the 10 books that changed my life

I’ve been a proud bookworm since I was a little girl.

I have vivid memories of loving the “AR Tests” they assigned out to us in elementary school (if you don’t remember how it worked, you would read a book of your choosing then take a quiz on it to earn points), and I was always looking for new books to add to my Reading Log. I was one of the only ones who enjoyed “independent reading time” in my classrooms, and actually used it to read. I was the chosen one who led the group projects after finishing an assigned novel like To Kill A Mockingbird, or Brave New World, or, my favorite, A Farewell to Arms.

I can gladly say that my inner child has never really gone away, because reading fiction is still my favorite way to fend off reality.

my bookshelf is one of my favorite decorations of my home. I’m constantly adding to it, and always trying to invent a way to alter the physical realm in order to squeeze another title onto its packed shelves. if I’m going on vacation, I’m packing at least four books, and likely picking up another at the airport. my GoodReads (though I now use Fable) is overflowing with generous reviews — because I simply can’t bear giving a book less than two stars if I made it all the way through.

and since I’m talking to you, dear Substacker, I can only assume your story looks similar.

I’ve been seeing the “10 books to get to know me” posts circulating my Notes feed over the past few weeks, and it got me thinking: if I could share any ten books with someone to help them understand me better, what would they be?

after much contemplation and poring over my Completed Reading lists, I think I’ve come up with my definitive list.

so, in chronological order of when these books came into my life and forever changed me, let’s dive in!

by Stephanie Meyer

without a question, the Twilight saga has had a greater impact on me than perhaps every other book I’ve read combined. when I was about nine and my older sister was fourteen, she had just seen Twilight: New Moon in theaters and came home raving about it. as a little sister who wanted to like whatever my older sister liked, I learned that the Twilight saga started as books, and somehow got my hands on them. I devoured them. I would finish Breaking Dawn just to go back to page one of Twilight and start all over again. (I admit that nine might be a little young to read teenage vampire romance, but hey, there’s no smut, okay?!)

I remain forever grateful — and honestly, impressed — that I was able to make it through all 2,500+ pages of the series at my young age, because it changed the trajectory of my life. this marked the true beginning of my love for literature. though I’d read many books before this point, none impacted me quite like Twilight did. I felt that by finishing the saga by age ten, I had graduated from juvenile chapter books into something more serious and meaningful. I would walk into my fourth grade classroom and debate Team Edward vs Team Jacob with my friends who did not care one bit. (I was admittedly Team Jacob as a young girl because Taylor Lautner was gorgeous, but only for a short stint, I promise.) if I trace it all the way back, I’d find that Edward Cullen was my lovergirl origin story. I believe that there are parts of my personality that exist today because I picked up traits at a foundational age to become a little bit more like Bella Swan, my blueprint heroine.

my love for reading (and re-reading), the fact I studied English Literature in college, and my hope that I still have time to convince Robert Pattinson to fall in love with me — it can all be traced back to the day my sister came home from the movie theater and told me about this random vampire movie she had just seen. I will tolerate no slander of these books, no matter how problematic they may be!

P.S. — and of course I love the Twilight films too, but I can truly say that the books are 100x better, if you can believe it. BRB, plotting my re-read!

by William Shakespeare

every English major has a book that marked them for life — this is mine.

another shining example of how I was every English teacher’s favorite pet, I was one of the few students in my tenth grade class that actually looked forward to reading Romeo & Juliet for that week of our curriculum. I took it upon myself to learn the prologue word-for-word: two houses, both alike in dignity, in fair Verona where we lay our scene…

this was my first experience reading Shakespeare, and it had a butterfly effect on my life. I became enamored with Shakespeare after this and loved revisiting his work through the likes of Hamlet and Macbeth in my later high school classes. in college, there was a Shakespeare Studies class that was offered very rarely, and I agonized for five semesters trying to make it in — which I eventually did, during my last semester, and had the absolute best time reading play after play after play (even the extremely depressing King Lear). that course was one of the highlights of my higher education.

even still, though I’ve read a great deal of the Bard’s work, Romeo & Juliet remains my favorite. I can still recall the excitement of reading the tragedy for the very first time with sparkles in my eyes. one of my most rewatched movies in high school was Baz Luhrmann’s extreme and chaotic adaptation of the play. everyone has a book they remember vividly from their high school years, and this is undoubtedly mine. it, too, changed the trajectory of my life.

by Stephen Chbosky

I don’t remember the first time I read Perks of Being A Wallflower. I imagine it was around the time the film came out when I was a young teen and titles like The Fault In Our Stars, Thirteen Reasons Why, and Eleanor & Park were reigning on Tumblr (sigh, you just had to be there). I also don’t even remember if I liked it on my first read. and to be honest, I don’t really like the movie that much. (sorry!)

what I do remember is re-reading it when I was 18 and absolutely falling in love. I’ve only revisited it a handful of times since then, and every time I do, I’m left in tears. this is a perfect example of a book that I don’t exactly recall every detail of what happens, but I do recall how it makes me feel. Charlie is one of my favorite characters of all time. at his core, he is kind and sensitive, and those traits act as a shining light in contrast to all of the hardship around him and in his life. he’s a reminder that even though there’s evil in the world, there’s also so much good.

one of my favorite passages in the book goes like this:

“I didn’t feel like reading that night, so I went downstairs and watched a half-hour-long commercial that advertised an exercise machine. They kept flashing a 1-800 number, so I called it. The woman who picked up the other end of the phone was named Michelle. And I told Michelle that I was a kid and did not need an exercise machine, but I hoped she was having a good night.

That’s when Michelle hung up on me. And I didn’t mind one bit.”

just wonderful stuff. this will forever be on my “favorite books of all time” list, and I don’t care that it’s incredibly mainstream and the movie is cliché and “in that moment, I swear we were infinite” doesn’t really mean anything in actuality. I think everybody should read this book (and skip the movie while you’re at it).

by James Clear

though I’m not a huge nonfiction reader, nor do I fall victim to many self-help books, Clear’s motivational bestseller absolutely changed the course of my life. I picked this up after my sister read it and raved about it, and found myself bringing it everywhere — I have a vivid memory of waiting in my car before getting coffee with a friend and marking up a few chapters before going inside to meet her. I was addicted to the science, visual aids, encouragement, and life-change within the pages.

I was so markedly changed by the contents of this book that it singlehandedly inspired me to start my graphic design business. I often find myself a slow-starter, never one to take risks. but something about the idea of combining habits to create a better version of myself just stuck with me. I immediately found the power within myself to change my life and take a big leap — which is exactly what I did when I decided to sign up for a brand design course and then start my studio. the rest, as they say, is history! thank you, James Clear, for unknowingly changing my life for the better.

by Emily Henry

whenever someone asks what my favorite book is, I, without hesitation, tell them Happy Place by Emily Henry. this is a huge deal for me, as I can never pick a favorite anything. but there’s no contest — this is my favorite book.

that is a quite scandalous opinion to hold on the EmHen side of the Internet — for whatever reason, this is Emily Henry’s most hated book. I have genuinely no idea why her readers hate it so much, but I can give you plenty of reasons why I love it more than any other book on the planet (which is saying a lot, because I love all of Emily Henry’s books quite a bit).

• I relate to Harriet Kilpatrick more than I would ever like to admit.

• Wyn Conner is perhaps my favorite book boyfriend of all time — Sexy Evil Gus of Beach Read is a close second, tied with Edward Cullen, of course.

• the concept of “being in your favorite place with your favorite people” is the foundation of this romance, which I love. I’m a sucker for the found family trope, because I also have a tight circle that I love more than anything.

• when I was reading this book for the first time, I was wearing a shirt that said “this ain’t my first rodeo”, and that day I read the passage where Harriet, too, is wearing a shirt that says “this ain’t my first rodeo”. that’s a coincidence too kismet to ignore, right?

• one of my favorite romance quotes of all time is “in every universe, it’s you for me. even if it’s not me for you”, and “before I even see him, my heart starts singing its favorite song. you, you, you.”

• it has a pink cover !!!!!!

I don’t really care that everybody seems to hate this book. I feel like EmHen wrote it just for me. I could read it until the end of time, and it will always feel like it was created in a lab just for me to enjoy.

in fact, writing this blurb has reminded me how much I adore this book and how long it’s been since I last re-read it. I’ve just now, in this moment, decided to revisit Happy Place, like, basically as soon as I publish this post. that is how much I love this book. so, take that, EmHen haters!!!!!

by Alex Michaelides

when I’m not reading romance, I’m reading a thriller. likely a psychological, suspenseful one with juuuust the right amount of twists. I enjoy most of them that I read, even if they’re anticlimactic and have a crummy twist. it’s about the journey, not the destination, right?

The Silent Patient is one absolute standout for me. I stayed up reading it until I finally finished it at 3 in the morning a few years ago, partly because it made me so anxious that I couldn’t sleep, mostly because I couldn’t put it down. it was addictive, perfectly paced, twisty without being try-hard, and came to a satisfying conclusion for me. there are few thrillers who earn five stars from me, and The Silent Patient earned it easily. I’ve been trying to recreate that feeling ever since I finished it, but no other book has come close — yet. let me know if you have any similar recs for me to try out!

by Dolly Alderton

as I’m writing this, no joke, a girl just sat down next to me and pulled this book out of her bag as she enjoyed her lunch. her bookmark indicated she had maybe 30 pages left. I stopped to tell her how much I loved this book, and she said she was loving it so much, too.

and what a great illustration of the theme of togetherness and connection that Alderton’s collection of essays promotes. I hate when I read a review that claims this book was ironically void of love. it couldn’t be farther from the truth. while Alderton doesn’t focus on romantic love in every single chapter, nor does it have a traditional “happy ending” (which, why would it, because it’s a work of nonfiction about her life, which has not ended), there is love dripping out of the pages in all of its forms. perhaps the greatest love story told in this book is both Alderton’s relationship with herself, and the soul-tie connection she shares with her best friend Farly. I don’t relate very closely to Alderton’s portrayal of herself — though I appreciate her willingness to bare her soul, even in its messiness — but I still saw her wholly, and felt wholly seen by her in return.

it took me a minute to finally pick this up off of my shelf — about a year after purchasing it, in fact. but I’m so glad I waited and let it find me when the time was right. I read it after my first year of living on my own with my best friend Hannah in the city, freshly 25 and enamored with the world around me. every chapter resonated so deeply in my bones, which I don’t think it would have if I had chosen to read it before that season. I don’t know if I’ll ever necessarily re-read this book, but it changed me nonetheless. the final words have made themselves at home in my brain:

“Remember you probably have access to an abundance of [love] already, just not the romantic kind. This kind of love might not kiss you in the rain or propose marriage. But it will listen to you, inspire and restore you. It will hold you when you cry, celebrate when you’re happy, and sing ‘All Saints’ with you when you’re drunk. You have so much to gain and learn from this kind of love. You can carry it with you forever. Keep it as close to you as you can.”

if I could describe this book in one sentence, it would be “Bridget Jones’ Diary meets Love, Actually (with the absence of Hugh Grant)”. serendipitously, those are two of my favorite movies of all time, so no wonder I adore this book so much!

by Carley Fortune

we are now venturing into the territory of books that I love for no reason other than “hey, so it only has to make sense to me for me to do it and I don’t feel like explaining it to anyone else”. starting off strong with my favorite Carley Fortune (and really the only one that I would ever re-read), One Golden Summer.

admittedly? I was lukewarm about this book for the first 25%. a sneaky obsession slowly crept up on me the farther I got, and the more that Charlie Florek graced the pages. Charlie immediately became one of my most beloved book boyfriends. I really don’t know why, or how, but he has changed me forever. everything else about this book is completely fine, but Charlie is the standout that has put this romance high above so many others on my shelves. needless to say, I am unbelievably sat for Charlie’s season of Every Year After next year. I will be watching with popcorn and a napkin to soak up my drool.

by Abby Jimenez

this could just be recency bias, but I read this fun romance this past year and haven’t been able to tell people how much I really love it. I’ve read most of Jimenez’s books and most of them are great, in my opinion. truthfully, I wouldn’t even say this is her best work (I would probably award that to Just For The Summer), but something about The Happy Ever After Playlist just hit for me.

if you’re like me and dream of dating the frontman of a band, then I am actually begging you to stop reading my words and go pick up The Happy Ever After Playlist instead. in fact, you might want to read its predecessor, The Friend Zone, first, as they’re interconnected and it’ll give you some much-needed background. the main idea is that a widow falls in love with a musician because his dog jumps in her car. as a major bonus — both main characters, Sloan and Jaxon, are not annoying and that’s a high bar for a romance to meet in this day and age (at least it is for me).

it’s a bit of a slow burn at first, which I love, but their love blooms quickly. I prefer for my romantic leads to actually be in a relationship for the majority of the book, rather than waiting until the final 50 pages to get together. there are still a lot of ups and downs, but I thought it was such a fun, different contemporary romance due to the celebrity aspect. it was like reading a One Direction fanfic but with more smut and toe-curling dialogue. also, every chapter has a corresponding song that goes with it, which gives you a full playlist by the end of the book. genuinely a perfect formula. even if it’s not Shakespeare, it’s perfect to me!

by Brooke Averick

I’ve shared my thoughts about Phoebe Berman’s Gonna Lose It, Averick’s debut best-selling romance, ad nauseam — which you can read here if you want my unfiltered thoughts.

the TL;DR? there is no other book out there quite like Phoebe Berman. the premise is familiar but entirely unique. Phoebe herself is unlike any FMC I’ve ever gotten to read, and she is such a breath of fresh air. the found family trope is as present as the romantic love. there is a twist that genuinely took my breath away and caused me to laugh out loud in true glee of how wonderfully written it was.

I particularly love this book and believe it’s changed my life because I can relate too closely to Phoebe and her all-encompassing romantic anxiety and her desire to be in love. as an anxiety-ridden single girl reluctantly on the dating apps in her late 20s, reading Phoebe was like watching a movie of what my life could be like. was it messy and silly? yes! was it also incredibly tender and moving? also yes. it had some genuinely laugh-out-loud moments, and I found myself tearing up towards the end. for her first book, this one is pretty perfect — plus, it’s getting a Netflix adaptation! the Phoebe universe will also be expanding with two more books to make a trilogy, and I will be first on the presale list.

and there you have it — I’ve shared a significant piece of my heart with you!

are any of these books in your top 10? did you find a new recommendation? do you vehemently disagree with any of my picks? (plz don’t tell me if you do.) are you inspired to make your own life-changing books list? dish it all to me!