top shelf

a bad title for an incomplete list of the books that shaped me

a sort of foreword

tl;dr: pls don't come for me

Welcome to my top shelf. Usually the term is used to refer to the best bottles of spirits in a bar, but in our internet case here, it refers to those books that left a long-lasting mark on me. And listen, before you read any further, keep in mind that I have very little control over what these books are. You may find a few choices here to be really odd, but you know what? So do I, my friend. But alas, I can't help how my brain and emotions work.

A short backstory here: the first books I remember enjoying were the Bruja Aburrida books. (Footnote: Apparently her name in English is Witch Hazel which... is kinda meh if you ask me. ) Adults tell me of other books I liked to "read" with them, but I have no recollection of that myself, so I'm not counting that. The Bruja Aburrida collection (called Bruxa Onilda in Portuguese, the language I read them) was available on my school library and I remember rushing there every week when we had "library time" and I always picked them up. Though I'm sure I've read other books in tha library, those were the ones that stuck with me. And that's the sort of feeling I channeled to create this list. Not a lot of rational thought went behind this.

Anyways, fast forwarding to the present, I still enjoy stories with witches and magic, but I have distanced myself greatly from the "high fantasy" subgenre. (Footnote: Literary genres are not a scientific fact, but loosely defined, this "high fantasy" thingy usually means "epicness" (of the quest, the story, the characters, the setting) in an secondary world. Yes, Lord of the Rings kinda stories. For more on that, I suggest the Wikipedia page and the TV Tropes one for shits and giggles. ) I like books that play with genre, that stay on the cusp of realism, ready to drop into the speculative, in varying degrees. I found myself reading a lot of Weird Fiction, New Weird, ~Horror~ (not the kind you're thinking of) and, funnily enough, Eastern Asian books. (Footnote: Though I have a theory why, but that'd be a bit longer for a footnote. )

In short, what you'll see here is a mishmash of magic, psychological horror, middle grade and kids books, and short stories. I've become a slow reader with a preference for fiction in a shorter format. (Footnote: I go through great lenghts to avoid serialized books, trust and believe. )

disclaimer

For this list, I've tried to avoid reference and theory books, though some of them did shape me, but I'd be afraid this would look like a syllabus, and that's not my intention.

For the sake of simplicity, I am counting trilogies and the like as one instance because, in the end, they're telling one story. ~~You may call me a cheat, idc.~~

I've used links to StoryGraph's book pages for most of these. When I couldn't find one, I've resorted to LibraryThing. I've been avoiding linking directly to Amazon and other businesses. I recommend you purchase these second hand when possible or check with your local library first.

I'll be slowly adding commentary and expanding this list, so if this is something you're interested in, keep an eye out on my web blog or status café, that's usually where I post updates. As of now, only the first two (my childhood companions) have any sort of commentary on them.

And finally, in no particular order--and I might add to this list later--, here you go:

the books

last updated: 19 December 2024

His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman

I guess when I was 14 reading these books with beautiful covers and mesmerized by the worldbuilding and daemons and air balloons and a protagonist that was so different from myself, I wasn't expecting for it to become a foundational story of how I see and understand storytelling... and the world. To become an antheist well over a decade after reading those books and seeing in each page what really resonated in me as a teen girl confused with how the world worked around her.

Harry Potter by [redacted]

Let's just get this over with quickly. The first three books meant the absolute world to me. Then the fourth book came out and I didn't like it very much but still loved the world. The seventh book broke the spell for me but I still had my fun with the community before that public debacle... I think what shielded me for longer was that I'd never followed or cared for the author as a person. But that goes beyond the point of this section.

The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa