I do not often read the types of books that inspire me to do what the characters do. Does anyone really want to be living in a Stephen King novel? While I’d like to think I’d survive the superflu and kick anyone’s ass that got in my way, I probably wouldn’t. The odds would not be in my favor. Do I want to be stranded on Mars? No. Do I ever want to step foot on a space ship? Absolutely not (shrinks back in terror). But I do love reading about it.
Today’s list is things books inspired us to learn/do/be. My list will be a bit of a mixed bag and I do think it’s interesting how we can take inspiration from a fictional story. Not many of my ambitions come from a book, but I will do my best. I’m incredibly goal-oriented, type a, anxious, etc. I don’t really relax. It’s not my finest personality point, but I am your go to person for your next hiking challenge.
Own a lake house. This one is from Bag of Bones by Stephen King. I loved that lake house, even if it was haunted.
Be a good mother. Like Marmee in Little Women, I want to raise compassionate, aware children with excellent imaginations.
Find an epic rope swing (on a lake). Not inspired by any particular book, but this would be great and it really is one of my goals.
Be financially secure. Again, not inspired by a book, unless you consider the abject poverty featured in all those southern gothic novels a stark warning… Meaning I don’t want to be out hunting squirrels as my source of protein. I don’t necessarily want to be wealthy, though I wouldn’t object (but I’m a librarian, so…nope), but I do really, really enjoy safety and security.
Hike the PCT (or at least a portion of it). Thanks to Wild by Cheryl Strayed. I can’t say I want my trip to be just like hers though…
Take an amazing road trip. Too many books to name, but John Green makes it seem fun. In the recent years, we’ve tried the road trip thing. Last year we drove out to Lake Tahoe, this year we drove to Texas. I think I’m too much of a planner for this type of thing, but an amazing, random road trip would be interesting.
Visit Scotland. Ahem, Outlander.
Be a Librarian. Thanks to a summer spent reading Insomnia by Stephen King, I discovered the existence of graduate school in library and information science.
More than anything else, I’m probably influenced in my food interests. If a book talks about cupcakes, I want a cupcake. If a book talks about curry, I want curry – same with pizza, gin, etc. You get the idea.
How do books influence you? For more inspiration, check here.
Photo found here.
flannel and folklore 
The food thing, yeah, I hear ya!
P.S. I’d be happy to accept an invitation to spend a week at your lake house. Feel free, really. 😉
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Um, go to Scotland. Outlander or not, that place is amazing. I only spent a few days there and I’ve been dying to go back ever since!
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I would love to go to Scotland one day!
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I am totally with you on the food thing. For instance, in “The Thirteenth Tale,” the main character is always drinking cocoa (she calls it cocoa, not hot chocolate, by the way). And I just so happened to read the book in October — THE perfect time for drinking endless mugs of cocoa!
I love hiking too, and reading “A Walk in the Woods” by Bill Bryson inspired me to want to hike some (or ALL?! — probably not, I hate camping) of the Appalachian Trail. We love the Smoky Mountains in Tennessee and we’ve even hiked a teeny, tiny, little, bitty portion of the AT. (How in the heck did I forget about this entirely when I was writing my own post?!)
Also, Scotland! I’ve always wanted to visit the U.K., but “Outlander” made me want to go to Scotland even more, especially the TV show with all that breathtaking scenery.
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Having belly-flopped off of a rope swing when I was a pre-teen, I’m all set with trying that again but I love some of the other things on this list! Books often make me want to be a better person, in general. I also want a meet-cute but my husband told me that ship has sailed 🙂
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I love your list and as another librarian I have to admit that mostly what books make me want to do is learn more about whatever they were about. So, reading fiction about North Korea makes me want to learn more about that country (good luck with that!).
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