Powerful Books

Here at the Saucy Wenches we believe, wholeheartedly, in the power of reading. It expands minds, takes you places you've never been, allows you to understand people whose experiences are completely different from your own. We love light and fluffy reads every now and again, but the really special books are the ones that change your life, your view of the world, that stick with you for days, weeks, even years after you've turned the last page.

That's what we're talking about today: the books that change the way you think about and see the world. So come with us through the jump as we discuss some of the most powerful books we've read.




Care: Straight off the top: The Dragonlance Saga by Weis and Hickman. It introduced me to the notion that no character is safe. Just because they're The Good Guy doesn't mean they're unkillable. I sobbed for hours over a character death in this saga. The Belgariad/Malloreon by David Eddings. This group exposed me to the notion of books in a series. Before these, the most time I spent with a book world was in trilogy, so TEN BOOKS (eventually twelve!) set in the same world?!? WOW! Mind blowing! I have to think of the name of the series, but it was by F. Paul Wilson, it made me think about ways things are more than meet the eye, that even one single person is truly important... I can remember the titles of the books, but not the series... AHA! The Adversary Cycle. Spec-fucking-tacular.

Zee: There are a LOT of books for me. Neil Gaiman always makes me sit there and reevaluate so many things in life.. constantly. Especially with his short stories. Megan Hart has honestly just... broadened my mind and limit my bitchy judginess when it comes to people to an insane degree. So many books... Harry Potter, Lord Of The Rings... those really made me reconsider friendships I had, and which ones were worth investing in. Also, Stephen King made me spend nights awake thinking about the world when I was an older teenager.. Is that weird?

Angela: A Song of Ice and Fire - it's the first series that really made me think I needed to tell other people, "you need to read this series." Anne of Green Gables was the first time I ever cried while reading a book. It made me realise for the first time how a book can really move you to feel emotions and impact how you see the outside world. It also made me wonder how could the author do this to me and kill a character!!! Anything by Sharon Kay Penman as it introduced me to beautifully written, wonderfully researched historical fiction. It also helped fuel a life long love of history. The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton, as it made me feel proud to be a New Zealander in that such a wonderful book, could be written about our past and so intricately woven together that at the end it left me spellbound. It gave me a new appreciation for the country I live in and it was the kind of book that made me realise as I read that I could almost taste and sense nineteenth century New Zealand. So vivid was the crafting of the story that even now I still don't think I've read anything better ever.


Beta: Fever is one of the most powerful book/series that I've read. For instance, there are just so many things in this series that spoke to me. It didn't really change the way I see the world but even in a world of fiction it shows you so many great pieces of wisdom and truth.

Natalie: Ok here are some of my more powerful books I've read: The Promise of Stardust by Priscille Sibley. Night Road by Kristin Hanna. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. Tell the Wolves I'm Home by Carol Rifka Brunt. Night by Elie Wiesel. Me Before You by Jojo Moyes. The Story of Beautiful Girl by Rachel Simon. The Help by Kathryn Stockett. Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. Tuesday's With Morrie by Mitch Album. Now as for series, for me my most powerful will be an interesting choice. Twilight, not for the reason why everyone is a fan. For me that was the series that lead me to bring back and push me into becoming an avid reader and writer. Then The All Souls trilogy. I hope to one day be like Deborah Harkness but I don't think I'll ever be as great when it comes to history the way she is. The Giving Tree an other books by Shel Silverstein.

Donna: The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini was a very powerful novel. It really made an impression on me, and I still think about it from time to time.

Anne: First is The Hobbit/LOTR. Those are the first books that really transported me to another world and made me realize that was possible with books. And then, The Outsiders is the first book that I really felt connected to the characters. I felt what they felt. I lived that story with them, instead of just watching it happen.

Naomi: So many books and it's not easy to remember. LOTR and The Hobbit, I read those in the 70s, at the same period with Watership Down by Richard Adams--what an allegory! First five books of Amber series by Roger Zelazny. An epic fantasy. I, Robot, a collection of nine science fiction short stories by Isaac Asimov, my introduction to SciFi. And more recently, Outlander, A Discovery of Witches and Fever. I try to judge this by books that "stay" with me even after a long time. If I remember the story after a year or more, it is powerful enough.

Barb: There many books that have changed me, how I see the world, how I think. From Where the Red Fern Grows being the first book to make me cry, to Lightning by Dean Koontz showing me how books can, quite literally, change the world, to The Green Mile by Stephen King showing me the power of one man to change lives, to Eat Pray Love showing me that it's perfectly okay to indulge yourself once and in a while, to Michael J. Fox's Lucky Man showing me how adversity can radically alter one's world for the better. But the single most powerful series I think I've ever read, the series overflowing with life lessons and truths, packaged as an unassuming paranormal epic adventure, is the Fever Series by Karen Marie Moning. The sheer volume of wisdom contained in that series is staggering. You've read it, right? You know what we're talking about, right? Look for a post in the weeks ahead, because I'm feeling inspired to peruse all of the pearls of wisdom KMM has shared with us all. 

There you have it, Saucy Readers! Some of the most powerful books we've read. We hope this might give you some ideas to add to your TBR, and as we're always looking to expand ours, share some of the books that stay with you, in the comments below.