I give in to the meme

I've never done a meme on LJ, so I think maybe it's time that I flooded your F-lists with some randomness. I've seen this one floating about here and there, and being me, it was irresistible.

List of 15 books that I love/rocked my world/are particularly memorable.

1. Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card - I read this when I was around 12 and it blew me away. I felt like I had just been profoundly changed in ways I didn't even understand. The sequels aren't as good, but the original is a must read.
   
2. The Three Musketeers by Alexander Dumas - There's nothing terribly profound about this book, but it's the quintessential swashbuckling novel and one of the best I've read. This is what all the books full of swords and intrigue want to be. I love this book.
   
3. Tithe by Holly Black - Once again, it's not that this book is especially deep (although it is well-written and I greatly respect Holly Black). It's that Tithe introduced me to fairy-lore and taught me that yes, can write about fairy tales and no they're not just for little children. This was a huge relief to me.
   
4. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde - I read this once for fun and later for class and it never ceases to amaze me how much Wilde keeps you going 'round in circles. Every time you think you know what he's getting at, he contradicts himself. The preface is especially juicy.
   
5. The Essential Bordertown Ed. by Terri Windling and Delia Sherman - A book of short stories and the last in the Bordertown anthologies. I read this when I was 13 or so and it was perfect then. For every single kid who doesn't fit in and who understands that the only way to get to Bordertown is to really need to. Plus just plain old excellent urban fantasy, probably some of the first. Elves on motorbikes, and racism like you've never seen it before. Mmm, delicious.
   
6. The Pit Dragon Series by Jane Yolen - One of the first books that made me cry. I borrowed these from my elementary school library and couldn't be parted with them. Plus Jane Yolen just released the fourth one after a decade and hopefully the one thing this series lacked, a proper conclusion, has been remedied. Also Jane Yolen rocks in general and you should read whatever you can get your hand son by her.
   
7. American Gods by Neil Gaiman - The first book I read by Gaiman and still my favorite. Left me thinking for a long time about the old gods, and what relevance old beliefs have to us today, and what happens to them when we've forgotten them.
   
8. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury - Another one of those books I read for fun and then later for school. Left my shivering and uncomfortable but happy I'd taken that leap. A must read for book people. Also probably the start of my love for dystopias.
   
9. Swordspoint by Ellen Kushner - I don't care what you say, just go read it. I've read this so many times the pages are falling out.
   
10. The Power of Three by Diana Wynne Jones - Simply some of the best children's fantasy out there. Most of what Diana Wynne Jones writes is pretty damn good, but I just happened to have read this one first.
    
11. War for the Oaks by Emma Bull - This was another one of those books that opened my mind to all of the amazing fantasy out there that wasn't generic high fantasy. (Are you starting to see a trend? I like urban fantasy... )
    
12. Sabriel by Garth Nix - (and the subsequent Lirael and Abhorsen) Again, children's fantasy at its best. One of the first books I got so into I spent months talking about it with friends. (To clear things up, when I say children's I mean ~12)
    
13. Greek myths - Not a "book" per say but I used to pour over these over and over again as a little girl. Just a few years after I started reading I would wake up every weekend morning and read, and more often than not I was reading myths and fairytales. Whatever I could get my hand son, but since my dad was a big fan of the Greeks, Greek myth it was. One of the biggest influences on my life. Ever.
    
14. Alphabet of Thorn by Patricia A. McKillip - McKillip's prose is gorgeous but I tend not to like her plots very often. This was the first of her books that I read and it's still my favorite and what I consider to be her best.
    
15. The Bone Doll's Twin/The Hidden Warrior/The Oracle's Queen by Lynn Flewelling - Brilliant exploration of gender. One of those books that's fun to read and then leaves you pondering for a long time.
    
    I didn't think so many of these would be from when I was a little girl. Probably part of it is nostalgia and part of it is that we are most easily influenced when we are younger. Yea, so that's that.