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Something About Me Reading Challenge

The Something About Me Reading Challenge was created by Lisa, whose personal blog is called Breaking the Fourth Wall. This challenge, which began on August 1st, encourages bloggers to select up to 5 books that represent them in some way. As Lisa explains in the initial challenge post:

"[C]hoose some books that would help us get to know you. Then, on or by August 1st, choose a personal list of the books you want to read from everyone's lists of books. [ . . . ] This blog will provide the forum for discussions about the books we are reading."

Here are the books I have selected to represent me:

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll - A beautifully imaginative story that many people know of but not everyone has actually read in the original form. Watching the 1972 musical film adaptation of the book, I shrieked, "Mom! Look! Alice has brown hair, like me!" Years later, I was delighted to find out that the real Alice, Alice Liddell, was also a brunette.

The NeverEnding Story by Michael Ende - Because I loved the movie, I wanted to read the book. My mom got it for me, and I dug right in. People outside of my family doubted that someone so young could and had read a book that thick. I ignored their condescending assumptions and went back to my book.

Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery - Upon opening this book for the very first time, I quickly noted, "The first paragraph is all one sentence." I love the entire series. Anne Shirley is intelligent, spunky, outspoken, and endearing.

The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin - "Turtle should be the first female president." (and) "I want to make this into a movie someday. I'll play Turtle." I am still upset that someone beat me to it. Then it aired on a channel we didn't get. I have yet to see it.

Body Bags by Christopher Golden - Since everything on my list so far was from my childhood, I wanted to select something I read as a young adult. I narrowed the field down to Body Bags and The Great Gatsby, two very different books. Since the latter is something I'm sure many of you have read, I selected Body Bags, the first of ten books in the well-written and well-researched Body of Evidence series. I hope those of you who haven't read it will pick it up!

See my post at the Challenge blog.

Want to humor me and play along here?
Which of these books have you already read?
Which of these books do you plan to read?
Do these books relate to you in any way?
What do these books tell you about me?
Please leave me a comment with your answers.

Books from other participants' lists that I have already read:
Beowulf translated by Seamus Heaney
Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery (also on my list)
Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L'Engle
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult
The NeverEnding Story by Michael Ende (also on my list)
The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
Uglies by Scott Westerfeld
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls
Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote
Inkheart by Cornelia Funke
Dairy Queen by Catherine Murdock
The Giver by Lois Lowry
Number the Stars by Lois Lowry
The Tale of Despereaux by Kate diCamillo
Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz
Good Grief by Lolly Winston
The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
The World According to Garp by John Irving
These Happy Golden Years by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Anne of the Islands by L M Montgomery
I am the Messenger by Markus Zusak
All-of-a-Kind Family by Sydney Taylor
Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli
Just Ella by Margaret Peterson Haddix
The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot
Can You Keep A Secret by Sophie Kinsella
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by JK Rowling
The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm by Kate Douglas Wiggin
Oh My Goth by Gena Showalter
Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
The Amulet of Samarkand by Jonathan Stroud
Nothing But the Truth by Avi
The Black Book: Diary of a Teenage Stud by Jonah Black
Anne Frank: Diary of a Young Girl
Einstein's Dreams by Alan Lightman
Anne of Windy Poplars by LM Montgomery
Charlotte's Web by E.B. White
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
Heidi by Johanna Spyri

Books from other participants' lists that I plan to read, if not now, then at some point:
Persuasion by Jane Austen
Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell
Durable Goods by Elizabeth Berg -- read!
A Northern Light by Jennifer Donnelly
Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer
Feline Mystique by Cleo Simon -- read excerpts and cried
Zel by Donna Jo Napoli
The View from Saturday by EL Konigsburg
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
Postsecret by Frank Warren -- read excerpts
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare
A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson
Cheaper by the Dozen by Frank Gilbreth

Want to participate?
Visit the Something About Me Reading Challenge, leave a comment for Lisa with your email address, and, after receiving your blog invite/clearance, post your book at that blog.

Thanks to Sarah Miller for repeatedly urging me to take part in this challenge.