what made me want to start reading. I read a number of his books - started with Desperation, oddly, then Salem's Lot and Pet Sematary - but The Stand was my first "favourite" book, just because it's length made it seem like a Herculean task and finishing it - despite not honestly remembering much of it - was a formative accolade for me as a child. Then, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey, which is the book that really sold me on "the sorts of books they make you read in school". I was a horror kid and I was expanding from that as I grew so I didn't want any of these stuffy classics getting in the way of something more contemporary and disturbing, but my grade 11 class had each student pick an ISU book from a set list and it seemed like the most interesting option. It was maybe the first book for me where the real draw wound up being entirely on the characters, and I loved it. Honourable mention to To Kill a Mockingbird, another classic that I had read before Cuckoo's Nest, but only came to really enjoy upon rereading afterward. Third, Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane. When at their peak, mysteries are my favourite, and Shutter Island was one of the first to really give me one that felt satisfying and engaging in the way the best mysteries are. It (shortly following the last book I'll mention) also helped kickstart my post-school reading habit, spotty as it has been. I have Mystic River sitting in my room and I really should get on that. Fourth, and maybe most oddly, Red Dragon by Thomas Harris. A couple years ago, reading was something I did at a rate of about two books a year, and it was all stuff that was very serious and important and, for lack of a better word, literary. I liked that stuff, mind you, but sometimes it took a while to get into the right mood for it when I could be watching movies instead. I was reluctant to start Red Dragon because I was worried it'd be pulpy schlock with nothing to latch onto. Instead what it did was reinforce to me that sometimes a book can just be fun without having to ponder too hard on any universal truths or whatever. Read it and Silence of the Lambs in quick succession, about as fast as I have read any books, because they were just really entertaining. And lastly, The Road by Cormac McCarthy. This book saved reading, for me. I had loved to read as a child and it felt like school had driven much of that out of me, but late in high school I decided to give it a shot and it spoke to me like almost nothing else has. Elements of it spoke to every part of me - the part that first got into reading by searching for gore and horror found it here, the part that learned that the heart of any story lies actually in it's characters was driven to tears by them here, the burgeoning writer in me read prose that remains unmatched in how it affects me and completely changed the way I wrote. I think it even found parts of me I hadn't known yet - something that lately has become integral to my being is the idea of always looking for the positive side, or at least keeping a positive mindset. It may be a cliche of sorts but it really has helped me break a personal cycle of hopelessness and when I look back or reread The Road I find it there as strongly as I've seen it anywhere else, and I wonder if it spoke to me then even as a horribly depressed teen who'd have thought any speech about hope and wonder shallow and saccharine. I've read it four times now - it doesn't seem like much, but I'm not sure I've read anything else twice of my own accord.

[@macysmith9982]

I know I am super late, but some of the books that shaped who I am has to be The Perks of Being a Wallflower, the Bell Jar, and It's Kind of a Funny Story. These books are incredible to me, the way they tackle mental illness, being socially anxious, and insecure. They show how difficult life can really be. These are absolutely influential books that I will always recommend.

[@ameshisuto77]

Sirens of Titan helped me from being a deeply unhappy nihilist to that optimistic nihilist that you too also mention being. It changed my whole philosophy and helped me find the humour and excitement to the meaninglessness of existence. Could not recommend it more, and it makes Stoner seem endlessly appealing!!

[@liamfrederic5203]

Another Country by James Baldwin (any of his books really but this one hit the hardest for me somehow) The Meritocracy Trap by Daniel Markovits (it’s nonfiction and it has a chapter that explains Trumpism really well) The Metamorphoses by Ovid (loved the amount of trans characters and Pythagoras promoting vegetarianism) Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (I think Jo is one of my favourite characters of all time)

[@colorlesswonderland]

I've read three things by Baldwin and loved all of them but I haven't read Another Country so I'll have to check that out! Ovid's the Metamorphoses is another one that keeps popping up that I definitely have to check out! Thank you for the recommendations! Especially the one that recommends Trumpism!

[@sophiaramirez3764]

Hi this is the first time i ever watch your videos but i’ll answer your question anyways. the most important book to me 100% has to be The Secret History. This book really made me speechless when I finished it and I was so heartbroken when I finished it and that there was no more left (idk how else to explain that but I’m sure you understand). 1. it made me realize that studying humanities (which at the time of me reading this i was thinking about majoring in history), was sometime i ought to do and life is more than studying something that will bring in money, and despite the criticisms you may get, you should study something that you truly love. this isn’t AT ALL the message or theme of the book, but it is one of the most important things i took away from it. i got a full ride to a 4 year university BECAUSE in my essay i wrote about my love of history and the humanities. if it wasn’t for this book i definitely wouldn’t be where i am today.

[@colorlesswonderland]

Hey Sophia! I wanted to respond to your comment because this is exactly how I felt when I discovered how much I could truly enjoy literature. Although I may not be the biggest fan of The Secret History (I'm sorry it wasn't my cup of tea) I am so happy that you had that experience because it feels like the amount of people who realize their passions and want to be involved in something they truly love is becoming smaller and smaller each day; I watch that very thing happen to my students each day and each time is makes me overjoyed with happiness. I wish nothing but the best for you as you continue on both your life and literary journey :)

[@8Lovelee]

In my life (so far) some of the books would be: Charlotte's Web - sparked my love of storytelling (my 3rd grade teacher read it to our class so for me it was listening to a story rather than reading) A Room With A View - first classic I ever read that I actually enjoyed which led me to read more classics Song of Solomon - book I "had" to read as a naive freshman in college which made me recognize that I could dislike a book but still appreciate that it was a good or great piece of literature.

[@colorlesswonderland]

Dislike a book but still respecting it is a really rare mindset so it's super impressive that you are able to distinguish the two! Thank you for the comment!

[@chriss3625]

I re-read Charlotte’s Web as an adult, it’s still charming. When I was traveling I stayed at a ‘Air B&B’ home and on the bookshelf found A Cricket In Times Square… I re-read that on the trip… these are wonderful starters!

[@chriss3625]

I don’t know how to determine books that have influenced me to this degree… the ones I loved and the ones I think about most are a starkly different list. I loved Les Miserables, Slaughterhouse Five, I think about Anna Karenina, and Count of Monte Cristo more frequently… Although I only read it once, I guess Shakespeare’s The Tempest started me on a path that diverged from my peers. Still in high school at the time I wanted to see if I could read Shakespeare without a teacher/instruction… I envy you and your friends, I have found it difficult to find people with similar interests…

[@colorlesswonderland]

I've actually never read Anna Karenina or The Count of Monte Cristo which feels like a cardinal sin in literature haha! How'd you do reading The Tempest on your own in high school? My students would never be able to even attempt that! Also in terms of finding people with similar interests, I managed to just get super lucky as they have been my friends forever and we all happened to get into reading together! Thankfully this community of Booktube is filled with tons of people like us!

[@chriss3625]

@@colorlesswonderland when you get to them, you’ll love them! As for The Tempest, I remember it being more accessible than I imagined. It’s very much due for a re-read, I only remember vague images now. As for your students, you may be surprised. On the first day of school as a sophomore my English teacher asked the class what we read over the summer and the question was met with silence… I thought it was such a simple question, and I committed to have an answer if I was ever asked again… I was a mediocre student at best, she never knew the impact that question had on me. The following summer I read The Tempest…

[@xplore-i3d]

I never write comments and maybe this will get buried. But unlike you and maybe majority of people who watch your channel(I'm not sure) I actually graduated high school last May. I started getting into books as soon as school ended and I have been on this journey to finding books that i wouldn't have touched when I was in school. The idea of classics hasn't always been a good one but the more i read the more i realize i actually enjoy what classics have to offer. So I'm glad your channel exists, and that you are an english teacher, and actually try to get your students to be interested into some of the same books that made you want to pursue the career you have. It makes me feel a bit better about being a relatively "new" reader plus I seriously wish i had you as a teacher maybe i wouldn't of been as bored with books in general.

[@colorlesswonderland]

Hey Jane! I am genuinely flattered by your comments. They mean more to me than I think you could ever imagine. School really does have a knack for snuffing out creativity, intrigue, and passion huh? What kinda stuff have you been reading that have gotten you down this path towards reading? I'd love to see what worked for you so maybe I can recommend them to my own students! I also see all of my comments so yours will never get buried and it's even more flattering that, even though you never write comments, you took the time out of your day to write me one. I wish you nothing but luck Jane in your future with reading and I do really hope to hear more from you!

[@xplore-i3d]

@@colorlesswonderland This is interesting cause i really didn’t think you’d respond. But I’d say the thing that got me reading was time. I had time. I wasn’t getting up at 5am to catch a bus anymore. I wasn’t sitting in classes trying to memorize a passage. That and i believe reading things that get the mind going. I don’t remember the romantic passages or anything like that but i do remember the crucible and the kite runner. Which i believe both of these i have thought about consistently over the couple of years since i read them. I’m not all too sure why, maybe the tragedies are more thought provoking than the happier stories we read. Or maybe i lean more towards the dramatics than to the fantasy of life because everyone likes a bit of drama here and there don't they? But i’d say The Crucible is why i’m not apprehensive to reading plays and the Kite Runner is why i to this day I pick books that increase the ability to really think about situations within books. Not just scan it and go home but really think about it and to analyze. Hopefully this answers your questions.

[@solacediangelo281]

Cosmic Trigger by Robert Anton Wilson started me into loving reading like I did when I was a kid, when the world had many worlds and anything was possible. My cousin suggested it to me during quarantine as he had found it in a garage sale. It feels like my piece of the universe

[@colorlesswonderland]

I haven't heard of that book but it looks interesting!

[@harrycorbiniv]

gonna check out each of these I haven’t yet read, but I think you should read the novel Big Fish if you haven’t yet

[@eric.6272]

I don't think that any book will ever shape me as a person as much as 'The Bell Jar' by Sylvia Plath. I don't believe that it's the best book ever written, it has its pitfalls like every book, but that's what makes it so beautiful. It shows the reality of a spiral into mental illness in a jarringly real way, and when I read it for the first time, I'd spiralled massively and reading the book made me realise just how bad I'd gotten. It's the book that got me out and I will always love it and care for the book with my everything.

[@liveone11]

I just bought Wuthering Heights as well as a bunch of other books by the Bronte sisters after being completely enthralled with Jane Eyre

[@jamgart]

The first book on my list is The Hobbit. I don’t even remember how I ended up owning the book, but I was about 9 or 10 years old (I’m now 49 so I’ve had it awhile) but it was the first book I remember reading for myself, it wasn’t a little kid book or an Enid Blyton book (which I also loved as a kid) it was a book that older people read. I didn’t know any other kid that was reading it back then, although I didn’t know any other kid that was into reading either. I still have that copy. It’s been read multiple times, there are pages falling out of it and I will never give it up! My second book is, Into This River I Drown by TJ Klune. It’s about the love between a father and son mainly. But there is so much more to it, unexpected turns. With small town lives, grief, guardian angels, religion, friends, drugs, other worldly beings, and a love story. It has a sadness and quietness that draws me in but ends up bursting with action. It’s an LGBTQ+ book that’s just a fantastic story that just happens to have a gay character and it made me think about gay literature differently. My third is, Letters to a Young Man by Rainer Marie Rilke. I don’t think I’ve ever read writing as beautiful as this. Rilke writes like everything is a love letter. Just stunning insights and thinking by Rilke. I will forever think differently about how I look at the world and all it’s creativity. My fourth, is The Crucible by Arthur Miller. I read this fairly recently and I could see (sorry, I’m about to get political) how the lies that were told in the Salam witch trials worked, especially when repeated and backed up by others and how these same tricks are being used by a certain political party and its leader (he, who shall not be named) Its such a great retelling and I just sobbed my heart out at the end because of how those lies changed people, how they created a mob mentality so easily and how people jumped on that band wagon for their own gains. Just the ease of how it started or anything so destructive can start and change everything, regardless of facts. Frightening!

[@axlramirez14]

Wonderful video! It was good to see those books that mean a lot to you, thanks for sharing them with us. ☺️ In my experience, I have a couple of novels which are really meaningful to me and even after so much time I still remember reading them, and also those feelings that made me feel are with me yet: - Moby Dick by Herman Melville (my favorite book of my life) - One Hundred Years of Solitude by García Márquez - Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë - L’Assommoir by Émile Zola - Sentimental Education by Gustave Flaubert - The Red and the Black by Stendhal As you can see, French classics are definitely my cup of tea, haha. 😅 Finally, and I know this is going to be an unpopular opinion, but I didn’t like Stoner at all; I know it has a powerful meaning, but I hated the protagonist and many of his decisions/mistakes. It’s a shame because I know many of my friends like this book, however, I couldn’t see that magic which was supposed to be superb. 😥 Keep doing videos like this by the way, it is always a pleasure to hear your thoughts on many authors and their oeuvre. Cheers! 👋

[@penssuck6453]

I recommend: 1. Along This Way -- James Weldon Johnson (his autobiography) 2. The Unbearable Lightness of Being -- Milan Kundera 3. The Outsider -- Richard Wright 4. Chosen -- Chaim Potok

[@Whisperingbugs]

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, The count of Monte Christo, The Idiot by Dostoevsky, Notes from the Underground by Dostoevsky and Fictions by Borges.

[@analuciabarraganpereyra4266]

probably my favorite book of all time is “one hundred years of solitude” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, I just loved it. But the book that picked me as a reader and no viceversa is “the shadow of the wind” by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. That’s my most treasured book.

[@mishelly]

I love how we accidentally come across books that change our lives. Or how a book can be a “security blanket”. I actually picked up of human bondage because of my favorite tv show -Buffy the vampire slayer- a minor side character in a small scene called it his security blanket. So I saw your video on the book and I’m doing my research to get the hype get excited to read it I’ve had it in my collection for years now. It’s so interesting to see why they chose this character with that book it’s undoubtedly because the themes around education reform and life in your 20’s (I havnt read it year I’ve just begun) Anyway, love your channel I have added everyone of your favorite books to my list of books to read also. 🤣

[@Everythingfun99]

I’m new to reading, I only truly started this year. But I was forever changed by “Open Water” by Caleb Azumah Nelson And “ If We Were Villains” by M.L. Rio I’m constantly searching for more contemporary literature that touches my soul, and would love recommendations along those lines. The one and only classic I’ve read is “ The Metamorphosis “

[@thebigredfish]

Best wuthering heights parody is monty python: wuthering heights in semaphore