Tagged by @damask-wallpaper and @heimlichbourger – thank you ❤ ! Wall of text incoming because I love (and dearly miss having the time to read) books.

1. Semnul lunii – Ilinca Bernea

My list starts with a contemporary Romanian writer whose earlier work is impossible to find, not because I’m that pretentious a hipster, but because I am Romanian and this book was published when I was in my teens and had gotten more seriously into reading. And because it was the first book that I felt truly spoke to me.

2. Demian – Hermann Hesse

“I do not consider myself less ignorant than most people. I have been and still am a seeker, but I have ceased to question stars and books; I have begun to listen to the teachings my blood whispers to me.”

3. Brave New World – Aldous Huxley

4. Steppenwolf – Herman Hesse

“The mistaken and unhappy notion that a man is an enduring unity is known to you. It is also known to you that man consists of a multitude of souls, of numerous selves. […] Science is […] right as no multiplicity may be dealt with unless there be a series, a certain order and grouping. It is wrong insofar as it holds that one only and binding and lifelong order is possible for the multiplicity of subordinate selves.”

5. 1984 – George Orwell

6. Orlando – Virginia Woolf

Full disclosure: I actually saw the film adaptation before I read the book. Can’t shake the feeling that the book gave us a more well-rounded main character than the film did. Tilda Swinton is still brilliant, though.

7. Citadelle/Wisdom of the Sands – Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

So, so hard to read, but so worth it. The structure can be a bit confusing and the writing in general can feel repetitive, but the book exudes a beautiful warmth and displays an interesting perspective on human nature.

8. The Little Golden Calf – Ilf and Petrov

My first experience with written satire. Absolutely delicious, and perhaps easy for me to relate to because… well… living in a former communist country means it’s not hard to draw parallels between the society you live in and the one described in the novel.

9. The Absolute at Large – Karel Čapek

“[…] nobody, be they believers or non-believers, could have any use for a real, active god. It simply cannot be, gentlemen. It’s out of the question.”

10. Manuscript Found in a Pocket – Julio Cortázar

Before this, I read Aleph by Borges, and I can definitely see some similarities, but I much prefer Cortázar’s work. The fantasy element in his short stories just kind of seeps in, at first almost unnoticed, and then just slowly takes over.

That’s about it! Sorry about not tagging anyone, but until I got some time to compile the list, everyone seems to have already done the meme, so… maybe next time! 🙂