I can’t resist a meme having to do with literature, so thanks to Undine for officially tagging me.

25 Authors That Have Made Me Who I Am Today

(…in no particular order and with an emphasis on personal rather than academic formation)

1. Robin McKinley
2. Charles Dickins
3. Ursula K. Le Guin
4. Walt Whitman
5. Emily Dickinson
6. Cormac McCarthy
7. Margaret Atwood
8. Ann Patchett
9. J. K. Rowling
10. Jane Austen
11. Wm Shakespeare
12. Toni Morrison
13. Annie Proulx
14. Mary Stewart
15. The guy(s) who wrote the Bible
16. Laura Ingalls
17. e.e. cummings
18. L. M. Montgomery
19. Isak Dinesen
20. Alan Paton
21. Mary Norton
22. Iva Ibbotson
23. Elizabeth Speare
24. A. S. Byatt
25. Harper Lee

This is a curious exercise — it made me realize what a poor memory I have for books I read while young, despite the unquestionable impression they had on me. The list definitely favors more recent reading (college onwards). I had to work hard to recall anything earlier. So much for all that influential high school reading!

I hereby tag … YOU! But, only if you want to participate …