THE LIST

Also known as The List of Stuff or The List That Influences My Art. Also known as Pure Indulgence Listing Stuff I Like. Some of these you’ll see referenced on Jamie Words a lot. Some you won’t, but I still like it. Some I’ve forgotten about and will add later.

Everything’s in alphabetical order. Some of it is not advisable for sensitive readers / viewers.

ANIME / MANGA

Hayao Miyazaki (master of Studio Ghibli)

• Howl’s Moving Castle (adaptation of a novel of the same name by Diana Wynne Jones)
• Princess Mononoke (about a young warrior seeking to lift his curse and a fierce princess seeking to save her forest)
• Spirited Away (about a young girl’s adventures in a bathhouse for Japanese spirits)

Shojo (for girls)

• Alice 19th (about a young girl learning confidence through her power of the lotus words)
• Ouran High School Host Club (comedy / parody about an honor student, who gets mixed up with the affairs of a high school club entertaining rich young ladies)
• The Vision of Escaflowne (about a young girl gifted with visions, who is transported to the war-torn world of Gaia)

Shonen (for guys)

• Black Cat (about a former assassin seeking redemption)
• Bleach (about a high school student accidentally granted the powers of a shinigami, or god of death, to protect his family and friends)
• Fullmetal Alchemist (about two brothers seeking to redeem a life-altering mistake)
• Wolf’s Rain (about a post-apocalyptic world where four wolves are seeking a way to Paradise)

Other

• Ayakashi (3rd Arch) & Mononoke (about a mysterious Medicine Seller and his travels to vanquish yokai)

BOOKS

Classic Literature
Mostly of these I read for classes and they were simply amazing. Obviously one sentence descriptions here will fail miserably, but I tried. Go to Spark Notes if you really want to know more.

• The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky (about three brothers who choose different methods of engaging life — hedonistic, intellectual, spiritual — and the outcome)
• Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury (about the magic of everyday events that take place in a small town during one summer)
• Invisible Man by Ralph Elison (about one man’s journey to self-discovery through the barriers of racism, class, and personal blindness)
• The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury (about the fictional colonization of Mars and the decline of Earth)
• The Complete Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (about the most famous fictional sleuth of all time)
• A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens (about one family’s journey in London and Paris during the events of the French Revolution)

Non-Fiction
Some books that have greatly influenced my view and opinions of the world.

• Closer Than Your Skin by Susan D. Hill (about a different, accessible way to engage God in the everyday)
• Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell (about a different way to engage the Christian church and faith)
• Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith and Art by Madeleine L’Engle (about a different way to engage faith and art)

Speculative Fiction
A genre of fiction that speculates about alternate worlds or dimensions that are unlike the real world in significant ways. This is mostly what I read. And it divides into several sub-genres including:

Fantasy (fiction taking place in completely alternate worlds)

• Beauty by Robin McKinley (a re-telling of Beauty and the Beast)
• Chalice by Robin McKinley (about a master trying to regain his humanity and a woman trying to save her land)
• The Chronicles of Chrestomanci by Diana Wynne Jones (tellings about the nine-parallel worlds next to Earth)
• The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis (a telling of the world of Narnia)
• The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien (a telling of the world of Middle Earth)
• The Princess and Curdie by George MacDonald (a telling of a young man’s coming of age and quest save the kingdom)
• Till We Have Faces by C. S. Lewis (a re-telling of the Greek myth of Cupid and Psyche)
• The Young Merlin Trilogy by Jane Yolen (a re-telling of young Merlin’s history)

Science Fiction (fiction examining the future, science, and technology)

• Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card (a future post-alien invasion, trying to select a future general amongst brilliant children)
• The Firebird trilogy by Kathy Tyers (space opera speculating the coming of the Messiah after the age of space travel)
• The Otherland quartet by Tad Williams (about the future possibilities, dangers, and mysteries of reality simulations)
• The Space Trilogy by C. S. Lewis (speculative theology)

Urban Fantasy (fiction taking place in modern settings with fantastical twists thrown in)

• American Gods by Neil Gaiman (a modern critique about the nature of mythology and humanity’s way of engaging it)
• The Dark Is Rising sequence by Susan Cooper (an epic battle between the forces of Light and Dark)
• Dogsbody by Diana Wynne Jones (a telling of the Dog Star unjustly turned into a dog and his attempt to clear his name and save Earth and the Universe)
• The Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling (a boy wizard who must come into his own and solve the mystery of his tragic past)
• The Stand by Stephen King (about a post-apocalyptic America polarized by the forces of good and evil)
• The Visitation by Frank Peretti (a grief-riddled man questioning his faith, and a supposed Messiah showing up in a small town)

Other

• Castaways of the Flying Dutchman by Brian Jacques (about an immortal boy and Labrador retriever and the telepathic link they share)
• Life of Pi by Yann Martel (about a boy surviving a shipwreck with a Bengal tiger in his lifeboat)
• The Outlaws of Sherwood by Robin McKinley (about a somewhat dour Robin Hood and his usually more merry band)
• Watership Down by Richard Adams (a expose on leadership with rabbits)

Young Adult Novels
Novels geared for a younger audience with themes of life, love, coming of age, and death.

• Arthur, For the Very First Time by Patricia Maclachlan (about a boy going away for the summer with his strange aunt, uncle, and their equally unusual entourage)
• A Ring of Endless Light by Madeleine L’Engle (about the tension of life, death, and beauty)
• The Tiger Rising by Kate DiCamillo (about a young boy’s struggle to process his mother’s death. Also involves a tiger)

VISUALS

• Art by Brianna Garcia
• Art by Rebecca Gunter
• The Complete Calvin & Hobbes by Bill Watterson (about the adventures of an overly active and imaginative boy and his stuffed tiger)
• Copper by Kazu Kibiushi (about an adventurous boy and his worried dog)
• Frazz by Jef Mallett (about an accomplished elementary school janitor who is also a songwriter)
• The Phoenix Requiem by Sarah Ellerton (about an alternate Victorian world with magic)

MOVIES

Adaptations

• The Chronicles of Narnia by Walden Media (about a fresh retelling with CGI talking animals instead of stuffed lions)
• Cold Comfort Farm by BBC Films (about a girl named Flora and all her strange relatives)
• Classic 2D Disney (the favorites being too numerous to list)
• King Kong by Peter Jackson & Universal Pictures (a story about many different kinds of love)
• The Lord of the Rings trilogy by Peter Jackson & New Line Cinema (about an amazing travel brochure the beauty of New Zealand)
• Peter Pan by P. J. Hogan & Universal (about the boy who never grew up)
• The Prestige by Christopher Nolan (about the obsessive rivalry of two men in performing magic)
• Sherlock Holmes by Guy Ritchie (about the world’s most famous sleuth, with modernized action and steampunkish technology)

Original Concept

• Anything by Pixar (the favorites being: Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Monsters Inc., Toy Story 1 & 2, and Up)
• Across the Universe by Julie Taymor (about a guy named Jude and a girl named Lucy with lots of Beetles songs in between)
• How to Train Your Dragon (about… how to train your dragon)
• Inception (about a future world where dream manipulation is real)
• Lady in the Water by M. Night Shyamalan (about a janitor named Cleveland who is swept up into a fairy tale made real)
• The Last Samurai by Edward Zwick (about a broken man who finds new purpose and identity in 1800s Japan)
• The Matrix by the Wachowski brothers (about enslaved humanity in a digitized prison and one man’s ability to transcend and save them)
• Mirrormask by Jim Henson Company, Neil Gaiman, and Dave McKean (about a girl named Helena switched with a doppleganger into the bizarre world of her drawings)
• Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium by Zach Helm (about a man named Mr. Magorium, a girl named Mahoney, a boy named Eric, and an accountant named Mutant)
• Shaun of the Dead by Edgar Wright (about a zombie infection, but with humor)
• The original Star Wars trilogy by George Lucas (about a hero named Luke who must learn about his Jedi heritage and master the Force to save the galaxy)
• The Village by M. Night Shyamalan (about a girl named Ivy and her courage to save her beloved and her village)

TV

• Big Bang Theory (about four hyper intelligent, yet socially awkward men, and the cute next door neighbor)
• The revived Doctor Who (about a time traveling humanoid alien and his ability to travel throughout all space and time)
• Firefly (about the future of mankind in space, which is pretty much the same with some differences)

Thank you for indulging me. Now go do something useful with your life.