#i could put my aunt on here too but i don't want to doxx myself

[maybebabyplease]

ten books to know me

thank you for the tag @mblematic i sat down to do this IMMEDIATELY i’ve maybe never been so excited

the secret history by donna tartt 

well what do i even say about this. if you know you know. this is my favorite book ever! nothing tops it!

slow days, fast company by eve babitz

reading this book for the first time at 22 when i had just moved to LA and really started doing drugs and fucking bad actors...i cannot explain it. eve is like. the whole reason i’m a writer now still -- i stopped writing in college (too busy doing drugs and fucking bad musicians at that time) and this book inspired me to start back up and actually work hard at it. thank god.

and i do not forgive you by amber sparks

THE short story collection that made me realize i could write about whatever i felt like writing about. i’ve taken class with amber and she’s just incredible. wildly talented, excellent teacher, taught me everything i know about editing! 

modern madness: an owner’s manual by terri cheney

you could insert any of terri’s books here, but i do have such a soft spot for modern madness. terri was one of the first people to really talk to me about bipolar disorder, and to help me understand what was happening to me and how to get help. her memoirs are devastating, but she’s proof of the strength people can have in the face of severe mental illness. 

leaving the atocha station by ben lerner

this book has writing that i just want to bathe in. i don’t hardly ever read books by men, but ben lerner is a GENIUS. the macarthur fellowship thinks so too!

the disreputable history of frankie landau-banks by e.l. lockhart

formative formative formative. this is where i learned to love words and wordplay. also where i discovered p.g. wodehouse! horizons: broadened.

the princess diaries by meg cabot

was this series sex ed for anyone else? it was sex ed for me. i used to sneak into the high school library and check these books out when i was in like 7th grade. truly so important everybody say thank you meg cabot (thank you meg cabot!!)

the physics of sorrow by georgi gospodinov, trans. angela rodel

this book really got me into translations! i love love love it. it’s so interesting to see literature from other places, and this was the first book i read outside of school that wasn’t originally in english. so valuable and set me on quite the journey (death and the penguin i’m looking at u)

howl’s moving castle by dianna wynne jones

i think this might be my most re-read book? i try to read it every year during scorpio season, because it just has That Vibe to me. it never gets old! 

rules for saying goodbye by katherine taylor

i...don’t know where to begin with this book. katherine taught me how to burn bridges with my writing and not give a fuck at all. i wish i could describe katherine, because she is someone i so adore, but she is beyond words. anyway, the protagonist of rfsg is also named kate taylor. that’s probably all i really need to say. what a woman.

honorable mention: looking for alaska by john green

HOW did i manage to stay alive after reading this book.....the damage that was done...........john green u owe my parents therapy money babe!

OOPS I FORGOT TO TAG! tagging @pancakehouse @colgatebluemintygel @moongays @thebloatedfrog @queemes @blackberry-sunset @pinklume and anyone else who wants to do it! i LOVE to see what books shaped people! what a thrill!

#the takeaway from this is that the people i love #have also really shaped me with their writing #i could put my aunt on here too but i don't want to doxx myself #but the moment when my aunt started asking ME to read HER short stories #instead of just the other way aroudn #that was when i Knew #so: another formative one #god i could have done like 20 books #book recs by em #tag game #molly tag