Jay, over at The Zero Boss, has tossed this meme my way. Thanks, Jay, it’s just the kind of meme I like best! You know, one that’s really me. And thank you for not asking me which Disney Princess I am.

“Do you ever read those stuffy book lists you see circulating, like ‘List your five most important books,’ and think to yourself- no wonder these people are so damned boring. Some of the titles give me a damned headache, they are so dull. Knowing things is great, but fiction makes life bigger and better and in color.”

“So, in the proud spirit of anti-intellectualism (just kidding), I am going to offer… the ten books I liked enough as a teen/young adult to read again as an adult.”

Here’s my list.

1. Everything by Madeline L’Engle. EVERYTHING.
2. Everything by L.M. Montgomery. EVERYTHING.
3. Everything by Laura Ingalls Wilder. EVERYTHING.
4. Everything by Lenora Mattingly Weber. EVERYTHING.
5. LOTR
6. “Little Women,” “Little Men,” and “Jo’s Boys”
7. “Eight Cousins,” and “Rose In Bloom.”
8. Everything by Elizabeth Enright. EVERYTHING.
9. Ray Bradbury.
10. Everything by Noel Streatfeild. EVERYTHING.

I love teen/YA books. (It’s my major, so good thing, huh.) And if it’s a series, I love it even more, because one book just isn’t enough, if the characters are good. That’s why so many of those authors up there have the word “EVERYTHING” accompanying them.

Back before Ebay and Amazon (I’m old, duh) kids had to get most of their books at the public library. (Back when libraries still had books.) I used to cry so hard over “Little Women” that my mom finally forbade me to ever bring it home from the library again. It was one of the first things I bought with my first paycheck when I was in high school and got a job at the dime store downtown. I still have it. I still love it.

If the Harry Potter books had existed when I was a kid, I would have devoured them then, too. Speaking as a former kid who loved fantasy, those books are class acts. Speaking as a teacher, those books have done more to get kids, especially boys, reading, than any system-sponsored state-department funded piece of scheisse has EVER done. Boys who struggled to read the front of their cereal box are pushing themselves and trying desperately to read Harry Potter books. Yes, they are just that good.

Thanks again, Jay.

As for you, Muzik. . . . well, you are one of the coolest people I’ve ever met. Thank you so very much for honoring me with your interview.

This post is dedicated to Jay and John: two of the greatest guys in the blogiverse.