DAY 14 // 5 books that have impacted me

Well, it's 12:00am on Day 15 by the time I'm posting this. I guess I'll have to deal. This is by no means an exhaustive list [REPEAT: BY NO MEANS]. I was tempted to include Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, The Chronicles of Narnia, you know, the usual. All of these have had huge impacts on my life, but I wanted to think a little outside the box for this one. And I really, really was gonna do the Bible (like a lot of you already have), but I decided to slip the Book Thief in there. So, just to clarify, the Bible is so beyond any of these pages of jumbled words listed here, that it deserves it's own list. The Bible will forever be my only truly favorite book, the only book that has the capacity to give me true life, and give it more abundantly.
So, please enjoy!!! Every one of these books means so much to me, and this was such a great post to write. Let me know if any of you have heard of or read any of these and liked or disliked them! Thanks for 40 followers, y'all. ^-^

1 // The Hundred Dresses, by Eleanor Estes
I remember the first time I read this book so distinctly. I was very young. I don't remember how old, but my aunt got it for me. It's really difficult for me to describe the impact it had on me. It's such a thin book full of colors. It's about a girl who wears the same clothes to school everyday and talks about her hundred dresses at home. It's about a girl who's all alone in a crowd full of kids, and eventually, she leaves. It taught me not to go with the crowd, not to miss opportunities, how someone can be taken away from you, and about the importance of reaching out, and so much more. It was a sad book, full of watercolors, and it spoke volumes to me.
2 // Because of Winn Dixie, by Kate DiCamillo
This book is more earthy, doggy, childhood-y. That probably makes no sense if you haven't read it. This book has an openness about it. It makes you want to welcome and love and accept everyone. I shows how once you open yourself up and let others in, you see how bruised and beautiful they really are. It's a real book and it's happy. And there's a big, ugly, wonderful dog in it. I can't tell you how many times I've read it or listened to it on tape. And every time I hear the word melancholy or think of lemon drops or see a tree with bottles hung all in it, I think of Winn Dixie.
3 // Inkheart, by Cornelia Funke
This is the first fiction, fantasy book that I couldn't put down for the life of me. The characters enraptured me, and the story was one I envisioned myself living. The characters were hard, and new, and lovely, and, soft, and cruel, and vulnerable, and so very broken. And again, what always brings me back, is that they were so real. And you felt so much for each of them. Plus those father-daughter relationships just get me. It introduced to me a burning love for fiction and book series and when I read them they still take me back.
4 // To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
Where in the world do I even begin with this book? This book is everything to me. The characters are like the people I grew up with and know like the back of my hand. I've read it several times and have written two literary analysis' on it. My copy is worn and torn and scribbled in with pen. Those pages hold my heart and I don't know what else to tell you, but go read the stinkin book. If I was forced to choose (with a gun to my head, because honestly that's probably the only way I could choose) my "favorite book", I would have to say this one (that is saying a lot, guys. ok? a lot.)
5 // The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak
This book was like no book I have ever read. I don't know what to say. It's a masterpiece. The characters are so there that you feel the wind knocked out of you when they're hurt. You feel the shock of cold water, the smile tugging at your mouth. You smell the smell of those books and you feel the claws of hunger. You feel the thrill of victory, the punch in the gut, the hot pouring tears, and hard lump in your throat, the kind you can't speak or breathe around. It hurts. And the confusion hurts, and the not knowing, and the knowing, and then it heals and hurts with a deeper, duller ache. It's real and it hurts and it's so, so, so good. It's about the words and the colors and the people and the books, and the pain and beauty of it all. It's set in Germany during WWII. Read it.