Books That Matter to Me. How About You?

I really think one of the best things we can do for one another (aside from offering perspectives on writing) is to share our perspectives on reading. We do it all the time, but so often we do it in private. I think it would be great if we could share/confess/list books that matter to us. My lists are below. The first list consists books of poetry that have influenced my writing. The second list recognizes non-poetic books that have nonetheless influenced my writing. You will notice that I’ve grouped several books together under one point because I tend to view various works by a single author as a collective entity.

Books of Poetry that Have Influenced My Poetry (in no particular order)

1. Tell Me – Kim Addonizio
2. To Bedlam and Part Way Back – Anne Sexton
3. Archaic Smile and Hapax – A.E. Stallings
4. Gathering Ground: A Celebration of the First Decade of Cave Canem – Various Authors
5. Macnolia – A. Van Jordan
6. Wind in a Box – Terrance Hayes
7. Meadowlands – Louise Gluck
8. You Don’t Miss Your Water – Cornelius Eady
9. Tales From Ovid – Ted Hughes
10. Blood Dazzler – Patricia Smith

To Understand My Writing Understand These Books (in no particular order)

1. Strange Pilgrims and Hundred Years of Solitude – Gabriel Garcia Marquez
2. Sula, The Bluest Eye, Beloved, and What Moves at The Margin – Toni Morrison
3. Feminism is for Everybody, Where We Stand: Class Matters, and Reel to Real – bell hooks
4. A People’s History of the United States – Howard Zinn
5. Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? – Edward Albee
6. The Witch Must Die: The Hidden Meaning of Fairy Tales – Sheldon Cashdon
7. King Hedley II and Fences – August Wilson
8. The Seafarer – Conor McPherson
9. The Bell Jar – Sylvia Plath
10. The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin – Vol. 1 – Nichiren Daishonin