For me, I have to say it was The Scarlet Pimpernel. There was the Civil War book my dad gave me that ignited my lifelong love of history. But The Scarlet Pimpernel was the first book I devoured! In the span of three months, I must have read that book at least eight times and had gotten all my friends, mostly (they admitted later) to shut me, to read it and they enjoyed it. I watched the movies, started to read the sequels and have never gotten over my literary crush on Sir Percy Blakeney. It’s one of, probably still my top favorite book, and one that has forever changed how I read books.

I loved it for its adventure but my friends loved the romance (when they told me that, I really said, what romance?). It’s the book that taught me that one book can mean many different things to different people and since then I’ve tried to notice how I look at a book versus how others might or how the author might have intended it.

What was the book that changed your life?