The Books That Have Stayed With Me

Don’t worry, I’m not going tell you about ten books that have stayed with me. Cause I don’t think I have ten, or five even. But in the name of kinda sorta not really participating in this little Facebook tag that seems to have sprung up out of nowhere, I’m going to talk about it.

I’ve just read an article that states that Facebook has determined the book included the most in responses to the tag is…can you guess it? I could have. Easily. I’ll give you a second to think about it.

Here’s a hint if you’re still thinking. The main characters in the book go to a special kind of school by the name of Hogwarts. The most common response to this particular Facebook tag was the HP series. I think it’s understandable considering who I think is more likely to be on Facebook responding to these kinds of things. Would I have included the series? No. I think the movies are great and the books are likely a bit better, but have they stayed with me? I don’t think so. They’ll ultimately just be really great books that I think generations upon generations will continue to read. But I’ll just be reading through them once.

The rest of the top 20 on the list compiled by Facebook is about what you’d expect. Here it is:

1. Harry Potter series – J.K. Rowling – 21.08%
2. To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee – 14.48%
3. The Lord of the Rings – JRR Tolkien – 13.86%
4. The Hobbit – JRR Tolkien – 7.48%
5. Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen – 7.28%
6. The Holy Bible – 7.21%
7. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – Douglas Adams 5.97%
8. The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins – 5.82%
9. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger – 5.70%
10. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald – 5.61%
11. 1984 by George Orwell – 5.37%
12. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott – 5.26%
13. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte – 5.23%
14. The Stand by Stephen King – 5.11%
15. Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell – 4.95%
16. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle – 4.38%
17. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood – 4.27%
18. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis – 4.05%
19. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho – 4.01%
20. Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery – 3.95%

Stephen King is perhaps the only mild surprise if you ask me, but eh I’m no expert. What do you think of the books people are saying have stayed with them? I know it’s completely subjective, but we all have opinions. If you’re wondering, my entire list would consist of The Diary of a Young Girl and The Hunger Games. No more. Dracula would be very close to being included.

Besides letting me know what you think about the top 20 responses, let me know why particular books have stayed with you, or if you’ve written this post link to it in the comments and I’ll take a look at your picks.

I snagged this list from here.

25 thoughts on “The Books That Have Stayed With Me

  1. I’ve read only 7 out of the 20 from the FB list. I can’t say that all particularly stayed with me though. My all time faves from the list are Little Women and Anne of Green Gables. They just take me back to my childhood. I haven’t written a post about this yet, but maybe I will in the near future. You’re the second person to mention how awesome the Hunger Games books are, so I may have to check them out!

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  2. I’d have no clue what to say either. Maybe I’m misinterpreting what “staying with you” means. Does it mean you’ll never give those books away? Does it mean that the book was life changing? Or does it just mean that you’ll always remember the plot and characters? Because books in general tend to stay with my memory. Even the crappy ones aren’t very forgettable.

    I’m not too surprised The Stand is on here. Stuff with a religious tilt seems to influence people very strongly.

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  3. I’ve read 75% of those books, and while most of them made an impact on my life in small or large ways, only one or two of them stay with me and are in my thoughts when I’m doing my own writing. Or just at any random time. You can probably guess which ones, so I won’t bother mentioning them.
    It’s a good list, and I’m glad to see so many people voted for the classics. I wouldn’t have expected that, but it makes me happy.

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  4. Wow…no mention of Twilight or Fifty Shades of Grey on the list compiled by Facebook?? I’m so happy I could cry!

    I see some of my favorites on that list 🙂 Little Women, Anne of Green Gables…and of course, Hunger Games.

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  5. The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe made the list, along with the Bible? Hooray!

    Yes, I am aware that I sound like a dorky Christian, but those are almost the only ones on the list that I have read. I’m happy to have something that I recognize.

    Harry Potter was well-written, but not among my top books of influential reads. The movies for that, Hunger Games, and Lord of the Rings were amazing, though.

    I feel like a bad writer for not having read a lot of the classics. At some point, I’ll get around to that.

    Sorry for the novel of a comment. Yeah, books!

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  6. I wasn’t sure what was meant by “stayed with me.” As in books that never leave, books that have somehow impacted me,etc? I do have the Harry Potter series as those were one of the books I would be excited about the release and such when I was younger. The Hunger Game series as it was another series that captured my attention and I had to finish them all, and I believe The Phantom Toll Booth, or something like that has also managed to stay in my collection, amongst others. I don’t really know why I kept them, as I probably won’t be getting around to re-reading them any time soon. I think I keep books that I’ve enjoyed and would like to share with others, maybe to lend them or re-gift. I find that most of the books that find themselves in the give-away or re-sell pile are ones that I didn’t get super excited and hooked on.

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  7. Reblogged this on Journey of a Wannabe Writer and commented:
    I thought this list was interesting. Top 20 books that people say ‘stayed with them in some way’, according to a Facebook poll.

    I’d say I’m both surprised and not surprised by Harry Potter at #1. Not surprised because it’s still fairly recent and has become a massive part of pop culture. On the other hand, I really don’t think the books were that great, if I’m being totally honest.

    I will have to agree with some other entries though. Lord of the Rings for sure. Yes, it had its flaws (this one probably negates my above comment about Harry Potter), but it was huge in steering me toward fantasy as a kid. While I agree with LOTR, I don’t agree with The Hobbit. Because frankly, The Hobbit wasn’t a very good book.

    I absolutely agree with 1984 though. I read that book around 17 years ago and still talk about it. I’m still recommending it to people!

    If I was going to add a few of my own, I might add Deadhouse Gates by Steven Erikson. That book had one of the saddest and most shocking losses I’ve read in a high fantasy novel. I actually found it more powerful than the Red Wedding in ASOIAF.

    Just about anything by Guy Gavriel Kay. One of my favourite writers. That man can weave a tale, let me tell you. Tigana, A Song for Arbonne, and The Lions of Al-Rassan are some of my favourites.

    Anyone have others to add?

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