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This past Saturday my oldest daughter asked me to drive her and two friends to the local mall. I obliged willingly, knowing that my presence would not be required or appreciated and I could slip across the street to the local book store. No children, and a free trip to the book store, who would turn that down? Not me!

As I walked into heaven, also known as the book store to mortals, I inhaled deeply. Have I mentioned my love affair with the written word? If not, I have one. It’s a small one, but intense nonetheless.

I wandered through the aisles, wide-eyed and wistful, mentally adding titles to my “Want” list. My fingers traced the spines of the various titles and my eyes drank in the pretty covers. I am going to need at least two more jobs to pay for the many books on my list. Or my husband is :P.

That’s when I spied it. The very thing I didn’t even know I was looking for. The Summer Reading book table in the center of the main aisle, piled high with the books I’ve loved to read over the years. A Tale of Two Cities, Tom Sawyer, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, and so many more. I wanted them all. My head hurt from the many choices, and my hands ended up hurting from picking up book after book and then my arms were aching from the load.

Eventually I settled on four. I bought Catcher in the Rye, Pride and Prejudice, Wuthering Heights, and The Outsiders. My heart ached every time I had to make a choice between books. I didn’t want to give any of them up. Needless to say, more trips to the book store are planned.

The choices I made were based partly on my two older girls. They both are fanatic readers and have already started summer reading lists for the Mark Twain Awards, but I want them exposed to so many more titles beyond the new ones. I am a strong believer in the classics. They have withstood the test of time for a reason.

I remember the first time I read The Outsiders. I immediately wanted to be a Greaser and fell hard for the Curtis brothers. Wuthering Heights? Catcher in the Rye? Pride and Prejudice? All of the ideas that capture today’s hearts in books can be found in these classics. We may modernize the stories, twist them and flip them a bit, but the foundations are all there for what we continue to write today.

These books have the power to transport you to another time, another place and surround you with people you love, you hate and that you love to hate. How powerful is that for a person, especially a young person?

So this has me to thinking, wondering what other titles I want to have around for my children and myself to enjoy. Any suggestions? I’m making my list and my husband is perusing the want ads as I type!