As a child:
Oliver Twist.
The Diary of Anne Frank ... I read this as a ten-year-old and when I read the very, very end -- my copy had some historical facts, I was shattered. I think it was the first time I became aware of the fact that there is evil in this world. I lost my faith ...
Magnificent Obsession by Lloyd C. Douglas -- the first adult novel I read (age 12).
Adventures in Two Worlds by A. J. Cronin -- the first adult memoir I read (age 12). This book probably planted the seed in me to write ...
But it was Rohinton Mistry's A Fine Balance that probably put me over the edge. I was all grown up now ...
This book lit a fire under me ... but I would not write what was burning inside ... that novel is still is WIP. I owe it to myself to finish it.
A FINE BALANCE by Rohinton Mistry (It took me YEARS to accept the ending...)
Oh, yes. Cry. Laugh.
Some books that haunt me so much that I need to re-read them:
Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth Speare
A Long Way from Chicago by Richard Peck
Wingwalker by Rosemary Wells
Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
Griffin and Sabine by Nick Bantock
and I'd better stop before I write an entire page of books.
Vijaya