There’s a meme going around on Facebook called “10 books that have stayed with you in some way.” Such an important topic seems too slight for a simple Facebook status update, so I thought I would bring my response to you via the blog.

This is not an all inclusive-list. An exhaustive list would include several hundred books and would bore your britches off your butt. It also isn’t in any type of ranking. The thrust of the meme is for the person to list 10 books without giving much thoughts to your answer. Spontaneity is key.

Official rules: Don’t take more than a few minutes and don’t think too hard – they don’t have to be the ‘right’ or ‘great’ works, just the ones that have touched you.

So, without further ado…

1) The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell
2) The Jungle by Upton Sinclair
3) Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
4) Animal Farm by George Orwell
5) Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood
6) Sleepless by Charlie Huston
7) Altered Carbon by Richard K. Morgan
8) Watermind by Mary M. Buckner
9) Machine by Jennifer Pelland
10) Let’s Play White by Chesya Burke

Maybe I’m cheating a little by listing two books I published (9 and 10), but those books have stayed with me and shifted the way I view the roles fiction can play for expressing important viewpoints.