10 Books That Changed My Life

A few months ago, there was a thing going around Facebook about the 10 books that stuck with you. I modified it to the 10 books that changed my life, because I felt that it was a similar concept, but much more me...the books that have stuck with me and made me who I am. Facebook stalking tells me that the lists are going around again, so I figured I'd explain my 10 choices. They're listed below in the order that I'm pretty sure I read them.

My Harry Potter Collection

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling
This book set me on a journey with millions and millions of others around the world, and I patiently waited (am still waiting?) for my letter to Hogwarts. This book made me enjoy reading and immersed me in a new world with new friends. Seven books and eight movies later, I still love the Harry Potter series and the book that started it all.

The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
One of the first books taking place in Africa I've ever read, I remember this book tugging at my emotional heartstrings. There was a lot of self-reflection about the value of life and going out and exploring the world. Kingsolver made me want to see the world.

Crabgrass Frontier: The Suburbanization of the United States by Kenneth Jackson
I don't think it's a big secret that if I could do anything in the world, I'd be an urban planner. I loved this book because it was my introduction to urban--or, really, suburban--planning and the formation of cities and towns. It truly fascinated me and is a book I still go back and read parts of today.

It Can't Happen Here by Sinclair Lewis
Lewis got me enamored with alternate histories. I loved the mind game presence of the book. Even though the book is decades old, the society created has found new homes in many young adult dystopian novels, a genre with which I'm also in love. This book also made me realize just how lucky I am to live in the US and that the US turned out the way it did.

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
Potentially my favorite book of all time, I loved the twists and turns and am secretly very happy that every movie version has turned out to be mostly bizarre. I remember reading it in the living room and finding out I only had 100 pages left around midnight and deciding I'd stay up to finish. Then it was 2am and I still had pages left and I kept reading. I couldn't put the book down, and still can't. It's a dangerous book for me to read.

Collapse: How Societies Choose To Fail or Succeed by Jack Diamond
I know many people don't like this book, but I really enjoyed the journeys to places near and far and the exploration of diverse cultures. The focus on environmental factors and humans' impact on the environment fascinated me and was my first introduction to environmental history, which became the basis for my thesis concentration: the history of poverty in the developing world.

Chasing the Sea: Lost Among the Ghosts of Empire in Central Asia by Tom Bissell
Every now and then a book comes along that encourages you to read more and more and more. This travelogue is one of those books. I so thoroughly enjoyed this book about Bissell's travels in Uzbekistan that I created a very lengthy book list containing one book for each country in the world. THIS book started it all.



My collection of books from my Chasing the Sea-inspired reading list


A Different Kind of War Story by Carolyn Nordstrom
I got into environmental history and, soon after, African history. This book is the reason why. This book also became a theme through three years of college and gave me the topic for one of my theses on the Mozambican Civil War. Some parts of the war are so gruesome that I had to put the book down, but the focus on the people element, especially the children, makes this book an essential read on Mozambique. Nordstrom reminds us that there's hope even in the darkest of times.

Anthills of the Savannah by Chinua Achebe
No top 10 list for me would be complete without a Chinua Achebe novel. This book did for me and my impression of Africa what Sinclair Lewis did for me on the United States. Achebe has an ability I've only felt with a few other writers (most of whom are on this list)--that you are in the story and not just observing it.

Kaaterskill Falls by Allegra Goodman
This novel on relatively isolated Jewish communities in New York was a great reintroduction for me into my own heritage. Even though I grew up in a more secular community, I could relate to the topics and the struggles characters went through. It put some of my life experiences back into perspective.

So that's my list of ten. Six are works of fiction, four are non-fiction. With one exception--Harry Potter--all were read for school or class, and were read in high school or college. Harry Potter, however, was a gift to me from my aunt/godmother. In the front, she wrote "Enjoy the adventure!" and boy did I ever. Each book on this list was a major step on my life adventure and helped refine me into the person I am today. I may have initially been upset about being forced to read them for school, but I'm definitely glad I did!

On a separate note, last night I watched ABC's Behind the Scenes of Frozen and it was super cool to see how the movie became what it was. I had already seen the below clip, but it's this post's thing that makes me happy. I love Multilanguage song videos, and this one is beautiful...so many individually great performances. I'm of course personally in love with Idina Menzel (English), as well as Anais Delva (French/Canadian French), Takako Matsu (Japanese), Jelena Gavrilovic (Serbian), and Maria Lucia Heiberg Rosenberg (Danish).

Tourist-ing My Own City

Washington Monument

Sometimes when you live right next to something, you take for granted that it's there and never go explore it. I lived in DC for four years and did get around to many of the museums and monuments, but as soon as I moved to Virginia, my tendency to go into the District and play tourist went down drastically. With the parents in town this weekend, it was a fun opportunity to play tourist and do some new things I had never done before

The day began with a tour of the Capitol, my second one. It was fun touring the capital near the 200-year anniversary of the British burning of Washington during the War of 1812. Each state can send up to two statues to the National Statuary Hall Collection in the Capitol. When I went two years ago, I was most interested in the New Jerseyans (Philip Kearny and Richard Stockton), but this time I was more interested in the Virginians (Robert E. Lee and George Washington), I guess showing that I'm taking on my adoptive state even more.

Fluttering Flags

The other fun activity I had never done before was go to the top of the Washington Monument. I've always loved the Washington Monument--it has a great view of the mall, and the wind beautifully flutters the 50 (or maybe 56, depending on your source) American flags circling its base. Especially with a perfectly blue sky, or even with a stray cloud here and there, it's a view anyone could get into. But I didn't go to the Washington Monument to stay at the base, so it was really enjoyable to take the 70 second elevator ride to the top and see the AMAZING views. And, it's only been reopen for 3ish months, after it was closed because of cracks discovered during the 2011 earthquake.

The view to the East: the Mall, the Capitol, Prince George's County (MD):

The view to the North: the White House, Montgomery County (MD):

The view to the West: World War II Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, Rosslyn, and way off in the distance, Tysons Corner:

The view to the South: Jefferson Memorial, National Airport, Potomac River:

Super cool stuff. The elevator ride down was also really interesting, seeing some of the donated stones from states, cities, and organizations. I hadn't known about those, so it was really neat to learn something new about the Washington Monument in the process. Anyway, every now and then it's fun to play novice tourist in your own city. I'm hoping that next time we get to see a few new places, such as Arlington Cemetery, the Pentagon, and Mount Vernon.

To celebrate 'merica on this Labor Day, the unofficial end of summer, here's a cover of one of my favorite summer songs:

My (Admittedly Silly) Stake in Scotland's Independence Referendum

When I was younger--maybe 15 years or so ago--my brother dared me to memorize all the countries in the world in alphabetical order, probably because I was bothering him and there's no better way to get rid of someone then by sending them off to a ridiculous task that seems most impossible. After all, around the year 2000, there were approximately 190 countries in the world, so a pretty hefty list. I didn't see it as a useless task; rather, I found a fun challenge, and thus began my excessive organizing skills.

When I travel to every country starting with a letter of the
alphabet, I am crossing it off this list. There are no W or X
countries, so those were gone first. I traveled to Qatar--the
only Q--in 2010. And I hit up both Zs--Zambia and Zimbabwe
earlier this year. I'm a few countries away from any other
letter except the ones that only have 1 or 2 total, so it might be
awhile until another country gets crossed off.

It's amazing how you can find patterns in things when you need to in order to make life easier. Maybe that sounds obvious, but memorizing 190+ countries really put that into perspective for me. For instance, I could always tell if I missed an early-alphabetical country because I knew Dominican Republic, the last of the 4 Ds, was #50, and 50 is an easy number to which to count. The end of the Es is Eritrea, Estonia, Ethiopia...or "Er", "Es", "Et". Peru follows Paraguay, two South American countries.

Problems soon arose, however, because the world is not a static place. Since originally learning the list, I've had to add in East Timor (Dominican Republic, East Timor, Ecuador)...which then changed its name to Timor-Leste (Thailand, Timor-Leste, Togo); Montenegro (Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco); Kosovo (Kiribati, Kosovo, Kuwait); Serbia (Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles); and South Sudan (South Korea, South Sudan, Spain). Kosovo was a great addition...it now means that the Ks are now "Ka" (Kazakhstan), "Ke" (Kenya), "Ki" (Kiribati), "Ko" (Kosovo), "Ku" (Kuwait), and "Ky" (Kyrgyzstan). Yeah, that got me excited! :)

I'm conflicted about whether to add Palestine, and I don't do changes well. When Cape Verde became Cabo Verde, it moved it up a couple of spots, just far enough to mess with my patterns. Stupid Cabo Verde. So here's my stake in the Scottish independence referendum: if it passes, I'm going to have to figure out where Scotland fits in the list. I know, I know, this is a silly, ridiculous thing to be upset about. Scottish people are deciding their future, and I'm worried about having to re-alphabetize the countries of the world. I guess we all have our priorities???

So how many countries are there in the world? CGP Grey does a good job of explaining...or not explaining.

An Outdoor Concert in Tysons Corner

The new plaza at Tysons Corner Center

Tonight was an absolutely beautiful evening. As the temperatures started to dip into the 70s, the sun began to set and spending time outdoors was an absolute must. I knew I was going to be outside, I just needed to figure out in what capacity. Step in Tysons Corner Center with a free outdoor concert on its new plaza. Tonight's "headliner" was Andy Grammer, known for such hits as Keep Your Head Up and Fine By Me. The concert was a ton of fun--Andy played in front of a crowd of maybe 200-250 folks who were all in generally pleasant moods. The nascent bustling-ness of Tysons nearby seemed to be an eternity away as his music enveloped the space, blocking out the honking horns and the metro trains speeding by. We were only temporarily interrupted by an ambulance racing down the highway (acceptable, in my opinion).

Deloitte/Intelsat

Unfinished Apartments

This was my first time on the plaza, so I went as much for the music as to check out the plaza itself. It's small, but cute. It also has interesting views. Ahead are two tall buildings--one occupied by Intelsat and Deloitte, and the other a currently unfinished apartment building. To the left are cranes and a rising skyline. To the right is the Beltway and trees, and far off in the distance one can see some tall buildings. Some deduction skills were necessary (with the aid of Google Maps), and based on my location and the angle at which I could view the Beltway, those buildings could only be in Rosslyn, probably a good 10 miles or so away. I know not everyone gets excited by these things, but I do. I find it cool! :)

Anyway, it was a great experience tonight. A free acoustic concert by an up-and-coming artist who I had previously heard of. Below is his current song on the radio, and the acoustic, audience-participation of this song was super fun. He also explained where one of the lines came from: "So here's to the cheap sunglasses, Red Bull and minivans." Getting the personal story on that was an added bonus.

I hope Tysons decides to continue these concerts next summer...definitely something I could get used to!

A Sappy Post About A Beautiful Wedding

Oops, it's been a little bit since I last wrote, but that's because I was SUPER BUSY these last two weeks. Or, please believe that. In any case, I have done a lot; I've become much more comfortable with my public transit commute, and I traveled a fair distance to attend the wedding of two great friends. So I'm only now getting back into a nice routine. The lack of stress by commuting with trains/buses is doing wonders, and I'm so happy I have the ability/opportunity to commute via public transit. So much more relaxing.

But on to the truly exciting stuff. Two of my best friends got married this past weekend. To attend this wedding required a trip to the northern reaches of Michigan's Lower Peninsula. Perched on the shores of Grand Traverse Bay--an arm of Lake Michigan--sit the small villages of Suttons Bay, Omena, Leland, Lake Leelanau, and Peshawbestown. Because the Leelanau Peninsula is near no major forms of transportation, three friends and I flew into the lovely city of Flint (*please note the sarcasm*) and drove the 3.5 hours up north. I was a bit disappointed in the drive; I don't know what I was expecting, but interstate highways in Michigan look just like interstate highways in the rest of the US. I guess I was hoping for it to look different, but that's based on nothing than hope, I guess.



A beautiful spot for a wedding ceremony.

Anyway, the Leelanau Peninsula was a wonderful setting for a wedding. The rehearsal dinner on Friday night was half-outside, and with temperatures in the mid-70s with a cloudless sky, it was a pleasure to eat, drink, and chat with friends. An after-party sitting around a bonfire was a great way to cap off the night. The wedding on Saturday was perhaps even better. Temperatures got into the low 80s. Set in a cherry farm, the scenery was stunning and the ceremony absolutely beautiful. I'm going to embarrass myself and make my second reference to the movie 27 Dresses on his blog. In that movie, Katherine Heigl's character says:

You know how the bride makes her entrance and everybody turns to look at her? That’s when I look at the groom. Cause his face says it all you know? The pure love there.

And later in the movie James Marsden's character says:

When the bride comes in and she makes her giant grand entrance, I like to glance back at the poor bastard getting married. Cause even though I think he’s an idiot for willingly entering into the last legal form of slavery, he always looks really, really happy.


So as the bride started walking down the aisle escorted by her parents, I looked back at the groom. You shouldn't go to chick flicks (sorry, romantic comedies) for advice of any sort, but this was pretty awesome. As James Marsden says, the groom looked "really, really happy."

The cocktail hour was outside with giant versions of games like Jenga and Tic Tac Toe. Dinner was under an outdoor tent. And dancing was in an open barn that made me think of the last scene in the 2011 version of Footloose--some lights strung in a barn and awesome music playing while everyone danced like there were no cares in the world. Even though I only knew a few of the other people at the wedding, it was fun just being a 20-something and enjoying life.

Wine Tour Party Bus

The next morning after Sunday brunch, the three friends I drove up with and I went on a wine tour through northern Michigan's wineries. It was my first time on a wine tasting tour, and I thoroughly enjoyed getting to try so many different types and flavors. As you might guess, northern Michigan would be a fruit-lover's paradise (on top of the cherry farms, there are lots of apple orchards and pear farms(?), and collections of other fruits too), so many of the wines were infused with different fruits. Most were very good, although a few were pretty questionable. Especially the adult ciders. Oh well. Overall, it was a great time.

And now I'm back. I'm looking forward to my next wedding and having such a great time again. I'm glad I had the chance to see two friends tie the knot and look so happy before, during, and after the ceremony. Until next time, enjoy this cover of Sia's Chandelier from a contestant on America's Got Talent. Flawless.