I have been tagged!

I have been tagged by my talented friend from the UK, Rachel. I love saying that I have a friend from the UK. Doesn't it sound so sophisticated? ;) As a side note, Rachel regularly sends me my favorite FOOD (yes chocolate is food to me) in the world, different versions of the Terry's chocolate orange. Ever since we were kids and you could only get the delicious orange shaped/flavored chocolate segments from England they have been my favorite. She just sent me a box with the most delightful flavors, mint and toffee! Yum! Thanks Rachel!

Back to the tag!

My 5 Most Influential Authors/ Reads....
I have a very eclectic and sometimes shallow subjects and authors I like to read. I often wonder when I read my Oprah magazine and she asks them to name their favorite reads why no one ever mentions say, Danielle Steel. :) I will try to be honest when I write my list.

1. As a child my most favorite author was Laura Ingalls Wilder. I adored and still adore her books. They set me up for a lifelong love of historical fiction, esp. 19th century novels and biographies. Along that same line, I loved John D. Fitzgerald's Great Brain books.

2. I like to read for escape and Lucy Maud Montgomery is tops for that. I love her victorian stories of Eastern Canada and Prince Edward Island. I like happy endings too and hers are usually good for that.

3. America's Women: Four Hundred Years of Dolls, Drudges, Helpmates, and Heroines by Gail Collins was a recent interesting read. I have a feminist streak in me and this book was fascinating to see how far we have come as women. I love to read biographies of woman as pioneers, whatever they may be pioneering.

4. I have read three recent books that have blown my mind. They are Escape by Carolyn Jessop, Shattered Dreams by Irene Spencer, and His favorite wife by Susan Ray Schmidt. They are modern, true stories of polygamy and they are horrifying. What these women lived through makes me grateful for my blessings every single day.

5. I like a lot of self help books, 7 habits of highly effective people being one as well as some by Dr. Phil and do I dare say Dr. Laura. I also like a lot of fluff and I used to love to read Lavyrle Spencer. I cried in more of her books. I have really enjoyed the Twilight series and resolve to get reading more!
Sorry if my books haven't been deep and profound but usually I like books that are escapes with nice, tidy, happy endings. :)