The books that made me

It made me happy when Meg Ryan talked
about the Shoes books in "You've Got Mail"

There's a thing going around on social media right now, with writers (and readers) posting about "the books that made them," or the books that basically raised us.

I was a voracious reader as a kid, lugging home as many books from our weekly library trips as I could carry, and buying - when I could find them - copies of my favorites for my own library. I amassed a ridiculous number of books for a kid, and when this conversation cropped up, I dug around and realized just how many I still had.

The books here are grouped either by series (Little House, Betsy-Tacy, Borrowers, Elizabeth Enright) or by vague themes identifiable only by me. 

Most were notable in one way or another in my development as a reader, writer, or human.

What were the books that made you? How many of these have you read?

As a kid, I loved dollhouses, so the
idea of miniature people? Yes, please.

I read these more than a few times. I would
have replaced them, but they discontinued
the original yellow covers.

Loved these - the first 4 were family
stories, the Gone Away books were too,
but they were also about old houses and 
odd people. Great illustrations.

The random collection. I read Flambards from the 
library, but bought the TV tie-in in the 80s.
The Wolves of Willoughby Chase is
just as good now as it was as a kid.

I grew up with the Betsy books. There were
a half dozen for little kids, then the
high school and after books. Betsy and
the Great World made me want to travel.