The seven books that changed my life

There is an incorrigible quality to my obsession with reading. I was that kid—the one who stayed up late underneath the shelter of a ninja turtle bed spread, flashlight in hand and book secured safely in lap. Whereas in my youth I read for pleasure, I now also read to be saved. For a book has saved me on countless occasions—lifted me up in my deepest depressions, a vehicle of transport from realities that were oft too heavy. And once that happens, you don’t stop looking for another chance at salvation.

The following are seven books that changed my life. In addition to these are short stories of similar theme and emotion that you can read in a sitting, if you’re schedule does not permit the reading of longer works just yet.

1) “The Collected Stories of Amy Hempel” by Amy Hempel: Stories filled with grief but told through laughter. Her characters suffer through natural disasters, marriages and death but manage to brush themselves off and pick up the pieces. An abundance of hope is in these stories—many of them no longer than two to three pages. Hempel proves that great writers can also be kind. Best Line: “I had my own bed. I slept in it alone, except for those times when we needed—not sex—but sex was how we got there.” Story: “Nashville Gone to Ashes” by Amy Hempel.

2) “Blood Meridian” by Cormac McCarthy: This one is so cold it will leave you shivering. The absolute brutality and gore of McCarthy’s Western novel is too much for most readers, but continue on and you’ll witness the experiences of an unnamed character after he joins a gang on the search for Native American scalps. What does one do when confronted with pure evil? Best Line: “When the lambs is lost in the mountain, he said. They is cry. Sometime come the mother. Sometime the wolf.” Story: “Heat” by Joyce Carol Oates.

3) “The Sea” by John Banville: Possibly the most lyrical and beautifully written of all the books, Banville’s novel focuses on the power of memory. An old Irish man returns to the town where he spent his boyhood summers, after the death of his wife. This novel predictably struck a chord with me as my mother was battling cancer at the time, and the narrator loses his wife to the same disease. I was coming to terms with the possibility of my mother’s death and “The Sea” illustrates the comfort one can find in the suddenness of love and death. Best Line: “The past beats inside me like a second heart.” Story: “Haunting Olivia” by Karen Russell.

4) “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” by Mark Twain: History is always on the side of the just, and Huck Finn is the single greatest fictional teenager who proves that fighting for what’s right is not always popular. Best Line: “All right, then, I’ll go to hell.” Story: “Offloading for Mrs. Schwartz” by George Saunders.

5) “Song of Solomon” by Toni Morrison: The first novel I read where blacks were more than just caricatures or props. The novel follows Milkman as he searches for identity in 20th century United States. Where can a black man find his worth—is it his money, his sex or his mind? There is a magical quality reminiscent of Gabriel Garcia Márquez while the language simultaneously recalls the tradition of black folklore. Best Line: “If you surrender to the air, you can ride it.” Story: “Sonny’s Blues” by James Baldwin.

6) “Anna Karenina” by Leo Tolstoy: The first, and one of few books to bring me to tears. Tolstoy is famous for having said he began writing a story about an unforgivable adulteress, but ended up falling in love with his character. We love who we love, and sometimes desire proves too strong. Best Line: “He stepped down, trying not to look long at her, as if she were the sun, yet he saw her, like the sun, even without looking.” Story: “The Burning House” by Ann Beattie.