10 Literary Works that Changed my Life

1. Pride & Prejudice, By Jane Austen. This was my very first Austen and I fell instantly in love with her and her time period. It basically started a Revolution for me.
2. To Kill a Mockingbird, By Harper Lee. The first time I remember feeling really enamored by a character; Atticus Finch is someone I want to emulate in my own life. 
3. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll. I'm sure my imagination started well before this novel, but I don't think it was fully realized until then. 
4.The Cask of Amontillado/Annabel Lee/The Raven/Tell Tale Heart, Edgar Allen Poe. Basically EVERYTHING written by Poe actually. I discovered my love for the macabre from him. One of America's greatest writers. 
5. The Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexandre Dumas. This novel started my love affair with France and the time period. It's one the greatest adventure novels of all time.
6. Brave New World, Aldous Houxley. This was was the first book I read that really challanged what I thought about the world and how it should be. I think it helped to mold me into the thinker I am.
7. The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald. This was the first novel I read by Fitzgerald and I was instantly enthralled with the 1920's, and have been ever since. And what I think I learned the most from Fitz was that "happy endings" don't always exist. And sometimes, that's okay. 
8. And Then There were None, Agatha Christy. There's almost nothing I love more than a good mystery, and that I learned from her. It's my favorite genre, and paved the path for my modern favorites like James Patterson. I love everything about this Classic Who-done-it.
9. Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte. This spot was difficult, as I was saving it for a Gothic novel, a genre which I absolutely adore. I chose Jane Eyre despite being written by a Bronte (as a self-proclaimed Janite, the reasons for that statement should be obvious) but it was closely followed by Bram Stoker's Dracula and Gaston Leroux's Phantom of the Opera.
10. The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Stephen Chbosky. This is one of the greatest books I have ever read. Told completely through the narrator in letters written to an unknown person, it's mesmerizing and moving in way I haven't felt about modern literature in a LONG time. Plus, it's got killer music references throughout, my two favorite things!