10 Books that have Influenced Me

In the last week or two, this facebook tagging chain has been going around on my feed: list 10 books that have influenced you. I escaped being tagged until today, so I decided to combine my response with a blog entry -- 2 birds, 1 stone.This was a really difficult list to compile, because there are lots of books that I LOVE, but that aren't necessarily responsible for influencing me. I finally narrowed it down to 10 that did influence me:

1. Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery -- probably the most formative piece of fiction of my childhood, and together with the sequels in the series, it's also the most formative piece of fiction for my entire coming-of-age. I will always have a piece of Anne (with an 'e') in my heart and my personality.
2.  Alice in Wonderland & Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carrol -- together with The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, this is one of my first experiences with the genre of fantasy. I spent hours reading and re-reading Alice, memorizing the poetry in the book (in particular, "The Walrus and the Carpenter"), and thinking about whether or not Alice's experience was really all a dream. 
3. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte -- I read this in High School and was deeply inspired by Jane's commitment to her convictions. I also developed a life-long crush on the Byronic hero. (Rochester soon gained the company of Mr. Darcy and my very-own-real-life dark, broody, handsome hero.)
4. Creation Regained by Albert Wolters -- This book was assigned my sophomore year in college for David Naugle's Christian Worldview class, and it literally changed my view of the world.
5. The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan -- I went into reading this book expecting a history lesson; I did not expect to recognize the problems it discusses in current culture and my own experience. Prior to reading this book I would have told you that I don't need feminism. This book shocked me with how current it felt, half-a-century after its release, and I finally understood why we needed feminism then and why we still need it today.
6. Prufrock and Other Observations by T.S. Eliot -- because "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" will forever form part of the rhythm of my language and the images in my mind; because I'll never totally "get" the poem; because it introduced me to the many other wonders of T.S. Eliot.
7. The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis -- It opened my imagination to some alternate views of hell, heaven, and the spaces in between.
8. Deconstruction in a Nutshell by John Caputo -- This book includes a brief discussion/interview with Derrida and a long discussion of that discussion, and along the way it provides the clearest, most compelling case for the importance of Deconstruction that I've ever read. Whenever I'm confused about these difficult concepts, I return to this little book.
9. The Rest is Noise by Alex Ross -- Everyone should read this wonderful history of (mostly classical) music in the 20th century. Or, more accurately, it's a history of the 20th century as told through the music -- and it's a really beautiful piece of writing.
10. The Gunslinger by Stephen King (and the rest of the Dark Tower series) -- This book changed the way I viewed Stephen King and fantasy literature, moved me to tears and laughter on several occasions, and provided an important insight into my husband's brain (because it's one of his favorite books). I read it as a newly-wed, so it will always bring me back to that time in my life, and the unique characters and story world will stay with me always.

I'm not tagging anyone else for this, but I am sending the challenge out to any readers: What books have influenced you?